Hi.  The receiver of my book marked it RWAP.  She said that it had water damage and a broken spine.  It wasn't like that when I sent it.  I checked everything out pretty well.  Definitely no broken spine because I looked specifically for that.  I received several ex-library books for free and had to throw away some because of a broken spine so I was careful.  What would you do in this situation?  This is my first (and hopefully last) RWAP.

Thanks in advance.

Sue

ALWAYS respond to RWAPs.  PBS cracks down hard on folks to do not respond.  Be polite, not defensive.  Apologize. 

It is up to you if you want to refund the credit or not.  I don't without clearing up some issues, such as asking if there was damage on the outside of the envelope.  Asking how your wrapping held up.  These will help you in future trades.  And they will make the receiver feel like you are being concerned rather than defensive. 

Books do get damaged in transit.  Media mail is very hard on books. 

Here is the help page.  PBS RWAP

I would also ask her if it was possible she could post some pictures of the damage.  Ask questions to get clarification.  Maybe the book got damaged in transit...It's up to you to decide whether you refund the credit or not.  If it were me and I thought there was the slightest possibility that the damage had occured before the book left my house OR I felt that the way I had wrapped the book could have contributed to it getting damaged in the mail, I'd refund the credit and move on.  On the other hand, if I felt that there was no way that the book was damaged when it left my house and that I had done a good job with wrapping the book, I'd politely refuse to refund the credit.

She says that the wrapping was still intact and it was even wrapped in plastic.  I think that the binding must have broken in transit.  There's no way I'd send a book broken in two places.  As far as the water stain...she says that it's clear so she thinks it's water.  I don't know how the water mark got past me.   I'm going to give her the benefit of a doubt and refund her credit.  I wrapped 19 books in two days so it's possible on the water mark.  Not on the binding though. 

If I hadn't read the book then I would probably refund the credit because things like a faint water stain can slip by you when you don't actually read the book.  The spince could have gotten damaged in transit.  Or it could be that she is unclear what is accepted on PBS for spines. I'm still unclear as to what is actually a "cleaved" spine and am afraid to send out many of the books I have.  But I don't mark them RWP unless the book is clearly coming apart since it's kind of a gray area.

I recently got a book that looked great.  But it was strangely stiff.  Everything with it looked good.  The pages weren't swollen and out of shape.  But it bothered me.  I kept checking it and noticing thatmost of the signs I looked for in a damaged book weren't there.  Finally, I looked at the pages (in the sunlight) at an angle and saw that the "grain" of the paper was changed here and there.  It had been water damaged but somehow prvented from being mishapen and swollen.  Maybe was clamped shut and/or put into a deep freeze to evaporate the water.  I'm disappointed.  I don't think there's a way it would photograph with what cameras I have to show the damage.  The stiffness of the paper is the giveaway.

Ruth