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ThriftBooks Reviews Summary
The company has garnered mixed feedback, with some customers expressing satisfaction with the variety and pricing of books. However, a significant number of reviews highlight serious concerns regarding order fulfillment, such as receiving incorrect items, damaged books, and poor customer service responses. Customers frequently report difficulties in obtaining refunds or exchanges, indicating a lack of adequate support and communication. The overall sentiment leans towards dissatisfaction, with many stating they would not recommend the company due to these recurring issues, suggesting a need for improvements in customer service and order accuracy.
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I ordered a game through their site, and waited a week for it. When it arrived, it was so scratched up that it wouldn't even work. They sent a replacement, but it turned out to be a completely different game than the one I ordered, plus it was so scratched up that it didn't work either.
I ordered Melissa and Doug pop books for my toddler. I ordered good condition but at check out they recommended that I get acceptable to save. 40 and quicker shipping. So I changed the order. Out of the 4 pop books, 2 had some of the plastic pop pieces broken so when he tries to pop it there is only a broken plastic dot. We also ordered 3 train books. 1 was suppose to be in good condition but it came with the cover cut in 1/2 and a few of the pages missing. I contacted the company and they sent another 1 that arrived after my sons birthday and also had a black moldy substance on the pages. The other acceptable books were very worn with 1 book having a name written on the front in permanent marker. I realize that these are used books but I expected the same quality that I would find at used bookstores. I was very disappointed in the quality of their books.
I received a book from Thriftbooks I did not order. I spoke with ThriftBooks customer service and was told they could not tell me who sent the book.
I feel my privacy has been compromised!
I paid almost $20 for express shipping to have a book shipped within a certain time frame. I did not arrive within that time frame so I requested a refund for the express shipping fee. My email to them clearly was not read because they replyed with a stock email about how long standard shipping takes. I have emailed them again and perhaps this time they will read the email but I will not be ordering from this seller again.
The book was offered on Amazon.com as "Used - Good," meaning among other things that all pages were intact. In fact the corners of pages 111-130 were torn off and missing. So much of the text is gone that the book is unreadable. It shouldn't have been advertised as it was and in fact shouldn't have been offered at all.
PayPal link wouldn't work after multiple tries. "Chat Now" on support page doesn't work. Unable to delete my account. Does this tell (smell) you something? No time or energy to spend on time wasting scam sites. If they don't know how to do online business, they don't deserve my order. I see there are numerous 1-star complaints. Strongly suggest that users check out ThriftBooks BEFORE doing any business with them.
This used to be a great site for international customers. Not any more! The shipping cost increased substantially. There is no point in ordering from them again. Buying new hardcover books from Amazon now costs a lot less than buying from Thrift books and delivery is also guaranteed with Amazon but not with Thrift books! Now a better alterantive is Better World Books. For paperbacks Book Depository is ideal.
In short RIP Thrift Books.
Thriftbooks was easily the best American seller for us living outside the USA.
Their prices were unbeatable & shipping cost was $5, no matter the size/ weight of the book.
Now, they have changed for International orders
I was charged $30 only for delivery!
That means I would also have to pay my country's Import Taxes.
Only a couple of months ago I would pay for my order $15 (with shipping included!)...
Now that price has risen to $55 for the same $10-book.
So, no more Thriftbooks for us International buyers
I am deeply sorry for losing this great seller.
But if you are American or don't mind the new high International shipping rates, go for it!
Their customer service is great and they will issue a refund if your order arrives in a not-as-advertised condition.
Their book prices are phenomenal!
The book that was sent is NOT A HARDCOVER! The book was sent in a plastic bag and the 4 corners of the book are DAMAGED! The top of the books pages have been raked and are DAMAGED! The spline has DAMAGE! I am so MAD! The incompetence to not send $70.00 book in a Box from a book store is baffling? Thriftbooks is not a good Steward of books and should immediately get out of the business and stop DESTROYING these out of print Books!
Thieves never got a refund for a book, + shipments fees,
+ another order I never received, when I asked for refund, (the order took 3 months to show in the tracking and still haven't received it), they sent me this short message:
Unfortunately, any order over 30 days cannot be replaced/refunded.
THAT'S it, can you believe it
Got screwed for a total of 10 $
I'm from morocco and you can imagine me waiting for a book for about 3 to 4 months every time, to never receive it, AND NO REFUND (I call this theft) books i need, Zero PROFESSIONALISM
Be careful don't deal with this company.
Should be a 0. They took the money but the book never came. After a month asked again, they inform that it has been 31 days since the order and they only look into orders less than 30 days. When asked if there anything they could do, they kindly replied by sending the policy by email (it probably would have taken just as much time to look up the order).
Order was sent from Thriftbooks as totally different books ordered----three times. This is first time ordering from this company and will definitely be the last. Now, the efforts put in to return and get credit for the wrong books will be interesting!
Don't purchase from Thriftbooks if you don't live in the USA. You won't be getting your books. They claim you will get books within 6-9 days but the reality is "you will never get your books". So, prefer other sites like betterworldbooks.com
I used to love ThriftBooks and ordered many books from them to Australia. An amazing range with great service. However, in the space of two months, the postage cost went from $5 a book to $9 a book to $15 per book! It's simply not worth buying books from them anymore and will be cancelling my account. Very disappointing and feels like they're price gouging! Bye bye ThriftBooks!
Book has suffered water damage and was sold as "very good condition¨. What would it take to be in poor condition? Severe burns? Missing pages?
I bought a book from this website. It came, but it was annotated and written all over. I bought a boook in "Very Good Condition." Apparently they were a bit vague on that term. Yes, they do sell the books at much lower prices but in horrible conditon! So, if you buy from this site, beware. You may never know what condition your book will be in even if you paid full price for it.
I've been buying books through Thriftbooks for a few years. Good experiences. I especially like the feature that will notify you when a book you want becomes available.
Although the prices and postage have increased a little, it's usually still more economical than other places on the web that sell books.
Sorry that others had a bad time, & their complaints are legit. I only made one order (2 books re Einstein), arrived in perfect shape, for a fraction of retail cost.
Here is what I just sent them,
Tuesday September 7th 2021
Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada
Hi there!
I received the book "Bringing Up Boys" by James Dobson with the jacket of the book thgat I thought I would receive and that I had ordered with is "Chaka Khan - Through The Fire". I doubt that you do have Chaka Khan's book in stock, so I'm asking you to please fully refund me via Pay Pal.
Thanks.
Sylvie Groleau
160 rue Ouimet 2
Trois-Rivières
(Qc)
G8T 6E1
Note: If I do not hear from within the next 10 business days, I'll make a claim to Pay Pal.
I can return the book to Thriftbooks if you want, I really do not know this book at all. I wanted Chaka Khan's memoirs. Nothing else
You never know what you'll get in an order from thriftbooks! It would be foolish of you to assume that you would get what you ordered! I ordered 4 games on disc. Two of the boxes described what I wanted! But inside was some other game, unplayable by me. So I'm out luck. When I called customer service they apologized, refunded the discounted price I payed, but did not attempt to rectify the issue. "There's a good chance you would get the wrong discs again" WTF? So they know their own service is unreliable enough for even them to order from. THAT SAYS IT ALL.
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- SmartCustomer’s sole mission is to increase online transparency for buyers and businesses
- SmartCustomer has helped over 200M buyers make better purchasing decisions online
- Suspicious reviews are flagged by our algorithms, moderators, and community members
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