I've been a member of PBS for all of 3 weeks, and I'm thinking about selling my credits and quitting.

First, I've sent out over 70 books, and spent tons on postage, and have only gotten two of my wishlist books so far.  It seems that most books I want are on a long wishlist.

I've also dealt with some really rude members.  One today is nearly the last straw.  I think it's especially bad to be rude to a new member.  I wish people would look at the join date and take into account that maybe I made a mistake out of ignorance and not out of malice.

Marsha,

I am very sorry that you've had run-ins with rude members.  I promise that the majority of PBS members are not that way.  Most are very friendly and are more than willing to help folks out.  If this person was especially rude, I would definitely let the site administrators know. 

One thing you can do to help get the books on your WL is to make it public.  A lot of us who are active in the forums post WL books to one another which cuts down on the wait.  Depending on what kind of books you like, you might be able to find some WL books being offered in the genre forums (generally you have to take more than one since most people are trying to save money for postage). 

You can also make good friends here in the forums as well as at your local PBS chapter (several of them have regular meetings).  

I hope you will give us some time to show you how wonderful this community can be.  Every one always has some bad apples.

Good luck!

Mary

Hi Marsha. I'm sorry you've had a less than stellar experience so far. There are rude people wherever you go, unfortunately. I've had very few bad experiences with rudeness here, and I hope you have done with the bad streak. You've sent a lot of books! I did the same thing when I first joined and it was a bit overwhelming.

The wish lists are long, especially when you're new. That's the hard thing--waiting your turn for them. Popular books with lots of folks on the wishlist DO move pretty fast though, quicker than you might think. I personally would give us more of a chance, but then having been a member for almost four years now (hey, I just realized my anniversary is next week!) I'm kind of biased. Most folks here are great!

Cheryl

I agree about making your wish list public.... it can really help. I have been a member a little over a year and have had only 5 WL books come up, but mine are not common books either.  You have a great bookshelf by the way!

Well you've been a member less than a month. You have to give yourself time to work your way up the line on WL books. The WL lines do move unless you WL nothing but out of print/hard to find books. Also is there really nothing posted that you are interested in reading?  I mean there's almost 4mil books here-now granted that's not 4mil different books but still there thousands and thousands of different books posted-sure there's something you'd be interested in reading. 

What kind of rude comments are you getting? Are you sending out unpostable books and then refusing to refund credits?  The posting guidelines are clearly listed when you post a book-a block comes up to ask if they meet certain guidelines.  If you agree to those guidelines and then send an unpostable book out you are going to get complaints.  I don't say this to offend to just tell the truth about how it works.

I also vote for the suggestion that you maybe put your shelf on hold and you WL books on autorequest. Then you can hold off on sending any more books out until you've received some WL books.  You can also sell credits in the book bazaar to offset postage costs. I had a lot of WL audiobooks when I joined and earned like 100 credits the 1st month I was here.  I sold credits to offset the postage. 

I didn't get any WL books for the 1st month and now I get 5-6 a month if not more some months. You just have to be patient.

I would have checked out your WL to see if I had anything but you have it kept private.  I get a lot of WL books just from hanging out on the boards and chatting.  I don't get any more posted direct to me WL books anymore because I've told everybody that my WL is out of control and so people have stopped offering them to me so much. 

Wow, 70 books in three weeks. I'm stunned. My biggest disappointment about PBS is that I don't get as many orders as I expected.

Why stay? Well, It's fun. All the people I've dealt with have been nice. And I have gotten some wish wish books that are hard to find otherwise.

My wife is extremely particular and , therefore, hasn'y gotten too may books. But I could order about a hundred right now if I only got the credits. So I guess it depends what you're looking for.

Thanks for your kind replies.  When I posted my original message, I was really ticked off.  I've calmed down a bit now.

I have requested books that were not on my wishlist, and have received about 20 books.  Since I order for myself, husband, and 2 teenage sons, not all of these are in my personalTBR pile.

All the books I've sent out have been postable per PBS rules.  Most of my books are in very good to excellent condition.

The problem today concerns one of the first books I sent.  An RC had requested that the book be wrapped in plastic, since it is hurricane season.  So the next couple of books I wrapped in pressnseal because of this--I thought it would protect against water better than a plastic bag or saran wrap.  I was using the one-page label which has no wrapping instructions.  I had read many of the help docs, but hadn't seen that I shouldn't use pressnseal.

Well, today I got a really rude message from the receiver.  That the wrapper specifically states not to use pressnseal.  He treated me like I was a total idiot that couldn't read (at a book exchange site!).

I returned his credit, and explained the situation.  The followup email I got from him was polite, after I pointed out to him that I was a new member and that this instruction was not on the one-page label.

Hi Marsha,

Hey, I just received two beautiful cookbooks from you today and pmed you. They are great books with enticing recipes that I can't wait to try. One of the reasons I think you should stay is your great contribution to this site. Your bookshelf is great and I wouldn't hesitate to order more from you someday.

Wow, you have sent out a lot of books. I am with the others who suggested to put your shelf on hold for a while in order to get books for yourself. When I joined this great site, I never realized  until I did how many wonderful authors and books there are out there. I have been introduced to so many authors and books that I never knew existed. I have even expanded my genre of mysteries/thrillers to "cozy" mysteries, romance, literature and fiction, christian fiction, and even some chic lit.

Last, but not least, are the wonderful members on this site. They far outnumber the rude ones. I have received so many suggestions and helpful hints from members here who always seem to want to help. 

I hope you decide to stay here and give it a chance. I have been here since November of 2007 and I think it just keeps getting better all the time.

