Hi! I just joined this website recently, and recieved my first book yesterday. The book has a damaged front cover (water). The rest of it was in decent condition, however, I thought the guidelines stated that you cannot send a book out that has damage like this to the front cover. I made sure none of the ones I sent out had any damage, or writing, etc. I feel I am sticking to the guidelines and sending out books in great condition, and in return recieved one that is not up to par. What exactly should I do? 

Please be very polite. I recommend going to the Help Center and reading about problem swaps.

This is NOT typical.

The person that mailed me this book, sent a PM the same day he mailed it stating that he did see that the cover has a water stain, but since the rest of the book is in good condition, he said he mailed it anyway. What happens after I mark it RWAP? Does this person have any accountability? I don't want to spend money to send it back, but I definately won't ever feel right re posting it here. 

Unless the other member sends you the postage to return the book, you are under no obligation to do so. If the member knowingly sent a book that didnt meet the posting criteria and admitted to it, you have every right to ask for a credit refund.

I am sorry that your first ever book received here wasnt up to the club guidelines. Most swaps here go great, I hope you will stick around to find that is the case for you as well.

The very first book I received here was a paperback with a 1/4 inch hole in the back cover.  Since I wasn't reading the cover, I accepted it. Over 95% of the books I have received have been in very good to like new condition. Several others I have RWAP and gotten my credit back.

I received a hardback yesterday that started out from the sender in like new condition. It was wrapped in paper, mostly covered in tape, but it was a loose wrapper that I think contributed to the USPS machines taking a bite out of the spine. A real shame, but I didn't ask for my credit back.

So don't give up, The average condition of the books you will receive is well worth participating here.

I would mark it RWAP by sender and ask for my credit back.  Then let him know you will return the book as long as he provides the return postage as per PBS rules.  Give him a date to reply by, like 4 or 5 days.  Say you want to hear from him and get this over with so you can mark it resolved on your transaction archive.   Be sure and check your credit registry as some folks return the credit and never PM you back.  That way before you contact PBS, you want to make sure he did not already return your credit.   If you do not hear from him again after the days have passed and no credit is returned, contact PBS at the bottom of the page.  Let them know what transpired.  He should respond and give your credit back within those days.  Be sure and follow up on your transaction archive.  That way PBS can see if he is someone who may send out too many problem books or that he does give credits back on problem books.

Most people here do follow the PBS guidelines as far as book condition.  That is why the feedback on your transaction archive is important as it helps to weed out those who consistently post unpostable books.  Don't despair.

So, contact the receiver and follow that advice that others have given you. The sender already acknowledged the damage, so he should refund your credit.

However, if you don't get your credit back from him, I'm going to give you some different advice.

Normally PBS does not get involved in individual swap problems. When one person perceives a problem with a book and the other person does not agree, usually, the receiver is just out of luck, because the sender always has the option of refunding th credit or not. (And, although as a receiver this may be alarming to you ... as a sender, if someone ever reports an issue with one of your books, you will be happy that you are in control of the credit refund process).

However, you have a message from your sender that states that the book was unpostable, before they sent it. Because the sender already admitted the issue, this is the one situation where contacting PBS about the sender (IF they don't just give you back your credit) might help you. In this situation ONLY, because the sender already states the book was damaged, PBS may force the sender to refund the credit to you if the sender doesn't do it on their own.

So, contact the sender, wait about 5 days, and then contact PBS if the sender hasn't already resolved the issue, make sure you explain that the sender sent you a PM admitting the damage.

Most books that you will receive will be just fine, though. It is much more common to get books in good shape, rather than damaged books.

When he sent you the PM stating that he saw the cover had water damage and he was sending it anyway, did he ask you if this was OK with you?  Did he ask you to give your permission to send it, or did you PM him back and say "That's OK, go ahead and send it anyway?"

or was this PM more of an after fact, and he did not ask any reply of you?

My only concern is if you agreed to it by a PM with him, you may not have any recourse, IMO.

.

Don't be discouraged.  The bad transactions are really a very small percentage.  I received the complete wrong book on my very first transaction here and panicked thinking I had made a huge mistake in sending out so many books.  But I've received over 700 books now (more if you count deals and when I was a boxer).  I think I marked maybe 12-15 as RWP. Many others were ones I decided that I would be the last to pay a  credit for which you should expect. The blatantly unpostable ones have been very few,  I got my credit back on most of those

If he gives you a hard time about returning a credit, direct PBS to the PM he sent about the water damage after he mailed the book. Unless you said it wasn't a problem, it's an admission of guilt on his part.

Don't be discouraged, Michelle. The big majority of the people make sure to follow the rules of the site and send postable books.

As others have explained, please mark the book received with a problem - damaged by sender and request your credit back. If you need detailed instructions on how to do that, please read the following Help Document: http://www.paperbackswap.com/help/help_item.php?id=529

I'm so sorry that this was your first experience here. Hopefully you'll get your credit back! As others above have said, I've received many, many beautiful books through PBS, and I hope you will too.

Yes, mark it RWAP sender and let him know you would like your credit back.  He knowingly sent you a unpostable book and he should refund your credit.

I'm sorry this was your first trade, but these incidents are actually very rare.  If you stick around I think you'll agree.

As the others have said, mark it RWAP and request your credit back. He should not have sent the book knowing that the cover had water damage on it. Since you cannot re-post the book to your shelf, you are entitled to receive your credit back.

If he refuses to give it back, then contact the PBS Team. You have the PM from him where he admits sending an unpostable book, and they will intervene in this case because of his admittance.

Welcome, Michelle! Rest assured that your first transaction was NOT a typical one. It does happen occasionally--people don't read the rules, or think the rules don't apply to them...you find those sort of people in every walk of life so it's not surprising to find them here occasionally. But for the most part, transactions go nice and smoothly...I've been here going on 7 years now and have sent and received hundreds (er, thousands...!) of books. I can count the number of problem transactions on one hand, and all but a couple of those were easily resolved.

Hope your next transactions go better!

Cheryl

It might also be that he noticed the damage AFTER he printed a label with postage.  It is really hard to get refunds for printed postage.  It might have been a what the heck moment.

I always get the book in my hand before printing the label.  Had too many that had a whoops. 

Michelle, I'm sorry your first book received was a book that should have never been swapped. But don't let this bad apple sour you on PBS. I have received over a hundred books and I have never had a problem. Most look brand new or nearly brand new. Keep the faith.