Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Discussion Forums - Questions about PaperBackSwap Questions about PaperBackSwap

Topic: Not getting all my notifications!

Club rule - Please, if you cannot be courteous and respectful, do not post in this forum.
  Unlock Forum posting with Annual Membership.
calamari1963 avatar
Subject: Not getting all my notifications!
Date Posted: 2/12/2012 8:34 PM ET
Member Since: 7/2/2009
Posts: 76
Back To Top

I have reported this, and been told to check my settings.  But there is nothing to check; I am getting some emails.  But others I am missing because I didn't get the email that there is a book or two or three I have wish-listed.  Next thing I know, by account has been put on hold, and I get That Email.  I just missed out on another book!  In my archive communications it says I had 48 hours to answer....I don't have time to check this archive every 48 hours and I'm ready to bail!  This is so frustrating!

Generic Profile avatar
Date Posted: 2/12/2012 8:48 PM ET
Member Since: 5/15/2005
Posts: 1,328
Back To Top

There are two separate email address that I get emails from:

noreply@paperbackswap.com This is for general notifications (PMs from other members, /updates in posts I'm watching).

librarian@paperbackswap.com This is the important one that notifies me of requests or available wishlist books.

You might be able to figure out which one you are missing by comparing the emails you get with the emails they sent (these are available under 'my account', then 'club communications') and then contacting your ISP to make sure they aren't being deleted or moved to your spam folder.

melanied avatar
Standard Member medalMember of the Month medalBook Cover Image Group medalBook Data Correction Group medalTour Guide Leader medalBook Bazaar Coordinator medal
Date Posted: 2/12/2012 8:59 PM ET
Member Since: 8/16/2007
Posts: 15,234
Back To Top

If you can't check your account at least once every 2 days, you might want to consider putting your Wish List books on auto-request. That way you won't miss any offers.

Hit and miss emails getting through is exactly what happens when another member (or more) report PBS emails as spam instead of deleting them. Your provider will start catching them and not putting them through to you, or sending them through in batches much later, often too late for a wish list offer. The fact that the email is in your Club Communications, but not in your email shows that it is a problem with your internet provider not giving you your emails since they were sent, just never making it to your in-box.  Here is the Help Center document on this issue:

 

If you think you are not getting your PBS emails...

If you have changed your email address in your Account Settings recently, did you mistype it?

  • Check by logging into your account and going to Account >> Settings.  The email address the account uses is at the top of the Settings page.  You can edit it there if necessary, and click Update to apply the change.
  • Make sure that the address is correct  - including no extra spaces at the beginning or in the middle of the email.

Sometimes an email provider will block (= not deliver) some or all of our emails.  This is a misguided attempt to block spam.

  • Please note that not ALL PBS emails will be affected - usually the provider will start by blocking one or two "types" of system emails (request notification emails and Wish LIst offer notification emails are the most common). 
  • So, you may be getting some but not all of your PBS emails.

A reliable email connection with PBS is crucial to managing your account.

  • Email mishandling is most common with yahoo and hotmail, but it can happen with any email provider.
  • This problem is sometimes caused by members who mark PBS emails as "spam" as a way to delete them from their email inboxes
    • When one (for example) Yahoo user does this, it can affect ALL Yahoo users' reception of PBS emails
    • Members should ALWAYS delete emails when they have read them,  and NOT mark PBS emails as spam as a way to make the viewed email leave the inbox.
  • After holding PBS emails for a while, sometimes the email provider's email server will dump a bunch of outdated PBS emails into user inboxes; usually they just won't be delivered at all.

This is what we recommend if you suspect you are not receiving all of your PBS emails:

  • First, check your Email settings to be sure you have not opted out of any optional emails, if those are the ones you are missing.  You can get to your Email settings from My Account >> Settings.

  • Then Check your Club Communications file to see what emails PBS has sent to you:
    • Click My Account in the toolbar at the top of the site
    • Click the "Club Communications" link in the yellow bar at the top of the My Account page.
    • Here you will see all messages sent from between PBS to your User Email address during the last 45 days.
  • If you find items in your Club Communications file that you never received in your email inbox (or that were delivered to you later than they were sent by PBS):
    • you may need to adjust your spam filters in your email account
    • you should check to be sure that "librarian@paperbackswap.com" and "noreply@paperbackswap.com" and "market@paperbackswap.com" are on your list of "safe" or "accepted" senders for your email account.
      • One way to do this is to add those email addresses to your email account address book.
    • Look at your list of "blocked" senders if your email account has one; if any of the system email addresses above appear there, remove them from the "blocked"  list.

If this does not work:

  • You should contact your email provider to find out why your PaperBackSwap emails aren't getting through.
  • You should consider choosing another email address to receive your PBS emails while the matter is getting sorted out. Gmail is a good option - gmail has a good track record of handling PBS emails.
  •  You should consider putting your Wishes on auto-request, so that you don't miss Wish List offers of books that you want.  You can read about how to do this in the Help doc What is the auto-request feature on the Wish List?.
EmilyKat avatar
Limited Member medalTour Guide medalFriend of PBS-Silver medal
Date Posted: 2/12/2012 9:41 PM ET
Member Since: 7/19/2008
Posts: 15,524
Back To Top
Go to your email provider and be sure to add the two PBS addresses as approved to the junk filter. Then do the same on your own email program. That said, each provider and program is slightly different.