It does state in the rules not to use press-n-seal and it leaves gunk on the books. So I can see why he would complain.  There are a lot of people who post one here complaining that someone sent them a book wrapped in press-n-seal and how to get the sticky stuff off.  At least he was polite about it in the 2nd post and it was very nice of you to refund the credit. 

And I still suggest you take your WL off private.  Some of use here might have a WL book or 2 of yours that we can read and post to you. 

Supposedly the new WL (if they ever actually come out with it) will be set up to help newer members move up the lines faster on some of their Wl books.  I've found that most of the lines move pretty steadily.  The only ones I've had to wait a long time for are books that have been out of print for quite some time and I've actually gotten quite a few of those.  In the past 6 months I've gotten about 5 books that have been out of print for close to 20yrs.  So they do get posted. 

Thanks Connie--I hope you enjoy the cookbooks filled with recipes for things I can no longer eat!

I originally joined PBS as a way to get rid of my expansive cookbook collection so I wouldn't be tempted to cook things that are not on my restricted diet (for serious health problems).  I knew that if I mailed the books out, they would be gone forever.  I didn't trust myself just to box them up and store them.  I was overwhelmed with how popular my cookbooks were.  I  got in over my head right off the bat.  Things have slowed down now.  I'm going to wait awhile to post any more books.  Hopefully more of my WL books will show up soon.

I also believe books should be shared and not hoarded.  And with the cookbooks, there's no reason for them to sit gathering dust when someone else could be enjoying them.

I just took my WL off private.  Thanks for the advice, everyone.

Well, you goofed with the Press-N-Seal, but you made it right, which is a cool thing.  :)  I'm sorry you encountered rudeness, most folks here are friendly.  Welcome to PBS... there's a lot to take in at first, isn't there? 

I peeked at your WL and wish I had a James Herriot or two for you... I love his books! 

Well see now-I have one of your WL audio books.   I have the Man In the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie. 

I also have The Secret if Chimneys.  Can I post them both to you?  I am unemployed right now and saving some postage money would be awesome. 

Howdy and welcome to PBS. I remember my first weeks here when I got NO requests and wondered what was wrong with ME. lol You're actually lucky to have so many books out and now credits sitting around. =)

The WL books will come. Just give it time. In the meantime you can probably find other books to get.

I have been swamped with life lately and have myself on vacation hold. Just too scatterbrained to trust myself with getting books out right now.

So my advice, if you are overwhelmed, just put yourself on hold and start reading and joining in the forums and find ing more books for your Reminder List. I use my RL for putting books that I can order, but I want to see which ones I want most first. lol

So happy reading!

Another thing, Do you have your WL books on automatic notification? You want to be notified immediately if someone posts one of these.

Charity-- What do you mean by automatic notification?  Is that the same thing as autorequest?  I currently have all my WL books on 48 hour hold, because I don't want anything to be sent automatically.  Just today I found one of my WL books at the thrift store.  It would be just my luck to have it sent automatically before I removed it from my WL!

While you're waiting on your WL books,  you'll discover whole new authors and genres you never knew existed!  I certainly have since joining PBS.

Looking at your WL, you should check out the Mystery & Thrillers forum.  The genre-specific forums are great for discussing books and meeting other members with similar reading tastes.

Welcome to you, Marsha!  So sorry that you were treated rudely.  It happens, but not usually so soon.  And I know you must have been overwhelmed with sending out books and paying all the postage.  Cookbooks can be very heavy.   I have found that it helps to measure out the number of WL'd books you post at one time so that you don't get overwhelmed.  And now that you've been here a month - you're past the 26 day limit that PBS allows books before they go "lost" (officially).   So you should start seeing some momentum building up very soon on getting some of your own WL books. 

I agree with the others to come "hang out" some on the forums - there are a lot of them - some more active than others.  You will learn a lot - I still learn a lot here.   And you get to recognize the members who have the same interests you do.  Even just spending 30 min. and posting a little so others can get to know you will help a lot.  And you can put anything you are looking for in particular in your signature line along with any offers you might want to make on non-WL'd books.  

I think you'd be a great asset to PBS - we need good members who are discerning and polite.  Sometimes it's hard to sound sincere and polite on the computer...but it can be managed.  There's lots to do and see here besides just the books on bookshelves and the forums.  There are games and there are all the little things that you can do that is interesting like adding cover images to books that don't have them (especially your own) and correct book data).  There are lots of very nice people here and we need more nice people!

Please stay!

Ruth

I posted 2 WL books to Marsha tonight.  We have very similar tastes in audio books and I happened 2 of hers. 

It iss fun...it is addictive.....it is a good way to get more books and you don't have to ;leave the  house or even get out of your jammies!  You may stuble across new authors and interesting sounding books.  Give it a try and if you don't take to the book, you can just repost it.  I checked out your bookshelf and I got hungry.  You have some great  sounding cookbooks. People...come see Mrcha if oyu want cookbooks.  I have plenty of them!  Hang out in the forums and chat with us.  We love another point of view!

Welcome to your new addiction, er, hobby!!  Everyone was new once.  :)  I think you'll do just fine here.  

Well, yes, an unpleasant interaction with another member can make you want to pack your bags. We have some intense members who take their swapping very seriously.

However, if you have cookbooks you want to move out of the house, then you have come to the right place. And if you want to locate your hard-to-find books without leaving the house and without spending a fortune, then this is really the place for you.

Second and third the previous suggestions of unhiding your wishlist and putting your shelf on hold for awhile. Check out the forums, find one you like, and chat there or play a game or two while you work your way up the waiting line for the books you're looking for.

We're glad you're here.