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Topic: Swapping Books

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sheardesire avatar
Subject: Swapping Books
Date Posted: 9/16/2008 11:17 AM ET
Member Since: 3/5/2007
Posts: 3
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Oh boy if I would just stop hitting the enter button before writing the question I'd be alright. My question is how do I get a book that I want? Do I look at the lists and where it says "order this Book" do I click on that ? Can someone please help me with this?  Thank you.

peculiarbookworm avatar
Amy
Friend of PBS-Gold medal
Date Posted: 9/16/2008 11:20 AM ET
Member Since: 3/11/2008
Posts: 1,986
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Basically, yes. If you have a specific title in mind, you can do a search for it to see if it's available to order.

Availability depends on supply and demand. If a book is in low supply but high demand you might want to think about adding the book to your wishlist, but it might take some time for the book to become available.

hugbandit7 avatar
Book Cover Image Group medalBook Data Correction Group medal
Date Posted: 9/16/2008 11:21 AM ET
Member Since: 5/10/2007
Posts: 5,526
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yes, if you see a book you want click on the Order This book and it will go to whoever is first in the FIFO line.  They will accept your order and then ship it to you.  If they don't respond within 5 days it will roll over to the next person in line.  Do not cancel unless you decide you don't want the book.  by weeding out those that aren't replying it will help eventualy get their accounts closed.

hugbandit7 avatar
Book Cover Image Group medalBook Data Correction Group medal
Date Posted: 9/16/2008 11:23 AM ET
Member Since: 5/10/2007
Posts: 5,526
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oh and if you hit enter before you are done you can go back in and edit your original post...this way you don't start 3 topics!

Sarah13Rose avatar
Date Posted: 9/16/2008 11:31 AM ET
Member Since: 4/9/2007
Posts: 548
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This is from the help center.  I would suggest that you also look here to answer the type of questions that you are asking.  It is very informational and detailed.

 

Edited to add....you also should have a tour guide assigned to you.   You can send them messages and they are very helpful people.  If you click on the personal messages tab at the top (under my account) there will be a tab there to directly send your tour guide a message.

 

How to request a book

It is very easy to request a book from PBS! 

All you have to do is click on a book listing and PBS will do the rest.

PBS How To:  How to Request a Book

Basic Steps:

  • Find the book
    • See How to find books to request.
    • You will need 1 credit (for a bound book) or 2 credits (for an audiobook)
    • These credits are deducted when you submit the request.
  • Request the book
    • The request will appear on your Books I've Requested tab; you can check its status there by clicking
    • When the book is marked mailed to you, you will get an email notifying you of this and the request will move to your En Route to Me tab.
  • Mark the book received when it arrives
    • This is done from your My Account page (on the En Route to Me tab there)
    • The sender gets credit when you mark the book received.

Detailed information:

Before you request:

  • First, you need at least 1 credit. 
    • Each bound book (paperback, hardback) "costs" 1 credit; audiobooks "cost" 2.
    • The credit(s) for each book order will be deducted from your account balance at the time your book request is submitted.
    • If a book is currently available to request, it will have on the listing. 
    • If a book is currently unavailable, it will have on the listing. 
      • There will also be a button on any unavailable book, to add it to your shopping cart if you can't wait for it!

When you have found a book you want:

  • Click    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 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 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 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!

That's it!

  • You can relax and wait for the book to come to you. There aren't any more steps in the process for the requestor. 
  • The sender has 5 days to respond to your book request.  Find out how to monitor your request from your account page.
  • Additional Notes:

    • you have 1 hour before your request is submitted to the sender
    • If you want to cancel this request, you can do so by clicking on the request
      You can cancel ONLY up until the sender prints the address to send the book
    • If you want to contact this sender, click  on the request to send a Personal Message 
      if you do this, the 1-hr waiting period will be eliminated, and the book request will be submitted to the sender immediately.
    • You can expect your book to arrive in about a week.
      • MediaMail transit times are variable; USPS says to allow 2 weeks, but PBS allows nearly 4.  The average transit time for all books at PBS (including those coming from military addresses outside the US and HI, AK, PR and GU) is 9 days, but most books will arrive much sooner than that.


    Last Edited on: 9/16/08 11:33 AM ET - Total times edited: 2