"DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM. They gave me the wrong book then tryed to charge me 20.00 to send back the book. Half.com is a way better company. I cant even get my money back. Most horrible people. They dont even have a phone number to talk to anyone."
"Very dodgy and set up like a scam, try not to buy from here even if the prices are low.
Ratings are based on completion rates. There is no way for a buyer to rate or comment on a seller.
Books I received where cheaper international versions (unauthorised reselling) of the one that was advertised.
They don't give you the tracking number upfront! They'll supply one incase you file a complaint if you didn't receive your order. very dodgy.
going to return immediately.
Seller is allowed to wait 90 days for the return and I have to provide a tracking number to prove it's delivery. 90DAYS!! crazy.."
"Horrendous customer service. Vague, insensitive, and impersonal Robot-generated responses.
Accounting/charge problems not due to my fault. I intend to file a complaint with the US and Canadian consumer protection authorities.
Would not patronize this establishment again."
"I have only purchased from a seller on AbeBooks once. I needed a textbook quickly so I searched for US companies because I thought a domestic company would be able to mail me the textbook soonest. I also paid for expedited shipping which was listed as taking 3-6 days. It is now 24 days after my purchase and I still don't have a textbook. Turns out even though AbeBooks listed this seller as a US company it is actually a company in China.
I have contacted AbeBooks about the situation and they only tell me that they will forward my complaint to the seller but they do nothing to fix the company's listing as a US company. They also have no feedback system for users to rate the sellers so I have no way of warning future buyers against using that seller. If you buy textbooks online beware of a seller called YeeDong. And, do not risk your money buying from sellers on AbeBooks."
"SCAM!!!!! Poor customer service, vague answers, and quick to pass the blame onto the customer and their banking institution. They do not mention on their site that by shopping with them you are going to incur further charges by your bank and when you ask about this all the customer service rep can say is that you should have known about it from other sources. When I told her I wanted to speak with a supervisor she stated that that person was not available. I would think that being honest with your customers about potential charges to their accounts would be the courteous thing to do since we are forgoing AMAZON.com and other AMERICAN sellers to shop with them but apparently that is not the case. So, if you want someone to lie to you and treat you like crap then buy Canadian at Abebooks. "
"I had an overall good experience. I found an autographed book I had to do a bit of searching for, paid a reasonable amount for it, and had it shipped and delivered faster than promised."
"9/3/10 Update - After several back and forth emails, they did finally give me the 10% credit back on my credit card so if you persevere, you'll see results. I appreciated their change of heart.
8/26/10 Won't order from them again. I got an email saying I could use their coupon code for 10% off my next order. I placed the order online and the coupon wouldn't work. It was Sunday night and I needed to get the book ordered so I tried using the coupon a couple times but just finally gave up and placed my order. I immediately contacted customer service and requested a $7 credit to my order (the 10%). I got some BS answer about them being unable to apply a coupon to a completed order and that the 'industry standard' is to not apply coupons to completed orders either. I responded that it was THEIR fault I couldn't use the coupon due to their website not working and I couldn't care less what the 'industry standard' is. Just got another reponses that basically said 'tough' and that I could use the coupon on my next purchase. There will be no next purchase..."
"Having ordered from Abebooks since 2003, I have not yet encountered any problems (small or large), but of course, I've never used them for anything apart from making intermittent purchases--as there are many other ways to obtain books for much better prices and shipping. (There are also other venues for selling stuff.)
My most recent orders required across-the-border/pond materials, so it was noted that shipping could take a while. Fortunately, they arrived earlier than expected.
Shipping is rarely cheap with Abebooks, but when they're listing hard-to-locate copies, rare finds, or stuff you want with the lowest comparable rates, I find it difficult to ignore them. So without any negative issues over the years, I've continued using them primarily as an alternate source for research and purchases. (One major plus is that they don't harass you with ridiculous amounts of spam, e.g., Alibris's too frequent, craptastic, paltry discounts featuring some of the most uninspired or obnoxious, personalized subject headers ever.)
If you are concerned about the reliability of any (re)seller at Abebooks, it might be best to stick with systems that allow customer ratings/feedback to matter. Doing a cursory review of my account options doesn't show me any obvious way of leaving feedback, so I'm guessing that it's not something the service makes a priority. (I don't think the sellers request feedback, but then again, if you do enough online book browsing, you'll notice that a lot of high volume sellers don't put their eggs all in one basket either.) Some might construe this as "shady", but really... it's all relative; what you consider a priority will always dictate what service/site is utilized.
Subsequently, if Abebooks has It, is the only place listing It, and Exacting Need gives more impetus than a Hankering... taking a chance is a no-brainer.
