“I gave this business a 2/5 because I spent a total of around $1,000 for books for Christmas and most of the orders went without a hitch. I had a problem with 2 sellers who sent me used books instead of new books. The books that I ordered were pretty expensive for paperback books because of limited printing ($67.00 and $48.00) which I was willing to pay as a Christmas gift.
The nightmare began when both sellers kept telling me that a new copy was coming into their warehouses (yes, they were two different sellers in two different states but their emails could have been interchanged.) I tried to work with them each for about a month. I finally gave them a date that I needed a trackable number by and, when I didn't get it, I applied for a return/refund.
That's when the real nightmare began. I finally got return labels from both and returned the books, expecting to see my refund as soon as they were delivered. It really isn't acceptable that I was the only one with anything at risk. They now had my money and I had no book. Then, it turns out that one of the sellers put the wrong address on the return label. How is that even possible? This book was then returned to me. I opened a dispute with American Express. While they were in the process of investigating it, I received the returned book back. I researched the address and discovered that the seller had neglected to put an apartment number on it. For 2 weeks, I asked for a return label with the apartment number because I wanted my money and didn't want the book. On December 4 (the original order was placed October 17, 2021), I finally got my money back from that one ($67 + shipping). I also just received the corrected return label from the first seller this morning (December 6).
The seller of the second book received his book back November 27. On Friday, December 3, I wrote to Abe Books customer support asking where my refund was. I received an email this morning (December 6) asking me for the tracking number so that they could verify that the book was returned. Are you kidding me? This information was all in the information that I had to fill out for the return/refund, They were too lazy or stupid to even look at the information they required from me. I have told them that they have until Wednesday, December 8, 2021 to credit my American Express account or I will be opening a dispute with AmEx.
Quite simply, dealing with this company is not worth it. I thought since they were now owned by Amazon, the customer service would be comparable. IT IS NOT! Alibris is another good source for books and I have never had a problem with them. I am an avid reader and still like the feel of turning the pages, so a good bookseller is important to me. I will avoid Abe Books religiously, however, because the problems are simply not worth it.”
“I waited for the book for more than two months, it still hasn't arrived and when I asked for a refound, they replied, that there is nothing they can do about it.”
“Almost no customer service or screening of its sellers. Avoid at all costs. If, as I read, this website is based in Victoria, BC, it's a dark stain on one of North America's most beautiful cities. Competitors need to step up and put this disgrace out of business.”
“I ordered a book on August 4th 2020. They emailed me a day later to advise the book seller was asking for an additional postage charge, which I paid, which also rendered the postage more than the price of the book. They emailed me to advise it was dispatched on August 7th. It was was mid-pandemic and all my mail was arriving at least 1 to 3 months late, so I gave Abe a bit of breathing space. Also, I suffer from anxiety which also prevented me from wanting to cause a fuss. I email Abe late 2020. No response other than an auto reply. I email again Jan 2021, no response, and again Feb 2021, no response. I do a search on their site for a complaints email address and see that I should contact the seller direct. I do, and the seller says that they never asked for an extra postage charge, and never received one from Abe either. The said they'd follow it up.
It has now been 326 Days since it was despatched. No book, no refund (yet they took an extra postage charge and no news.
I have never, and will never order another thing from Abe.
The book seller is Wildside Books, by the way.”
“This was my first time shopping with Abebooks...
AND I WILL NEVER SHOP WITH THEM AGAIN. I ordered a total of three books, all at the same time. One was a gift and it came when it said. The second said it was delivered--it was not. The post office lost it, said it had been delivered, and just today I got an email notifying a refund. The third one I saw no update for 14 days (the longest it said it would take). I sent a response asking if it had even been dropped off and I got no response other than, asking for information for who I was, what the book was, and where it was going. I responded again, and have not received any reply. I checked the USPS today, and surprisingly my package should be here by Thursday (from Maryland to Nevada, over the Memorial day weekend... wth).
I am a grad student, I need books for my classes regularly. This has been such a disappointment. I will probably never shop from Abe's again. I will stick to Barnes & Noble and Thrift Books.”
