I received a book with the binging COMPLETELY separated from the spine.  Took the sender a over week to even read my message and she HASN'T EVEN RESPONDED. I even sent a follow-up mesage and said that I requested a refund since the book is clearly UNPOSTABLE.. How rude =(

I marked the transaction PROBLEM NOT RESOLVED & I'm more than a little irritated with her. 

My question is this:  what happens to senders who do this.  Is there any punishment?  Do they even know they're supposed to refund credits when this happens?    I vote for public flogging!

Claudia,

Keep in mind that some people don't check their email every day, and this particular person may be away from the computer long enough to have put their acccount on a vacation hold.  THey'll get your pm when they get back.  There is a way to check if they have read your pm...

In your PM page, click on the "From Me" tab... then click the box under it that says "unread"... if this person has not yeat read your message, there will be a little box checked in the left hand column.  That will at least answer THAT question.  If they haven't read it yet, perhaps they ARE awy from their account and you have to allow for that.  Oh I reread your post and see that you already knew that, sorry.  If she has read your second post, give her a few days--she may be having something going on in her life that was unexpected--hospitalized, job loss, sick family member, all these things can push their PBS account to the back burner.  Yes, I know, that is NOT what I wanted to hear when I had similar questions--I always ship my books, and respond to requests, right away, and it would bug me that others wouldn't.  But this site allows for that.

If, however, you find that the sender had seen your request for returned credit and it has been yet another few days, I would suggest contacting the site and see what to do... you have already marked it not resolved, so by now you should have your credit back, and as a minimum the site has flagged the sender's account to watch for a pattern of this.  You should be all set.  Hope this helps!

I would PM the sender again - with information from the help docs and let them know that unanswered PM's are required with a problem swap.  By not doing so they will have 2 black marks against them 1) for not responding and 2) unresolved swap.  If the PMs become rude I would report it to PBS because that is not tolerated.  PBS WON'T get involved in a swaps.  By marking the book RWAP-unresolved - if it is repeated by the send enough times the account will be suspended or cancelled. 

If a requestor sends you a Personal Message about a problem swap, you do need to reply, and to resolve the problem if there was one.  Because the requestor can provide follow-up on how the problem was handled, resolving the problem will greatly reduce the effect of a problem swap on your account record. Unresolved problems (or not Responding to PMs about a problem swap) will more seriously affect your account record, if a pattern of this accumulates on your account.  Remember that one problem swap will not harm your account, even if it is marked as unresolved by the requestor who gives follow-up on how you handled the problem. 

http://www.paperbackswap.com/help/help_index.php  (under quick tips towards the bottom)

Sorry you had to go through this - it stinks.  Be patient with the PMs because it is the dog days of summer and alot of people are on vacation.

Well, well, well. Maybe I'll have to eat my words.

I was a little peeved with her because it took her over a week to even read my (2) pm's and even then she didn't respond for a couple of days. 
Patience has never been one of my virtues =(

However, today I received a PM from her that said she disagreed about the condition of the book but was refunding my credit anyway.  She also said never to order from her again & she'd decline any future book requests from me. 

I pm'd back saying I'd notify PBS that the problem had been resolved & also return one of her credits since I only requested 1 & 2 was overly generous.

if she wants you to return the book then she would send you 2 credits to cover return postage

Actually, she never requested the book returned & I only requested a single credit to compensate for the loss of an unpostable book, so I refunded the "extra" one. 

Also, keep in mind that the book and binding may have been attached when she mailed the book and with the heat the glue finally gave way and detached from the book....so, she may truely be being honest when she says she disagrees...

ETA:  oh and another thing...everyone makes this thing about being able to see if the person has "read" the PM...well, that is no always accurate, all it really may tell you is if Someone read the PM, not if the one responsible for coorespondence read it or not....

It might also be how new or experienced that member is.   Many new or inexperienced members never read the Help Doc's and don't know where to go for help if they even know they need help. I'm glad you got your credit returned.

