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1laurie1g
Yes, I'm upset. I have tried since July or August of 2010 to have them re-instate my account. Apparently I mooch & give too much. I got 'in trouble' for emailing last summer asking why my account was blocked. I'd had no response for 3 months.
I finally received an extremely rude email from an unknown admin. Telling me to be patient.
In December 2010 I received a general email from John Buckman, I replied to him and had an immediate polite response that he would look into my account.
The next day I received an email from another 'nameless' admin that they have checked my account and would re-open it within 30 days.
Its now May 2011, I cannot log into Bookmooch, I do not exist. I had a good reputation and had sent thousands of books out. I have nearly 300+ on my account that I cannot use. Those points are money. I paid cash money to mail books to fellow members. I earned those points.
I have received numerous negative or neutral feedback in this past year and couldn't even email these members to explain that I have no access.
I am very disappointed in this site. John Buckman seems to be a nice guy, he just has no clue what the admins are doing to his site. Its a real shame, I loved bookmooch and had a wondeful time here. To all of my bookmooch buddies, My Best to you, Take care, I give up after nearly a year of trying to clear my name.
Sadly yours,
Bookmooch ID : Laurie1G
I finally received an extremely rude email from an unknown admin. Telling me to be patient.
In December 2010 I received a general email from John Buckman, I replied to him and had an immediate polite response that he would look into my account.
The next day I received an email from another 'nameless' admin that they have checked my account and would re-open it within 30 days.
Its now May 2011, I cannot log into Bookmooch, I do not exist. I had a good reputation and had sent thousands of books out. I have nearly 300+ on my account that I cannot use. Those points are money. I paid cash money to mail books to fellow members. I earned those points.
I have received numerous negative or neutral feedback in this past year and couldn't even email these members to explain that I have no access.
I am very disappointed in this site. John Buckman seems to be a nice guy, he just has no clue what the admins are doing to his site. Its a real shame, I loved bookmooch and had a wondeful time here. To all of my bookmooch buddies, My Best to you, Take care, I give up after nearly a year of trying to clear my name.
Sadly yours,
Bookmooch ID : Laurie1G
2miranym
I'm sorry about what happened to your account. :(
This (and Frugal Reader's unexpected demise) is exactly why I don't keep a bank of points. I spend them as soon as I can after I earn them. The only problem is trying to find books TO mooch...
This (and Frugal Reader's unexpected demise) is exactly why I don't keep a bank of points. I spend them as soon as I can after I earn them. The only problem is trying to find books TO mooch...
3RidgewayGirl
I've been keeping my points total low, too. It just seems like a good policy while BM finds its feet again (and I think it will). A giant wishlist helps here. Try spending an evening looking at LT recommendations and adding any that look promising to your wishlist.
4rxtheresa
>1 laurie1g: I don't understand it either laurie. I have the same problem. I was told mine wouldn't be reopened because I had a prior account. I had never even heard of BM before. The person they said I used to be was from Tennessee. I have NEVER lived in Tennessee nor has anyone in my family. I even sent them proof of my addresses so by now they should have figured it out. You are lucky that John answered your email. He never answered mine.
5theapparatus
This is why I won't join that site.
But I know of many of these types of sites where the admin and/or the owners are in over their head. Almost common place.
But I know of many of these types of sites where the admin and/or the owners are in over their head. Almost common place.
6Heather19
5: To me, this is a sad thing, that these rare occurances are reasons that people might not be joining BookMooch.
Yes, Admin does seem to drop the ball on "on hold" accounts occasionally, and it really does suck for the people affected. But it's a fairly rare occurance. I don't really feel like standing up for them on this issue, because it *sucks* that they would keep someone shut out of their account for months and months with no communication (and then get pissed when the person emails asking about the status of their account, as has happened before).
But this is not common. This is not even "sometimes". This is a fairly rare thing, most account issues are handled very promptly and very courteously (I know, I've experienced it).
Yes, Admin does seem to drop the ball on "on hold" accounts occasionally, and it really does suck for the people affected. But it's a fairly rare occurance. I don't really feel like standing up for them on this issue, because it *sucks* that they would keep someone shut out of their account for months and months with no communication (and then get pissed when the person emails asking about the status of their account, as has happened before).
But this is not common. This is not even "sometimes". This is a fairly rare thing, most account issues are handled very promptly and very courteously (I know, I've experienced it).
