i just received this book in the mail today, but it looks kinda ... well unpostable. looks like there's a water mark on the bottom and some mold at the top ... just wanted someone else to double check that this isn't postable.

http://picasaweb.google.com/imeldaj/PbsStuff#5459313481978689794

http://picasaweb.google.com/imeldaj/PbsStuff#5459313482507981538

That is definitely unpostable.  It is stained and yes, that does look like water damage.  I would ask for a credit back for sure.

I'd check the envelope / package for water damage.  Then, if they are dry, ask for a credit.  

Was the book wrapped in plasitc or another type of waterproof packaging?  If so, it was probably sent unpostable.  If not, Emily's right, check for water damage on the packaging.  It could have happened in transit. 

Personally the mold makes me think it was previous to sending (since mold usually takes a while to show up) but it's not out of the realm of possibility that it grew the mold while en route.

yeah, no it wasn't wrapped in anything apart from the paper. grrr, and i even specified on my RC to please wrap books in plastic prior to wrapping.  Ugh!!  There wasn't any water damage on the wrapping. The funny thing is they printed the label on Friday and it arrived today.  It came from the east coast!  That's crazy fast. And what's even more interesting, is the stamps that were on the package are unmarked.  You know how packages are normally marked when it goes through the machine? This one doesn't have any marks at all. But it came through the mail because the mail man gave me the package.  Super weird. The girl didn't even mark it mailed yet in the system.

If you had an RC to wrap in plastic and they didn't AND the book was unpostable to start with, then you can RWAP for both problems.  Good luck.  Sounds like it wasn't mark as mailed, so if you haven't marked it received, then it might time out and you would end up getting your credit back......

Imelda, I have one question...are you sure the book you received is from the person who is showing up in your active transactions? I would check your transaction archive to see if you had a request for this book time out/get canceled, because that seems really fast for it to get to you. Make sure the name on the packaging matches the name on the transaction that is still, apparently, in your Books I've Requested tab. If they don't match up, you don't want to RWAP the wrong person.

Are you certain it is from the person who hasn't marked it mailed yet? Double check that.

If it times out in the system, you should not just ignore it when you get your credit back, you need to mark it received (RWAP) from your Transaction Archive and stop any new requests if you can. A received books must be marked as such, unless you cannot stop getting 2 copies.

I sometimes wonder if people send the water damaged books without plastic on purpose, then they can do the "it wasn't that way when I sent it, USPS must have done it" excuse.  I've had two that tried that with perfectly dry, undamaged mailers.

I know I've gotten things where the stamps do not looked marked but they were. I asked about this at the PO and they say half the time they use ink that does not show up on the stamps.  So they could be "franked" but you cannot see it..
 

I would RWAP since they did not meet your RC.

Jennifer, I was just looking and I must have shut off my RC, so I can't say anything about not wrapping my book in plastic. She is the only person in my transaction archive. She is the person who sent it ... maybe she saw the request and was going on vacation so mailed it from where she was ... no clue. But it is just that person.

thanks xengab about the whole stamp thing. it looks super weird without any marks.

she did finally mark it mailed this afternoon so now i can mark it rwap. i don't know how long she's been a member either so i don't know if she's a newbie.

The second picture appears to be liquid damange, and therefore unpostable.