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Topic: When is a request not a request?

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hrooster avatar
hrooster - ,
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Subject: When is a request not a request?
Date Posted: 5/14/2011 2:51 AM ET
Member Since: 1/19/2010
Posts: 389
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In my email there is the routine PBS notice "a book has been requested from you." But, no such request is on my homepage, not in the TA and no PM about any such request. Would a book that was requested, then withdrawn during the 2 hour change of heart window, show up as a request in my email provider?

 

sarap avatar
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Date Posted: 5/14/2011 5:44 AM ET
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The 1 hour "buyer's remorse" period is the waiting period before an order for a book appears on your tab. If the order is cancelled during that period, you never see it.

After the book appears on your tab, the requestor can still cancel it up until  the wrapper is printed.

ExPeruanista avatar
Date Posted: 5/14/2011 9:30 AM ET
Member Since: 1/10/2009
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Would the book requested then cancelled appear in the Transaction Archive with a big red X next to it, or is that only for books that are cancelled after the buyer's remorse time has elapsed?
Cathy avatar
Cathy A. (Cathy) - ,
Date Posted: 5/14/2011 9:42 AM ET
Member Since: 12/27/2005
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If the request is not on your My Account page, check your Transaction Archive. You can click the Request Details link to see when it was canceled.

You can also click on the other member's name from there and see if her account is now closed. If she requested a book and then changed her mind about joining PBS, I believe the request would have been canceled when they closed her account.

fangrrl avatar
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Date Posted: 5/14/2011 11:55 AM ET
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I'm kinda guessing here, but yes I think there's a short period where the transaction could be cancelled and not appear in your archive.  But it also depends on the book status (if it falls in the buyers remorse period, and maybe not on auto request)??

melanied avatar
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Date Posted: 5/14/2011 1:53 PM ET
Member Since: 8/16/2007
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A book requested and then cancelled would appear in your Transaction Archive.  Even if its cancelled during buyer's remorse it should go to the TA. The only time a request doesn't go to the TA is if it is turned down for Requester Conditions. 

A book cancelled during the 1hr buyer's remorse would not generate an email to you though, since the whole point of that time is for the requester to be able to cancel before the sender is notified of the request. There would be no PM about the request, PMs are not generated for requests. 

I would look at the time stamp inside the email. It is possible that your provider is catching these emails as spam and then releasing them long after they were sent and you are getting old emails. You can also look at your Club Communications and see when the email was originally sent.

hrooster avatar
hrooster - ,
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Date Posted: 5/14/2011 7:14 PM ET
Member Since: 1/19/2010
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Well, here is the club  communication: 

 

Type: Email to Member
Date: 5/13/2011 1:17 PM ET
Subject: Book Requested from You: 'Cold and Pure and Very Dead (Karen Pelletier, Bk 4)'
Message: Dear Chele,

A club member at PaperBackSwap.com has requested your book 'Cold and Pure and Very Dead (Karen Pelletier, Bk 4)' by Joanne Dobson. If you can mail this book, then you will receive 1 credit(s) at PaperBackSwap.com as soon as the requesting member receives it from you.

...etc...

but, again, there is no request on my home page, no record of any request for that book in my TA.  Confused, I am....

Patouie avatar
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Date Posted: 5/15/2011 5:34 AM ET
Member Since: 8/26/2006
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My understanding is that a transaction doesn't become a "transaction" here until both parties have agreed to it.  So until you click that you can send the book, the requestor can cancel without it showing in your transactions archive.  Once you've clicked you can mail the book, then if one of you cancels it will show as a canceled transaction.

I'm testing this out now.

Update:  No, my canceled order does show in my own transactions archive.  Hrooster, could you check to see if you see the canceled transaction too?

 

Edited to add: Tried the experiment: I ordered the book, then sent a PM to bypass the one hour buyer's remorse waiting period.  I then canceled the book.  The cancellation showed in my transactions archive, and,  as as posted below, the transaction showed up in Hrooster's archive, too.



