I have always taken pride in the fact I've had no RWAP books in my entire time on the site. I should have known it wouldn't last.

Today someone marked a book of mine as RWAP, wrong edition. I wrote the person back and asked what was wrong with the edition I sent. I knew the title, author, and binding were correct, and I always enter books by IBSN, but I could have made a mistake on the IBSN when entering it. The receiver said the cover wasn't the same. I know the cover doesn't have to match, so I wrote the person again, giving the IBSN of the book they were supposed to receive. If all that's wrong is that the cover's different, I'm under no obligation to refund the credit, correct? If the IBSN is really incorrect I'll gladly refund it as a mistake.

Covers don't need to match.

From help documents:

• ISBN, author, title and booktype must match when you post a book; cover image does not have to match.
  • If ISBN, title, author or booktype does NOT match then you received the wrong book and you should read There is a problem with a book I received! for instructions about what to do.
  • If ISBN, title, author and booktype all DO match and only the cover image does not match, this is not considered a problem transaction.

• Cover images do NOT have to match the book being listed because sometimes publishers reprint using the same ISBN but a different cover art.  Also members upload cover images here, and the best-quality image may not be the one on the book with this ISBN.

• The system is designed for readers to share books, and not for collectors looking for specific cover art.
  • If you DO want a specific cover image on a book you request, you can try to use Requestor Condtiions for this purpose.  You can read How to Use Requestor Conditions for more information about how to do this without missing out on books you do want.

As long as title, author, ISBN, and binding match you are fine. It is not uncommon for different editions to have the same ISBN. It is not anything you can do anything about. If the requestor wants a particular edition, he needs to make an RC for it. Do not return the credit, you are not in the wrong. He needs to change his RWAP to RWAP'ed by mistake. If he gives you an unresolved, you can try take your case to PBS.

I had someone RWAP me once because of the cover.  I just explained that it didn't have to match and they apologized and resolved it.

Hope you get an easy resolution!

Thanks for the responses. The receiver hasn't gotten back to me on the IBSN issue. If I really did enter the wrong one, I'll give the credit back, since it's my fault.

If the ISBN matches (but not the cover) you are not at fault Annie.  The PBS guidelines (posted above) are very clear on this, and you can copy and paste them to your receiver.

The person said in a later message that it didn't meet their RC, as well as the edition was wrong because they wanted a later version (nothing about the IBSN being wrong). I didn't remember an RC at all but if there had been one with the book requested  I wouldn't have met it (the pages were yellowing), so I gave the credit back, while saying to send me the IBSN of the book they got because if it was the same it didn't matter the cover art is different.

Since I didn't remember an RC for the book at all, I looked at the transaction details. None showed up. I hadn't had any RWAPs before this, so I hadn't looked at the transaction details for a book I'd sent before. Just to be sure, I checked another book I'd sent and marked as received in good condition. That book had an RC I remembered, so I looked at the details of it.

The RC was listed.

So I've given the credit back for a nonexistant RC and not gotten any response about whether the IBSN was incorrect or not. Is there a way to appeal this? I feel stupid.

Don't feel stupid.

Once you've given the credit back, they should mark the transaction resolved.

There's nothing else left to do.

Unfortunatelly since you already gave the credit back there's nothing you can do.  I wouldn't have given the credit back.

I did get a confirmation the IBSN I entered was correct, so I can sort of comfort myself by saying I really didn't break any rules.

Personally I would not have given the credit back, especially if you look through the Transaction Archive and find no RC when they claim there is one. One RWAP on your account will not hurt you in the eyes of PBS. They only flag accounts for repeats of pattern RWAPs. Don't be afraid of standing up to a requestor (who sounds more than a little fishy to me) and let one go unresolved. It won't hurt and you keep your well deserved credit.

To clarify, I didn't realize RCs were listed in the transaction archive until after giving the credit back.

What you need to do in the future is stop being so nice.  Do not give a credit back unless there is very good reason to do so.  Don't do it to placate someone.  

Agree with Marissa. Unless you know for a fact that you actually did something wrong, don't return the credit. And if you ever have questions about a RWAP, you should ask about it here in the forum and get advice from other members. If you had waited and asked us instead of immediately refunding the credit, we could have told you how to check for an RC and saved your credit. 

It's okay, at least now you know how to handle it in the future.

Don't feel stupid.... I did the same thing, not realizing that RCs were listed in the transaction archive.  The good thing about it -- once bitten, twice shy.  Bet it won't happen again!