I received a book yesterday, which in my opinion is severely water damaged. I RWAP'ed the book and the sender responded that it was "just a little wavy" and "it was like that, and I read it!" I was also informed that the cover that has humps, bumps and bubbles in it from the water damage is "in perfect condition." It's not!  I don't know how to embed images in these forums. I don't know if it's spam if I post links to the images that I took of this book, but please take a look and tell me if I am wrong about RWAPing this book? Thanks!!!

http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u354/MetalElf_Photo/DSC00132.jpg

http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u354/MetalElf_Photo/DSC00131.jpg

http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u354/MetalElf_Photo/DSC00133.jpg

No, you are not wrong to RWAP this book!  Good grief.  It's clearly water damaged and the old "it was like that when I got it" argument doesn't fly here. 

Definitely worthy of RWAP due to water damage to the front of the book. 

The damage on the cover doesn't show well in the photo (but not to say it's not there)

When I compose the RWAP letter, I usually provide the URLs to the pictures, in addition to copying them in the "anything you'd like PBS to know" box when marking the book RWAP.

There is no question that that IS water damage, not just humidity affecting pages, because it has a definite start and stop. I would RWAP it too.

You have to wonder if someone does not consider that to be water damage, what the heck do they considser to be water damage??  Part of that book has not been sprinkled or misted with water, it looks like it been downright dropped or laying in a puddle of water.   That is was water saturation. 

I don't blame you.  Great pics.  It might not have bothered him/her to read it like that but they should have known better than to repost it.  Maybe they did get burned themselves... but they could have stopped the "cycle" by marking it RWAP themselves.  It's the only way to protect the rest of us from getting damaged books.  Sometimes the problem is that people get in a hurry when they receive books, they barely look at them if at all and just mark them recieved... then later... sometimes much later when they are ready to read that book, they then notice it's got damage and knowing that they've already marked it received and lost their chance to get the credit back it makes it much easier to make excuses and just pass the problem on to someone else... maybe that's what happened with this sender.  I know I've done that... marked a book received before really looking it over only later to discover in the middle of the book or somewhere inside wavy pages... and it sucks but I didn't pass the book on to someone else.  But it taught me to really check books thoroughly before marking them received. 

I hope you get your credit back.

The first 25% or so of the book appears to have water damage.  Discoloration and/or a change of paper texture are good indicators of liquid damage.  Check the inside of the front cover, any discoloration or watermarks?  The thicker cover paper absorbs more liquid if exposed and watermarks easily.  Tough to tell in pics, but I've seen the puckering happen in cases of quality control problems in the binding process.  Paper & humidity issues tend to be more uniform throughout the book.

"it was like that..."  *headdesk*  are we keeping count yet?  Such a tedious excuse.

ETA - No Thomas, links are not considered spam here at PBS...especially book links.  There might be something in the guidelines regarding commercial or solicitation links...otherwise, feel free to use your link button 

Readable does not equal postable!!

The first page of the book shows a stain going top to bottom and more than 3/4 from the outside edge toward the cover. The pages afterward don't show the staining but they are curled and feel gritty. The inside cover doesn't show any staining that I can see. I apologize for the bad quality of the pictures. I took them with a cheap cell phone. :)

Your RWAP sounds correct.

Yep water damage there, no doubt!! Make sure to RWAP. What is it with all the water damaged books lately?

Yup, definitely water damage.

That was definiately wet.

Some of the problem is the varying degrees of standards that people have - they don't mind if they're sent a book that does not meet PBS Standards so they merely mark it received.  The sender thinks "Oh, ok, so these rules don't really matter" and continues to send out damaged books and marks the damaged ones they receive as fine.  When someone smarks them with a RWAP, they get all defensive and call up every dumb excuse in the book.

ETA: Because I lost my train of thought...    The rest just seem to think that because this is a used book site, condition doesn't matter regardless of rules.

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I wonder if they had to wring the thing out, or use a blow-dryer on it?

RWAP--Yup!

Hope  you see your credit soon!

-RD

Sometimes, these things are subjective.  But this time, judging from your images, seems to be a clear-cut case of water damage...

Just tell the sender that if they don't return a credit to you by a certain date that you'll just have to mark the RWAP as unresolved. I can't believe all the water damaged books that have been sent out lately. Then the sender has to say that they received it that way and that they'll lose credits.

I wonder if the sender thought that since the title is Over a Torrent Sea that water damage was okay.

That is a clear case of water damage. I would RWAP and ask for my credit back.

Oh I would be mad - those photos are the definition of water damage.

I received Measuring America, a paperback by Andro Linklater today that was water damaged before being wrapped up tightly in saran wrap and a taped wrapper. I quickly clicked received (not RWAP) because I didn't want to hassle anyone. Then after thinking about it all day, I PMed the sender politely explaining that the book was readable, but definately not repostable. I didn't ask for the credit back. Because of not reporting the RWAP have I lost my chance to get the credit back?

I considered the bad weather lately possibly causing damage, but I pick my books up at the USPS and there was no moisture anywhere inside the package. It traveled from Wisconsin to New York.

Unfortunately Lori, your options are very limited.  You can ask, but without having marked the book RWAP when logging it in, you don't even have the option to mark it unresolved if the sender refuses.   But good luck, it could work out!