This morning, I got a request for six books. I got the books together, but found that the glue holding one together had grown so old and brittle that the book cracked when I opened it. It was the only copy in the system, and the requestor has already PM'd me expressing excitement over these books.

What I'm wondering is whether it's okay to offer the damaged book to the requestor for free (it's still readable), and include it with the other books if the requestor wants it.

Yes, just PM them and let them know what happened, and ask them if they want the book for free.

Then, ask them to cancel the order for just that book. (If you cancel it, the book would get passed onto the next sender (although I guess there is not one in this case).)

What Sara said. :)

If she accepts the freebie and it's not interested in getting a postable copy of the book, definitely ask the her to cancel the transaction. If you cancel it, then the book will go into her wish list and she'll get a new copy as soon as another one is posted.

I canceled the request for that book, then PM'd the requestor to see if they want it for free.

If there's only one copy of the book, then the book went to her WL now. Please let her know so she can remove it from there if she doesn't want a postable copy.

Since the requestor wanted the book anyway, I told them about removing it from their Wish List. Clicking on their account shows that it is no longer there. The books are en route, and the requestor thanked me for the free book, even if it was damaged.

I love it when we hear the good stories of how problems are resolved!

Great question - good advice - sender and requester happy! 

GO PBSers!

Good for you, Erica!