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Questions about PaperBackSwap
Topic: Did I do the right thing?
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I hate marking books RWAP. I hate confrontation, and I'm usually not satisfied with the responses I get back: "I sent it to you exactly as it was sent to me by another member", "the book was in perfect condition when I sent it to you."
This time it was the latter. I requested my credit back and offered to mail the book back to her for an additional credit. She responded that she was sorry about the book, that she's sent out dozens like this, and that I could keep the book, but made no mention of refunding my credit to me as I had asked. I realize that's her choice. But this book doesn't meet PBS standards. There's faint staining on the back cover on the inside part, probably from coffee, and you can even see the indentations of the coffee mug or the soda can that was set on top of the book at one point. The last 20 or so pages of the book are wavy and stiff. Her message seemed pretty final, and I don't want to sit here going back and forth with her over this, or wait for a response I'll probably never get. So immediately afterward I went to the transaction archive and marked the problem as unresolved. I also contacted TPTB Team to let them know about the transaction and even offered to mail them pictures of the damage. There's just no way that it happened in transit. Why can't people own up to their poor judgement calls? Tired of being disappointed and doing business with people who disregard the rules. |
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I'm unsure if the cover markings in themselves make the book unpostable. The stiff wavy pages probably mean the book has been wet...therefore unpostable. I doubt PBS will request pics, just leave the transaction unresolved.
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PBS rules state "No stains of any kind", so I would take that to mean the cover as well. The wavy, stiff pages alone make it unpostable. Jennifer, sorry this is happening, and next time what I would do is paste the exact wording from the PBS Help Center into your PM so that they can see it for themselves. I also always mention in my PMs "I will be sure to mark the problem transaction as resolved upon the return of my credit"- some people do not realize that the system keeps track of resolved/unresolved transactions, and when they find that out, often they are more willing to resolve the issue. You can also politely explain to them that even though they received the book the same way, it is technically unpostable by PBS standards and should not have been posted, and that they had the option of marking it RWAP when they received it. People should NOT continue to pass unpostable books around the system, just because they took a hit on it- at some point, someone needs to take it out of the system. Bottom line, when you post a book, you have to click a button that confirms that the book does not have any damage, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to them to have it RWAP. At this point, you have done all you can do, so I think you just have to take the loss on this one. I understand your frustration, but thankfully, problem transactions are a very small minority of all transactions here, so hang in there. |
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Hi Lesley,
I copied and pasted right from the Help Docs, but she insisted it was in perfect condition when she sent it to me, and blamed the damage as something that happened en route to me. I didn't think of mentioning that I'd mark it resolved when the credit was returned. I will have to word that in if/when (hopefully just "if"!) I get another RWAP. Which hopefully it doesn't happen! I'm definitely not shy in marking things as RWAP. I just really really hate doing it because of all the hassle and arguments that might occur as a result. |
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I like to try and nip the "it must have happened in the mail" excuse in the bud from the get go. I usually include in my first message that the packaging was dry and undamaged, which means that the damage to the book did not happen in transit. I've still had people not give me the credit, but it cuts down on the excuses. |
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I always make sure I'm VERY clear about what exactly the damage is to the book and that it couldn't possibly have happened while in the mail. You did good by requesting your credit back, you always need to come right out and ask for it. Since the other person didn't mention the credit return at all in their PM, I probably would have PMd them again to ask if they were going to return it. If they don't want to, they should come right out and say so also. |
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