Name: Blackwell Books
Address: Blackwell Mail Order 50 Broad Street, Oxford
Rating: 1.67

“On the 29th January 2021 I ordered a book from Blackwell.co.uk which was in stock and said to be despatched within 48 hours. I waited patiently till 2nd February 2021 for my book to arrive at my house but it didn't, so I messaged Blackwell's customer service who apologized and said my book had not been dispatched. However just minutes after receiving their apologetic message I received a further email stating my order has now been dispatched - which made it look more likely that they just FORGOT to process my order. It is now 9th February 2021 and my order has still NOT arrived at my house, that's 7 days the order has been in the postal process! I have posted items by Royal Mail 1st Class to Scotland (hundreds of miles away) and they have arrived within 2 days, but Blackwell.co.uk orders can't arrive in 7 days+ and they are located in the SAME country!!! This really shows why more and more people order from Amazon as their stuff arrives quickly and you are fully updated about the order. I will NEVER order from Blackwell.co.uk again and advise others to avoid them too, unless you want to wait ages for an order that may never arrive. An extremely poor service indeed.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“My order never arrived and when I emailed for information, I never got a reply. It feels like a scam.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Orders don't show up and customer services do not reply to messages, despite a 2-4 day promise. They have closed their phone lines so it is basically impossible to contact them.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“My experience is common to many on this review site i.e book returned at my own expense as per instructions from Blackwells online and no refund or response to my many emails. There is no 'phone line active, just a recorded message saying that they have closed all telephone communications. I have a strong suspicion that there is something much more fundamental than a dreadful organisational structure with this part of the Blackwell business and would not be surprised if their refusal to refund customers and the interminable delay in fulfilling orders, is a strategy to keep cash in their accounts for as long as possible an attempt to keep the online business solvent. It's probably fine if you are able to shop in a Blackwells store where you can purchase the book of your choice and walk out with it, but I certainly would neither order in store or online. For now, I am out of pocket to the tune of £25, if I'd been robbed of that amount walking down the street I could reasonably expect the Police to be involved and for a criminal prosecution to ensue. Just imagine the amount of money that Blackwells online must have in their accounts from this, clearly common practice.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Short version: I did not get a refund on a book I returned to them. I returned a book to them in November following their instructions for their returns policy and heard nothing back. I never received my money back, or an explanation, despite numerous attempts to contact them. They are not reachable by phone and took a long time to respond to my emails. It's now February, I have given up hope of getting my money back, I am extremely disappointed, and I question the validity of the company. Long version: I ordered a book from Blackwell's via Abebooks. I ordered the paperback instead of the hardback. The entries on the website are almost identical. I telephoned Blackwell's and got an answerphone message saying, We don't answer the phone and we don't listen to voicemail messages. I emailed them asking if I could exchange and my email request was put in a queue. Eventually they replied and said, we don't do exchanges but you can return the book and reorder. They told me to send the book with certain numbers written clearly on the envelope, which I did, and they said as soon as we receive your book in the warehouse we will action your return. I sent the book to them on 16th November 2020 with all the numbers clearly marked on the envelope and to the correct address. I heard nothing back. I waited two weeks and when I went to email them I noticed an email from a completely different member of their team saying, we haven't heard anything from you, can we assume that you don't need any more help and we can close this query? This email was apparently sent the week before. I had not seen it, nor did I receive notification that I had a new email from them. That was why I wanted to phone them, and I was starting to realise why they don't pick up the phone. Confused, I replied and explained that my query hadn't been dealt with and that I had sent the book back. I heard nothing back. Then a long while after that I got an email from yet another member of their team asking for proof of purchase with no other explanation. Had they lost it? Were they not willing to process the refund? I sent them a photo of my postage certificate, issued by Royal Mail. I complained and said, it's very difficult to communicate with you, and now I don't know if I'm going to get my money back. I told them I was never going to use their services again. I heard nothing back. I am still to receive a refund and/or an explanation. I have given up hoping that I will. I am extremely disappointed.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“I bought here to avoid amazon and support a local institution. If I could give zero stars I would. Ordered two books in October, dispatched November - it's now late January and nothing has arrived and nor have Blackwell's responded to any of my attempts to contact them to find out what might have happened, etc. I worked out that the address on the delivery was missing my house number and so should have been returned to sender. Used online form to ask about picking up from store or refund - nothing. No response. Just the same bull autobot response to wait another 14 days and see. Tried calling store - couldn't get through, always cut off. 100% do not recommend.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Do not shop with this company, there is no way of contacting them other than email which looks like it goes to a call centre in India. I ordered a book 2 weeks ago for a Christmas present and obviously was concerned. I had to email and was then promised that it would be sorted in 2 days. I wrote to them again this morning and chased up and they advised that the book is not in stock and they will refund me. I have now gone to Amazon and the book will be with me tomorrow. So a few things, obviously the stock control is wrong, you can't speak to anyone and I don't trust that they will refund me. By the way no apologies, just an arrogant company that is living on the fact it has been around for so long - the business model doesn't work and people want to be able to speak to someone, especially when their order is going wrong!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Do not shop with this company, there is no way of contacting them other than email which looks like it goes to a call centre in India. I ordered a book 2 weeks ago for a Christmas present and obviously was concerned. I had to email and was then promised that it would be sorted in 2 days. I wrote to them again this morning and chased up and they advised that the book is not in stock and they will refund me. I have now gone to Amazon and the book will be with me tomorrow. So a few things, obviously the stock control is wrong, you can't speak to anyone and I don't trust that they will refund me. By the way no apologies, just an arrogant company that is living on the fact it has been around for so long - the business model doesn't work and people want to be able to speak to someone, especially when their order is going wrong!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I received a damaged item after waiting for ages and as such Blackwell is legally responsible to bear the cost of returning, however, they have failed to respond to my query with a photo I sent 5 days ago. The phone line has been closed and I have been left with no means to communicate with them. I will have to look for a mediation service if they continue to ignore me. Don’t use Blackwell.”

