Dear Daniel: Holds on Accounts in Collections and Damaged Item Dropoff

Dear Daniel,

Is it okay to place holds on accounts in collection?

Holding on Collections



Holding,

Yes, according to Fred, that should be just fine as long as we stress the point that the card must be completely clear of fines before customer privileges will be restored.



Daniel,

What is the proper procedure for dealing with an item returned by a customer w/ damage?

Damaged Item Dropoff


Dropoff,

Before you do anything with the damaged item, show it to your supervisor to ensure the damage did not occur inside the book drop itself. Also, if the item is water damaged, check the other books to make sure it is unique to that book (or books from that customer). If it is decided the book was damaged by the customer, we must make a note in the account (including the barcode, title and type/level of damage) and then call to inform them. Once you've called, make sure to note the date and time of the call. Leave a short message if possible to have the customer contact the library if they do not pick up. Here's a sample sentence for the message:

"Sir/Ma'am, this is (you're name here) with the (your branch here) library. It is important for you to call us at your earliest convenience regarding an item returned through the book drop. You can reach us at (your number here). Thank you."

After that, print out the customer's account information, highlight the customer's name and wrap the book. Put it on the damaged shelf and hold for 30 days unless item becomes a health hazard. If item becomes a health hazard, contact the customer again to inform them of this.

One thing to keep in mind when deciding what is damaged and what is not is common wear and tear. If you have an old CD case that's cracked, a book whose binding is simply fraying or the glue is wearing off, this is not damaged. If the item looks ripped, chewed, spilled on, smashed, etc, this is cause for billing an item. And keep in mind when checking in all AV/DVD/CDs that we really don't care about the cases or leaflets because they can be replaced. Our main goal is to salvage the actual CD.

Daniel