Hey all, I'm a newbie here, so bear with me if I"m not quite clear.

So far, I've received 5 books, sent 7.  2 of the 5 have been RWAPs.  The first had a few pages falling out and the binding was bad.  I wanted to keep this one, so I just marked it received - I'm now wishing I'd marked it RWAP, but I'm learning.  The second I just got today, which was clearly water damaged.  I don't mind so much for myself, but I'm disappointed I can't relist it.  I marked this on RWAP, wrote a note to the sender, but didn't specifically request that I'd like my credit back.  I should have, right?  I felt like I was being mean or something. 

My question is - how do I nicely request my credit back?  And is receiving RWAP's frequent around here.  I'm not looking for perfection - I just want to relist so I can read more books.

TIA, Kelly

Out of the 500 or so books I've received I think I've only had to mark maybe 10 as RWP and got my credit back on all but 2 or 3.  You just have to say "I would like my credit back since this book clearly does not meet PBS posting guidelines". 

I appreciate the fact that everybook eventually gets to it's last person as a postable book and sometimes that person might be me.  But I will RWP a book that has obvious damage and should not have been posted. Pages falling out and water damage falls under that. 

Marking books RWP is the only way to get rid of bad senders. If it was a one time mistake then the RWP won't hurt them.  But it should make them check their books more carefully before sending them. If they're a chronic bad sender then your RWP could be the one that gets their account closed like it should be.

First of all, in my own experience, no--RWAPs are not that common. I've received almost 1400 books and I have had only 2 books that were RWAP for damage by sender, 4 that were damaged by USPS (but due to improper packaging) and 2 that were "wrong book" (as in, I ordered the hardcover, they sent the paperback, totally different ISBN.) Others have had more problems, but I consider myself very lucky.

A nice way to word it would be, something like, "Thanks for sending the book so quickly. However, it is damaged (describe damage here.) I don't expect perfect books, but this damage clearly makes the book unpostable according to PBS guidelines. (Link to Help Docs with posting guidelines.) Because I cannot repost this book for a credit once I read it, I would like my credit returned since I spent a credit for it in good faith. If you return my credit within a week, I will mark the transaction resolved. Thanks very much.

There's a lot of ways to word it...non-confrontational is best, of course. And you are NOT being mean by asking for the credit back! You are being assertive, and holding the sender to the standard that PBS expects them to follow.

Cheryl

Thanks Mary.  I'm just chalking this up to learning experience at this point.  I noticed that the book I received today (which was a WL book) relisted me on my WL.  I deleted, since I'll just read this one, then probably RAK it in the BB.  I  have to say, I just joined last week and this place is addictive:).

Cheryl - thanks for the tip about wording.  Now I'm wondering though, since I marked it RWAP, is there some way I need to indicate that transaction is resolved (since I didn't ask for a credit back?).  I'm not going to bug the sender again; my fault for not knowing what I was doing lol.

Welcome to PBS, In your transaction archive, there will be a box for the RWAP book and you can mark it resolved or unresolved there.

I think the types of books members request play a part in the RWAP books. I've had problems with quite a few of my nonfiction book requests. Sometimes I don't notice the problems until it is too late.

I hope your future transactions go better.

I'm quite willing to mark a book RWAP.  But I really think hard about it before I ask for my credit back.  If a book was clearly gross and unpostable when mailed, I'll ask for it back.  I have to consider if it is really worth the credit to possibly deal with the "but it was that way when I received it" business.  And face it, books do reach the end of their swap at some point.  One factor I do consider is how far the book has traveled.  See the little footprint on your bookshelf. 

I've also had folks overly considerate and apologetic when I have marked it damaged by USPS.  If it is well wrapped and the post office drove a truck over it or ate it in a sorting machine, then I am really fine with that.  I want the statistic recorded that the PO damaged it.  I do not expect the sender to do anything.  I mark those as resolved right away.

The tranaction archive and the credit registry are great places to find info on current and past swaps.  They are on your account page.

Hope your upcoming swaps are better.

Do call a RWAP a RWAP.  We are the quality control here.  It doesn't mean you will get your credit back, but I do think we should ask for it.  The more we do it, then hopefully, the fewer times we will have to.  Don't worry about being mean or being afraidof confrontation.  It's in the rules that we should do this. And they can't hurt you or kill you.  PBS needs to know these things or the members who do this will continue to take advantage.  Please help us enforce the condition rules.

BTW - welcome toPBS and we're glad you're here.  Hope you love it as much as I do.

Ruth

I haven't always asked for my credit back either.  I have on the really bad books. But the ones that were unpostable but still readable-I have only marked RWP and marked it resolved when I got an apoligy.  Although I've gotten the credit back when I didn't ask for one a couple. I always PM a thank you when they refund the credit. 

I always ask for my credit back when the damage is obvious or should have been obvious.

If the damage is more subtle and I think it could have been missed, then I still mark it RWAP but don't ask for the credit.

