I received "Guide to Marine Mammals of the World" today. I'm not happy with the condition, however. The covers are beaten up (was this a discarded library copy?) and its dirty on the inside back cover. There are also dog-eared pages and I found a pressed clover in plastic inside some pages. Yes, I just found the security tag, so it most likely was a library copy. Please refund my credit. Thanks, xxxx

, I recieved this message yesterday from a PBS'r I sent a book to. The original request had NO RC"s attached to it.  The book was a decent size "soft cover' and about 4-6 years old. Yes, probably had some dogged eared pages and the cover had some wear. Not so sure about dirty inside back cover as I did look the book over and nothing in reference to that "jumped out at me".....................totally missed the pressed clover but I would find that sort of cute if I got a book that way.

My feeling is this is a used book site.........I only send very good to excellent condition USED books.....stuff I would be thrilled to be recieiving myself.. If I dont' want it ...then I assume others won't either.   She mentioned nothing about her preferences in an RC so I am not planning on returning her credit. 

Does that sound right to all??? 

She seems to think that if it's ex-library that's a problem, which is a misunderstanding. Dog-eared pages aren't necessarily a problem, either, and I'm not sure why she cares about a "pressed clover in plastic." Dirty on the inside back cover, however, is staining and not permissible, right?

If it were me I'd probably give her the benefit of the doubt on the dirty cover. After all, she seems to think that the ex-library nature of the book (along with a feeling of  "hmmmm, this isn't what I wanted to see") renders it unpostable by itself, so I'd doubt that she would make the dirty cover up. So I'd probably give her a refund based on the dirty cover, but I'd also let her know that things like dog-ears (within reason), worn covers (within reason), and ex-library copies aren't a problem, and suggest that she add an RC if she wants to avoid such things.

PBS guidelines do allow you to ask for photos of the damage, if the requestor is capable of taking them, so you might ask for pictures of the "dirty" area so that you can better understand what's going on. 

Dog-earred pages and ex-library books are postable unless there is an RC so your requestor can't mark it RWAP for those. I don't think the clover pressed in plastic would make it unpostable either, unless the clover left a stain but (since it was wrapped in plastic) I doubt that happened.

The dirty cover is the only thing that might make it unpostable. However, it's hard to tell of it's condition without pictures. I'd ask for photos on that one.

The thing I want to stress is that, if you do decide to refund the credit for the cover, I'd tell the requestor that the cover is the reason you are refunding the credit, not because of dog-earred pages, ex-library copy, or the clover (all of which are postable under PBS guidelines unless there is an RC saying otherwise).

I just sent a cake decorating book that included a page from a magazine. The magazine page had a fancy cake and a piece of pink ribbon stapled to it.  At first I thought the page was actually ripped from the book and then I realized what happened.  The owner liked the cake decorating depicted and she wanted to match the pink ribbon.  I left it - on purpose.  Now, I'm wondering if I should have removed it. 

BTW, is a 4-leaf clover good luck? Surely the pressed clover was 4-leaved. =)

So you sent the book? This line Not so sure about dirty inside back cover as I did look the book over and nothing in reference to that "jumped out at me tells me that it is uncertain (or at least unconfirmed) whether the back cover was dirty on the inside. That is the one issue mentioned that would make the book unpostable (no soiled books allowed) so IMO I would either ask for a picture to see if it was something I could have missed or I would just refund the credit. Even if I highly doubted it, unless I knew for a fact the damage described was not there when I sent the book I would return the credit.

As others have said:

ex-library book with no rc = postable.

Dog eared pages = postable

Pressed Clover = Kinda Cute

Dirty inner back cover = not postable

   For me, if I have missed the clover, I might have missed the dirty inner cover so I would ask for a photo and if it appears to me so I would refund the credit being very clear that the ONLY reason to refund is the dirty back inner cover!

I would ask her to show you the so called security tag that the library used.  Because books in general can have those 1 inch raised rectangles in them that the book store or publisher places in them.

Most libraries do not use obvious security measures and I am pretty up to date on what libraries use for security and whats avaliable.

So if possible take some photos and post them on here. :)

And as others ahve said if she did not have an RC about exlibrary books then she is SOL.

I'm agreeing with the majority here.  The only unpostable condition mentioned is the possible dirt inside back cover, ask if the receiver can post a pic.  The other conditions are personal preference, and should have been addressed with an RC if the requester has objections.