We only offer a refund if we have been unable to supply an item - if the reader cancels the request then they are not entitled to a refund. As we are quite a small public library authority we don't cancel many ILLs anyway (51 last year) and often readers use the refund to place another request. Offering a cash refund can cause problems as we have to complete a form to explain why we've taken the money from the till and this is a little long winded for a £1.50 refund!
Sarah Washford
Assistant Supervisor
Southampton Central Library
Southampton City Council
023 8083 2596
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From: For interlibrary-loan and document supply services. on behalf of Document Delivery Service Durham University
Sent: Fri 30/03/2007 13:40
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Refunding cancelled requests
Dear All,
I just wanted to ask how other libraries deal with refunding users
for cancelled ILL requests? At Durham University we use a voucher system
for paying for ILL requests and if we cancel requests because the item
isn't available, or because the user asks then I return the voucher to
use against their next request. Our policy is not to refund cash and
this is generally fine right up until the point when users have no
further ILL requests to make and then the complaints just roll in. I
just wondered what do other libraries do? Does anyone accept ILL
vouchers against fines, which would be one of the more obvious things,
however I wondered how much difficulty would arise from mixing and
matching funds? We do advertise our policies far and wide but the
message is difficult to get across to users who can't appreciate the
staff time involved and just argue that they haven't received what they
paid for. If anyone has any ideas how to improve this I would be very
interested.
Yours,
Judith Walton,
Document Delivery Service,
Durham University Library
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