I had to mark my first RWAP today. The book had water damage and was completely covered in packing tape.  The ENTIRE book.  As if they tried to laminate it with tape. The tape was bumpy and and sticking out over all the edges. I'm not sure if that makes it an RWAP but I'm 100% positive that the water damage does. I feel as if they were blaming me for being too picky in their response. It seems that it's common for this member to tape the entire book.  Has anyone come across this before?

I'm a bit baffled by the response. They did return my credit, which I appreciate. Should I just say thank you and move on? 

Here is my original PM:

Hi - I received the book today, thanks for sending it to me. However there is a problem with the book. Mainly, the book has water damage throughout and therefore is not postable according to PBS guidelines. Also, the entire book, front & back covers as well as the spine, are completely covered in packing tape. Again, I appreciate you sending the book to me but since it is unpostable I would like to request my credit back. Thank you.

Here is the response I received:

hi,
The water damage DID NOT come from me....I don't know how it got it,If I thought there would have been a problem with the book, I would have PM'd you BEFORE I sent it out to you.
I take very good care of my books. I cover the paperbacks in packing tape when they come to me a little worn.....to preserve them!
I have gotten so many books on here that I cannot re-post, for the simple fact that some people are just not happy with anything & complain. I am not saying that is you, but really....getting upset over packing tape!
Water damage....that book left this house in good condition.
I will refund your credit. BUT from now on try to be a little more patient and understanding to others.........We have NO control over what happens when it leaves the post office.

Geesh. I think I'd just take the credit and walk away. Granted, there are no rules outright saying that we shouldn't home laminate our books in packing tape, but I think it really should go without saying that a lot of people wouldn't be happy with that, especially if it's poorly done. I guess if this becomes a trend, the Team will need to add a new rule.

As long as you got your credit back, I'd let it go.  You won't unbundle her undies no matter what you say. 

"...Should I just say thank you and move on? "   Yes.

Although I'm a bit confused about the the cover being laminated in packing tape.  You might bounce that one off TPTB.  Tape cannot return a book to postability, and we've seen tape repairs(tidy) which are deemed ok as long as the unrepaired book is postable.  Stickers are ok also, but the entire cover?  Interesting . . .

Thank you Ladies.  I appreciate the input.  I'm just going to repond with a thank you and leave it at that. 

I wouldn't have marked it as an RWAP if it only had the tape as I didn't see anything in the rules about that.  It was the water damage that caused the problem for me. I just thought the tape was odd. Especially when it seems to be a common thing for this member to do.

I had to mark onw RWP recently for something  splattered on the side-I'm thinking coffee.  The sender refunded my credit but said she couldn't beleive that that damage was there because she checked the book and it must have happened in transit.  I had stated in my original PM that the envelope was fully intact.  Anyway she hinted that I was being picky (which I am really not) but that she refunded my credit. My only response was "Thank you for the refund of my credit and I appreciate the quick response".  I was tempted to get huffy over the thinly veiled implication that I was trying to cheat her out of a book and took the high road.

Honestly, it doesn't sound like this is her first RWAP. Hopefully she will either realize that it's easier to post books that are postable or she will be kicked off the site.

Isn't there something in the documents about not taping the wrapping to the book because it could damage it?  I would kind of think this would fall into that category.  Or if she is going to tape the whole thing up, at least do it neatly so that corners and such aren't sticking out.  How strange...

But to answer your original question, I agree with saying thanks and moving on.

I just got my first one, and I am being made out to be the bad one in all of this, I simply sadden with the whole thing. I hope yours get  fixed ASAP.

Isn't there something in the documents about not taping the wrapping to the book because it could damage it? 

My interpretation of that rule is that you don't take wrapper to the book cover because when the wrapper is taken off the book cover can be ripped.  Can't really say if it would apply here or not. 

I did get a book from another trading site a few weeks ago that had packing tape along the spine.  I think the sender taped it to try and keep the crease in the spine from getting worse.  After emailng them apparently it's a common practice, although I've never heard of a whole book taped before.  Sheesh...

You got your credit.  Don't  waste time on the rest. As for using packing tape to preserve a book, talk about cheap. 
 

-RD

I've taped whole books before. None that I would post here though. I would expect someone to dislike it. I would dislike it! Lol. I'd rather decide about my own books if I want to tape them or if they even need it.

I've used contact paper when doing the whole book. I just use packing tape when reinforcing corners.

I'd respond similarly to Mary and state that you marked the problem resolved.

