I ordered this set of Faulkner books from another member recently. I received the package today but it only contained 2 of the 3.

http://www.paperbackswap.com/Summer-Faulkner-William-Faulkner/book/0307275329/

I didn't recieve any warning from the sender. If I had, I would have canceled my request. I only made the request because it was a good deal. I already have The Sound and the Fury but felt it was worth it for the 2 for 1 on Light in August and As I Lay Dying. Unfortunately, the last one was missing or I wouldn't care. I feel I am justified in asking for my credit back. What would you do?

What you requested appears to be a 3 book set, if all the books were not received you should RWAP (and feel free to request a credit return).  Because the sender posted the books to the set ISBN, they are then obligated to send the entire set.  The sender should have included all books in the set, or posted the books FIFO individually.   

Before making a final decision tho, you might want to pm the sender.  There's a slim possibility the third book was accidentally overlooked or mailed seperately.

PM the sender and find out what happened.

This is a side issue, but if the sender posted the set under one ISBN, she should have sent the three book set for one credit. If she posted all three books separately via three individual ISBNs, of course, it's a different story.

First, I'd contact the sender, as the others said, and ask them about it. I wouldn't want to RWAP the set until after I'd done that and given the sender a chance to reply. I have heard on occasion of a book in a set being accidentally forgotten in the initial mailing, and if that's the case, I'd want to give the sender a chance to rectify the situation first, since a missing book is a situation that can be easily rectified, particularly if it's sitting on their shelf forgotten or something.

Excellent point Caviglia, I was merely addressing the missing book aspect.

I RWAP-ed the set and this is the exact message I got in return:

"I sorry to say this,that is physically impossible... I send the book myself wrapped it up and mailed it, I think I would have noticed the missing book, I wrote the scan number and mailed it, as you can see the books brand new, and have never been read, so like i said before that is physically impossible. I am sorry for your problem, but I am sticking with my word, If you would like to order another of my books,I will send it to you free of charge, just to let you know I am an honest person"

I'm not sure what to say. The package was completely enclosed in paper and tape. There were no tears that the third book could have slipped out of. I'm not interested in any of his books, I just want my credit back. How should I proceed?

To me, it sounds like she is confused about the transaction and thinks you ordered one book.

Maybe try one more time to explain it to her and give her a time limit, explaining that you will be marking the transaction unresolved on XXX date.

Unfortunately, you can't force her to return the credit.

P.S. ~ Did she send it with the box?

I don't think that is the issue. The listing is obviously for the set. He even sent the cardboard box for the set. Plus if he thought I only ordered one why would he send two in the set.

I also just checked the shipping date on the postage and it is dated October 20. He marked it shipped on October 14. I hadn't noticed this before but this doesn't make him seem very trustworthy.

I purchased this book set brand new when it was first released, and chose to sell it on Amazon.com because I didn't feel it was a good deal here to only get 1 credit when it contains 3 books.

It would be very very obvious that a book was not in the box; the space wouldn't be filled out, and the other two books would shift around. Plus, if he wrapped just the box and didn't put it in a larger box, then it would get crushed. Sorry to say this, but I don't think there is any way that he wouldn't have known the third book was missing.

Additionally, the books in that set did not have their own ISBNs listed on the backs of the books; the ISBN was only on the back of the box.

I think I would send one more PM and try to clarify. Be polite, but firm. Give a deadline for when the credit should be returned, and remind that if it isn't, you'll have to mark the transaction as unresolved and it will leave a black mark on the account.