my account in limbo: what now?

Hey folks! This is going to be a kind of "just for the record" post, i guess. Here's my history on bookmooch so far: http://bookmooch.com/m/points/rocamr

My problem is, a few hours after I opened the account the "confirmation email" message started to appear. I sent two brief notes to tech support in the next days, basically asking: "I've not received any email, what's up? could this be a bug?".

Then two weeks ago I wrote this, in my best "uptight customer" style:


"Hello there! It's been more than two weeks since I've first tried to contact you about the state of my account, with no answer.

In the meantime I've sent out two books, and I'm preparing to post another one later this week.

I've also read a bit more about bookmooch, and at this point I think I understand the problem is not a technical one, but it's probably related to the possibility that I may be a scammer of sorts.

If that's the case, I don't know what I can do apart from assuring you that this has been my first experience on a book swap site *ever*, and that I'm definitely not here to exploit the community for my own gain.

I'm looking forward to a positive answer from you in the next two days. If that should not come, I will then make a last attempt at getting my account unblocked by explaining my case publicly on the librarything.com forums. If that too should fail I will then close my account for good, since it's only partially usable in its current state.

I'm sorry if my words sound harsh (sorry about the occasional bad english too, by the way). The fact is, I really do care about participating: there's nothing quite like bookmooch.it around, from the point of view of someone living in my country, and I honestly love the spirit of it all. For this very same reason, though, I want to cut short the frustration and just know if I should move on and forget about this experience already.

Thanks for your attention,
Marco"


I'm not even slightly frustrated now, my attitude is more like "MEH!". Since then I proceeded to add more books to my inventory in spite of what the site keeps telling me, and sent out the ones people had already mooched from me. I'm thinking I'll probably switch to a new account, and then see what happens. It may actually be fun...

Your account looks OK right now. What's the problem?

I've just checked but it's still snafu on my side, whether I log in from bookmooch.com or bookmooch.it (the italian version): I can't read the forums, add books to my inventory (I can do that through the "give my copy" button though), mooch books, edit or even just access my profile info, send emails to other people, and prolly other things too... damn! :)

There is a problem with some email providers and Bookmooch. If you have not received a confirmation email or an email from the tech support people this could be the reason. John tried to fix the problem with some limited success, but I think some people are still having problems getting Bookmooch emails. Have you checked your spam folder?

Mmh, I can't know for sure of course, but I really doubt it... I mean, I've already received all kinds of messages from bookmooch: a password reminder, requests from moochers, wishlist notifications.

If i remember correctly I also managed to change the email address after the profile page became off-limits, but that didn't help either.


Before you can use that feature, we need you to confirm your email address. A confirmation email will be sent to you in the next 24 hours, once an administrator has reviewed your account.
If you do not receive a confirmation message, it may be that your email address has a spam filter which is rejecting the message. You might want to try using a different email address at BookMooch or checking your spam filter.

You can email tech support if you need help.


Maybe nobody read my messages in the first place, and the account block was automatic (go figure what triggered it, maybe one of those "velocity limits" I've read about on here? I'm not going to Franz K. my head about it though.)

Maybe someone actually read them, but they happen to be obtuse assholes on an internet power trip. (That would explain other things I've read.)

Whatever! I'll keep you posted.

So, yesterday I've opened another account (named "rocamro") that entered almost immediately a pending state, like the first one. Oh well.

But! Today I've finally received both a confirmation email and a response from the support staff. According to their account of the events you were right, Carod.

Here:

Ogg: Re: Support: update on my situation

Marco,

We have sent three previous responses, but as you seem not not be getting them, we will try again from another e-mail.

Please consider the use of an alternate e-mail as yours seems to be blocking some of our notices.

Several other Italian members flagged your new account, so it was under temporary review until your sent books arrived. * actually, when I wrote my last support request I had sent two books, and I had already received a positive feedback for both of them *

Please just make use of your original account, and do not open any others.

Thank you for bearing with us, all should work well for you now!

Bookmooch Support


My response:

Well, I'm pleasantly surprised! I've received the email confirmation message today, and everything seems to work as it should now, thank you. I can confirm I've never received any response before this one, either marked as spam or not. I'm going to stick to the current email address though, as it's been working well in every other respect (mooch and wishlist notifications).

cheers,
Marco


All's well that ends well.

PS: the email provider I'm using is libero.it