Hello Judith Our general rule is that if the Library has incurred any direct expense we don't refund. Sometimes the item has been sent out by the time the user asks us to cancel. We will obviously be billed for the loan, so in this case we would not refund the voucher. If we are able to cancel with the supplying library before they send us the item, we would refund. If we have simply been unable to track down an item, we do refund, even if we have spent a disproportionate time working on the request. Our main problem is with people who don't check the catalogue. We now have a clause on our web page which states that if we find that a requested item is in fact held in the library, we are no longer obliged to refund the voucher. We generally allow each person a couple of offences, but it soon becomes a case of "the usual suspects" and at that stage we send them a message informing them of our decision not to refund their voucher (having already checked that the book is actually on the shelf or is simply out on loan). I've had the occasional "discussion" with an unhappy user, but on the whole, by the time it reaches the non-refunding stage, they are prepared for it. Put it this way, yesterday one member of staff had 15 out of his original 18 requests returned to him unprocessed because they were either available online or were physically on the shelves. This was his first and last offence from the point of view of refunds! Hope this helps Marjory Marjory Lobban Document Delivery Supervisor Edinburgh University Library George Square Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland Phone: (0)131 650 3377 Ariel: 129.215.253.1 -----Original Message----- From: For interlibrary-loan and document supply services. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Document Delivery Service Durham University Sent: 30 March 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