"This is a company that cheats their customers. They have not given me a credit and continue to list products for sale when they are going out of business and ordered to liquidate by the court.
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=47274120"
"I would like to follow up to the review posted below. I would like to amend this review and let you know how the situation ended. Within one hour of writing the review and sending a request on the website, I received a response back. A1Books was very willing to work with me. I sent pictures of the item that I received, and by the next day, I had an answer back that they were refunding my money and allowing me to keep the lunch bag that had been sent as a peace offering. It was not the fault of A1Books. The lunch bag had already been packaged by Built NY when it was shipped to A1Books and happened to be incorrectly labeled. I am very impressed with their customer service, and would absolutely do business with them in the future. They were very easy to work with."
"Does anyone know how to contact this company? I email them, use the help desk. Nothing! What a bad company..."
"I have ordered many books for my customers from A1Books in the past three years. I have not had any problems before now. The order number above is not the problem. I am trying to make a different order, but I keep getting the message "please fix error: internal" which makes no sense to me. I cannot cancel the order or place it. I cannot change my billing or find any contact number to ask what to do. I do not have a fax. This is very frustrating. I would appreciate some phone or email contact information to settle this or I cannot use this site again.
Nadia Lee
Downtowne Bookstore"
"It has now been 8 days since I posted my previous message regarding the failure of customer service I experienced with A1 Books.
In my previous message, I challenged A1 Books to explain why they are advertising books through the Barnes and Noble website as being "in stock" when they are in fact sold out.
I also stated that "Your failure to do so will confirm that your business is deliberately deceiving the public." So far, there has been no response from A1 Books, despite the fact that they have responded to many other messages in this thread. I think that speaks "volumes" about the reliability and truthfulness in advertising policies of both A1 Books and Barnes and Noble.
While I was writing this message, I just checked and the book I ordered (which A1 Books never sent) is still listed on the Barnes and Noble website as being "in stock" through A1 Books. Curiously, there are now two listings, both stating that the book is "New," but A1 is now offering this "New" book at two different prices ($16.45 and $20.99) in the same listing!
When I look at all of this, I can't help getting the feeling that the information in these listings is totally fabricated and not even proofread. Why would a bookseller offer the same new book at two different prices - one that's 28% higher than the other listing? The only answer seems to be that they really don't have the book in stock at either price, that these are old, outdated listings and neither A1 Books nor Barnes and Noble think it's important to update this old, erroneous information. "
"The prices for many items are very competitive but be prepared to wait MANY weeks to receive your order. While understandably some shipments take longer than others to process, I have received multiple shipments at standard shipping rates from halfway around the world in less than a week as compared to A1Books taking 3+ weeks to send a single item halfway across the United States.
Perhaps my experience with A1Books was the exception and not the rule, I don't know. But my expectation with a business that specifically deals with selling books is that your order should be processed, shipped and received within 3-5 business days upon receipt of payment.
Bottom line: If you're exceptionally patient, the prices may be well worth the wait. However, if you're a PhD student preparing for your comprehensive exams and the book you ordered arrived weeks late, you may want to consider purchasing the same item elsewhere.
In Response to A1Books: You can try to downplay the delay in shipping your product, but there are a few fundamental points that are irrefutable:
1) Cheap prices are irrelevant if the product does not arrive on time or at all. I purchased a book on February 11; still, no package. Ironically enough, I have purchased books elsewhere, as recent as Sunday evening (2/28/2010), some of which have already arrived at my door this morning (3/4/2010). To add insult to injury, one of the books was shipped from Tokyo with a parcel weight of 3lbs. You can claim that heavy textbooks delay the expediency in shipment, but the fact still remains, 3+ weeks is unacceptable.
2) The store's lifetime rating is 1.65 out of 10; even lower at 0.83 out of 10 for the last 6 months on resellerratings.com. Regardless of your explanation for slow delivery, my comments reflect an ongoing problem with your service. You can overlook and/or pretend to not be aware of this rating, but you have clearly responded to many of the comments on this website; evidence enough that you're well aware of your reputation being called into question.