7rainbowgirl28
We have no idea how rare it is. How many people has it happened to that have not posted here? We've seen what... 4 or 5 different examples of it posted here? That's way too many.
8rxtheresa
>7 rainbowgirl28: Thank you. I was hesitant to answer Heather's post as I know there are many people with good BM experiences and I wouldn't discourage anyone from trying. I think they should be informed when they do join however as I wish I had been. I felt so helpless during my ordeal that I sought advise and was advised to create a folder and collect all similar cases that I find on the internet. Between LT, internet blogs and people who have written to me I have collected 21 similar cases. They happen "out of the blue" when you think everything is going well. I was fortunate as to have not lost as much as some of the others.
So 21 may be a small percentage but I tend to think there are more. As a medical person I think when someone joins they need to weigh risk vs benefit. The original poster has 300 points which is almost $900.00 in postage that she has lost.
So 21 may be a small percentage but I tend to think there are more. As a medical person I think when someone joins they need to weigh risk vs benefit. The original poster has 300 points which is almost $900.00 in postage that she has lost.
9GlendaHam
>8 rxtheresa: You have me running scared. I have over 400 points. I have emptied my inventory and do not plan to post any more books until I spend down more of those points. So far I have 20 books coming to me, and in view of your analysis, I will soon be a prime candidate for "on hold". My ratio is 0.63:1 But if I were to use all those points, I would soon be in the red zone.
I think I'll start posting and sending out two popular books a month in hopes that I won't "flag" any alerts.
I think I'll start posting and sending out two popular books a month in hopes that I won't "flag" any alerts.
10RidgewayGirl
>9 GlendaHam:, I think it will be a long, long time before you get close to the 2:1 ratio of sudden death. When The Great Readjustment occurred, my ratio shot upward and even though I've decided to ignore it, it has stayed pretty much the same.
I'm keeping my point total purposely low and resisted adding more than a few books here and there. I don't think that they're going to shut me down (if they were going to, they would have done so when I publicly disagreed with Buckman and then made a stink when he deleted my post), but I'm no longer convinced that BM is eternal.
I'm keeping my point total purposely low and resisted adding more than a few books here and there. I don't think that they're going to shut me down (if they were going to, they would have done so when I publicly disagreed with Buckman and then made a stink when he deleted my post), but I'm no longer convinced that BM is eternal.
11gimboid13
Without commenting on the merits of these cases, anything that discourages well-intentioned users from expanding their inventories should be ringing alarm bells for the admins.
12bookel
I thought it was now 3:1 before it shows red? There are some over 2:1 that aren't red ratios, or do they need admin approval to continue?
You shouldn't have anything to worry about if you continue to send, even just a bit. When the change occurred my ratio shot up to 1.80:1; the highest I think it's gotten was 1.84 but it goes down whenever an international book is received by someone, and is currently 1.81: I (actually 1.8089 not rounded off). Of course I expect it to go lower once more books are received by international moochers to offset the almost exclusively international mooches I receive.
You shouldn't have anything to worry about if you continue to send, even just a bit. When the change occurred my ratio shot up to 1.80:1; the highest I think it's gotten was 1.84 but it goes down whenever an international book is received by someone, and is currently 1.81: I (actually 1.8089 not rounded off). Of course I expect it to go lower once more books are received by international moochers to offset the almost exclusively international mooches I receive.
13joannasephine
>8 rxtheresa: and others – I feel really uncomfortable hearing all this.
To be fair: 21 users out of the thousands who haven't reported problems is a small number. But even if we ignore the fact that there will be others who have experienced this but aren't members here, or haven't contacted you … that's 20 too many. (Once is a glitch, and should have led to the problem being fixed. Bad for the one person, but probably inevitable.)
I really want to stick up for BookMooch here. My own experiences have been almost completely positive. But I have to confess that the few times I've had to contact admin have not exactly resulted in me feeling satisfied. Again, I understand that BookMooch is run largely by volunteers, but it still should be better handled than this. Has there ever been an official explanation of what is going on in these cases? And what the expected resolution time is?
To be fair: 21 users out of the thousands who haven't reported problems is a small number. But even if we ignore the fact that there will be others who have experienced this but aren't members here, or haven't contacted you … that's 20 too many. (Once is a glitch, and should have led to the problem being fixed. Bad for the one person, but probably inevitable.)