Blackwell Books 1 star review on 7th December 2020

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Posted 4 years ago

“SCAM Waste of money and Space on this Earth. Im so angry. Just stick to amazon. No status on wether the order has been dispatched or not, non existent customer service. Everyone avoid this.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Bought new book, arrived in scruffy state with sticky surface where someone has made a half hearted job at removing some kind of sticker.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Absolutely appalling -- incredibly slow dispatch time, with zero contact. Avoid at all costs.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“ordered a book despatch time 48 hours 6 days later no despatch advice no one to contact phone disconnnected for customer service avoid”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Wish I had seen these reviews before ordering. Ordered a book which is yet to be despatched and nobody replying to my emails on why. Avoid at all costs.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“So far waited 3 weeks for a book and still hasn’t arrived poor service”

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Posted 4 years ago

“Poor customer service NO tracking take the money DON'T deliver the goods! Seem to be everyone else at fault but themselves.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“The worst. Bought a book by which they processed fast. When it was shipped, they had a tracking number that made no sense. So I wrote to ask about it. Then they said that I would receive another tracking number when the book arrived in the US. I followed up again after a week. Then the responses to my emails got delayed. I kept asking again. More delayed emails. Then I asked for a refund. Ignored emails. I eventually asked my bank to dispute the charges. Then they finally got back to me with tracking and apparently arrived. Still no book. I notified them of these issues and they had the audacity to say “please contact Usps and let us know”. Are they for real? Do yourself a favor and do not buy from here.”

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Posted 4 years ago

“I placed an order for 2 books from Blackwell’s. Upon checking my bank account a couple of days after placing my order, I saw the expected total amount deducted for the sum of the 2 books. Then I was surprised to see that on top of this they had charged me individually for the books as 2 more transactions, essentially charging me double. My bank balance was also showing these as taken from my balance. I contacted them and they denied it and said that it is most likely a pending payment prior to despatch. However, a week after despatch these 2 extra transactions were still showing on my account. I contacted my bank and they confirmed that that there were 3 payments taken from my account. Everyone should be warned this website is fraudulent and they are stealing people’s money! Your bank account details are not safe with Blackwell’s. I will be disputing this and taking this up further, they will not get away this. This was my first and LAST time ordering from Blackwell’s. Please see attachments as proof of the transactions.”

Blackwell Books 1 star review on 31st August 2020

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Posted 4 years ago

“SCAMMERS I wish I could give no star whatsoever. A scam. Don’t buy anything from this business. Purchased a book in July 17th which never arrived. After contacting them many times only to be told is COVID’s fault, I gave up. Also they won’t provide a shipping number. Why???? Requested also a refund which they obviously won’t provide. I am lodging an official complaint with the U.K. organ that looks after customer complaints. Is time for them to stop stealing from customers”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Awful customer service and claim they haven't recieved my return. Now ignorinf any communication from me.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Courier, Postal Service
Average Delivery Time	Over 7 Days
On-time Delivery	Greater than 21%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 79%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Telephone, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	1.4 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult

Blackwell Books Reviews