eBay

writercranky · ‎02-17-2021

I just had a sold book returned from the State of Mississippi Department of Corrections, marked "refused." The package had clearly been opened, because the book was no longer wrapped in the bubble wrap I always use for trade paperbacks and hardcovers; plus a form letter was put into the envelope. This letter gave the reason for the refusal, which was that only 3 books per month are allowed, and this one exceeded that total.

The "refused" label also indicated that postage was due but the mailman didn't ask me for money.

And from somewhere long ago, I had the idea that if a package had been opened, it could not simply be sealed up again and "refused" on the original shipping label. Maybe the rules are different when it's a prison....

The buyer has been an eBay member since 2014, with 100 percent positive feedback, and all of the more recent transactions in the feedback have been from used bookstores.

For what it's worth, the book in question happens to be a Christian novel by Dee Henderson, which I could not imagine would be objectionable reading material for an inmate....

Anyone ever have something like this happen? Any suggestions as to any action I should take? Should I preemptively refund the buyer, since he did not receive what he paid for through no fault of his own? Or should I wait and see if he requests a refund?

easterbasset · ‎02-18-2021

fab findsforu (aka Karen), that post couldn't be much more shortsighted, eh?

1. 'nothing to do all day'?

Inmates spend hours every day standing still for procedural Counts that happen 2 or more times a day. Wait in lines almost as long to be taken to meals. If inmates have no access to work that receives pay, there is always menial work assigned. If a facility has inhouse jobs, inmates typically clamor to get hired. Inmates that land a job receiving fifty cents/hr on paper (prison keeps 10% or more) for any # of hrs a week (of course, no OT) in laundry services that a facility operates with clients like hospitals and universities typically perform it very well in order to keep the job. That sounds like time well spent.

2. 'no books' That eliminates any inmate without a high school diploma from taking classes & earning a GED, and returning with better qualifications to obtain legal employment.

3. ' no tv no radio no cards no commissary'. perks only come to those with gifted money from friends or family outside of prison. I imagine these are not commonplace, as a 13" TV costs over $400.

4. 'staycation' I have no words for that.

5. 'incentive' Prison sentences are assigned as dictated by law for what crime a inmate was found guilty/convicted. Reality is prison is punishment, not deterrent. Prison isn't known for improving a persons character.

6. 'non-violent offenders' most of those inmates are incarcerated because they could not afford to hire a defense attorney , often due to factors out of their control. Seems to me the people that have the means to pay an attorney to prevent equivalent consequences for same criminal charges are less likely 'to go straight'

7. most prisons have lending libraries. The fact this buyer wanted to spend whatever funds they had on fresh reading material, instead of other luxuries, has merit.

pooh333piglet · ‎02-18-2021

This is so interesting as we recently sent a book to a prison and then received a letter from the prisoner. He's on death row. For something like 15 yrs in TX and had a couple of stays of execution but I think his time is up. Online it shows his date is in April.

So it was a bit weird. There are penpal scams from prisoners so the letter might be the start of one. He said he couldn't keep the book and his lawyer had it yet I'm not sure why he had our address then.

Please dont start telling me to be afraid. I dont live my life that way.

xpertcarpet74 · ‎02-18-2021

Yes you should refund. And I’m sure it wasn’t him that opened it, it was probably the guard making sure there wasn’t any contraband inside, don’t ask me how I know this.

lightlily_arts · ‎02-19-2021

When reading materials are shipped to an inmate all packages are opened. Each jail or prison has rules on what they consider to be appropriate reading material. It could be based on the subject and no hardcover books are allowed by most jails. It could also be that it was refused because you as an individual shipped the book to the inmate which is not allowed by many either. Reading materials shipped from Amazon or a book store are acceptable. Surprisingly they didn't just confiscate it. This is not your fault but rather responsibility of the buyer to determine what is required. It was actually delivered so it's not an item not received, and even less not as described. If anything all you owe the buyer is the price of the book less shipping. I'd wait for the claim to refund.

tapi-szem · ‎02-19-2021

Exactly what I was ranting about. Vaccines get distributed to states based on population. Given the large number of temporary winter residents in FL, they should really check where their permanent residence is and tell those states to send an equivalent number of vaccines to FL.

Snowbirds pay taxes too, so that is not the reason they should not get vaccinated here.

BTW I am too young to get the shot yet and have no idea when I'll be able to get vaccinated.

tapi-szem · ‎02-19-2021

@dhbookds wrote:
Some prisons only accept books from publishers.......

or Amazon. And the books must be sent to a PO Box. Of course Amazon will send a package like this with UPS Ground and suggest the recipient can pick it up from the nearest UPS Store!

Plus, they remove any maps from travel books so if you were thinking of using your time to plan a trip to say, Vienna in Austria, you will have to do it without the maps.