i received a book today that had been wrapped in the PBS wrapper and was properly taped up. when i opened up the package, the front cover had been torn down halfway, and the first page had been torn down a quarter. i marked the book RWAP and sent a PM to the sender, telling her the problem, offered to show pictures and asked for my credit back.

they responded back that it must have happened in the shipping and that it had been a brand new book when they mailed and they would have never sent it out like that. however they did not offer to refund my credit or anything else.

what should I do now? should i reask for my credit back? let it go? this is the first time i've had a RWAP where the sender didn't work things out immediately.

thanks!

i have pics if anyone wants to see lol

I find it hard to believe the Cover and page were torn, and not the outside mailing wrapper ?  Sometimes though, your just in a no win situation.

I'd say something like..."Hey, thanks for responding back so promptly about this RWAP...I'd really like to mark it resolved and will do so as soon as my credit is returned.  Isn't it amazing what the USPS can do to packages but, I guess I forgot to mention that in this case the packaging was 100% intact because it had been wrapped and taped so well so, not really sure how the USPS machines could have torn this book.  If you'd like pictures I'd be happy to send some to you.  Thanks for working with me on this so I can mark it resolved."

oh that's great Christy! thank you so much, i wasn't sure how i was going to word it without sounding demanding but that's just perfect. thank you!!

bleh.....i sent in what Christy said and now they want me to return the book to get back my credit.

i'm going to go to sleep before i respond to that one.

and i was having such good luck with my RWAPs before this one!!!!

According to the PBS rules, you don't have to return the book to get your credit back. 

If the sender wants the book back and you are inclined to return it, then they should send you an additional credit to cover the postage back to them. You should ask for both credits before you mail the book to them.

These are the PBS rules www.paperbackswap.com/help/help_item.php:

If a book you requested using credit(s) arrives with an "official" problem, you need to

• send a Personal Message to the sender either during the process of marking the book received and/or using the PM button on the transaction in your Transaction Archive, as described in How do I contact another member?.

Your PM should be polite but clear.  It should clearly ask for a response, and if you want a credit refund, this information should also be included in the PM.

You should give the sender a week to respond.

We suggest this text: "Thanks for sending the book.  Unfortunately there is a problem [explain the problem here--if this was an unpostable book you can say that the problem "makes this unpostable by site guidelines, and I won't be able to swap the book again"].  I would like a credit refund, which can be accomplished by clicking Give Refund in your transaction archive on the Request Details page for this swap, and I will be happy to mail the book back to you if you will provide postage."

• If the sender does not respond to your PM within a week, submit this information in follow-up from the transaction archive.  This will send an email to the sender, prompting him or her to log in and deal with this problem swap.
  

• If the problem is resolved by the sender, submit that information in follow-up from your transaction archive.

• If the problem is NOT resolved by the sender (and negotiations are finished), submit that information in follow-up from your transaction archive.

Read more about submitting follow-up about a problem swap in Follow-up on Problem swaps.

You are not obligated to return the problem item at your expense, but if the sender gives you an extra credit or postage to do so, of course you may. 

FYI - The post office does occasionaly open and check media mail.  Not the first class.  But they do have the right to make sure that the media mail is media.  I have received books that looked like they had been opened and resealed.  And some put in those apology plastic bags.  Every now and again, they put the wrong book back in the wrapper. 

this book was wrapped in the PBS wrapper and looked like the tape had never been broken at all. or the paper torn either.

well i contacted one of the TGs to make sure i worded the reply that PM right and sent this

I'm sorry we cannot reach an agreement, but I'm just simply abiding by the rules of PBS.

Before I can return the book, I must have one credit for the damaged and unpostable book and another credit to cover the cost of postage to return it to you, as per the Help Center :

"A requestor does NOT have to return the item in a "problem" transaction

* if the sender wants the item back, he or she should send postage or a credit to pay for its return."

If you choose not to return the credit, then I simply have no choice but to mark the transaction as unresolved and that if you has a history of unresolved transactions, PBS will step in and your account could be in jeopardy.

Thank you.

i got back this response (and the credit returned)

"I hope you enjoy MY book and your credit."

arrrghhh. why do people make it so difficult? i marked it resolved and i don't want to think about it anymore lol

Sorry you had a rough time of it.  I'm glad it's in your rearview mirror now.

Ah, Jeri, you forget, when SHE does it it's perfectly fine and completely acceptable. However, when YOU do it it is unacceptable and makes you "not nice." How could you have forgotten that cardinal rule? (I'm being sarcastic- I'm on your side.)

Deborah- you're a nicer person than I. I would have probably responded with something rather snarky.