My most recent incident really irks me. I'd really love advice on how to handle this... I'm sure I'll have to eat another credit, but I don't think I should be considered at fault, here.

I received a book that was tightly wrapped, tightly taped, tightly sealed. Very well protected against the elements. but when i opened the book, there is extreme water damage to the spine, from cover to cover. this did not happen in transit.

I've tried to capture pictures of it, but the flash blanks out any detail, so you cant see anything. I'll try playing with my settings, but I don't know if I can "capture" it on film. Any suggestions here?

Anyway, here is my PM to the sender:

Thanks very much for sending this book; it was wrapped wonderfully and arrived safe and sound. Unfortunately, when I opened the book, I noticed that there was significant water damage from cover to cover, and the inside top corners of all of the pages had damage as well. Since I can't post this one back into the PBS system, I'd really appreciate it if you could refund my credit. Thanks again!

The response i received:

I THOUROUGHLY DISAGREE with you. I would NEVER send a book that was not acceptable, as I require this of other members. However, "happy reading, and enjoy".

I find this completely insulting, because here i am, holding a blatantly damaged book that could NOT have been damaged in transit due to careful wrapping. There was no damage to the outer wrapping. Do not call me a liar when i am holding a book that has distinctly discolored sections of the cover and warped pages (more than just wavy) throughout the entire novel. What do I do?

Edited for formatting. God, things show up differently on my mac vs my PC at work. LOL

Last Edited on: 2/11/09 8:27 PM ET - Total times edited: 2

I assume you did mark it RWAP, and that inbox is part of the transaction dialogue?  I'd take that as you disagreeing about a book's condition and mark it unresolved by the sender - I wouldn't bother with them anymore at all.  Add something appropriate in your follow up notes to PBS about them refusing to acknowledge that they'd sent out an unpostable book, and then just move on.  I know it stings, and you'd probably like to box their ears, but don't let it get to you.  Maybe 1 out of 10 members here would send a snarky response like that, so don't let them push your buttons.

Erica, this Help Center item is for situations such as this:

You've certainly done what it asks by PMing and requesting your credit back, but there is some other useful info.  Part of what it says is this:

I've been in this situation a couple of times.  I usually do PM back one more time and point out that I'll be marking the transaction  Unresolved.  Some members do not care, but some don't want that on their account and will refund the credit.  However, I wouldn't hesitate to mark it Unresovled whether you PM them again or not.  You asked, the answer was no and that's all you need to do.

Thanks, Beth. That's more than helpful!

Erica--

Also, taking photos of the damage from an angle, rather than straight on, may help them show up better.  And, as Liesl suggests, different lighting may help.  Flourescent lighting is good for saving energy, but not always the best for photography. :-)

Cheers,
Catt

Try taking the pictures outside in the sun light!

For taking a picture, I would suggest going outside in natural light and using your macro setting and get close to the damage.  But it sounds as though this sender won't even acknowledge that.

I feel for you....I just received a book that didn't meet my requester conditions and have had a snarky response back when notified by PM.  My sender hasn't even marked the book mailed yet, but if/when they do, I'm going to mark it RWAP.

Thanks so much everyone for the kind words and helpful advice.

It looks like we've actually been able to work things out without me having to take further pictures of the book. She sent a much kinder PM a little while after the first (without me having to respond) and we've come to an agreement on the situation. But, I will definitely keep these pointers for taking pictures in mind, since unfortunately, I'm sure this is not the last RWAP book I'll get, but hopefully it will be a rare event!

Erica, I've been on paperbackswap.com for 3+ years and 99% of the time I've encountered wonderful, pleasant people who would bend over backward to make you happy.  Unfortunately, it's that small 1% that can sour an experience.  I'm glad you were able to work things out!