Incarcerated inmate only allowed 3 books per month? Who knew?

[writercranky]

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?

[espresso_warehouse]

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@fab_finds4u wrote:

PS,,, maybe I'll feel different when I'm not in a bad mood. 

TOTALLY off topic but wondering why 40,000 people can come to FL from other states and get a vaccination before the people that live here and pay taxes here get one?  How does that happen?Mainly that's why I'm mad.

I'm over 70 and fullfill the medical requirements to get vaccinated but now I see they opened up appts for under 65 in my county. They WERE going by the oldest first after the front line workers. I don't think they should open it up to under 65 with medical problems until the ones over 65  with medical problems get theirs.    OK. I'm done.   Thanks for reading my rant.

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I have a perspective to consider on your rant. Florida doesn't have a state income tax, and doesn't tax social security. Imagine if you lived in a state which actually charged you tax on both (think California) and you still couldn't get the vaccine.

From my understanding, that's actually the case for most people.

But I hope you get the vaccine soon. I hope everyone who wants it gets it!

[jack_bucks_ghost]

@pburn 

lol...you're getting down to thematic connections--that's deeper than my choices of Mailer and Tolstoy (i just picked them because their books are really long...thematically, they're both too dreary for prison reading)

[maxine*j]

My only similar experience was with a sale to an inmate incarcerated in the State of California.  The parcel was opened, resealed with a letter, and returned to me. 

The letter explained that because of the various kinds of contraband that can be concealed in a book, only books from approved vendors and organizations could be received by inmates.   That made sense to me, when I thought about it.  

That was many years ago, and regulations may have changes since, of course.

[simba6]

I would return the item cost. It's up to them to know the rules so not the shipping.

I suppose next they will require sanding the top of the escape key on computers.

[futuremarine2011]

the french had devils island. nice place for a vacation. lol.

[maxine*j]

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@fab_finds4u wrote:

Only 3 books? That is sad. I could read one  a day with nothing to do but read all day.

For the non-violent offenders I'd like to see no books no tv  no radio no cards no commissary, no nothing but bread and water  and keep them locked up SHORTER. When prison is not like a staycation maybe that's an incentive to go straight.  It wouldn't take them that long to get the message, eh?

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I have read that countries that have short sentences under harsh conditions have the lowest recidivism rates.  I have never researched that independently, so I do not know if it is true.  Intuitively, it sounds like it could be true, though.

[chapeau-noir]

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@simba6 wrote:

I would return the item cost. It's up to them to know the rules so not the shipping.

I suppose next they will require sanding the top of the escape key on computers.

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These gotta go, too: 

 

[carolynnq]

Most prisons will only accept packages from companies - Barnes & Noble, Amazon, McGraw-Hill, etc. Check the particular prison's website to see what is acceptable.

[collectfest]

Maybe next month they should order the book Venmurasu, only 22,400 pages. 

[evry1nositswindy]

It must depend on the prison.  Way back when half.eBay.com was big, I sold multiple books to prisons.  This past year I had a package refused by a state prison.  The note inside said they could only accept shipments from publishers.  It was a dictionary and thesaurus set.  I got my books back so I refunded.

[inhawaii]

 

[netwizz760]

I would write a quick letter to your mail carrier asking about the return cost.  Explain it was an eBay sale, and that you had no control because they refused it as "inmates are allowed three books per month."  Ask in the letter if the carrier is out any money personally that you would like to make them whole.

***

As for the inmate, I did not know they have eBay unless it is a friend or family member that is placing the order.

Regardless, I would write them letting them know it was returned (picture attached)... Inmates are allowed only three books... be sure to indicate it came back postage due, but as a gesture of good faith you are fully refunding because incarceration is bad enough and don't want it coming out of their commissary or other money.

At least I would write something brief and too the point...  I would refund in full, and I would select buyer cancelation to get the eBay fees back; since, this was out of your control and it is bad enough you are out the postage.  That said, I wouldn't go to war over a few dollars with an inmate who has nothing better to do than be mad at the world.  They already sue everybody and the jail for things like the color of their slippers (depending upon the inmate).

[oneblindcat]

Our Sheriff changed that. Prisoners were  trying to get on bread and water so they'd have "tough guy" bragging rights.

His discipline problems went down after he started putting them on baby food.

[fuzzface50]

many years ago my wife's one credit card company called and asked if she was allowing charges on her card   to a barnes/noble book store and it was being sent to a prison for a certain individual. 

Turns out back then we used to buy our freezer bags for our  vacuum sealer just by the phone number off of the freezer bag packaging. it was cheaper than going to the store and it was shipped to the house and this was before the big craze of home deliveries.  found out thru the credit card co. that companies back then were using prisoners for phone call orders and some how this 1 prisoner had kept her credit card number to reuse a week later.  

credit card co. took care of it, they said they were used to it, it was a common problem back then for them. 

[ra_201044]

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@mtgraves7984 wrote:

In Tennessee, our inmates can't have hardback books as they might be considered weapons. Zero hardbacks.

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Wow. A paperback can do just as much damage. And a rolled-up pamphlet can do even more.