I used to be a pampered chef consultant. The founder has written a book that is available in Hardcover for about $25. Consultants and directors can buy it for a significant discount to use as a recruiting tool. I was given a copy of this book by a consultant and I bought my own copy. When I decided to stop being a PC consultant I contacted the person who gave me the book to make arrangements to return it to her. Her reply was she had several copies and did not need it. She told me to pass it along to someone else who may want to read it. I posted the book here and it was snatched up quickly! Here is the dilemma: The PBS’er who received the book called the consultant listed inside the cover to thank her (thinking that would be me). She reached the consultant who gave it to me, who asked her to mail the book to her and she would reimburse her for the postage, which she did without contact me first for an explanation. The PBS’er has now marked the book as RWAP “wrong book mailed by sender”. She has PM’d me and asked her for her credit back or for me to mail her another copy of the book. I sent her the CORRECT book………  I sent it in good faith…… If I send her my copy I am out shipping twice and have to pay full price for a new book. Do I give her back the credit when I followed all the rules? She made the choice to mail the book without contacting me first!! Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

I don't think you owe her a credit.  SHE is the one who contacted the other woman who gave you the book in the first place.  Couldn't she she that the name in the book was different then the name of the person she got the book from.  Send her a PM and tell her. It might not be a bad idea to contact R&R and give them a "heads up". Save all PM's you get from/to her, "just in case". You didn't send the wrong book!

I would contact the person who gave you the book and find out her side of the story prior to making any decisions.  Also what does the person you sent the book to say about why she sent the book to the other person? More info is needed before I at least could give an opinion. (not saying you were wrong..you are just caught in the middle)

that is the strangest thing I've heard lately...you sent her the book, she called the other consultant (thinking it was you) and that consultant told her to mail the book back?  why would she do that when you asked her if she wanted the book back?  you didn't make money selling the book.

I definitely would not give the credit back but I would be asking more details from the consultant and I would contact R&R as suggested and give them the scoop so it isn't a black mark against you.

very odd, keep us posted because now I'm curious as to what the heck happened behind the scenes!

I'm a bit confused.  How did she get the consultant's phone number? 

Weird, you'd think she'd thank you by pm'ing you!!  This is  one of the more strange things I've heard here.  If it were my I wouldn't give her the credit...you did everything in good faith and it was her choice to mail it.  I mean did this consultant hold a gun to her head saying she had to send it back?!  Really, now.

Something smells rotten in that transaction. I would not send a credit. Why would she CALL someone listed in the book BEFORE marking the book as received (the only way she could mark it as rec'd with a problem, wrong book, right??) It is very odd that she phoned instead of using the contact methods in place on PBS - PMing. I just bought 100 books a lady put her address label with phone # in, will people really call her when I swap them?!?! When the other person said she didn't send it, why would she agree to send the book on without first contacting the person who sent it to her in the first place? ODD ODD ODD! Tell her she got the book she ordered and if she opted to mail it somewhere totally unrelated to the PBS site, that is her problem.

If the consultant that gave it to you said to pass it along to someone who might like to read it, that is exactly what you did.  Why would she ask for it back?  Did she think you sold it?  That is just crazy.  I also can't imagine calling a person just because their phone number was in a book I received.  Was she looking for a consultant to order from?  This is just too weird! 

I wouldn't send a credit nor would I send another book.

This is absolutely one of *THE* strangest stories I've run across - here or anywhere!

The book is *NOT* secret, proprietary information. It is available to the general public for $25; Nicolle bought one copy at an employee rate, and was GIVEN (not loaned!) another copy, specifically told to "pass it along".

Here is what I suspect happened ... the "consultant" giver assumed that PBS was similar to ebay, and took outrage at the idea of Nicolle "shilling the book" (for lack of a better term). I strongly suspect that The Consultant bullied/scared the recipient into returning the book, which is why that person didn't consult Nicolle before heading for the Post Office. However, she should have contacted Nicolle, and has thus lost her right to come after her for the credit (or another copy!). The recipient was responsible for the mess in the first place by not just "thanking" Nicolle via PBS email. Frankly, if The Consultant was so nasty and threatening, I wouldn't want anything to do with the blasted book if I were the recipient, let along be demanding a replacement!

I do think Nicolle should contact The Consultant to find out what got her so upset after she told Nicolle to pass it along to an interested person. The recipient qualifies to me - after all this she's still interested in a copy.