AbeBooksReviews 716

Avoid this site like the plague! I ordered a text book, that in the description said it was a bundle with textbook and online access code. I am usually a fairly savvy online shopper. I read everything I could see on the page, and nowhere did it say text book only. Only after the order processed, did I see a description from saying "textbook only". After the order processed, I couldn't cancel, so the same day it arrived, I returned the book, using "item not as described" for the reason. I now have an email saying it chose the wrong reason to return. Are you kidding me? Even if a separate description was hidden further down the page, the item was NOT sent as was listed in the description at the top of the page. They gave no specific instructions on changing my reason, even through I stand by my initial reason. STAY AWAY FROM ABEBOOKS AND CAMPUS BOOKSTORE!

I live in Australia.
Ordered a book from Ogma books through Abe books.
Ogma Books are in the UK.
The book was for delivery to a friend in the UK.
Price for the book and UK postage was paid for.
Couple of days later Abe said seller wanted more than five times the UK postage.
I queried the extra charge and was then told the book was no longer available.
At no time did I have direct contact with the book seller.
All done by email through Abe books!
NEVER NEVER EVER AGAIN!
STAY WELL AWAY PEOPLE!

I've ordered probably a couple hundred books (novels) from AbeBooks. They are getting worse in that 30-50% of the books I receive, now as compared to a few years ago, are not described as book club editions when in fact they are. For the most part I never have a problem in receiving a refund, it's just a pain. Although last week, most recently, they asked for 3 different pictures of the book (this was directly from one of their participating dealers ThriftBooks).

I wish I could give this company ZERO stars. I sent books to them, and after a few days, I realized that the FedEx man wasn't picking up the packages from the shipping center. I got nervous, and I was afraid my books would not arrive by the deadline, so I contacted them to ask them to please refuse the shipment if they didn't arrive in time, because I had sent quite a few books, and I couldn't afford to lose money on them. Because of this, they will no longer allow me to sell books to them. They closed my account and told me that if I tried to open another account, they would close it as well. I did NOTHING wrong whatsoever and this is how they treat me?

Ordered a book at a much better price than I could find elsewhere. They confirmed the book was in stock. Book never showed up. When I asked for tracking or any proof of shipment they claimed to have mailed a $100 book without any tracking. I believe they realized other people were asking more for the used book and never shipped it. All the answers I received were nonsensical. Avoid this place like the plague unless you are willing to be scammed.

Ok, I am upset so let me try to temper my rage somewhat and try to be as cool headed as I can be.

First time buyer from Abeboooks.com so I was buying some text books for resale. I thought I was purchasing what I clicked on the Hardback cover and the specific ISBN associated with the text I was purchasing. No apparently what I want is not relevant, so they sent me international versions of what I ordered with soft covers and different ISBN numbers. I ordered two of the text, and another text for different subject, and I see now on the tracking number they are sending me a international version of the text I ordered from Ireland.

I have to pay for shipping to get a full refund. They will not provide you with return shipping label. You cant get a refund until the books are returned. Then they will ship them back to you in snail mail that takes 5-8 days to receive.

So with that being said I will have to make a decision, attempt to give them another chance and risk more investment of my time in a company that does not have live talk customer service, there is no phone number on their website for customer service line. Its all done via email. Canned responses. And see if they will refund me my money... but based upon my experience there is little confidence they will do right by me.

Or take the text books and sell them on another platform to get my money back, in a month or so. At least in that space I have some control.

I have seen other reviews after the fact of ordering through Abebooks that describe similar scenarios where customers are infuriated by lack of service-and dedication to treating customers right.

Since I started this review, I have again heard from Customer service tech who states I will get a full refund of the original cost of books and shipping charges, plus additional shipping charges to return the books. Which is apparently in the return policies of which I did not read, prior to ordering. I cant say this is totally unreasonable as a policy, my main frustration is that they decided I didn't need the books I ordered but sent me similar books by the same title which are of less value to me than what I ordered.

If I were to order them again I don't think I have any control to ensure I will get the correct books! What a shame!

Do not order from this site. I ordered a book that was out of print, and instead was shipped a different book in the same series. When asked to cancel- I was denied. When asked to return, I was given no response.
When I received the book, it was IN an AMAZON.com package with a gift receipt enclosed.

I was completely taken advantage of by a reseller, that got my order WRONG, and nowhere on the site is a place for customer feedback.

My first order was cancelled because the seller didn't ship the book in the timeframe given. Okay, fine, things happen. I decided to give them another chance because of their low prices, and ordered the same book from a different seller. Not the next day, not even two days, FOUR days later my order was cancelled again due to the seller listing the book 'in error', whatever that means.
These issues have lost AbeBooks my business, which is a shame cause I buy a lot of both used & new books. I'll stick with Amazon and pay a little more cause I know without a doubt that I'll actually get what I order.