I just don't see the point in this. I do it but I don't get why it needs to be done. I don't ask for a credit back and I don't think it would be fair to do so, so why would I even need to put a mark on that persons account for that?

FYI I don't really care if you use plastic and that is not at all what this thread is about so please if you wanna talk about plastic wrap stick to one of the thirty other threads about it or start your own. KTHXBAI.

But wouldn't marking it "RWAP- damaged by USPS" at least alert the TPTB what was going on with the PO? 

I don't think that would be a negative mark against the sender's account, or am I wrong?

I don't really know if it counts against them or not but even so I still don't get the point. It isn't as if PBS can do anything about bad handling at a PO that isn't their own. Or can they? I don't really see how.

I think it is done so that TPTB can see if there is a trend.  If one member has received 10 RWAP damaged by USPS then there is either an issue with their PO or they are not wrapping adequately for shipment.

I think it's just to give folks another option.  If I receive a book that's been damaged by the PO, it was "Received with a Problem", even though it wasn't the sender's fault.  Many people would naturally mark a damaged book as RWAP whether it was the sender's fault or not.  Giving folks the option to mark a book "RWAP-damaged by the PO" probably provides protection for the sender--so they don't get unwarranted "regular RWAPs".

Well if it were like one piece of paper barely taped on then I would probably mark it without think. But the only times I have had a USPS damaged book the wrapping was adequate and one was even wrapped in plastic. One looked as if it had been run over by a fork lift. So I'm not talking about poor wrapping jobs I'm talking legit damage done by the PO either through negligence or poor handling. If it is legit damage done by a PO and there is a trend from a particular PO I still don't see what PBS can do about it.

I think they probably use it for tracking problems, and they do have a contact in the P.O. who handles problems for them.

TPTB helped someone who's local P.O. was hassling them about using PBS DC. PBS got in contact with their U.S.P.O. person who got involved to help get everyone down the line educated about how to handle the DC scanning issue. Problem solved last I heard.

So they do have contacts. They may even be providing statistics to them.

They (PBS) keeps statistics.  That is why they ask about hand written labels, to see how much faster the bar code labels go.  They also have a rep that handles postal issues.  Considering how much mail we generate, the organization has more clout than we do as individuals.

I didn't realize they were able to intercede at local PO's. Thanks all.

Also, if you mark a WL book RWAP-USPS, you are placed back where you were in the WL line, so RWAP-USPS also allows those members that received USPS-damaged books to return to their former place in the WL line.  

 I agree with Sheryl, I think it has a lot to do with not the sender or the post office but rather you and your spot in the wish list line! I could be wrong though. I think having as much information about the books that pass along the PBS paths can be helpful to site!

Good point Sheryl! 

There would be no way to retain your place in line without marking a book RWAP--and I wouldn't want to RWAP a member for something they didn't have any control over just to be put back at first place on the WL.

Well if I can still read it I don't care about getting back on the WL.

You can always delete yourself from the WL if your copy is still readable, but sometimes they aren't.  I received a BOB once that obviously got caught up on a conveyer belt somewhere.  The packaging literally wore away after the conveyer belt rubbing in ceasalessly, and after the packaging wore off, the first quarter or so of the top 2 books were literally sloughed off by a conveyer belt.  Definitely not readable.  had they been WL books, I would have wanted/needed to go back to the head of the WL line.

If I think a book has been damaged by the post office, I mark it that way.  I  have had a few books come through damaged, but the sender had wrapped according to the PBS instructions.  If they are following the rules, they are not in the wrong.