I ordered a book from a PBS member, which I received today. We will forget the fact that it was supposed to be mailed almost one month ago but the post mark says that it was mailed 4 days ago.

My question deals with the fact that the book has obviously had coffee or soda spilled on it. The page edges and back cover have moisture waving and there is an obvious darken stain on the page edges. This is not a cookbook. If the member was going list a book that goes against the basic PBS condition rules then, at the very least, these details should have been disclosed to me in a PM when I ordered the book so that I could make the choice of whether to go through with the transaction nor not. 

So, now I have the book and, even with the stain, I want to keep it. But, I want to let the member and PBS know that this trade was not completely satisfactory.  I am not looking to get my credit back. I just don't want the member to think that this is something they can continue to do, unchecked. 

And, because of the last shipment, I am running up against a time issue. The date of system action is in two days. 

What is the best way to approach this? 

So, mark it RWAP - Damaged by Sender. You do not need to ask for your credit back if you don't want to. Just describe the damage in the PM and remind the other sender to check their books over more carefully before they mail them.

Regarding the late mailing, make sure you enter the postmark date on the survey field as to when it was mailed. PBS tracks those and if the other member accumulates a lot, they do take action.

In regards to the "postmark" keep in mind that a Stamped postmark is not a true indicator of the actual mail date as that can be done anywhere along the way that is is caught that it has not been stamped.  If it has postage that was computer generated at the post office with the actual date that is a more accurate date.

Mark it RWAP. Your intentions as to what you're going to do with the book have nothing to do with the fact that the book was unpostable in the

first place due to the stain.  Don't feel guilty, the sender did not follow the conditions required by PBS.

Yep, and if you do mark it RWAP and don't want your credit back, mark the P (Problem) as resolved too. :) I have done that for an excessively bent up one I got recently.

In a similar situation Maria (if I didn't ask for credit return), I've marked the RWAP as resolved if the sender responded politely to my pm.

The last 3 of 4 books i've gotten have been in poor shape.  What part of Golden Rule don't the sender's get?  I got a book that had the first page torn out (laid inside the book loose) and had food stuck to the back.  Not to mention dirty, brown, curled corners and pages.  YUCK.  The sender wanted me to ship it back to her at my expense before she gave me credit.  Dah.  No, thanks....I love getting books in good shape.  I just added requester's requirements to my profile after I got stuck with this last one. 

there seems to be an epidemic on unpostable books right now.  Mark it a RWAP and ask for your credit back.  If we don't help people to follow the rules that don't, what is going to happen to PBS. 

This is your decision, but I wouldn't let it go - I would request my credit back.  A seriously damaged and stained book is very much against the condition guidelines and it makes me mad when I get one.  I believe that without asking for the return of the credit, many of these senders won't get the message that it's a bad thing and that there are consequences that we all agreed to when we joined.  I rarely get my credit returned and I believe that I send polite PM's when it happens.  It may just be the genre I prefer that has so many people putting up unpostables.  Certainly ore men are senders although I wouldn't say it's because they are men that it happens.  If they are like my DH they'd never notice that there is a problem with the book.  But there aren't any excuses including the one that they received it like that from PBS.    I seem to be able to find all the weird senders for some reason. ;D

Ruth