My BookMooch Rant
First, let me say that my rant has nothing to do with the site itself. I love the idea of BookMooch and will continue to use it.
Okay…those of you who know about and use BookMooch – what are acceptable reasons to post negative feedback. For me, the only reason I would post negative feedback (at this point because I guess this is the only scenario I can imagine would annoy me so much) when I get a book that is in worse condition than the sender specifically told me; i.e. I asked them what was wrong with the book and they said it was in good condition and when I get it, it’s all torn up (and not from coming through the post) etc. And yes, I might give negative feedback if someone didn’t answer a gazillion emails – but I can figure one or two might go astray and never make it to the recipient. It would have to be months first though before I would consider this agregious because of the nature of the site. I could just get the book from someone else.
I didn’t get a negative feedback score from someone today (although since the situation has escalated I might have by now), but they did put in the comments that I was a poor communicator who hadn’t answered any of their emails about the condition of the book. When I responded that I didn’t receive any emails inquiring about this my feedback score from this person went down to 0 and they commented that even if I hadn’t gotten the emails, they asked in the original request.
Well I can’t go back and see their original request, but fair enough – I missed it on there. People make mistakes…things get looked over. But I felt like the attitude I was getting from this person was far worse than just a matter of my not telling her the book was in good condition. #1, all of my books are in pretty good condition. I only make a note if there is something wrong with them. #2, why didn’t they cancel the request if they didn’t feel I was giving them the proper attention. And #3 – I found the attitude from the moocher pretty full-on considering the BOOK IS FREE!!! (And it was in good condition.)
I must admit, that I got snarky with my response and it has likely come to negative feedback situation…but frankly, I don’t care. It’s a site where the name of the game is “give and take.” You send books, you request books. Will I accept mooches from this person again – probably not!
What a crappy situation. Why are people so mean? Plus it’s free!! People seem sooo wrapped up in themselves these days. I hope you have a better day tomorrow!
That totally sucks! You know, I had a problem last night with a comment I left within the site–not as an email–winding up as a bounced back email in my acct, because that person’s email address wasn’t accepting messages or was no longer valid. I think it’s just screwy sometimes. I can’t believe they gave you negative feedback for something so minor! First of all, who cares what condition the book is in as long as it is readable? It’s FREE! Why be snarky when someone is doing you a favor by sending you a free book?! People can be so mean. I hope it doesn’t happen to you again!!