Thanks everyone.  This morning I woke up to a nasty PM.  She admitted the water damage, but it is readable, so I shouldn't be so picky.  I"m making this site a bummer, she was mad, etc.  I wrote back saying the book wasn't postable and sorry she was mad.  I also pointed out I didn't ask for my credit back.  I'm going to wait till tonight, then mark it resolved. 

I love it...she admits to the water damage but she was mad--because you called her on it. There is a difference between "readable" and "postable." I would just mark it resolved for this one, but in future I would certainly ask for the credit back for something like that right up front.

Makes me wonder sometimes...PBS is a community of readers, but apparently there are quite a few people who either 1) don't read the popup that comes up EACH AND EVERY TIME you post a book that make them promise to follow the PBS golden rule--"my books have front and back covers, all pages, NO LIQUID DAMAGE, no writing or highlighting (etc...) 2) have low reading comprehension skills or 3) are arrogant enough to think the rules just don't apply to them. Sheesh!

I hope things get better with the rest of your book transactions, Kelly. Will sacrifice a banana to the Book Goddess for you! (munch, munch)

Cheryl

I wouldn't mark it resolved if I were you.  I realize you didn't ask for your credit back, but IMO that is really the only appropriate way to resolve a problem transaction.  The fact that she was rude on top of that would lead to me promptly marking it UNresolved.

I wouldn't mark it resolved if I were you.  I realize you didn't ask for your credit back, but IMO that is really the only appropriate way to resolve a problem transaction.  The fact that she was rude on top of that would lead to me promptly marking it UNresolved.

+1

I would agree.  Even though you didn't ask for your credit back, I think the fact that she was rude and also blatantly violating PBS rules means it was not resolved.  I mean, if she had apologized, maybe.  But I don't think you should be helping her out here by suggesting she has done anything to resolve the problem, when in fact she has done the opposite.

Why would you mark it resolved? It doesn't sound like anything was resolved to me. You may not have asked for your credit back, but saying "don't be so picky" when she KNOWINGLY sent out an unpostable book isn't even an attempt at a resolution on her part. She is supposed to try and make it right.

Hmm.  In a case such as this (where I did not ask for my credit back) I would only mark it resolved if I got a credit back anyway (one person didn't bother pm'ing me back, I just logged in and saw she had refunded the credit) OR I got an appropriate response (i.e. said: I apologize & will be more careful to follow PBS guidelines in the future).  You didn't get either. 

I would think that leaving it unresolved will make it easier for PBS to see if this person makes a habit of flaunting the rules and then the site can act appropriately.

Sorry you started off with a couple of bad books. I wouldn't mark it resolved - she acknowledged there was water damage. That's one area that PBS doesn't allow any gray area.

I have a question about RWAP complaints.  Is there somewhere I can find out if a person posting a book has had RWAP complaints?  I would like to avoid sellers who have had numerous RWAP complaints.

I almost wish that this site had a feedback system like E-Bay for their sellers.  That would go a long way towards keeping people here honest and operating within the site's guidelines.

On a similar post some months ago the following was suggested as wording for a RWAP PM.  Thanks to whoever penned it.

Thank you for sending {Book} - I've been looking forward to reading it.  Unfortunately, the book has {damage}.  Per the PBS Condition Guidelines, this makes the book unpostable, as they stipulate, "Binding...Must be intact, with no separation on the inside or outside of the book" & "No stains (exception for cookbooks)."

If you'd like me to send it back to you, I'd be happy to do so if you would like to cover postage with an additional credit.  Let me know if you would like to do that.  I would appreciate a response from you by {day}, and will promptly mark the problem transaction as resolved upon the return of my original credit.  Thank you for understanding and please PM me if you have any questions.

Thanks everyone for your support and responses.  I think I'l just leave it unmarked for now, unless I get an apology (which I'm not counting on). 

I think I'l just leave it unmarked for now, unless I get an apology (which I'm not counting on).

I'd just leave it unresolved as well and send a copy of her PM to the PBS team so they know she knowingly send a liquid damaged book in spite of all the warnings they're putting up.

They can then decide if they need to talk to her now, keep an eye on her, or not. Depending on how many black marks she's racking up and how fast she's doing so.

But I definatly wouldn't mark it 'resolved'. There's certainly no reason to.

Just because you don't ask for a credit refund doesn't mean she shouldn't give you one, especially when she knows & has acknowledged that she sent you an unpostable book.  I've had two RWAPs since I've been a member here - both for damage that it appeared, from what the receivers told me - was damage I overlooked.  And actually, that's wrong, I think one of them didn't mark it RWAP at all, or even request a credit refund; she just inboxed me about the damage.  In both cases, the very first thing I did was refund the credit, and the second was to inbox these people back with my profuse apologies.  I can tell you firsthand that it happens to the most honest & well-meaning people among us.  Life is hectic and it happens.  In both cases that it happened to me, they were books I hadn't read & *thought* I had checked, I just apparently didn't check them well enough.  I think that humans are entitled to make some mistakes in life.  It's not about being infallible, but how you respond when confronted with the fact that you aren't:P

Also please quit hitting yourself in the face, 'k?

LOL, Rick!