Today I receivd a book and when I received it the book is very water damaged The beginiing of the book is totally damaged pages. I sent this message.

""This book is water damaged up to page 174 and is unpostable." And I asked for my credit back.

Here was her response.

"I have been swapping books on this site for years and have never had such a ludicrous complaint. The book is exactly as I received it from another reader on pbs. It is perfectly readable. If you want a collectible book in pristine condition you should buy new." So she knows it was damaged when she sent it to me. And it is not a ludicrous complaint as it is against PBS rules to post a book like this,

What can I do to get my credit back now? Thanks!

Give her another week, then send her another message about the book. When she refuses to reply, or does again saying it's OK, contact the PBS staff and reference your messages.

I've had to do this several times in the last 11 years and always got my credit back.

Thanks Thomas!

Sorry this happened to you. I've had it happen a couple of times, but only had problems with one person, who thought it was unfair that she had to refund a credit for a book that was still readable. Just tell the person that the book may be readable, but it's not postable. Since they received the book that way, they should've RWAP when they received it. Also, when you do put a book on your bookshelf, it asks you if the book is postable and has no liquid damage.

You were perfectly polite as far as I can tell. I am sorry this has happened to you. It's happened to me in the past (or people sending books that blatantly don't meet my RCs), but most users are apologetic and automatically refund the credit or are super polite in the exchange. The person you encountered sounds a lot like the last person I encountered right down to accusing you of wanting a "like new" book and that you should just go buy it yourself.

Water damage is in no way acceptable as it can breed mildew and/or mold and is stated in the general guidelines not to send. I think I *might* understand if it was only a bit of water damage on the very edges of a book and that there was nothing extensively damaging or moldy about it, but if it's so bad that pages are sticking together or that the text is unreadable.. yeah, that's not acceptable.

I agree with @hardtack: Give it a week; then respond accordingly. The response alone that the user gave you was unacceptable.

Good luck!

Here is how you repsond:

"Readable" is not the book condition standard that PBS follows. PBS has specific rules about which books are "postable", which means tradable, here on their site. There are specific rules against books with any liquid damage because there is no way to tell what the liquid is that damaged the book and also, any moisture encourages the growth of mold and mildew. It's not allowed, regardless of whether or not a book is "readable". 

In the future, if other members send you books with liquid damage, they are also breaking the rules. You can mark books you receive like that "Received with a Problem" and ask for your credit back from them, so that you do not "pay" for books that are not tradable and re-postable here.

When I receive a book that's damaged I always upload photos to photobucket and include a link to the photos in my message to the sender.  I figure it's just proof of the damage.  Might be worth considering doing something like that if you message her again before marking it "unresolved."

My credit was returned by the PBS team and all is well again.

Glad you got your credit back for the unpostable book.

In the TBR swap in the games there is a discussion of the increase in unpostable books being received. 
 

RE: unpostable books: so I just got this PM from the sender of the water-damaged book I got this week: 'The book has been swapped many times. I received it in fair condition.'

so what??????   Every book has an end of life....sometimes we get a like-new book, sometimes we get an end of readability book. ' Fair condition' to me means a book should be taken out of rotation. Responsible membership means we need to know when it's time to stop sending a book on.......