I was so happy to find a copy available on pbs of a book that I've been wanting to read before Christmas, only to have my request denied because and I quote "I have no idea what a Bookcrossing book is, so I will not risk having to refund a credit."  Hello?  Can you not private message the requestor and ASK?  I have since amended my "requestor conditions" to include a link to the bookcrossing site's "about" page and hopefully this won't happen again.  I am just really annoyed that someone wouldn't take the time to find out if the book they had would be ok to send or find out what "Bookcrossing" is.

Thanks for letting me vent!

Well, you certainly can not PM and ask before accepting the request!  It's just not possible.  And I think many on here don't know what bookcrossing is and have no interest in finding out.  I am happy to read RC's and send my book if they fit.   I am not going to PM people nor go to sites to figure it out.   If it's clearly written - that shouldn't be needed.

I guess it's my mistake then....I was sure that I've had PM's from people who I have requested a book from asking me if "this or that" is ok.  My RC's are very clear.  Is it really MY fault if someone doesn't know or take the time to find out what Bookcrossing is?  I guess my problem is that when I didn't have that as a RC, I received a Bookcrossing book and the entire cover was plastered with the Bookcrossing "notice".......ruins a book for me and I wouldn't want to pass it on to anyone else on pbs either.

Is it really MY fault if someone doesn't know or take the time to find out what Bookcrossing is? 

No but it isn't the other persons fault that they don't know what it is either.

I guess I'm just honked off because I really wanted that book.....I obviously need to get into some Christmas spirit. :-)  And that's what the book was about. 

Forgive me...I'm normally not this cranky, but my father passed away the day before Thanksgiving, I've got a 17 year old daughter who thinks the world revolves around her and doesn't have to follow any of our rules, our dog was diagnosed with kidney disease, and we've had 5 other deaths of people we know in the last 2 weeks.  I guess this really very minor thing happening tonight really shouldn't and wouldn't have normally bothered me!!!

Hope you have a nice christmas and things get better!

I wouldn't PM if I didn't know either. Although I would probably google it for my own info. I don't PM on RCS.  Either my books meets the RC or it doesn't.  If I can't figure it out from the RCS then I decline and put in the reasoning that the requestor needs to be more specific (or less picky).  Not saying you are picky but some people are. 

I would have accepted yours because I know what a Bookcrossing book is and I knew it before I joined. But I can see why the person did w/o pming.  You can't PM until you accept. If the person puts the nickname in the RCS than there's the whole thing of how long do you wait for a response, who cancels if they transaction doesn't work out etc..,

>Well, you certainly can not PM and ask before accepting the request!  It's just not possible.

No quite true.  If the person with the RC has a public profile and identifies themselves in the RC, it is possible.

And there are probably some people who accept the RC, then PM to check and cancel if their book  really doesn't match.  That is a fairly safe approach if the is a WLed book, but if not they would be giving up their book's place in the queue.

I don't PM for RCs either...well, if the ID was in the RC and I had a simple question I might but, like has been said..then you get into the how long do I wait for a response...

It sounds like you've been having a rough time lately.     I'm sorry to hear that. 

Thanks for letting me vent!

Wow -- it sounds like you are just really being beat up emotionally!  No wonder you got so upset!  I hope things improve greatly and FAST! 

As far as your RC goes, I know you received one Book Crossing book that was a disappointment, but other than that have they been a big problem?  I think I've received two -- might have been three -- hardly a blip on the radar and they weren't "plastered."  :-) 

I have an RC myself and I've had requests declined for books that it doesn't apply to at all, even though in big, bold letters it says it only applies to certain books.  From some of the explanations, it seems like the people who are declining that way are new and don't understand that the RC is not a personal message, written just to them for that exact request, and it confuses them.  Those don't really bother me, because I know another book will come along later.  I hope that's the case for your WL book!  Good luck to you!  And I hope you're feeling better soon!

I don't PM for RCs either...well, if the ID was in the RC and I had a simple question I might but, like has been said..then you get into the how long do I wait for a response...

I haven't PM'd anyone yet about their RCs, but I would if it was a simple question.  The ones I got so far either say "PM me" -- with no way to do that before accepting, i.e., no ID in the RC -- or they want to discuss the condition of the book first.  This I have a problem with only because it's so subjective.  I can describe the book, yes, but aside from taking photos, I'm not sure if I would hit the points that are important to them. 

I think the message seems to be that if you will not be sending someone a book because of RC (or another reason), it is probably best not to provide the reason.

Actually, Richard that's not true because the site requires you to give some kind of reason.  Turning down too many requests (although not for books not meeting RCs) without good reasons can put you in violations of the terms of use.

I had the same thing happen, for a really HTF book, too. After that, I decided the "no bookcrossing" RC (or any RC) was just more trouble than it was worth.

RCs just make a lot of people nervous. And they might not want to put any extra effort into the transaction, which really is their right.

Sorry about your hard times, I hope things will start looking up soon.

Since the problem stemmed from the member not knowing what a bookcrossing book  is, and your problem with bookcrossing is the stickers....a better way to word your RC would be "I will not accept books that have Bookcrossing stickers on the cover or inside the book."  That way the person posting the book to you would not have to have knowledge of what Bookcrossing is, he/she would only have to check if those stickers were present.

Sorry you didn't get the book you wanted  :(

.

Sorry, but I'm fairly new to all of this.  What is a Bookcrossing Book?

Diane, if you go to bookcrossing.com you'll see but basically people log in a book and put a sticker with a number in it and leave it somewhere in hopes that whoever pick it up will go to the site and log it in so we can see where it has travelled.

the problem is that some BC members go nuts with the stickers and such and can ruin a book with stamps and such

www.bookcrossing.com

It is a website where you can track the travels of your books.  You register a book to your shelf, mark the book (by either writing the information in it or putting a sticker with the info), and then release the book.  It can be released by leaving it somewhere for people to find, trading it on PBS, giving it to someone to read, or whatever else you do with books you want to to get rid of.  The hope is that someone will read the book after you and log it on the website.  That lets you know that your book went on to someone else and lets you know where it has ended up most recently.  I have quite a few books registered on bookcrossing from about 5 years ago.  I entered a bunch of my books that I'd read in Mexico on the site and swapped them out for different books to read at a hostel in Guadalajara.  I've heard back from a handful of them over the years, and I saw (as recently as a year or two ago) some of them still on the trade shelf at the hostel.

because the site requires you to give some kind of reason.

Well, the site requires you to type something in the box.  Personally, I normally just type "RCs" and leave it at that. 

I know I'm repeating myself from other threads on this subject, but while Member A is absolutely allowed to have RCs, Member B is *equally* allowed to decline them...some of them, all of them, just the ones they don't meet their whimsy....whatever.  There is no "entitlement" to have RCs met, nor for the sender to explain themselves should they wish to turn then down.

Nancy, I'm sorry you've had such a hard time.  A good vent is so often helpful and this was a good a  thing as any to vent about. :-)  I also think adding something about stickers would be an great idea.  You might think your RC perfectly clear and those of us who know what BC is would agree.  However, to someone who has never heard of it before, it won't mean anything.  That seems to be what you got caught up in here.