The book I received today came with a donation form for a charity. I have marked the book received without comment other than a thanks. But this was not a  charity I support (and a controversial one besides) nor do I feel it's right to include the donation form with a book. And yet I don't know whether to simply forget about it or to comment on it.

Any suggestions?

Marya,

 is it possible the sending member may have just left it in the book by mistake? maybe used as a bookmark or something? i know i  have found all sorts of things left in books i have borrowed from my local library. bookmarks,store receipts,birthday cards. even found a person's paycheck once.this was before they did thing automatically or by computer. 

As an FOL volunteer in the used bookstore, I have seen a few local charity reps stash donation envelopes in the books on our shelves......no way we could go book by book and remove anything added after we shelve them. We are supposed to pull anything out of donated books BEFORE we put them on the shelf, but not all volunteers are as attentive as my shift is. 

The donation form was not in the book, it was in the packaging and a hand written 'thank you' was on the reverc=se side of the form. I don't know if the thank you was for requesting the book or for a potential donation to the charity.

Worse yet I was unnerved by the enclosed doantion form so did not notice the book was an ARC until after marking it received. OK, that's my own misfortune but I have now sent a PM. Seeing it was an ARC tipped the need to say something.

2 strikes....yes, TPTB should definitely be informed. 

Regarding the donation form, I was about to advise Let It Go....but then you mentioned the book was an ARC.  That's not right.  I would think about sending a pm to the sender to remind them that ARCs are not swappable here.   And at the same time make a "suggestion" that including donation forms or other solicitations is also prohibited here, in case they were not aware.  Then see what they say.

ETA: this, from the Official Rules:

ARCs must NOT EVER be offered here, not in official nor unofficial swaps. They are absolutely prohibited, since

1. the ARC cannot be depended upon to contain the same story/text as the published book and

2. these items were given free to reviewers; they are not actual books.  The author and publisher did NOT get paid for the ARC and we do not support cheating authors/publishers. Posting an ARC is strictly prohibited, and ARCs may also NOT be swapped "unofficially". 

If you mistakenly DO send an ARC, the requestor will probably contact you to ask for the credit back.

• You will need to do this. You can use the Give Refund button on the transaction in your Transaction Archive (after the requestor marks the book received with a problem/wrong book)
• You are asked to confirm, for each book you Post, that it is not an ARC. (So, if you Posted an ARC you broke the rules.)

Thanks, Stephanie. The book was clearly marked as an ARC on both covers and inside as well. Nonetheless I didn't examin it closely when it arrived so tough luck for me. I have notified the sender about both the donation form and that ARCs are not permitted but have not asked for the return of my credit as I have marked it received. We'll see how the sender responds.

Ya, sometimes all we can do is hope that the other person will do the right thing.  Otherwise, it's all out of our hands.

Also, in the end, it's just a credit, right?  (Oh, and throw the donation form away and don't afford it anymore of your precious time).

....Marya....

I would mark this as RWAP.
You do not have to ask for your credit back but the sender should have checked out the book prior to wrapping and either failed to do so or may have added this to the book themselves. I would let the sender know what came with the book and that it should not have been sent. That they should be perhaps a little more careful in the future.

Media Mail requires no additional items such as solicitations, religious tracks, advertisements, letters, even old maid cards and pictures, etc....
The Shipped from and Shipped To form provided by PBS is ok as an addition.

If your book package had been inspected by the PO it would have been sent back for extra postage (usually First Class) or when it arrived you would have been asked for postage due (the USPS Pink Slip).

By doing the RWAP you put notice to all parties that something that shouldn't have happened had happened - and PBS could file this away.
If the sender does this a 2nd or 3rd time and RWAP are submitted then PBS can and should take appropiate action.
It's how the system kinda works....

Danny, I know I should have marked it RWAP but unfortunately I was focused on the stupid donation form and marked it received before realizing it was an ARC. I have sent a PM but the sender hasn't replied.

I'll wait a bit before deciding whether to point it out to TPTB. Because so many don't fill out a profile I have no way of knowing whether this is a newbie or someone who's been with PBS since day 1. Without a profile there's no way to check if the sender uses the forums or even which lever of membership the sender has. The curious thing is the sender has 0 books on his/her WL. It's not on hold nor is it private, just no books on the WL. Strange.

Marya,

I get that sometimes as well (no profile) - if i'm really interested I look at their posted books by date to 'see' when they posted books - and/or look at their Wish List for the dates they wish for them to give me an 'ideal' of how long they may have been a member....it's just an 'indicator' and nothing more...

but it also allows me to give 'feedback' as appropiate. If they are a 'newbie' then I can point out the 'rules (etc) and direct them to where they can read it themselves....if they are 'oldies'' then I give them a polite 'chastisement' (if called for) and always thru a Private Message so others are not involved. Theres never a need to embarass a member for any reason. Same same - if they are 'breaking' the rules then a reminder of the rules and where to find them may be called for...if they want to 'argue' then cut and paste the rules for their benefit....if the PBS Team needs to be involved that can always happen later - but only as a last resort - and only if really called for. (I've never had a need).

 

Did send a polite note mentioning ARCs could not be traded at PBS and pointing out the donation form should not have been included with any book. That was 2 days ago, as of now the PM remains unread.

I'll wait another day or 2 before mention it to TPTB.

As it's now nearly a week since I wrote the sender  I have contacted TPTB via the contact us form. I'm not asking for my credit to be returned but felt they should know.

Good, Marya.  I agree that PBS needs to be notified.  This could be the first notice or it could be the death knell for a bad swapper...

I haven't heard back from TPTB so have no idea what their reactions might have been or what, if anything, they told the sender. My PM to the sender remains unread.