I sent a correctly posted book but the person receiving the book wanted the cover art to match and when she received the book she sent me a note that said I sent the wrong book. My reply is below.

Hi, I didn't send you the wrong book, I sent you the book with the ISBN 9780446310789 which is the ISBN you requested. The binding matches. The cover does not need to match per the information from the site. I have copied and pasted that below for you.

Here I inserted the info from the site explaining cover art didn't need to match

 I'm sorry, this is not a mistake on my end and I will not be refunding the credit. I would ask you to please mark this as resolved or mistakenly marked at a problem.

Thank you.              

The response she sent said that my response was rude and that she didn't care if the isbn matched. She wanted the cover art to match (no RC). Of course,it's too late to change my response although I did say that I was sorry she thought it rude, not my intention. But do you think my response was rude?

susan/vt

No, I don't think your response was rude at all.  It was clear and to the point and let her know it was her mistake.  She could be reading rudeness into it because she doesn't want to be the one in the wrong.

Sometimes your typed words can come across as rude, there's no voice inflection or facial cues like there is in a face to face converstaion to help convey your intention.  The same thing said to someone wouldn't be seen as rude but typed out, it can be taken that way.

You were not rude but I think  that this part of your response was a bit blunt: 

"I'm sorry, this is not a mistake on my end and I will not be refunding the credit. I would ask you to please mark this as resolved or mistakenly marked at a problem."

 If I was feeling emotional about receiving a book that I was excited to be getting and then it wasn't what I really wanted I might perceive it as rude.

Your response was fine. Don't sweat it; her problem, not yours.

-RD

I agree, your response was not rude. It was clear and to the point. I don't see why you would have to be overtly apologetic when you didn't do anything wrong in the first place.

If she complaints to the Team, she doesn't have any leg to stand on.

Just for context - here is the entire series of PMs. I have removed her name of course.

Problem: Wrong Book--Different Binding or Version

The member to whom you shipped your book has sent you this personal message:

"I am teaching a class at the local High School and I need to have the same version that they are using so we can be on the same page. This version is different than the one pictured when I ordered it."

You did get credit from the system for sending the book. ***The requestor is asking you to refund credit for this book.***

For more details about this problem and how to handle it, please refer to the email sent about this transaction.

 

Looks like my whole message didn't go through. Dang. Guess it's a sign I need to just let it go. I was trying to just state the facts. I did reply to her that I wasn't trying to be rude and then told her how she might get exactly what she wanted (RC) and then again asked her to mark the transaction either resolved or marked in error.

I'd just give her a few days to breathe, and if she hasn't marked it, then PM her again in a week asking her to please mark the transaction resolved.

Rude, no, to the point yes.  I'd not sweat it.

I see your pm as to-the-point and factual, which works just fine b/c it's basically a business transaction for a book.

It's unfortunate she doesn't understand the site rules and therefore received a different book than she was hoping for.  But the mistake was her own, and there's no point in being rude to you about it.  If she doesn't do her member duty and mark the transaction resolved in a few days, you should refer the situation to TPTB.

Regarding the textbook (is the book a 'real' textbook or merely a book used in the classroom?), just because the cover is different doesn't mean the content is different than those used by her students.  In addition, textbooks often have edition numbers for each reprint that is different from previous editions/edits.  If the member ordered the wrong edition, again that is not your mistake.  But I wouldn't get into all that, b/c you mailed a book that matched ISBN, binding, and title/author...your job has been done correctly.

You're pm wasn't rude, but I thought hers was.  I would send it to tptb if she doesn'/t mark it as resolved.

Clearly she is not really that reasonable about the transaction, I'd just let her know you did not mean to be rude, just pointing out to her how the site works and leave it be.  You showed great restraint in dealing with someone who is acting very childish and unreasonable.

You were not being rude, just as others have said "to the point." This person's dilemma seemed to be rather ignorant, and it wouldn't make much sense to be nice and wander through the problem. The solution should come about as quickly as possible.

It has been resolved. Thank you for the support and help.

susan/vt

I'm glad it has been resolved and many more happy book swapping to you.

EXACT thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. She refused to mark it received. ISBN and binding were a match. Cover was different. Arghhhh..