The worst part is neither of the members are new and should know liquid damage isn't allowed. One was a keeper for my daughter & the other is a WL books that I was planning to read & repost. The one for my daughter has brown spots along the edge of the pages on the top & side of the book that leak onto the pages (not the wording though) & then in the middle 50 or so pages are wrinkled and stiff at the bottom of the pages about 3" up onto the pages. On the WL book the last 80 pages or so are wrinkled, stiff and extra dry, with obvious water damage. So it's not going to be repostable. Am I just being to picky?  I know I definitely wouldn't post them on purpose to mail out for credits & neither of the packages look like the have  liquid/water damage, so I don't think it occurred in shipping. With receiving 2 in one day, that was my first thought... they must have gotten damaged in the mail, but I'm 100% sure they weren't.

just because they are long time members doesn't mean that they have been extremely active and know all of the rules.

mark them RWAP and ask for your credit back.  If they didn't know the rules they will now!

and you are not being picky....there are rules for a reason

Liquid damage and spots wouldn't be so bad if you knew what it was.  If you start to imagine what it might be, you don't want to touch it.  Yuck.

Expecting books that you pay a credit for to meet basic PBS posting guidelines is not being picky.  You have every right to mark them RWAP and request a credit refund.  I hope you get it.  I have had to mark a lot of books RWAP lately- mostly because the ISBN did not match, but I recently had one with writing in it, and all of the senders were apologetic and refunded my credits.  Just be polite, explain the problem and why it does not meet PBS standards, and say that you will be happy to mark the problem resolved upon return of your credit.  Good luck!

Sorry it happened. I know you are a quality member here!

I think experienced people who sent such books know the rules, they just ignore them.   It's sad to get books in that type of shape.

I got 2 in box swaps that were water damaged yesterday. :-(

I think experienced people who sent such books know the rules, they just ignore them.

I'm with you there.  Every time you post a book you agree that your book meets the following conditions:

1. My book is not missing its cover.
2. My book is not an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC).
3. My book has no water damage of any kind.
4. My book has no writing, underlining or highlighting on text pages.
   (There is a textbook exception.)
5. My book is not excessively worn, and it is in good condition.

These conditions aren't hidden.  They're a pop-up on the post book screen, and you have to click that your book meets those conditions.  Um, kinda hard to miss.  I can understand an argument about "excessively worn" or somenone not recognizing an ARC, but major water damage has no excuse.

I got a water-damaged book yesterday. The sender told me that I should find my books at a "very dry" bookstore in the future. :-/

I should add that this is the only response of this kind that I've received when marking RWAP. The few others I've had all went smoothly.

That's what worries me...getting rude or uncalled for responses from the senders. I'd just rather let it go then have to deal with catty or snippy people. But they were both marked as RWAP, so we'll see what happens from here. Thanks for everyone's help, advice & nice comments! :) I actually like start to panic or feel guilty almost, even though I shouldn't, when I have to mark a book RWAP, so you all have been very helpful!

You should never, ever feel guilty about marking a transaction RWAP if there is a problem.  It helps the site work the way it is designed to work, and you are helping to educate members regarding rules they should have been aware of in the first place - it can serve as a wakeup call to them for future sendouts.  And it helps all the rest of us members by helping to remove the members who continually disregard the posting rules.

Just think of it this way:  This isn't personal.  You are simply recording a transaction detail, part of the transaction history.  You ordered a book.  It arrived with a problem.  You mark the book as received with a problem.  It's not personal, it's not a judgment of the Sender on your part.  It's simply a record of the transaction and what occurred during the transaction.

Leann, you are not the only one- whenever I have to mark a book RWAP, I have a tiny little anxiety attack every time I log on after that, because I never know how the sender is going to take it! I have been lucky so far though, with the exception of my very first RWAP within months of becoming a  member here...that book had icky brown liquid stains in the first 30+ pages of the book, and the sender basically accused me of lying to get a free credit, even after I offered to email a picture of the stains.  Then she told me to never order from her again.  Umm, no problem there!  But apart from that one, everyone has been very nice about it.  Still makes me really nervous though.  I think it is really important to be polite and give people of the benefit of the doubt when contacting them, so as not to immediately put them on the defensive.  I tell people "Thank you for sending X book, I really appreciate it!  I'm so sorry to have to mark it RWAP, but.. (fill in with problem description).  I would appreciate a refund of my credit so that I may order a copy that meets PBS posting guidelines.  If you'd like the book back, I'll gladly send it if you would like to cover postage with an additional credit- just let me know.  I will be happy to mark the problem transaction resolved upon return of my credit.  Thanks so much, and don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions".  I know there are some people who will respond negatively no matter how nice you are to them, but I have luckily not run into them (yet).  Don't feel guilty- your credits were earned honestly, and you should get what you pay for.  In the event of the worst case scenario, be content in the knowledge that karma will catch up to the mean people eventually!

I know a lot of those people sending out those books have the impression that the books are "Free" and what do we expect for free books? But they are not free when you factor in the postage on all the books we send out for credits. And at some point we bought those books. I go a little wild every time I heard the "Free" word! Get it out of your heads people -- these books cost us on the average between $2.23 and $2.58 a book -- more than I would pay at the thrift store. But the thrift store does not have the same selection as PBS! At least at the thrift store I can decide if a book is too skanky -- here other members send them to us and act offended when you ask for your credit back.

You get a skanky book, mark it RWAP and ask for your credit back.

I feel the same way! I got my first RWAP today (also water damage) and I was so nervous about messaging the sender. I kept thinking "what if they genuinely didn't notice", etc. But finally I sent them the PM. *crosses fingers that both of our senders will be nice about it* 

I have to say that while I don't want to think bad things about members of PBS because most are so kind and helpful, there are people who will send a "questionable" condition book and hope it doesn't get caught.  If it does, most will give back the credit.  A few get offended and defensive.  If it were a matter of a "free" book, then why are they so offeded when they are caught?  They know it's not free.  Nothing in life is.  All we can do is keep vigilant about the conditions and this sort of thing will keep to a small per centage of books sent.

Ruth

Leann--

As Robin wisely said, don't feel guilty about marking a problem book as RWP.  It is your civic PBS duty to do so, so that new members can review the rules, and folks trying to ignore the rules get weeded out.  If you get a rude response, report it to PBS, since that isn't allowed.

Just be polite and factual. If you have a webcam or digital camera, consider posting photos on a photo sharing site (i.e. Photobucket) and providing links so they can see the damage you are talking about.  And, of course, explicitly request your credits be returned as well.

Folks who have made an honest mistake should be reasonable about it.  I'm inclined to think the folks that get snarky about it, like Ruth said, know what they did and are mad they got caught.  Some try to intimidate you into not getting your credit back, etc, but don't fall for that nonsense.

I hope it all goes well. 

Cheers,

Catt