As much as I (and many of you) love this site...it's a fact that others don't feel as dedicated to this site and it's activity as we do.  Strange but true.  In the end, to most members it's only a way to get another book to read that doesn't cost us as much.  While I'm able to spend lots of time here, I don't know of anyone else in my life who would.  My DH and one DS spend the same (or more) time with their fantasy baseball sites and activities.  That isn't at all interesting to me.  PBS isn't interesting to them.   So I would think that there aren't the biggest percentage of membership that share our devotion or give the trading of books as much importance as we do.  That's why it's designed around being an automatice system that can serve to everyone whatever their degree of interest. 

Hard to believe that everyone else doesn't see our point of view!!  ;D

Ruth

it's a fact that others don't feel as dedicated to this site and it's activity as we do.  Strange but true

Whaaaat? What's your source!  Do you have a link? I don't believe you.

LOL. I kid.

I'm still new here, but isn't the idea of "never order from me again" basically impossible with FIFO?  Also, if you decline requests from someone you don't like, won't your book just go to the end of the FIFO line?

you are 100% correct, Purvi, with everything you said.

Purvi & Debbie B.

I tried to explain to her that with the FIFO system it was unlikely she'd get another book order from me and that I couldn't see ahead of time who I was ordering from anyway, but that I would never order from her "shelf."  I told her she should feel free to deline or "cancel" any book orders she saw coming from me.    I don't wish to order from her again, but with the FIFO system, don't see how I can pre-screen the books. 

Sure wish we had a "do not order" list, similar to the way we can "ignore" someone in the discussion forums.  Everyone who has sent me a bad book would be on it.  Fortunately, the list is fairly short.   Also fortunately, I've never had anyone complain that I've sent out a "bad book."  Hope I never do.  I do keep a ist of bad senders in my email, however.  I archive the PM's and tag them "do not order."

Someone correct me if I am wrong on this.

In the FIFO system you do have a chance to back out of the order before confirming (Process My Order). So, you can see who you are ordering from before placing the order. You have a chance to back out. Of course, then you could not order the book from someone else, in the FIFO system, until this book has been ordrered.

From the help docs:

• Click  (ORDER THIS BOOK)  on the book listing.   

If you are trying to order the book from a specific member's bookshelf:  you will need to click the button ON THE BOOKSHELF (and nowhere else) in order to be sure the request goes to that member. If you have clicked the book cover on the bookshelf to read more about the book, use the back button on your browser to GO BACK to the member's bookshelf and click "Order This Book" there.

• The Order a Book page will come up.  

If there is a message telling you to confirm your email address from the link in your Welcome email, you need to do that first. If you did not get that email, or do not have it anymore, click the link on the message to have it re-sent to you.  If you do not get the email, contact us.

• Click (ORDER MORE FROM MEMBER)  if you want to browse the sender's bookshelf for other books to include with your request.

• Add as many books as you wish (or add none) to your order from the member's bookshelf.

• When you are done selecting books, click (PREVIEW REQUEST)  on the right
  • If you need to change the ship-to address, you will have this option here.  You will need to have received 3 books from PBS before the option to select an alternate mailing address becomes available to you
     
• Click (PROCESS MY ORDER) on the bottom right of the page. Do not refresh your page or click the button again while the button says Processing, or your request may go through twice!

You can "read" the PM in the email the site sends you.  So just because it hasn't been read here, does not mean it hasn't been read.

I tried to explain to her that with the FIFO system it was unlikely she'd get another book order from me and that I couldn't see ahead of time who I was ordering from anyway, but that I would never order from her "shelf."  I told her she should feel free to deline or "cancel" any book orders she saw coming from me.    I don't wish to order from her again, but with the FIFO system, don't see how I can pre-screen the books.

I think people like to say that because it makes them feel better...sort of like "don't ever talk to me again!"..  or slamming a door. 

Of course with FIFO it doesn't work that way.  But when you first order or get an order - you can check the PM button to see who it is and what they've got because you might want to order more.  Or not.