I really want to stick up for BookMooch here. My own experiences have been almost completely positive. But I have to confess that the few times I've had to contact admin have not exactly resulted in me feeling satisfied. Again, I understand that BookMooch is run largely by volunteers, but it still should be better handled than this. Has there ever been an official explanation of what is going on in these cases? And what the expected resolution time is?
14gimboid13
My experience with Bookmooch has been overwhelmingly positive too. And similarly, the single time I needed to contact the admins I got no reply and saw no evidence of any action taken. Does anyone know how you get to be an admin or what rules they work to? I wouldn't mind doing some admin work and I'm sure there would be plenty of other volunteers. I like the Wikipedia model where all admins' actions are subject to review and appeal.
15karenmarie
My experience with Bookmooch has been overwhelmingly positive too. And similarly, the single time I needed to contact the admins I got no reply and saw no evidence of any action taken.
Ditto for me, except it was several times I needed to contact admin and got no reply.
Hello markwp? Are you still checking out LT Bookmooch threads? Or did I miss something?
Ditto for me, except it was several times I needed to contact admin and got no reply.
Hello markwp? Are you still checking out LT Bookmooch threads? Or did I miss something?
16skittles
I've had good interaction from admins & if they didn't get back to me, I didn't worry about it. If I've had a problem with them, I don't remember & don't want to.
Recently, I had to report someone for a delay on a book, but I only did so because she had over 50 books also on delay, but was still adding books & still mooching books. the last time she had mailed any books was over two months ago.. also, she had the audacity to REMIND people to send their books to her!!!
I had emailed her at about 6 weeks & then reminded her a week after that. When she put on her status that we should email her if there was a problem, I did that & also mentioned that I had tried to contact her 2 previous times. I also contacted the abuse team about her.
I got a very long-winded & detailed reply... and oh what a 'pity party' that was!! I didn't reply, but I wanted to ask if her life was so busy & full of strife & problems that she couldn't mail the books, why was she still posting them. I didn't want to open the floodgates to further "words".
So, she sent about 20 books out, including mine soon after & my book arrived about a week ago. I'm happy. I get to send it on now because it was an angel mooch.
When I heard back from the admins on this case, they were nice & let me know that they had contacted her. They also asked me to update them, which I did. I don't expect replies when things are going well, so I'm fine with not hearing anything.
regarding MarkWP, IIRC, he has a job that gets major crazy at this time of year, so I wouldn't expect to hear from him much.
Recently, I had to report someone for a delay on a book, but I only did so because she had over 50 books also on delay, but was still adding books & still mooching books. the last time she had mailed any books was over two months ago.. also, she had the audacity to REMIND people to send their books to her!!!
I had emailed her at about 6 weeks & then reminded her a week after that. When she put on her status that we should email her if there was a problem, I did that & also mentioned that I had tried to contact her 2 previous times. I also contacted the abuse team about her.
I got a very long-winded & detailed reply... and oh what a 'pity party' that was!! I didn't reply, but I wanted to ask if her life was so busy & full of strife & problems that she couldn't mail the books, why was she still posting them. I didn't want to open the floodgates to further "words".
So, she sent about 20 books out, including mine soon after & my book arrived about a week ago. I'm happy. I get to send it on now because it was an angel mooch.
When I heard back from the admins on this case, they were nice & let me know that they had contacted her. They also asked me to update them, which I did. I don't expect replies when things are going well, so I'm fine with not hearing anything.
regarding MarkWP, IIRC, he has a job that gets major crazy at this time of year, so I wouldn't expect to hear from him much.
17rainbowgirl28
"Hello markwp? Are you still checking out LT Bookmooch threads? Or did I miss something?"
He is selective about what threads he replies to. His voice has been suspiciously absent in threads related to this issue.
It reminds me of Apple denying that there is a problem with Malware on Macs.
Bookmooch is trying to pretend this problem doesn't exist, and it doesn't for the majority of people, but those who have faced it seem to have all ended up totally screwed and treated poorly and mostly ignored by admins.
He is selective about what threads he replies to. His voice has been suspiciously absent in threads related to this issue.
It reminds me of Apple denying that there is a problem with Malware on Macs.
Bookmooch is trying to pretend this problem doesn't exist, and it doesn't for the majority of people, but those who have faced it seem to have all ended up totally screwed and treated poorly and mostly ignored by admins.
18Heather19
17: That seems to be the gist of it.
I'd bet real money that the majority of active BMers have mostly good experiences, with the site and with admin. I contact admin regularly about abuse-problems and other stuff, and they've always replied very promptly and nicely.
