....if you have an RWAP against you? Are you notified by PM? Or email?  Is the subject line different than "A personal message for a book you have sent"?  I've never had one and was just curious.

I'm curious also;  I've wondered about that.  I've had to rwap a book that came to me looking like it was dunked in the sink.  I got a pm from the sender, but I'm not sure how they were notified.  Maybe they were notified when I filled out the mini survey thing when you mark a book received.

The form that you fill out when you receive a book is the same one whether or not your book is RWAP. Whatever you type in the message box goes to the sender as a PM. Usually people type 'Thanks" when they receive a postable book, but if the book is RWAP they usually type some sort of alternate message there. The PM does have a different title when the book has been RWAP'd.

You can also look in your Transaction Archive to see the status of any past transaction. Anything besides a green checkmark next to a transaction is some sort of unsuccessful thing .. ranging from orders cancelled to books lost in the mail to RWAP. You can sort the view differenly so that you only see books lost in the mail, for example.

Here's an email I received from PBS for a Damaged by USPS book. I'd imagine the Damaged by Sender emails are similar but maybe a little more strongly worded.

Subject: Damaged by USPS: 'Diplomacy of Wolves (The Secret Texts, Book 1)' 

1/25/10 

PaperBackSwap Librarian to me  

Dear XXX,

Your book 'Diplomacy of Wolves (The Secret Texts, Book 1)' by Holly Lisle has been marked "received, but with a problem", and the requestor has indicated that it had arrived damaged by USPS. You received a credit for sending this book, but you may be contacted by the requestor asking for the credit back. For more information about this situation, please visit this page:

http://www.paperbackswap.com/help/help_item.php?id=344

The requestor will usually ask for credit back only if the wrapping method used to package the book appeared to be inadequate. We do not adjudicate such matters -- we do not examine the books, and can make no determination about the wrapping method. While we are sure that you can come to some equitable solution with the requestor, we cannot intercede in individual swaps.

If you need to know how to give the credit back, please see the Help Center item "How do I refund a credit to another member?" by searching the Help Center using the words "refund credit" (the item is found under the heading "Sending a Book").

If you would like to read the Help information on book-wrapping, please see the Help item "How to wrap a book" as well as the other items on wrapping in the Help Center. You can access the Help Center from the grey menu bar at the top of any page on the site.

Please remember that the requestor may be new to the club, and may have pressed the wrong button when she or he marked the book received. Please be gentle in your response to the requestor when he or she contacts you. A lone problem transaction will not reflect poorly on your account.

If you are getting a lot of these notices, you should definitely review the Help information on wrapping. We understand that no one WANTS to have the books they send damaged in the mail. However, too many "USPS-damaged book received" notices can jeopardize a member's account status.

All the best and happy reading,

The PaperBackSwap Team
Visit us at http://www.paperbackswap.com/

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED EMAIL. REPLIES TO THIS EMAIL ARE NOT READ. PLEASE USE THE FEEDBACK LINK ON THE CONTACT US PAGE FOR ALL COMMUNICATION.
 

I received a RWAP for a book that got damaged by rain en route. I received an email. The title was something like "Your book XXXXXX has been marked received with a problem." The email instructed me to log into PBS and attempt to resolve the problem.

ETA: The receiver marked the book as a regular RWAP, even though it happened while traveling.

I got an email similar to the one above when someone dinged me for sending the wrong binding.  It was their mistake not mine which I pointed out.  There was an automated email from PBS and then a PM from the requestor.  After I stopped seeing red, I responded that they should check the listing because they ordered a hardcover and received a hardcover.