I was so sad! It was water damaged, and the wrapping was totally fine. I didn't want to screw anything up, so I sent what was in the help docs word for word, which was this:

Thanks for sending the book.  Unfortunately there is a problem [explain the problem here--if this was an unpostable book you can say that the problem "makes this unpostable by site guidelines, and I won't be able to swap the book again"].  I would like a credit refund, which can be accomplished by clicking Give Refund in your transaction archive on the Request Details page for this swap, and I will be happy to mail the book back to you if you will provide postage

Of course, I replaced what was in parenthesis with the damage. I was nervous sending it, but I guess I had to. So now I have to wait for the response!

Just in case, give them a week then write again to nudge.  Also, it's best to give them a time limit to reply otherwise some folks just let it slide.  If you don't get an answer when you write again tell them this will be a black mark against them because you won't mark it resolved.  When I had a problem just saying that got the credit for me.

Cassie--

Also check your Credit Registry (available under My Account); sometimes folks just refund the credit but don't write back, and you won't be notified.  It will say "Reason: Request Refund" and list the title of the book underneath it.

I'm sorry your first transaction was a bad one, but you've done well in handling it, and hopefully it will be all smooth sailing from here.

Cheers,

Catt

Cassie,

Brace yourself for a snoodie reply, just in case.

That's too bad. I was here more than a year before I had a RWAP. Hope it goes smoother from now on.

Well she refunded my credit, and sent a reply back. She wasn't really mean about it, but you can tell she really took it personally. I understand how it can be taken personally, of course. The very first part of the message is "Well I received it that way from another member".

Isn't that annoying?  I'm not saying you are the one that spilled something on the book, just that you shouldn't have posted it, because it's against guidelines.

And then she said "Well, I'll give you your credit back, but I don't want the book mailed back to me. You can do whatever you want with it, besides post it of course".

Dont' know if that was meant to be "snoody" but whatever. I'm not bugged by it. I got my credit back and I'm happy :-)

That's a common excuse.  When I got that one I responded with  "then you should have marked it Received with a Problem and asked for your credit back" and then copy/pasted the posting guidelines. 

Sorry this was your first transaction.   My first book was a wrong book.  Completely different book than what I ordered and I though "oh crap, I just sent out a whole bunch of books and my first received book is a problem".  But it was resolved easily.  I think about of 300+ books received I've only had about 5  that I've marked RWP.  A few borderline ones that I wouldn't have posted but not bad enough to make me complain.

Sorry to hear about the unpostable book you received. One time when I received a water damage book, I also got the "I received the book like that" and just told the poster that I was sorry that another poster sent them an unpostable book and hoped all future orders went smoothly. I then thank them for responding to me and making the process easier. 

For the most part, I think swappers respond with a reason because they are embarrassed at the mistake and want to 'defend' themselves so the other person doesn't think they are a 'bad swapper'. Most people don't like to think that even for a minute somone thinks 'poorly' of them and wants to explain their mistake. 

So, in another thread, I learned that if you look in your transaction archive, there will be a little footprint next to the title, and that will tell you where that book has traveled. So, I looked, and the book in question has only traveled from her to me....so is it safe to assume she was lying when she said "I received the book in that condition, so I thought it was ok"? At least she didn't get it from anyone on here!

Cassie, she might have received the book in a game on PBS and it wouldn't have shown up in the footprint history.

so is it safe to assume she was lying

When you receive your books and there is an option to put the the book on your bookshelf on hold, the default is yes.  However (and I'm not 100% sure about this) if you switch it to "no" the footprint no longer works.  It will look like every book you post started with you.  I, personally, switch all of my received books to "no."  So she may do the same. 

But like I said, I'm not completely sure about this.