good afternoon ....

i was trying to get into chat but it seems like there was no one in chat for several days .. is it me , or do people no longer chat ?? anyway , i have a question in regards to one book . i requested a book a while ago and it seemed like the posting member ignored my request and the time ran out . request canclled # 1 .... then VERY shortly after that request was cancelled [ the book was put on my wishlist automatically ] and i got a wishlist notice that the book was available . this request also ran out again and request cancelled . now for the third time i got a notice that the book again became available , so i ordered it for the third time . i am still waiting for that request to be accepted . now , i got smart and looked at my transaction archive and found out that the same member listed the book all 3 times and yet , i am waiting for the third time for this member to come through , accept the request and mail the book out .

question i am having is , how can a arequest be timed out and relisted again and again ? i am seriously doubting that the member will come through this time and mail out . because its been allready several days an no peep from the poster . this was supposed to be a christmas present for my grandson , so obviously its allready too late for that .. but i just like to know how many times a member can post and yet not go through with a request .

thank you

old

It is very possible that this is a new member who is confused about the process, although I suppose it could happen to even more experienced members if they are trying to put a book on their shelf but keep it hold and they don't know how to do it.  If I were you I would contact TPTB ('contact us' link at the bottom of the page) and let them know what's going on. They can see your transaction archive as well as the other member's and provide education and guidance as necessary.

Gabriele - do you have RCs about this book?  If so, that might be the problem.  The sender might be turning down your request for the book because of RCs (if you have any) and then relisting, so it keeps coming back to you.  If this happens to be the case, then one of you probably needs to wait a while to either re-ask for the book or re-list the book.  Pat

sorry for sounding stupid .. but what are RCs ??

if those are restrictions , as in .. books i want and dont want .... no i have NONE of those . i actually dislike those , as i feel ... this is an exchange  of free books . if i wanted NEW books , i'd go to the book store . the guidelines of PBS are very good and weeds out defenite undesirables . wanting like new condition is beyond being picky .

and who is TPTB ???

as to time frame of requesting .. first time i requested was the middle of nov , then dec 21 , and now i re-requested a few days ago . its still on "waiting for member "...

thank you !!!

hey linda ... you are the closest PBS member i ever met , i am E of winter haven in polk !

TPTB = The Powers That Be (runners of PBS)

Most RCs (Requestor Conditions) have nothing to do with wanting new books. The vast majority of people either want non-smoking books, non-pet books, or dustjackets with their hardcovers. There is nothing "magic" about PBS's rules about book condition. TPTB just got together and made up some rules, and then very wisely gave members the ability to add to them if they wish to do so.

If you don't want to honor a RC, of course, just decline it. Someone else will be happy to get the book credit.

I agree, your issue sounds like perhaps a new member who doesn't understand what they are doing exactly. Best thing is to report them and let PBS re-educate them.

Gabrielle, sounds like you live quite close to my sister and her family, they live in Haines City.

Sorry you're having problems with your order. What book are you trying to get? Letting us know here in the forums (may) help you get it faster as someone reading this thread might have a copy they haven't had a chance to post yet. You never know...

Other reasons people use RCs are when they want a specific cover image or that a hard copy have a dust jacket or they prefer not to get library discards. All okay to ask for within the club guidelines as those things are not requirements for a postable copy and easy enough to say yes, or if not, to decline and allow the request to go to the next person posting a copy. It's not unheard of for a book to get hung up in an ordering loop if there is only one requestor and one poster. But it sounds like that's not the case but maybe there's a confused poster.

the book i had wanted was " new tricks i can do " by robert lopshire . its a dr seuss book . nothing spectacular ... i just wanted to give grandson this set of three robert lopshire books for christmas . i am aware of the different reasons people put "requests " on some books they want . please dont assume i have no clue ... or i dont care . i dont want books that reek of cigarette smoke either , but ... i dont make that a point of contention . since i am griping [ tongue in cheek here ] .... what gets me upset , if people want books that are in near pristine condition . these are USED books !!! ... deal with it . i can see DJ and HC or PB or wanting no ex-lib . yet ... !! i was an online used bookseller . some books with specific DJs or cover art can be HIGHLY valuable ... true , some swappers are most likely not aware of collectability  , but if anyone is that edition specific , they should look elsewhere ... i own several exlibrary books , that even in their beatup cover are worth several hundreds of $$$ .... i have also sold books at those prices .  i just wanted to say , some people are just ... asking for the "moon "...

