I rec'd a request, checked to see the person's profile, no profile.  I've sent books to people without public profiles before so I didn't think anything of it.  I even sent this book via First Class and today tried to email the requestor but guess what? The person's PBS account has been cancelled.  I did not get any emails from PBS cancelling the transaction and it still shows that it is in process but now its obvious that I've been scammed and will not get the credit for mailing the book.

Help me, oh wise PBS-ers so that it doesn't happen to me again... I don't have a UBS close by and up until this point, I was really enjoying trading on this site...  Thanks for reading...

:::tearfully drinking my coffee:::

~M

Just because they don't have a profile doesn't mean that they're scammers. Several people I know on PBS don't have profiles and are respectable traders. There are a lot of reasons the persons account was closed. It could even have been done by R&R temporarily for reasons unknown to anyone else. Once the book goes lost in the system you should get your credit back as they'll notice that the member is now inactive.

Even if I am the sender? Great...

So, for the sake of preventing this from happening in the future, I need to use PBS DC for each and every book... right?

I would really like to hear from someone this has happened to, it would help me for not feeling like the lone loser in the PBS world...

I think that if the book goes lost and the account shows inactive or closed that you'll be automatically credited by the system. If the book is marked lost instead of received by the system when the time is up, be sure to contact R&R and ask them to check on it.

Exactly Jane. The system will pick up the fact that the account is closed and return the credit to the system.

It's happened to me before Melissa - but w/ a BoB. I was out 5 books.  As soon as my books were marked received the account was closed. It stinks, but it happens. Luckily the wonderful people here at PBS far outweigh the few bad apples.

Personally, if her shelf is not showing active anymore and you know for sure that the PBS account is closed and your book for sure is going into la-la land I'd be contacting R&R long before the book goes lost to at least give them a head's up and see what's going on. I wouldn't wait.  But that's just me. I also don't hesitate to PM people if I have a question or concern and others are of the more "wait and see" mind.

That exact scenario has never happened to me before but one very close to it.  As a result, before I accept a book order or order a book for myself I make sure the person is relatively active on the site. In other words, have they added any books to their site lately (Read: at least this year! lol)? If not, I cancel the transaction and go buy the book at the bookstore! Or since I volunteer for the FOL, I wait for it to come through our store.

for myself I make sure the person is relatively active on the site. In other words, have they added any books to their site lately (Read: at least this year! lol)? If not, I cancel the transaction and go buy the book at the bookstore! Or since I volunteer for the FOL, I wait for it to come through our store.

It's hard to judge someone by the size of their bookshelf. Right now I've got one book on my shelf.  But I've mailed almost 500 books. I've never had one book go lost or had one book marked  received with a problem. The reason I have only one book on my shelf right now is that I'd say 95% of the books I read are WL books that get requested immediately  or very quickly after posting. (and if they're not I try and use them for games). I'm on this site all day long. I'm a games moderator and a tour guide.  But by the above post, I'm going to assume you'd look at my shelf and see I only have 1 book - therefore you'd cancel the transaction and go buy it somewhere else?  I'm not trying to sound snarky - but I think it's unfair to assume just because someone has a few books on their shelf that they're going to scam you some how.

Thank you for the advice. I did send a "help" message (I assume it will get to R&R), so I will wait and see what happens...

Have a good day everyone!

If R&R closed their account, you *should* get your credit when the book goes missing - IIRC, that's normal procedure.  The member  cannot close their account themselves if there are outstanding transactions still in process.

Please find some solace in the fact that I have sent 580+ books and never had this happen in the last 2+ years.  I think you just hit a fluke. :)

There are several very solid, long-term members on here that have few or no books on their shelf, and you won't see anything they've posted because they are all WL books. Many people take advantage of the option to purchase credits, and not all of them repost their books. So, looking at a person's shelf needs to be taken with some salt. I trust the system that R&R have put in place to weed out bad swappers.

My best friend is an active member of PBS.  She has 3 books on her shelf right now - but is still a reliable swapper.  In fact, she introduced me to this site.  She just doesn't have a lot of books to share because she gave a bunch away before she knew about PBS.  So, please don't judge someone based on the size of their shelf!  Thanks.

I almost always have 20 or less on my shelf. I don't keep them. If no one wants them after a month or two, I will bookcross them. I don't have a desire to store books for years ;) And I've been a member and a frequent trader for quite a while now. :) My shelf isn't big because I use that space for TBR books, I don't wanna keep books on the off chance someone orders it after it's been up there for a few months. The only exception are political books because I worry someone will throw it away if I wild release it :)

Linda, I am so touched by your kindness and sincerely thank you! I will pay this kindness forward to someone soon :)

This is one of many reasons why I use DC for everything. Lots of people say they have never had a book go lost in however many hundreds of transactions, but I prefer to get my credit when I mail the book.