Please excuse me for drifting off topic but an issue has come up that I need to address and might effect some of you. As you know I am an avid reader which you can see by my book reviews, my account on Goodreads, etc. I also had another account on Bookmooch which I dappled in. For those unfamiliar with the website, it is quite a wonderful concept, swap your old books for books others no longer want and you do. I tried Bookmooch out, enjoyed it and its community. However when I decided to give away 3 books (one overseas) a couple of weeks ago I found that my account needed to be confirmed via an error message that stated it would be confirmed within 24 hours. After not receiving any email confirmation but receiving others stating my books arrived safely, etc I contacted Tech Support through their form.
No response.
I continued sending emails through the form every few days until I finally received a response today, weeks later. It was not what I expected:
As you can expect, I was quite surprised by this abrupt response, especially the "no doubt continue" part. I had received no notice of my account being suspended! Here is the rest of our correspondence:You were banned from this website a very long time ago and are not allowed to have any accounts ever again. We will not confirm this account or any one of the numerous accounts you will no doubt continue to attempt.
Becky
Bookmooch Administrator
Can you please explain why I was banned from this site?
Thanks,
Heather
How many dozens of fraudulent accounts have you attempted to open? How many hundreds of e-mails have you sent the support team begging us to confirm you? Perhaps those are reasons why you were banned.Becky
Bookmooch Administrator
I think you have mistaken me for someone else, I only opened this one account! I have attempted to contact someone multiple times to get my account up and running. Do you have any proof of me trying to open up other accounts because if someone is using my name or email fraudulently I would certainly like to know.
The decision was made a very long time ago and it's final. Stop contacting me; I will not respond anymore.She then closed my account.
Well, Becky, this is my response. For a site begging for paypal donations, this is not the correct approach in dealing with the public. As I expected, I was not alone, and many people have had the same issues with being falsely accused by BookMooch. This person also dealt with "Becky" and her inexcusable behavior; our stories are parallel. Others have opened up on LibraryThing about the same issue, also complaining of being treated rudely. Someone was so irate they have a blog dedicated to their trouble which displays their very articulate communications with BookMooch.
The bottom line in all this? Do not put yourself at risk by utilizing this site. I would also go as far as saying do not support a site that in an attempt to protect themselves, is incredibly disappointing in their treatment of their members. From now on I am using Goodreads swap, for I have already lost too much money on BookMooch and with no apologies.
What say you now, Bookmooch?
Email BookMooch Support
Email the owner of BookMooch, John Buckman
Update 10/17/10
The night I posted my disappointing experience a Bookmooch representative contacted me. They have apologized for the rude response I have received and explained that "Becky" is a volunteer and thought I was someone who had scammed the website before (as I suspected and pointed out to her). I explained that she gave me no chance to prove this otherwise and there was NO reason whatsoever to treat anyone which such rudeness. They explained that in this case, they feel being curt and rude is the appropriate response to the individual who wronged them however it was highly inappropriate that I had received this treatment.
As of right now I am currently working together with Bookmooch on a solution for me to get the books that are due to me. They would like me to pick from their current selection which doesn't include any books of interest to me. Since this solution does not satisfy me I am still currently working with them to get my account back in order so I can mooch again. As I explained to them, I would like to have "the same rights to books that I should have, being a member who followed the terms of the site."
What I have learned from this further conversation:
-Make sure you never make more than one account with the same email. This is where I went wrong (I didn't realize I made two). Unlike other websites where this mistake is prevented by programing, Bookmooch's limited programing allows users to create multiple accounts with one email but then will quickly shut them both down.
-Volunteers are the primary persons dealing with members and they are instructed to be harsh when it comes to people they believe have harmed the site in the past. They also have the ability to shut down your account before responding to your email requests asking for the hold on it to be released.
-According to Bookmooch only "a fraction of 1% of past members having expressed such discontent" yet I wonder if the other people who I linked to were responded to, for I have a feeling had I not posted on these issues publicly, my last communication with Bookmooch would have been the unfortunate one from the volunteer.
Update 12/16/10
Bookmooch and I were not able to come to an agreement. They reneged on their offer to attempt to fix my account so unless I chose from the books they have available (none of which are or were on my wishlist, and therefore none of which I have an interest in) I am out of luck and the money I put into sending books nationally and internationally.
Thank you every one who has shown me support during these proceedings, it is greatly appreciated!