BookWarp

I have a new Epic Adventure to share with you all, my friends. Some of you longtime readers may remember my last Epic Adventure to the Jobing.com career fair in Glendale (that turned out to be a resounding disappointment). This one is thankfully a bit closer to home, at the Red Mountain Public Library. It all began Monday afternoon.... Andrew: Oh no, my library books are due! I must return them before I rack up fees! Alas, I am working, therefore, I shall wait and when my brother picks me up today, I shall have him ferry me to the library! [Work, work, work....] David: Hi, Andrew. Ready to go? Andrew: Absolutely, I just need you to run me by the library so I might return these books before the day is done so that I do not accrue fees upon my account! [Drive to library. Put books in outside deposit slot. Drive home. Note that books are undamaged, and in good condition.] [Skip to this morning.] Andrew: Ah, good morning! Let me check my email! A new message from the library! Email: A book has been returned to our facility in an unrepairable damaged condition from being warped. You owe us $27.00 in fees and processing charges to replace the book. Andrew: Um.... that's not right. [Work, then drive to library this afternoon.] Andrew: I have a bit of a problem. I'm being charged $27.00 to replace a book which you are saying is damaged, but that I returned in good condition. I have people who can corroborate that, and I want to know what we can do to remove this charge. May I see the damage to the book? Librarian: I'm sorry, the book has been shipped to the Main Library. We do not have it here, and in fact, they are the ones who marked the book damaged and unrepairable. We can have it shipped back to this library so you can take a look at it, if you like. Andrew: Yes, I would appreciate that. I cannot justify paying fees for something I did not do, especially if I cannot see the damage to the book first. Can I ask why the book was shipped out of this library without anyone catching the damage? Is it possible the book was damaged during transit? Librarian: I don't know why we didn't catch any damage here. We're training a new staff right now, so it's possible that they may have just not put a note in the computer about the damage. It's unlikely the damage happened during transit, since we pack the books in special cases when they're being transported to a different library. Andrew: Okay. Is there a supervisor I should talk with about disputing the charge on my account, and do you have a procedure here for disputing a charge? Librarian: No, we don't have a form or anything if that's what you're asking. The supervisor you want to speak with is T. She'll be back tomorrow. [End epic tale.] So, now I'm waiting for the book to be shipped back to the RMPL, so that I can review the damage with T, the supervisor and dispute the charge on my account so I can start checking out books again. Good times.... Good times....