AbeBooks Reviews

Name: AbeBooks
Rating: 2.36

2.4 Rating 115 Reviews

33 %

of reviewers recommend AbeBooks

Company Reviews

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2.4

Based on 115 reviews


Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Postal Service
Average Delivery Time	Over 7 Days
On-time Delivery	Greater than 25%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 73%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	6 - 12 Hours
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult
Returns Process	Could Be Better

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AbeBooks 1 star review on 6th March 2024

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 2 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“After going through numerous complaints about the sellers on Abebooks, i have suggested to them so many times to leave the seller ratings to the customers like their parent company, Amazon does, as against such ratings are given by Abebooks. Their ratings are based on sellers’ fulfilment. Each book that is sold, Abebooks get about 18% of the total sale in addition to they charge a listing fee monthly to sellers based on the number of books they have listed. If a seller fulfill all orders, he/she gets 5 star rating, and if one order is not processed by the seller for whatever reason, the rating drops to 4 stars. Again these ratings are done unprofessionally. For no fault of the seller, some clerks in abebooks often go and snip the ratings. The customer has no clue about the seller. Does he describe the book honestly. Does he mail a battered softcover book when you asked for a hardcover book in good condition with a dust jacket, or the seller got your money and never sent out the book? If the customer has a voice to rate these sellers, others would take a note of it and would refrain from ordering from dishonest sellers - Believe me, there are a few doing well on Abebooks.com. My point is, let the customer rate their sellers, not the Abebooks who can spend that time to look after the customers. What do you think? Tell them!”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

“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.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“I ordered a book as a gift to friend. On checkout, I entered the friend's as the shipping address, and mine as the billing address. On my order confirmation email I received my friend's name/address was listed, but not mine. I am now on my 4th email to Customer Service to make sure I get billed for the book, and not my friend. All AbeBooks replies have either been form letters about procedures, not addressing my issue or else stupid claims that the individual bookseller is the one responsible for placing the mailing address on the bill, not AbeBooks whose name is the one on the letterhead of the bill they emailed me. I feel frustrated, but realize the bigger headache it would be to cancel the order. I am a collector of books and have purchased from AbeBooks and other booksellers frequently over the past 12 years. In my opinion, all online booksellers have been going downhill steadily in their customer service for at least the last 4 years. It is sad & disappointing.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“The same problem - not providing any tracking numbers!”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

AbeBooks is rated 2.4 based on 115 reviews