But for the small percentage who *do* stumble into this specific problem... It seems like Admin sort of just gives up, drops the ball, stops trying. Nothing gets resolved, nothing gets responded to. And it's VERY frustrating, even to me, because I *know* that BookMooch is an awesome place, so it feels very frustrating and upsetting that Admin are doing this in certain rare-but-very-serious cases.
I'd bet real money that the majority of active BMers have mostly good experiences, with the site and with admin. I contact admin regularly about abuse-problems and other stuff, and they've always replied very promptly and nicely.
But for the small percentage who *do* stumble into this specific problem... It seems like Admin sort of just gives up, drops the ball, stops trying. Nothing gets resolved, nothing gets responded to. And it's VERY frustrating, even to me, because I *know* that BookMooch is an awesome place, so it feels very frustrating and upsetting that Admin are doing this in certain rare-but-very-serious cases.
19laurie1g
Thank you to everyone who surprised me with kindness..... I really miss this site :( shout out & hugs for: miranym/ RidgewayGirl /rxtheresa /theapparatus /Heather19 / rainbowgirl28
Thank you to everyone who responded to my post. I posted this and hadn't looked for the past couple weeks. I really expected the mooch cheerleaders to blame me, .
I have wanted to post this for several months, however I was cautioned in one email to 'refrain from publicly discussing my account'. I also was afraid that anyone who had not had any trouble with the site would assume I did something wrong.
I honestly believed for many months that someone 'in charge' would see my account and clear up this mess.
Its been nearly a year since this trouble started and I still miss bookmooch. The concept John Buckman had for this site still amazes me.
Unfortunately that passion is not held by the current admins (or the admins I've dealt with).
I was afraid to post here. I know they watch this thread, I thought if I just did everything as I was asked, I would be allowed to continue as a happy moocher.
A little about me , for those that wonder..... I am a happily married Mom of 3 / daughter 27; twin boys 12/ I live and work as a bartender in Garden City Beach South Carolina. Several years ago, I inherited a former used book store (trade-in) leftover inventory. 98% was nothing I was interested in nor my kids, friends, etc. I looked at selling on ebay but looked like a waste of time, just appeared to be little interest.
I found bookmooch, and then got 'want & need' lists from my children's teachers & professors.
I have replaced numerous worn out volumes of classics and current childrens required reading, simply by trading the stuff we didn't want, for required reading.
I will happily donate the 200+ points I have earned on bookmooch. I have paid real cash for those points with my time, postage and envelope costs. I know I cannot use this site again, they simply don't want me, but my credits are real, and should be somehow credited to charity.
I feel fortunate that I was part of this at least for a while; the concept is still phenomenal, they just have trouble with site management and general good manners. Best of luck & happy mooching to all !
Laurie
Thank you to everyone who responded to my post. I posted this and hadn't looked for the past couple weeks. I really expected the mooch cheerleaders to blame me, .
I have wanted to post this for several months, however I was cautioned in one email to 'refrain from publicly discussing my account'. I also was afraid that anyone who had not had any trouble with the site would assume I did something wrong.
I honestly believed for many months that someone 'in charge' would see my account and clear up this mess.
Its been nearly a year since this trouble started and I still miss bookmooch. The concept John Buckman had for this site still amazes me.
Unfortunately that passion is not held by the current admins (or the admins I've dealt with).
I was afraid to post here. I know they watch this thread, I thought if I just did everything as I was asked, I would be allowed to continue as a happy moocher.
A little about me , for those that wonder..... I am a happily married Mom of 3 / daughter 27; twin boys 12/ I live and work as a bartender in Garden City Beach South Carolina. Several years ago, I inherited a former used book store (trade-in) leftover inventory. 98% was nothing I was interested in nor my kids, friends, etc. I looked at selling on ebay but looked like a waste of time, just appeared to be little interest.
I found bookmooch, and then got 'want & need' lists from my children's teachers & professors.
I have replaced numerous worn out volumes of classics and current childrens required reading, simply by trading the stuff we didn't want, for required reading.
I will happily donate the 200+ points I have earned on bookmooch. I have paid real cash for those points with my time, postage and envelope costs. I know I cannot use this site again, they simply don't want me, but my credits are real, and should be somehow credited to charity.
I feel fortunate that I was part of this at least for a while; the concept is still phenomenal, they just have trouble with site management and general good manners. Best of luck & happy mooching to all !
Laurie
