I got my first RWAP today and I have to say I'm really angry.  The recipient says that there are pages torn out of the book.  Unless something happened to the book in the mail, which the recipient didn't indicate, I know for a fact that the book was in great shape when I sent it.  I recently read it, so I know there are no missing pages and I thumbed through the book before mailing it, and there were no lose pages.  I would actually rate the book as in better than good condition.

So, what do you do when you get a RWAP you know isn't true.  Do you give them back the credit anyway?  I don't mind giving up the credit as much as I mind rewarding untruthful behavior. 

If someone marked one of my books RWAP, and I knew without doubt that it was in excellent condition (and packaged well) when I sent it, I would simply tell them so and inform them that I would not return the credit. Maybe something like:

The book that I mailed to you was in near-perfect condition. I had just finished reading it myself, and gave it a last minute look-over before wrapping and mailing it. There were no torn pages or any other damage at all.The book I sent you was in postable condition and I will not be returning your credit.

ETA: I wouldn't assume the person is trying to deceive you. They may have their orders mixed up, or maybe the post office did damage it, and they don't know how to handle it.

If you are certain that the book was in better than PBS condition, no pages were missing, etc., then tell that to the recipient. You can say something like:

"I am sorry that you feel the book I sent you doesn't meet PBS conditions. However, I read the book prior to sending it and I know there were no missing pages in it. I also double checked it before I mailed it out to you and once again, I know it met the conditions the site requires. I respectfully decline the return of your credit because I followed the site rules."

This correspondence will be attached to the RWAP and should PBS ever need to look at it, they will be able to see it. It won't be a problem if you have a good sending history. One RWAP cannot and will not hurt your standing. If there is a pattern of RWAPs, then PBS would take action. This sounds like the first one you've gotten.

You might also mention something about it actually being damage from the PO if there are indeed pages missing. You can point out it should have been marked accordingly and that credit returns are not warranted in such situations where it was not the sender's fault for the damage.

This is a different slant and something that happened recently.  If you know the book was in good to very good condtion, I would consider this as a possibility.  Could the book she received be from another sender?  Did the first sender not mark the book mailed  (but mailed the book) the transaction is canceled and it rolled over to you? You mailed yours, but the other showed up first?  Did she check the packaging return address to make sure it was from you? 

She can check this by looking at her transaction archive. There would be two of the same book listed.  The first sender would have a red X.  Just a thought....

I was going to say what Robin said. I'm just adding that you can also check the Request Details. If you got the request just after 3:00 AM Eastern Time, then it was almost certainly a rollover request. That's not 100% conclusive though. If you got the request at some other time, it could be that the first sender clicked Cancel instead of Book Has Been Mailed, even though she did send it.

Whatever you do, I'd suggest you refrain from accusing the other person of being untruthful. That's a pretty sure way to escalate things and will almost certainly lead to unpleasantness. If you refuse to refund the credit, then yes, she will probably be resentful and she might vent on you. Just take the high road and don't respond again after politely refusing to refund her credit.

I'm fairly sure the book she received was mine because I use DC and the book was delivered to her today.  Unbelieveably it made it to her in two days.  I sent it on Thursday and it arrived on Saturday!

I have another question.  I know that PBS tracks the number of RWAP's you receive and if it looks like there is a problem, they will take action.  Do they do the same with the RWAP's you give to others?  There are two ways to receive a free book on this site.  One is to get the book but say it went lost and the other is to receive a book and claim there's something wrong with it, assuming the sender will give you the credit back.

If I had even the slightest doubt about the condition of the book I would give her back the credit in a hot minute.  I would even give the credit back if they had claimed it was the post office that damaged the book.  But since I recently read the book and it had no missing or loose pages and I looked at the book before sending it out, I know for sure there was nothing wrong with the book.

Yes - the RWAP are tracked both ways.  Anyone with too many of either will have their account looked into.

There is no reason to return this person's credit.  A firm but polite refusal is called for.  If she never marks it resolved, I wouldn't worry about it.  You know the type of boooks you send and you know you won't get these often.

I would never call the person on a lie.  That would just escalate the issue.  I'd apologize and not refund the credit.

I have a tendency to write my response, keep it on my computer, wait to reread it and sent it the next day.  When I'm less angry.

I wouldn't refund the credit either.  You know for sure that the book was in postable condition when it was sent so the receiver has to be mistaken about torn out pages or the USPS ran over the book or something.

I'd reply as already suggested, the book was in postable conditon when you sent it and you know so because you'd just finished reading it so you won't be refunding the credit.

I'm like Emily also.  I step away and cool off a bit before responding.  When you do respond, you're less emotional about it.  There's no need to get into an angry PM exchange about the book, just be firm that, if the book's damaged, it had to happen in transit and was not sent that way.

Nice suggestions ladies!

I would never accuse the person of lying to her face (via a PM) since that's not my style.  I agree that it must be a rare thing for people to RWAP to get a free book since this is my first RWAP in over 100 trades.  Oh well, I'll just chalk it up to "it is what it is" and move on.  I'm not returning the credit since I'm 100% sure there were no missing pages in the book.

An additional thought, from the Help Center document, "A requestor says there is a problem with a book I sent!" :

• If you dispute the problem as described, it is OK to ask for digital photos of the book.
  • you can provide an email address to the other member, OR she/he can upload images to a photo-hosting site like photobucket.

Definitely great suggestions. If that happened to me, I'd be mad as a hornet and I'd be bound to say something that I would regret later.

Elizabeth beat me to it. I was going to suggest PMing the person and asking for pictures of the damage.