3) I was fairly diplomatic in downplaying my initial criticism. I conceded the possibility that my experience with your service was isolated to me. However, in review of your response and many other posters and comments alike, I'm beginning to wonder whether I was too diplomatic. Whatever the case may be, if you take your business reputation with your current and future customers seriously, you should better devote your time to improving your service; a deal-breaker in the grand scheme of things. I appreciate competitive prices, but I value impeccable service more. "
"Excellent quality books, fast delivery at a great price. A1Books.com is the first place I look to purchase a book."
"A1Books through Amazon controlled Abebooks offers copyright infringing Material "Round the World in a motor car" by Antonio Scarfoglio.
They have been advised by email and all parties concurring to this unethical behaviour.
The reply from the seller is shufting responsabilities: They are selling unauthorized
copyright protected work (the book from 1909 which I own rights until 2034 under international treatis) produced illegally by Kessinger publishing LLC and/or General Books LLC. It is enough to do a search on site www.abebooks.com (a division of Amazon Inc) for "Scarfoglio" "world" words and several items from your company will appear with UK and US origin listed always from your company (that leads also to India). These "spanking new" are illegal reproduced work. I will proceed with an order through Abebooks to get further evidence and prosecution. People on this site reports Unusual use of credit card data etc. I invite you to stop selling copyright infringing unauthorized reproductions under copyright.gov circular 38a terms
"
"I have purchased several books from a1Books and have always received good merchandise at a great price.
However I will no longer make any purchases from them because of how they treated me after I signed up as an affiliate. Basically they refused to credit my affiliate account (through Commission Junction) for the sales made directly from my website.
Despite showing them the invoices for the orders in question they just ignored my requests. Very unethical and very disturbing! I don't want to do business with criminals do you?
Additional Information added:
I have communicated with Commission Junction and they have made it clear that tracking is done by the vendor (ie a1Books). They also contacted a1Books on my behalf without a response.
a1Books has responded to my review saying that I don't have any links on my webpage. Of course not!!!! I took them off because I'm not going to keep promoting a business that doesn't pay the commissions they owe. The orders were all placed by clicking on a link on my website to a1Books and then immediately placing the order.
I tried to work this out with a1Books for almost 2 months without a response. They didn't respond until yesterday after I posted a review here.
a1Books - don't place any more BS responses!"
"I received an order confirmation 2 days after my order. I didn't receive a shipping notice until 9 days after my order. The book (a gift) didn't arrive until 20 days after my order. I also sell books through Amazon so I know I am to have that book delivered to the doorstep within 14 days, so I was very disappointed that my gift wasn't received until day #20. I will not buy from A1 books again."
"I ordered a book from A1 through Amazon on January 13th (today is the 21st). A1 says in its FAQ section (at http://support.a1books.com/cgi-bin/csFront?act=showHelp&WVSESSION_ID=***-***-**** ) that "Standard order processing time ranges from a few hours to 3 business days." The order, however, is still processing. I began to wonder what was going on, so I looked around the A1 site to find reviews of their system and to find a good way to contact them.
The FAQ says that "Before making a purchase, you can view comments and all the positive and negative feedback submitted by previous buyers." However, no link was provided. I went to their homepage and I still didn't see any reviews. I eventually just googled "a1books reviews", which led me to this page.
I also wanted to contact them. The homepage doesn't appear to have any "Contact Us" links or anything. The FAQ had an address and a fax, but no e-mail or phone (my two preferred methods of contact). If I can't find anything else to do, I will probably eventually send a fax. I also looked at the e-mails they sent us to confirm that we had placed an order, but "This email message was sent from a notification-only address that cannot accept incoming email. Please do not reply to this message." The FAQ says that "If your questions or concerns are not answered by our FAQ's or if you have problems with any of our sellers, please contact us by logging on to our Help Desk." I went to the Help Desk link at http://support.a1books.com/cgi-bin/csFront?act=greet&WVSESSION_ID=***-***-**** and it told me to select the site where I placed the order. I clicked on Amazon.com and entered my order information. I was hoping that they would give me an e-mail, but all they did was show me my order and inform me that it was processing. The Help Desk didn't have any means of contact, contrary to what was said in the FAQ. A1Books' replies on this page say to "contact our customer support at support.a1books.com", but do not provide anyone with the information of how to actually do so after you go to the link.
