I have three books that have been requested from my bookshelf with the following RC: 

I am not willing to accept books that come from a smoking home/environment.
I am not willing to accept books that smell of mold/mildew.

We don't smoke, so the first one is covered.

The second one is trickier. I live in an old house and my sniffer is dull. I don't think that they smell like mold/mildew, but what if the requestor thinks they do and I've just missed it? Three credits is a lot to have to give back for really nice hardback books (IMO).

Hmmmmm......

What would YOU do? Accept or decline.

I would say when in doubt, decline.

I have a bad sense of smell. I always decline RCs that ask me to smell.

I agree with the others. I decline any RC's with the word "smell" in them. It's just too subjective and not worthy of losing a credit. In your case, I definitely would not take the chance of losing three credits for "really nice hardcover books". Someone will come along and request them without an RC. It will be worth the wait.

Thanks, everyone. I've declined the request. I really dislike "smell" conditions b/c they are so hard to prove/disprove. I can't see or touch a smell. Of course if I thought a book smelled like mold or mildew, I wouldn't post it! Obviously, though, if a person feels strongly enough about it to make it a RC, they must be very, very sensitive to such a smell. I am not.   sigh

Right decision IMO, Susan.

To  me all books have a musty smell. I think it's the glue or paper.  I turn down smell ones too.  I just turned down a smoke smell one. It went on an on about how they can't even be around someone who's been near a campfire.  Well the book spent a year in my house in WA where we actively used a fireplace.  We've been here a year with no fireplace. If it had just said "not currently in a smoking environment" then I would have accepted. But it went on and on about how she gets sick just being next to someone who smelled like smoke and even old smoke smells.  I don't know how anyone in their right mind would send her a book unless they bought it new.

I would have turned it down also.  I have bad allergies and a poor sense of smell so wouldn't know if a book smelled bad or not.

Please decline. I am one of those that has an RC for non- smoke smelling books and I have bad allergies. I just received a book that was very smokey. When I contacted the sender, she stated that her room was smoke free, but her mother smoked. Because her mother smokes, and she lives in that environment, she is not aware of how bad her books are absorbing the smell. I had to put the book in the garage and give it to a friend to read until, hopefully, it will air out enough for me to read. I would rather it have been turned down.

I had the same RC the other day and I declined with a note that I could not be responsible for what someone else might consider a musty smell.  I also suggested that they reword their RCs to be less subjective.

As someone with a "smell" RC, I would agree that it is best to err on the side of caution if you have any doubt. I think declining all "smell" RCs is overkill, but I will admit that I am a bit biased on that one.

The point of the RC is to give the requestor a chance to specify more-than-PBS conditions so they can get what they are seeking and not have to use the RWAP process after the fact, in other words, to promote a happy exchange. There is no way any RC could ever be worded so that there is absolutely 100% no gray areas in it -- because even the PBS conditions are full of gray areas. All you can do is use your best judgment and, if in doubt, turn it down. That is what I expect -- oh, that, and a clear reason for why you are turning it down without being snippy about it, that would be nice, too. (grin).

And, if you suggested I change my RC, I would not accept that suggestion -- mine has been submitted to a gruelling examination here in the Forums and it is as tight and specific as it can be, even with the smell element in it.

Tim, respectfully, I think my reason was clear and not at all snippy.  Trust me, I can do snippy :  )  I can tell if I think a book smells of mold or mildew.  But, honestly, I'm not going to risk a RWAP (which would be my first ever) over what someone else might or might not smell.  As for a musty smell, What is must?  What does must smell like? I have no idea what someone would consider musty,  that is subjective. 

 I think declining all "smell" RCs is overkill, but I will admit that I am a bit biased on that one.

I'm biased the other way. I have the worst sense of smell imaginable, so to be safe and fair, I would decline all "smell" RCs. I don't care if people phrase their RCs using smell or more objective criteria, since I would just accept or decline accordingly  -- as long as they understand that just as they have a right to phrase their RC however they like, they shouldn't complain when I don't want to take that risk and send them my book.  

 I think declining all "smell" RCs is overkill.

And what happens if me with my poor sense of smell sends you (any person with a smell RC) a book that smells ok to me but you say smells like whatever it is you don't want it smell like (smoke or mildew).  Are you going to accept the fact that it didn't smell to me?  People have posted before how someone with a smell RC complained about a book smelling when to the sender it didn't smell.  And of course the requestor wanted their credit back for a perfectly postable book and of course the sender insists the book smelled fine. 

RE:  I am not willing to accept books that come from a smoking home/environment

I accept RC s that say "not from a smoking home".  I know that my home is not a smoking home.

I decline RC s that say "not from a smoking environment".  Do you  think that maybe this is a sneaky way of talking about books not smelling like smoke?  I do.  After all, what are the limitations of a smoking environment if it cannot be constrained to my home?  

My RC asks that the books be from a current non-smoking home.  Nothing about smells.  Sorry Tim I think I'd turn your smell RC down.  I can smell cigarette smoke on people sometime but there are other things that I can't smell at all.  To me my books don't smell, the majority were purchased new.  Some have been sitting on a shelf for quite a while - musty I don't know.

Meghan, not snippy is good (wide grin). If my earlier comment here came across that way, please forgive me. I am a bit sensitive over the content of my RC after I subjected it to open comments here on the forum and got pounced on by bunches of folks. What I have now is the minimum I am willing to accept and it does include not smelling (of smoke).

Everyone else, if you decline my request, please just tell me why (when you do it - not here on the forum)  so I know whether to add you to my (so far, very short) list of members to not bother with future requests. For smoke, the entire thing is the smell -- the whole point of saying you don't want it to come from a smoking home is that you don't want it to smell of smoke. So, for me, separating the smell from the environment in which the book is kept is not helpful. While I do understand that there are always extenuating circumstances, I continue to believe that reasonable people should be able to say whether their books stink. If you choose not to sniff them to be sure, please decline any RCs that mention smell. Simple enough.

I would probably turn down an RC that asks about musty myself, because I am not sure I could identify that one. I live in Memphis & my nose is frequently stopped up -- even with that, I can smell when something reeks of smoke -- but musty? Not reliably.

Oh, just for the record, I have issued one RWAP out of over 160 books received on PBS -- posted it yesterday for a book that had been (apparently) chewed on.

Oh, just for the record, I have issued one RWAP out of over 160 books received on PBS -- posted it yesterday for a book that had been (apparently) chewed on.

Now that I have in my RCs  ;  P

ed. to add - Tim your RCs need to be what works for you. And that's fine.  I'm one of those horrible people whose RCs restate PBS Postabilty Conditions.  Cut & Pasted right from the HC.  Believe me, I can empathize with folks dismissing your RCs out of hand.  But my RCs have cut back on the number of my RWAP and that works for me. 

I would decline too, and would be happy to give the reason why, "I do not accept requests with RCs attached that contain the word SMELL or ask for my subjective opinion on whether or not a book has odors."

Cheryl

I accept RC's that say "not currently in a smoking home" because my home is smoke free.  However, as a former smoker with seasonal allergies, my sense of smell is ruined, so I automatically decline any smell RC's.  A lot of my books come from a thrift store and I have no idea if they smell like smoke or anything else.  I just can't tell.