Recommended (for purchases)."
"Be careful when you buy books from this company. They are very deceptive, I purchased an International Edition Operating Systems textbook for my class which logically would be similar to other International Editions. It worked out well for the semester, but the issues arise when you try to sell the book back to them and their scam unravels.
Their site clearly states they will buyback international Edition textbooks, hell if you can't find it email them for a quote since they often have different ISBN's. I followed their instructions, selected International Edition, got the label and shipped it off.
Long story short, book was rejected so now they have my book which i spent 40 bucks on AND I am out payment. Their reason? Even though they sell you the text as international, it's really an India text, which they won't buyback, and this policy is stated NOWHERE on their site, nor do they warn you their International edition is really an India Edition. And remember, this book was purchased from them as an international edition, NOT an "INDIA EDITION". Further emails to resolve the issue go unanswered other than no payment will be made, but hey we're not sending your book back either.
They refer you to a completely different website (textbooksrus) with a different domain to show you this policy which no user would think is the same company, but apparently are.
Reading other people's issues with this company, I recommend everyone to stay away from this company even if they are the cheapest, they are misrepresenting their books which most people won't even know until they try to sell it back.
Abebooks is registered in Canada so good luck if you have issues with them and you live in the states."
"Abebooks/TextbooksRus method of acknowledgement is lacking! I appreciated the acknowledgment (email) of the receiving of my voice message on the buyback hotline, however I would have preferred a voice callback to further discuss the issues and my options.
I was not given the chance to retrieve the book from you all before they sent out my reimbursement. This site is a scam and I a completely dis-satisfied! The rep stated "Your book can not be returned once it has been received and payment has been issued", I got an email at 5:02 (conveniently after hours) telling me the amount I was to get back, I had no opportunity to discuss getting the book back. What if payment hadn't been issued, could I receive it back then? So much could have transpired had I received the email before COB the day payment way conveniently mailed out.
Never will I ever sell my books to Abebooks in the future, I will stick to TextbookWheel.com, I am sure your business will not be in business too long, going on with these practices. God doesn't like ugly and that is what Abebooks.com is. Bad and ugly business.
The rep was rude, cutting me off...contradicting herself...and was a waste of my breath. I have never had such bad customer service in my life. It was soo bad I had to hang up on her.
I will be spreading the word to my fellow students....Abebooks/TextbooksRus is a scam!
"
"I originally ordered this book on Feb. 15, 2010. After 2 weeks and I still haven't received it yet, I contacted the seller Vicnet Yesudusan, who is based on Houston, TX, and he refunded me for that order and promised to overnight me another copy at no extra cost on March 4th. At that time, Vicnet had at least 4-5 copies left according to the website, and he reassured me he would save a copy for me. I contacted him later for a tracking number, to which he never responded. The next morning I learned through the website in my account that my order was cancelled because it was no longer available. I called the seller, got a voice mail, left a message, but never received a call or any response back. When I contacted Abebooks, they were very vague about the situation, although they "promised to take proper action", which they could not disclose what that meant. In compensation, they offered a measly $10 coupon which would be good for one week. This is not the first bad experience I had with them, and, from what I have read from others here in this website, I'm not the only one either. Now I will not have my textbook, and I have to order it from another sight, which would delay things by a week. I do not recommend anyone in their right mind to take the chance to save a couple of bucks by ordering from Abebooks. Go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble and save yourself a big headache!"
"I ordered this book. It never arrived. They said I refused to accept the order. They gave me my $back minus shipping but when I called to see why I didnt get my book and screamed because Im already 3 weeks into my semester, they said the book came from TextbooksNow and they had nothing to do with it. So now I am out $ for expedited shipping, no way to contact the actual seller and am 4 weeks into a semester without a book. Crappy"
"Total scam artists -- DON"T SHOP HERE. I ordered a text book, they shipped from some other company, with no contact or return info THE WRONG BOOK, even though the packing slip had the text book name correct, they shipped a cheap pamphlet "study guide" for the textbook I needed, NOT THE TEXRBOOK. Now I am a week into the semester with no book, the used books are sold out on campus and I will have to spend double for a new book or fail my class. DO NOT SHOP ABEBOOKS. "
"I have ordered MANY books through Abe Books. LOVE THEM."
"I ordered some reference books through Abebooks. It was very clear from the website that Abebooks is more of a clearinghouse of other vendors as it listed the actual vendor with the books, which was just one state away. The order process was without difficulty and I had the books by UPS ground, securely packaged, within 4 days, and that was when ordering on a weekend.
Abebooks had the best price. I would use them again."