I just received a box of books from another member.   One of the books was a childrens book which had coloring and writing on almost all of the pages.   When I wrote the person to inform them that I was removing the book from circulation as it was not suitable for posting she replied that it was a BOB book,   as if that explained it.   Did I miss something ???    The quality of the book posted should not matter whether it is traded in a box of books or for a credit as I read the rules.     Unfortunately,  I hadn't opened the book until after I noted that I had received the box.  So,  I couldn't even mention it in the rating area.   

I had something similar happen, but not with a BOB, jsut a regular request.  I marked it received, then when I went to read the book a week or so later, there were phrases, sentences, or even whole paragraphs cirecled in ink, and some notes in the margin.  I PMd the person, and their first response was "send it back and I will refund you the postage" 

I don't think so.   And this was a romance book, not anything that would be used in a highschool or college lit class, so there was really no need to have anything circled in it.  The person then offered to send me another copy she had, but after the first response, I want NOTHING to do with any future swaps. 

Lisa, I would write back to her and ask her directly if she thought that meant it was alright? I would tell her in no way do the rules allow for posting unpostable books simply because they are going to be traded in a BoB. That as a general rule, when a bad book is received in a BoB trade either another book should be sent to replace it, or a credit given to cover it. And you will accept nothing less. Tell her that you will be contacting R&R and that because BoB is a paid service, they do have a tendency to be a little more active when dealing with bad BoB swappers.

You do have a recourse besides contacting R&R, there is a response allowed for you to add to her side, even tho you have already marked it Positive, you can state that you discovered the book after you looked closer, and wish you could change the feedback to neg.

I feel for you.  I marked a book received a long time ago.  It sat on my son's shelf for about 2 months.  He picked it up this week and the spine is cleaved and the pages ready to fall out.  I will always thoroughly inspect all books now before marking them received.  It's the second time it's happened to me, but both books came from the same member, in a deal.  I hope you can get a credit back. 

I am so tired of people thinking the rules don't apply to them! Sometimes it just really makes me think I am done with this site and I have lost faith in my fellow mankind to treat others the way they would like to be treated:(

Laurie H. -

I have also gotten some really beautiful, brand spanking new books from here.   Several times I have opened the package and I'm taken aback by what great shape the book is in.  I think this site has some really great members and I've gotten some really friendly emails.  On the whole, this site has been a very positive experience for me.  I hope it improves for you too. 

Like Linda, I've had a lot of books received from here (940+) and have only had a couple that did not meet posting guidelines, so my experience here has been VERY positive. Many have been like new, and some of those were beautiful hardcovers.

However, I realize that there are always going to be people who are "takers" and are going to take what they can get while giving as little as possible. I just am fortunate in that I haven't encountered many of them here! But I've learned from reading other people's woes to ALWAYS check books over when I first get them, and then if I needed to, I'd report them as "received with a problem" so that people who have a habit of sending "bad" books get noted as such. However, if I didn't check the books when I got them and later discovered the problem, then I figure it's my own fault for not checking it right away.

BOB books, as you said, still need to meet PBS posting guidelines, so just because you're doing a credit-free swap, doesn't mean a thing! I would make sure the person is aware of that, and do the addendum to the feedback. That's about all you can do with a BOB, I think.

Cheryl

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't that book on her bookshelf?  Couldn't someone have ordered it for a credit?  WOuld she have sent it out then or would she have cancelled the request?

  I always let members know if a book I am offering has anything at all that might make it undesirable to someone. Today, I am sending a book to someone with a seriously torn cover, but I felt the book was so good, I listed it anyway, and PM'ed the person, telling her about the condition of the book. She said she still wanted it.

  I would never send a book that was badly damaged, or had food spilled all over it, but sometimes I will take a risk with a little bit of damage, as long as I let the receiver know ahead of time, giving them the chance to decide.

 Ann-Marie