Last Edited on: 5/15/11 7:47 PM ET - Total times edited: 2
hrooster avatar
hrooster - ,
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Date Posted: 5/15/2011 12:15 PM ET
Member Since: 1/19/2010
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Patty, yes it does show as a transaction in my TA. Thanks for the experiment, tho

Let me muddy the waters some more: 

On 5/13, there was a request for 2 books-one of them a WL.  The requester had an RC, and I declined. The WL book immediately rolled to the next wisher and I accepted that.  So, WL ordered at 4:02am. 2nd (Death at Devil's bridge) book ordered at 6:15 am. on 5/13. RC declined, rolls to new wisher. There is NO RECORD in my club communication of the 2nd wishers request (I was on my account page when I declined the RC request, then immediately accepted the 2nd WL request (which was obviously on autorequest)).

The "details" of that 2nd WL request state it was ordered at 3:00am on 5/13 (1 hour BEFORE the 1st wishers request) and that it was accepted at 5/13/2011 5:21pm (which means either the order time or the accepted time is patently untrue--it was IMMEDIATELY accepted)

The "request is not a request" email (but no notice of a request on my account page) came in 7 hours (at 1:17pm on 5/13)after the request for the 2nd book by 1st requester.

I contacted theTPTB about this transaction , and they tell me that I canceled "request is not a request" book due to RC's, and at the same time as the other 2.  I assure you, there were only 2 books in that request, (so, when I started this topic, I had no idea that there was any connection between these transactions.....

The point is moot I guess:  if the same initial requester had the same RC, I still would have declined.  My concern was that I don't want to be labeled "bad swapper" because I ignored a request.

cheers, chele



Last Edited on: 5/15/11 12:23 PM ET - Total times edited: 2
ExPeruanista avatar
Date Posted: 5/15/2011 12:16 PM ET
Member Since: 1/10/2009
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I've had books show up as cancelled in my transactions archive that have never appeared in a PBS 'This book requested from you' email. Usually the time requested and the time cancelled are very close together. So it looks as if, no, you don't have to accept the request for the book to show up as cancelled if the requestor cancels it.
Patouie avatar
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Date Posted: 5/15/2011 8:09 PM ET
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The requester had an RC, and I declined.

Declining an RC is different  from canceling a transaction -- the declined RC transaction won't show up in your archive. 

it was ordered at 3:00am on 5/13 (1 hour BEFORE the 1st wishers request)

The one-hour difference is likely explained by the one-hour's buyer's remorse period.  The requestor clicked to order the book at 3:00, but the request wasn't passed to you until 4:00-ish.

Even with a WL book on auto-request, there's a built-in one-hour delay, so perhaps when you thought you immeidately accepted the roll-over request, you actually were accepting a WL request for a different book?  

The "request is not a request" email (but no notice of a request on my account page) came in 7 hours (at 1:17pm on 5/13)after the request for the 2nd book by 1st requester.

Check the time in your Club Communications folder against the time you received the e-mail. It's possible that your e-mail provider is delaying your receipt of e-mails.

lionrose avatar
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Date Posted: 5/15/2011 8:43 PM ET
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Could some of the email/time stamp differences be due to the OP being in a different time zone than PBS (which is eastern I think)?

hrooster avatar
hrooster - ,
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Date Posted: 5/15/2011 10:13 PM ET
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The requestor clicked to order the book at 3:00, but the request wasn't passed to you until 4:00-ish.

The 3am request came from the 2nd (rollover) requester---one hour prior to the 1st requester's order(which is the one with the rc's, and which I declined).

so perhaps when you thought you immeidately accepted the roll-over request, you actually were accepting a WL request for a different book?

Definitely not. I have only listed one WL in recent weeks

Could some of the email/time stamp differences be due to the OP being in a different time zone than PBS (which is eastern I think)?

The "request is not a request" email (but no notice of a request on my account page) came in 7 hours (at 1:17pm on 5/13)after the request for the 2nd book by 1st requester.

All of the times listed here are from PBS, logged at "PBS" time, and the 1:17pm time of communiction is the time listed on my club communication, not the time stamp of the email.