And don't say it won't happen again that you'll not order from her or her from you...I've had FIFO match me up 2 times with two people with a big time difference between.  So it does happen once in a while.  I was suprised that it happened.  And if it's an order that goes to her...she'll have to be the one to check if it's you or not.   More than likely she'll forget by the time it might happen again.

Ruth

I get books from the same people all the time through FIFO.  If you consistently read a specific genre & you're around for a while, it's bound to happen sooner or later.  I would tell anyone who gave me that "don't order from me again!" silliness that they can take ownership of seeing that it doesn't happen.   If they don't want to send books to you, fine, they can darned well do the checking & order cancelling themselves:P

I've only had one person I told to never order from me again. I meant it. If I see her address again I'll cancel the order. I don't have time for people who can't tell what they are ordering and then get mad about it and threaten me with complete nonsense. 

I haven't had anyone I've put on my Do Not Order From list.  Fortunately.   Only recently have I been sorely tempted even. I've kept her name, and if I happen to order from her again and it goes as poorly as this one, then I'll sigh and start a post - it - note on my screen. For now,  I'll trust in the system's black marks to weed out anyone who is consistently a bad sender.

I am less convinced in its ability to weed out obnoxious receivers.

 (eta a missing word)

I just had a situation where I was told my book didn't meet the requestor's conditions.

She stated that she needed books to be wrapped in plastic so they wouldn't get wet; I accepted her request and sent her book in a bubble-wrap lined envelope (I send all my books that way OR in a first-class Tyvek envelope which is water resistant).

Since the bubble-wrap IS plastic and provides the book with a water-proof shield, I felt her request WAS met.

Am I wrong? I will refund her credit if I should, but am not so sure here...

I should add the book arrived safe and sound - no water damage (or any other kind).

Did I need to wrap it in plastic in ADDITION to the bubble-wrap? Do I need to refund her credit? I just don't think so, but would like to hear what others have to say.

(THANKS)

-Sarah

I think she should have been more specific b/c if you felt that bubble-wrap counted as wrapping in plastic then there will be many other people in the future that will do the same. I would refuse to refund b/c, at the time, you felt it met her requests & advise her to be more specific in her RC.

Sarah, did she ask for the credit back?  

I wouldn't return the credit.  IMO bubble wrap counts as plastic.  And, the book arrived fine right?  Don't sweat it   =)

Thanks. That's what I feel.

I sort of understand why some people refuse requests with RC's. I didn't before now and I won't refuse simply because someone HAS RC's, but I might be more wary in the future. I really thought her RC's were being met; I don't want a strike against me for NOT doing so.

-Sarah

I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous, Sarah.  You sent a safely packaged book, which arrived without problems.  I use my RCs as a way to ensure that I get books that I can enjoy reading, not to potentially penalize every sender who doesn't go above and beyond to cover their heinies.  Ridicuous.

Don't refund the credit.  No way PBS can penalize you for sending a book in a plastic lined envelope that didn't suffer any water damage.

I don't get her asking for a credit refund if the book arrived safe & sound to begin with.  I'm not even sure the PBS team would approve of members using RCs in this way.  There's no problem with the book, and she marks it RWAP solely because of her plastic wrap RC?  And that's strictly in her opinion to begin with.  She's not trying to recoup a lost credit or report an unpostable book being sent, she's attempting to make a point at your expense, and IMO, that's BS.  If it were me, I think I'd pass this along to the PBS team and ask them to look at it, especially if there is an RWAP involved.

IMHO, the plastic bubble wrap counted as plastic wrapping (but your water-resistant Tyvek envelopes would not count, to me).  However, your requestor may have torn the book from the envelope without paying much attention to it, and seen the book, not wrapped separately in plastic, and not realized there was a plastic bubble wrap inner lining in the envelope.  Explain to them how you were complying to their RC and hopefully that will make everything good with the other member.

I can't figure out how to open a bubble envelope without seeing it's a bubble envelope!  lol I wouldn't do any more explaining.   I'd simply not refund her credit.   She is being overly picky in my opinon.