In short, this "company" appears to AT BEST have no useful customer support, an extremely inefficient order processing system, a poorly organized website, and a completely incorrect FAQ. It seems almost certain that this evaluation is too generous and that they are simply hoping people won't notice when their orders don't arrive.
EDIT: Eventually, the order processed and shipped. I have adjusted my opinion accordingly. I am unhappy that the processing time was long for both me and many other reviewers, but as the order eventually shipped, that was the most important thing as I wasn't in a big hurry to receive the item."
"I ordered several dozen books from various used book marketplaces. All of them were coming from A1books.
As far as I can tell, every single last order I placed that was to ship from A1books was cancelled by them as thay claimed to have already sold the item. I know there was a huge run on the titles I ordered, but every other used book seller at least filled a part of my order.
I tried to call to complain, but their phone service isolates everybody from customer calls!"
"I have another negative review to add to the pile. I ordered two books from a1 on December 28th. It's now Jan 14th and I still haven't received the products. What's worse is that I wasn't even provided with a tracking number. I emailed a1books to obtain one, and they refused to do so. Thus I don't even have a means to independently confirm that these books have been shipped or even exist in the first place.
Terrible company. They're scam artists. Avoid at all costs."
"I will NEVER order from this "company" again. It is just a big SCAM. That is ALL it is. I placed an order on December 21st, 2009 for a book for a Christmas present for my friend. Here it is January 12th, 2009 and I still have not received the book. I have not spoken to one happy customer who has ordered from these people and now I know why. DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY! IT IS A COMPLETE SCAM!
This is Meaghan's Mom, and I just read your reply to her. You have no record of her??? Funny, that she got a invoice number, a shipment date and a tracking number from you. The only thing is is that the tracking number is obviously bogus. Even the money has been taken out of her bank account, but you still have no record of her???? The book looks like it came withing 30 miles of us and was never delivered. Now it is down in TX somewhere going from city to city. There is not even the name of the shipper anywhere so they can be contacted. I called your company, but does anyone ever answer the phone??? Obviously NOT!! I just reported you guys to Amazon.com and they are looking into the matter. If we still don't get anywhere with you in the next couple of days, I am taking this matter to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington DC, so maybe further action can be taken against your company and other unsuspecting people won't be SCAMMED!!!"
"Most positive or satisfactory reviews are another Scam by A1books to fool new customers, they are all short, no details, and almost same pattern of deceptive language.
Any one who is a victim of A1books.com scam and interested in a class action lawsuit please forward your name and email address "****@****"and I will forward them to my lawyer or file your complaint at www.bbb.org
laA1.books, never replied to my many emails, and inquires for shipment, after I called I was told processing take 5 business day. my order place on January 2 and 5 business day mean IT should have been shipped on January 8, 2010. ITEM NEVER SHIPPED, SELLER NEVER RESPONDED TO EMAILS INQUIRES, AND NEVER PROVIDED SHIPMENT TRACKING NUMBERS
IT IS A LIE THAT A1.BOOKS OFFER TO SHIP ITEM
I was told the order still in process and will take additional 14 days to complete
I was also told they can not refund my money
AS OF TODAY JANUARY 12, 2010 I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY REFUNDS
PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND CHECK VARIOUS SITE ON INTERNET
just type SCAM A1.books in google search
and see what you find
Customers complains include: Never received, wrong item shipped from INDIA, never replied, never refunded, slow process
don't fall for their SCAM
Use of customer private information is a violation of privacy laws, A1.books is in violation of posting my personal information on line without my prior consent
it will be reported and I will all in my power to get compensated from a1books for Monetary and Punitive damages
their company address and phone number
YOU CAN FIND FULL NAME OF CEO on BBB.org
Shing , CEO
good luck finding him, he is enjoying your dollars in INDIA right now
35 Love Lane
Netcong, NJ 07857
Tel: ***-***-****
EXTENSIONS 101, 102, 108
"