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Topic: Weird Occurance

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Jollyville avatar
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Subject: Weird Occurance
Date Posted: 11/12/2011 9:02 AM ET
Member Since: 8/31/2008
Posts: 101
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Never mind, but I was correct based on the information on the package I received today....



Last Edited on: 11/12/11 12:30 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
Generic Profile avatar
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Date Posted: 11/12/2011 9:19 AM ET
Member Since: 8/27/2005
Posts: 4,138
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David, I don't think the timing of what you're describing makes sense.  If the book was still showing on her WL, that would mean it hadn't been offered to her at that point.  I don't think it would have been offered to her, shipped, arrived, and she was ready to turn around and mail it back out to you within 4 days.

Edited to Add:  I do see what you're saying about the post office scan 8 days later, but that scan could have happened after she brought it to the PO.  I guess you can look for a zero strip, which would indicate it really was mailed later.  But it seems odd that someone would think the timing would work--there are all kinds of ways a book can get delayed coming to you.  And just so you could read it 7 days earlier?  It doesn't seem worthwhile.

A lot of people DO buy books that they get tired of waiting for, so I think she probably just forgot to take it off of her wishlist.

Diane



Last Edited on: 11/12/11 9:23 AM ET - Total times edited: 1
Generic Profile avatar
Date Posted: 11/12/2011 9:53 AM ET
Member Since: 1/8/2009
Posts: 2,016
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I think it's plausible but very unlikely.

Say I'm #2 on a relatively fast-moving WL book. If I "post" a copy to the person who is #1 in the FIFO queue, that person is removed from the queue, at least temporarily, because the system thinks their wish is being fulfilled. I become #1 and get the next real copy being posted by someone else.

It's much more likely that she bought a copy because she couldn't wait, read it, posted it, and perhaps didn't mail it on time. It's also possible that she did mail it on time but it didn't register with the post office for a while.  

Cathy avatar
Cathy A. (Cathy) - ,
Date Posted: 11/12/2011 10:00 AM ET
Member Since: 12/27/2005
Posts: 4,240
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There are two possible explanations for what happened -- a simple mistake that lots of members have made or an elaborate scheme to deprive you of wish list books -- and you jump right to "elaborate scheme" as the most likely explanation?

classicana avatar
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Date Posted: 11/12/2011 10:46 AM ET
Member Since: 2/12/2006
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The 'elaborate scheme' just doesn't seem workable - ok, a person might temporarily move up one space by 'ghost-posting' a book.   BUT they have no way of knowing thata book will be posted anytime soon by yet another member...  It could be a couple of months before that happens.  When the ghost book is lost, you get your place back on WL.  Also, if she/he IS offered the book, the system removes it from the WL.    If the schemer knows someone who is planning to post a book why wouldn't that friend post it directly to his/her wishlist - wouldn't matter where they were in line.  Sorry, I just can't make your scenario work....  Actually, I hope that makes you feel BETTER about the system and the other person.

melanied avatar
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Date Posted: 11/12/2011 11:12 AM ET
Member Since: 8/16/2007
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An undesireable member would be one that posts the book to you just to get you out of the way and lets the request sit there for days, tied up while she gets the book, then cancels it. This member apparently has the book in the mail to you within the PBS time limits. I don't see why you believe she is an undesireable member. She IS SENDING YOU THE BOOK YOU WANT, all within the guidelines of the site. Sounds like a good member to me.  My bet is she probably did buy it and just posted it before she read it, but that's just a guess by me.

If she mailed the book late, you can indicate post dates in the receiving process. There is no way for you to tell from the receiver's end if she used PBS postage or PBS DC only as far as I know. You will see there is a DC and that is it. If she used PBS postage, it is doubtful she mailed it 6 days late, the post offices usually don't accept stale postage. If she used PBS DC only, you will see the post mark. The scans don't really tell you much, they could have mailed in one place in town and it got scanned in another.

classicana avatar
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Date Posted: 11/12/2011 11:19 AM ET
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I agree, Melanie.  I think she must have bought the book or it wouldn't have shown on her WL.  The questionable mailing - well, she may not have finished reading it as soon as she expected.   Maybe not considerate, but (IMO) not undesirable.

Cathy avatar
Cathy A. (Cathy) - ,
Date Posted: 11/12/2011 1:38 PM ET
Member Since: 12/27/2005
Posts: 4,240
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Now that you've gotten the book, it's a trivial matter to see whether the sender got the book from PBS as you suspected or not. Just go to your Transaction Archive, locate the book and click on the footprint. If the sender got a book with that ISBN from PBS sometime in the past, then you'll see at least two lines on the book's passport page. One showing the journey to the sender, and the second showing the journey to you. Even if she had deleted the book from her TBR pile and reposted it manually, the system would still make the assumption that it was the same book she had received and it would update the passport.

IlliniAlum83 avatar
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Date Posted: 11/16/2011 8:48 AM ET
Member Since: 4/28/2009
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I've heard from many members that they post a WL book as soon as they receive it, then start reading.  I NEVER do this, books are always done before I post.