“AbeBooks is WORST online book seller ever :((
EASILY get a refund for your unsatisfactory order by filing a DISPUTE with your CREDIT CARD COMPANY! I got my FULL refund fast!!
I got the wrong book delivered and got EXTREMELY POOR customer service after sending AbeBooks 5 emails. They never gave me a return authorization number to return the book.
In frustration, I called and filed a dispute with my credit card company - they will intervene directly with AbeBooks and reverse the charge back to you!! Do it and get fair treatment.”
“Would not accept a return, when it stated that the seller agreed to 100% satisfaction. Did not list accurate copyright date. Ended up with a book of a later copyright at a high price.”
“Ordered two books from Abe books on February 22, not realizing that they were bought out by Amazon.
Both were shipped on the 23rd. One hasn’t made it to the post office yet, the other doesn’t have any tracking information but they estimate delivery around March 28.
Never again.”
“In my original email I was told I'd get a refund, but when I returned the books as "rejected, return to sender" exactly as instructed in an email they convieniently can't find the books and refuse to refund my money.
Their customer service sucks and they are rude. I have the original email when I purchased the books stating I could get a refund. I have another email with the return instructions, but anyone else that I've corresponded with states no refund is available.”
“This is the worst company I have ever ordered from and I now whish I had checked the reviews first. If you're smarter than me and read these, please please don't give them your business. They sent me something completely different than what I had ordered and since I sent it back to get my original item they stopped replying to me emails! So I paid for an item I will now never get. They literally stole from me! Run fast and run far!”
“Very disappointed! Please be aware that this company is completely untrustworthy!! I bought one month ago a book (paid extra fee to get it in 1-2days) and still didn't receive my book or my money back. I was contacting the company, they didn't respond at all. I feel completely deceived and robbed. I tried different companies for second hand books purchase and any of them are much better than AbeBooks.”
“Complete and utter clusterfuck from start to finish.
Frist the the seller customer interaction is horrendous even after sending at least 5 message and 2 customer service complaints i heard nothing from the seller.
The customer service sucks ass I ask for the tracking number and when I finally get that and see that the book is almost to my location the BUMBLING IDOITS at customer service process a refund/return that i neither asked for nor wanted and now what was going be a christmas present will not even get here and i have to rushed around like chicken with its head cut off to find something to give.”
“I ordered a copy of a book on the website but when it arrived it turned out to be a German translation! The fact that it was a German edition was NOT REVEALED ON THE WEBSITE listing for the book. I returned the book after being assured in writing that the return postage would be refunded. They asked for, and I sent, documentation on the return postage cost twice but the company still refuses to pay as promised. IF POSSIBLE I WOULD GIVE ABE BOOKS A RATING OF ZERO STARS. The company is dishonest and incompetent. AVOID ABE BOOKS AT ALL COSTS!”
“Abebooks does not have a friendly refund policy. They are saying that: "All return and refund requests, including reports of items that didn't arrive, must be received by AbeBooks within 30 days of the order's maximum estimated delivery date". The worse is they never remind you the deadline. If you forget the deadline, then you should forget your refund!”
“Ordered a book from a seller Irish Books. Horrible customer service. They do not reply to messages. I paid 28.65 for second day delivery. The book did not arrive. Messages went unanswered. Book finally arrived with Media mail USPS 3.33 postage. Now messaging trying to obtain refund for 25.62 overage in shipping. Irish Books has terrible reviews. I wish I had seen or read them before ordering. Not reputable. And pocketed extra shipping fee.”
“Terrible book seller. Had to wait a month for a book sent from a location about an hour from me. Do NOT but from this company. They totally suck...you cant get a refund...i will never buy from abebooks again...TERRIBLE SERVICE...DO NOT BUY FROM THEM. If i could give 0 stars i would. Worst book service on the internet”
“A book I ordered was delivered as "Examination Copy" and "Not for Resale". This is not allowed by the publisher. AbeBooks is allowing is booksellers to sell books that are not full editions and not allowed to be sold by the publisher. It is fraud. They refused a refund. DO NOT BUY FROM ABEBOOKS. There are plenty of other reputable booksellers out there.”
