I received a book today and when I flipped through it, it had alot of pencil underlining and writing in the margins.  This is only the 3rd time (in over 2 years) I received a book I considered to be damaged, but the first time I actually reported the problem.  Instead of just marking that it was received, I noted that that it was damaged by sender, because I don't feel comfortable in re-listing it once I have read it. I also requested my credit to be returned.

The sender sent me a note stating that reading is for enjoyment and that pencil marks can be erased.  All very true, but why should I have to go thru an entire book to erase her marks (her name is in the book, so I assume she is the only owner) just to be able to re-list it. She sounded a little snarky, and has not returned my credit-her attitude is that it is in Paperbackswaps hands.

Is that true-since I marked the book as damaged do they actually look to see if it was successfully resolved between the two parties?  Or am I just out of luck?

Susan

Yep. I would copy and paste the part of the condition guidelines that talk about writing and then let her know if you don't get the credit back in say, five days or so, you will be marking the transaction unresolved. Doing so will mean a double black mark on her account, because not only did she send out a book that didn't meet the minimum posting guidelines, she was also unwilling to do anything to resolve the situation. It won't get your credit back, but at least there is some sort of repercussions for not following the rules. If she makes a habit of it she will be kicked off the site, but only if people report her, so thank you for doing so!

Reading is for enjoyment... she should go enjoy reading the rules a bit more. Sheesh.

Thank you for the advice.  I did as you suggested, and probably pissed her off even more.  But I really didn't like her insinuating I was out to get a "free" book.  We'll see what happens.

Thanks again-

Susan

The Team does not get involved in individual swaps and will not do anything unless the sender clearly admits they sent an unpostable book and refuses to do the right thing.

I would politely tell the member that I was not looking for a free book, but a postable one. The site requires that she PM the requester letting them know about writing or highlighting and get prior approval to send it out. Since she didn't get your approval and you would not have accepted the book in that condition, she should return the credit.

Sorry you got scammed, Susan.  And the scammers seem to always say "you just wanted a free book"!

As a "box" person, I am always irritated by those who try to bypass the rules!

Liesl & Melanie...what they said. 

By enclosing the note, it appears to me the sender pretty much admits she knows the book condition is a problem...and sent it anyway.  She is required to respond to a RWAP, so don't hesitate to mark it unresolved if she doesn't come through with an acceptable reply.

PBS does not get involved between members, such as if you got your credit back or not.  But they do get involved if 1) the sender admits that they knew the book wasn't postable and sent it OR 2) naughty language.  Those need to be reported to PBS under the "contact us" under Company on the bottom of the page.  Those problems are with PBS rules, not between members.

Reporting those basically bumps the person to the top of the list of accounts to be reviewed.  Won't solve your problem.  But hopefully will prevent future ones.

Sorry for your bad experience Susan; as you will find there are more good people around here than A-holes.

-RD

 I would send this:

"Thanks for sending the book.  Unfortunately there is a problem, as I mentioned, there is writing on text pages and underlining. It does not matter if it is in pencil or pen or halloween chocolate. This makes this unpostable by site guidelines, and I won't be able to swap the book again as I will not be spending the hours to try and correct this and risk missing something.  I would like a credit refund, which can be accomplished by clicking Give Refund in your transaction archive on the Request Details page for this swap, and I will be happy to mail the book back to you if you will provide postage. As per guidelines here you have one week to respond and refund or I will have to mark this as unresolved and it will be two black marks on your account."