I work in a public library and we laminate paperbacks. Laminate is totally different from covering a book in packing tape but we see them sometimes that patrons do themselves and then donate to us. We don't keep them because it feels uncomfortable, the edges of  the tape get dirty and it doesn't work. They sell laminate for paperbacks at Barnes and Noble and if you want your pbs laminated you should cough up the money for the real deal.

I think just a quick thank you would be best. Like someone else already said, you won't make her happy no matter what you do at this point.

susan/vt

I would be shocked and disappointed if I recieved a book "preserved" packing tape.   And at the price of packing tape these days....how is this member saving money on books ?!?!?!?!?

LOL

Actually the packing tape could make the book meet is doom quicker then it being naked.  Most of those packing tapes have acid in them, and if left on a book will just stop being sticky and fall off. It is not suited to protecting a book at all, We use book tape, has balanced ph and is many times stronger then normal packing tape. We only put it up the spine on books.   To truely protect it proper laminate is needed that is made for books (even contact is not a good thing).
In both cases the taping needs to be done BEFORE the book is worn or else the cover can be too soft to even help.

Tape if not applied in a certain manner can cause more stress on the spine too.

It seems like your sender doesn't quite "get it." She might like her books laminated in packing tape, but doing so makes her books unpostable according to PBS guidelines. Maybe she's not quite making that connection?

I also had to do a RWAP because of significant water damage (and other reasons, too). The sender was rudely adament that there was never any water damge when she had the book. I'm starting to wonder if senders tend to respond very negatively to RWAP due to water damage.

I put a book of DH's on my shelf over a year ago, then shelved it and forgot about it until I got a request for it a couple months ago.  When I pulled it off of the shelf, I decided to decline the request, reason being that someone had gotten the bright idea to "fake library laminate" it by using clear contact paper.  The edges had frayed and cracked in the past year, and now the book had icky dirt magnet adhesive stuff all around the edges of the cover.  You know what cat hair does around adhesive?

It's probably postable, but I spent about 10 minutes trying to clean it up and just went "UGH".

Anyway, don't you just love people who send out a book with damage, try to blame it on the PO, but then call you "picky"?  Not worth a response, IMO.  Just like I never responded to the person who claimed -I- damaged the water damaged book she sent me. 

I'm glad I didn't respond except for a simple thank you. It's unfortunate that the person marking it a RWAP gets blamed by the sender for either being too picky or finding water damage that wasn't there before!?!  It makes me hesitant to mark any books RWAP just so I don't have to be nervous about what kind of snarky reply I'm going to get!  Oh well, you can't win them all. I will still mark a problem book as such (while tightly crossing my fingers and hoping for a blame free response!) because I think that the rules are the reason why PBS is so great in the first place! I have to say that I have been super lucky here. I have been a member for over 2 years and this is the only book I have ever had a real problem with. 

It could be just me, but the last time I had a book water damaged via the PO (not PBS) it was still wet upon arrival. It was sent media mail arrived 2 weeks after being mailed, cool weather. And the package did have a wet spot on the outside.

Then again I've yet to find a book damaged by water through a package that the package did not show proof of that.  Has anyone else?

Fortunately, I have never received a book with water damage on the outside.  I'm pretty sure that the inside pages of a book can't be water damaged from the PO without the outside being damaged as well.  If I ever received a book like that, I would give the sender the benefit of the doubt that it was the PO.  It's really odd for someone to say that wavy pages in the middle of the book, without any other water damage, was caused by the PO.

Books damaged by the PO will always have damage also on the outside wrapping!  If it was in media mail long enough to dry on the outside, it would still have water stains visible!

AND the page that prints out at same time as the address page when you click "print wrapper" states NOT to apply any tape to the actual book!

AND the page that prints out at same time as the address page when you click "print wrapper" states NOT to apply any tape to the actual book!

I think it says not to tape the wrapper to the book. Not that tape is not allowed on the book.

Anyway, libraries seem to always tape paperbacks in my experience, and ex-library books are postable, therefore books with tape must be postable.

However, tape cannot be used to repair a condition that is otherwise unpostable ... for example, a rip in the cover of more than 1 inch is not postable, even if it has been repaired with tape. Tape on a rip less than 1 inch is still postable, though.

Do I need a RC  for "NO"  packing tape book covers?

I wonder if you got a book from the same person I did.  The book was sent to me totally covered in packing tape as well.  Which she also made out to be a normal thing to do.  However, the reason for the packing tape is because the spine of the book is usually shot.  Which it was in this books case.  Which makes the book unpostable.  I would never never never send out a book in this condition.  If the books spine is damaged to the point that it needs tape to hold it together it is unpostable.  You can always make requestor conditions that specifically state you will not accept books that are covered or have packing tape in them.