Hi, everyone....before I go and make an enemy here, I'd like your opinions and/or suggestions about proof.  I just received a book in today's mail that I had requested. I hadn't looked at it until this evening....first, it wasn't wrapped in plastic but that is no big deal.  Not everyone does that even though so many of you do.  Here are the problems:  

1. There are some kind of brown stains (coffee/tea?) on both the front blank and the back blank pages of the hardbound book.
2. There is handwriting here and there and, apparently, some corrections to either misspelled words (just saw this when reading page 4!) or poor grammar.
3. The edge of the pages when the book is closed is dirty.
4. The first 50 or so pages have been folded down (not like when you area bookmarking a page but like got folded all at once).

Bottom line here is that I wouldn't send a book like this out to you all and so am stuck with an unpostable book, in my opinion. Am I right or being too picky? I'd appreciate any and all help! Oh, should I scan the problems and post the scans on my Photobucket account?

Thanks,

Steph

Not sure what the brown staining would be--but the writing on the text pages would make it unpostable.  Of course if the brown stains are from liquid that would make it unpostable, too.  I'd ask for the credit back nicely, and hope for the best.  Just clearly state the problem--and take a picture, just in case, can't possibly hurt, right?  Good luck.

Thanks, Lynn!

Per PBS guidelines:

-No liquid damage of any kind.
-Writing on text pages is unpostable - unless the sender involks the textbook waiver, in which case you would have been pm'd and approved the condition before it was sent.

IMO your book is unpostable, mark it RWAP.  Your option to request credit return, but beginning with a kind pm sometimes gets the situation resolved quickly.  Good luck!

Mark it RWAP.  I received a couple of books like you did just a few weeks ago.  From the response I got for the books that had full page dark brown stains on the first few pages and the inside cover,  I'm thinking that the sender sent it out just hoping I wouldn't mark them RWAP.  Too bad.  I don't see how it could have been overlooked.   But that's the way it goes.  I know most of us dread confrontation, but there is a system in place to handle this and so it's a given that sometimes this kind of problem will arise.  Just follow the steps as outlined by PBS and you'll be okay.  I don't know how long your sender has been a member but the one that sent me the book with the dark brown stains has been a member for 3 years. Remain calm and just remember they can't reach through the monitor to hit you!!  ;D

Ruth

IF it was just the folded down pages it would be postable.  But the staining and writing on text pages makes it unpostable.  Writing can be allowed if they PM first and you agree to it. But the stains are a definate no-no. 

I'd say you have an unpostable book.  RWAP it.

Well, here is what I think:

1. If these pages were missing, the book would still be postable. So, technically you could remove them neatly and the book is OK.
2. Writing on text pages is NOT allowed unless the receiver has OK'd it in advance of mailing. So, this is unpostable, but only in your current situation.
3. Dirt on the edges is unpostable as well, but it can often be removed by using a fine grade of sandpaper. I got some from a dollar store and it really works wonders, I have turned many dirty books into beautiful books using it. (It doesn't harm the page edges, they end up looking clean but with the same texture that they had before). Of course, you are under no obligation to clean a book that has been sent to you ... but in case you didn't know, it can usually be cleaned unless the dirt has soaked into the paper. When I get a book like this, I try to clean it, and if I can, I don't mark it RWAP. If it can't be cleaned, then I would mark it RWAP and ask for a credit back.
4. This one is postable.

If it were me, I would ask for my credit back because of the writing.

Thank you all for your replies.  I am going to take a deep breath and mark it RWAP. Ruth, you are right...I  really hate confrontations but I know that I won't post this book as it is now. I will try the suggestions for cleaning it up too when I am done reading it.

Edit 11/18: wow, great result and resolution. I sent a PM to the sender and he replied "fine, agreed" (I asked for my credit back after describing the damage) and within an hour, the credit was on my account!  I really don't like confrontations any more than  anyone else since I tend to be a "people pleaser" so it was a positive experience and I won't be so chicken and reluctant next time. As I told another member in a PM, I have such good results with my swaps here and the negatives have been so few. I had belonged to another book swap on the internet before joining PBS.  I stopped trading when I received books that were dirty and torn up. The "straw" was when I got a paperback with pages literally falling out!  Then I heard about PBS and I have never looked back. :)  Again, thanks, everyone, for your help and support.

2. Writing on text pages is NOT allowed unless the receiver has OK'd it in advance of mailing.

I think that only applies to textbooks. Books with marking in the text are unpostable.

I think that only applies to textbooks. Books with marking in the text are unpostable.

No, PBS has clarified the rules ... basically almost any book could have been used as a textbook in a college class (for example, English classes often use fiction as the "textbook"), so what amounts to any books can have writing in them if there is advance acceptance via PM. PBS expects that people who post books that would not normally be considered textbooks will become discouraged posting them through the process of having to PM first and then possibly re-post the book over and over again after they have to cancel the orders.

Also, textbooks, cookbooks, and travel guidebooks are the "approved categories" of books that might be expected to have writing in them (still can't send without PM acceptance, though).

Speaking of being discouraged, now I am by the fact that I have to go in and redo my RC. The last thing I want to have to deal with is a bunch of PMs back and forth about writing in the text for every book I order. I didn't realize there'd been a change in the policy. I'll have to go read up on it.

Thanks for the heads up.