anyhow , i dont want to make anyone upset here , i will shut up

gab

linda , i live SE of haines city ... about 20 min

Members can ask for whatever they want in an RC as they are spending a credit for it. Whether or not another accepts the request is another issue. I personally mail brand new books from time to time when I need a cart filler on Amazon so not all books swapped here are used. Even books I've read still look new as I am not hard on my books. The site is setup for all sorts of members.

 i just wanted to say , some people are just ... asking for the "moon "...

No, they're not. They asking for what they want, according to PBS rules, and if they want to wait for a certain copy, they're free to do so. Even if the book they want never gets posted, they're free to ask. PBS put the feature in place for a reason.

You may not have a "like new" edition of a book, but I've been able to send out quite a few of them over the years that looked like they'd never been opened. They were absolutely pristine. And I've never had a complaint from anyone asking for a Like New book. I didn't send it if I didn't think it qualified, and I've gotten some of the nicest "Thank You" notes from people with RC's. I believe the majority aren't looking for trouble, they just have a particular need and are thankful when someone is able to accomidate them.

So please don't assume that while you may not be able to meet an RC request that the person in line behind you can't meet it easily. Just give it a decline and let the order find the right sender.

i have also recieved NICE books , where i wondered if anyone ever turned a page . i have also declined requests because my book didnt meettheir condition .

YET !!! i have books on my wishlist that have been on it , since i joined PBS . and i am either  too stingy to get the book for myself on amazon , or too broke or i have other needs that are more important than a book . if i wait that long for a book that i  couldnt afford otherwise , i'd be grateful to get it any which way --- except no highlighting or torn pages .

but the point is moot , since PBS has good rules and even those can be somewhat adjusted . its a reflection of the membership that this site works soo smoothly .

blessings and good night ...

i was an online used bookseller . some books with specific DJs or cover art can be HIGHLY valuable ... true , some swappers are most likely not aware of collectability , but if anyone is that edition specific , they should look elsewhere ...

Sure, that might be true. But ordering books from PBS (and if they are available in the system, odds are they are not partiuclarly valuable or that you would have to wade thru a lot of unvaluable copies to try to get to a good one) and/or putting them on your WL where you might wait years to get a copy (if you are even the first person in line for it) isn't really a particularly effective way to obtain books.

Could you luck out and get something valuable? Sure, I'm sure it happens sometimes.  But PBS doesn't really have any effective way to hook up book dealers with copies of books that might be particularly valuable, other than by sheer dumb luck.

 i just wanted to say , some people are just ... asking for the "moon "...

And isn't it wonderful that you can (or not)! Its fabulous that so many people with so many different interests in books can all come together to see if someone else wants what they no longer want and has what they do want   Its like being able to shop every used book store in the US! 

As for your repeated poster, you can take a couple routes. Send in Feedback via the Contact Us link in the lower right and ask the PBSTeam if they can look into the member's posting pattern and see if they can help them or you can PM the member from your Transaction Archive yourself and tell them you've noticed they have posted the book 3 times now and cancelled and you were wondering if they had a problem you might be able to help them with because their posting like that ties up your request for if a member who is going to send the book were to post it.

you all are too much fun !!!  i just wish chat would work for me ...

thank you all for your good advice . i PMed the poster , i asked for help through the contact us linkie-thingie ... lets see what comes up .

and PLEASE notice ... i said i WAS an online bookseller ... i no longer am one , and now i just get books for homeschooling , gifts or what i want . i used to sell OOP childrens books [ most pre 1960s ] and antique/collectible books . i couldnt post these here anyhow , because they are too old and no ISBN . and unless you are into these kind of books , most people frown on 100year old books ... even tho its a collectible first edition , a blackie edition to boot of an OOP henty .

have a safe new years

blessings ,

One of my most cherished books is a falling apart Mary Higgins Clark (my fav author) paperback I found that has a blurb on the front about "this up-and-coming new author". A first print of one of her first books. I don't care that its not a $$$ collectible, its a collectible to ME :)