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Book Depository Reviews

3.4 Rating 246 Reviews

61 %

of reviewers recommend Book Depository

Company Reviews

3.4

Based on 246 reviews


Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Postal Service, Courier
Average Delivery Time	Over A Month
On-time Delivery	Greater than 25%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 83%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email
Queries Resolved In	6 - 12 Hours

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Book Depository 1 star review on 12th October 2022

Book Depository 1 star review on 15th February 2022

Book Depository 1 star review on 15th June 2021

Book Depository 1 star review on 24th June 2020

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Sort by: Most Recent Most Recent Highest Rated Filter: None None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“I ordered 2 wall calendars at a similar price to what I would pay in retail stores....only stores had all sold out early this year. When I finally received the package I was surprised by its relatively small size. Inside I found 2 calendars in a booklet form smaller than A4 with poor quality paper and poor colour and unable to be hung on the wall due to orientation. I wasted a lot of time trying to find out how to return these for a refund. Their website is deliberately obscure on this matter. Now 2 months after paying for return postage (non refundable) they continue to tell me that they have not received what I returned. I posted from Melbourne to a Sydney Address. That takes only a few days!!!! I now continue to get automated response emails to my queries. They have lost my trust for good. Reading all the other reviews on various websites about Book Depositary makes me realise I must just have been lucky in past years ordering from them but can’t really afford to take the chance with them again.”

Posted 3 years ago

“during my YEARS buying from book depository i've encountered generally good service all in all but then there has to be the experiences that really destroy all 'good' past experiences. in this case, i refer to the dismissive conduct of a 'senior supervisor' 'Geraldyne T', who at no point attempted to convey compassion, understanding, or HUMAN empathy. an item had not arrived, i ended up buying a replacement copy elsewhere. i was told to wait on the original item, then return it at my own cost in the middle of a pandemic (!!) with total disregard to the mention of being on a low income disability pension & not wanting to risk health/well-being to return a BOOK (if/when it eventually decides to arrive). i'd have to say, this experience has permanently tarnished my perception of this seller & i'd highly advise steering clear - particularly if you are someone 'vulnerable' or with disabilities - you will experience cold, discrimination & 'profits over people' motive.”

Posted 3 years ago

“I ordered thinking it would be a full size book for Aed 71.95 but received just a pocket size of it and now i can see on the website the price for the whole book for aed 84.00?? The whole book picture was not displayed at the time I placed the order. Looks like trying to deceive customers”

Posted 3 years ago

“Ordered a pack of cards from Turkey - waited til it was supposed to be delivered, they contacted me for the details I have already given when I placed my order. The deliver company (Aramex) is a complete sh*tshow - never answers, they simply sent my order back, it never left the UK. Now my order is cancelled and refunded according to bookdepository's website, but I was never refunded. And Aramex sent another e-mail to me a day ago to clarify my details - for an order they sent back a week ago. Bravo.”

Posted 3 years ago

“Scam company. Bought books and didnt recieve them, simple as that.”

Posted 3 years ago

“I ordered a book in December and I didn't get anything and then they said they'd send me a copy, and I didn't get it either. I'm starting to strongly believe that this company is a scam. I'd say 0.0001 stars.”

Posted 3 years ago

“I used to be a big fan. But then bought 3 books which were shipped on 11th December - it's 7th January and still didn't get it. While they refunded the money, I had to pay more than double on Amazon for the same 3 books. Don't intend to recommend them to anyone anymore for this experience.”

Posted 3 years ago

“Here is my full experience with Book Depository. I'd never use them again. I made an order on 5th July 2020 for 8 books, total cost over HKD 2800. 23rd July received an email that one book was on its way: slower than their projected COVID delay delivery times but not too bad. Book arrived about one week later. 20th August I wrote after receiving confirmation that 5 more books were despatched (at this point they still hadn’t arrived) but that one book Imagined Interiors was still ‘in processing’. One other book was received in early August. Shanaaz Prins, Customer Advisor, replied that they were having trouble finding Imagined Interiors and did I still want it? I said yes. Shanaaz also asked what the other 5 books I was waiting on were! I would have thought BD could figure that out without my help but told them anyway and asked if they could tell me when I could expect delivery. 24th August I heard from Sinqobele, another Customer Advisor, assuring me they were here to help me. Their helpful suggestion was to check at my local post office and to confirm my address (to which they had already delivered two books). Apparently, BD haven’t heard of tracking numbers. 25th August, Layla Kahn, a resolution specialist, wrote to me to advise that she has reached out to the vender team for more information. That was very comforting. Later the same day Layla wrote again to tell me the matter was still ‘being seen to’. Extra comforting. 31st August, I wrote again to update that 3 more books had arrived on August 29th (55 days after original order). Layla wrote back to say how pleased she was that I had received three more books. She was still waiting on the vendor team. 5th September, after not hearing anything more from all the staff at BD, but having received one more book, I wrote: Seriously, the after-order service from Book Depository is awful. I've received 6 out of 8 books I ordered on 6th July!!! That's 2 months despite your COVID delivery times showing 5-9 days. That's misleading at best or possibly deliberate mis-selling. One of my books has apparently been dispatched but has not yet arrived. Your team advice to me has been to check my address (even though you have already delivered other books from the same order!) or check with the Post Office. Both pieces of advice are of zero value to help me solve the non-delivery issue. I would like to ask you what are you actually doing to find out what has happened with my order? One book (Imagined Interiors) is still being processed apparently. Twice, after I followed up with you, I was told that this issue has been reported to the vendor team. I've received no further information from you or the vendor support team regarding this follow up. How can that possibly happen!! Is any follow up actually taking place? I note that you are still advertising the book for sale on your site albeit now at a higher price. Is this a deliberate policy to offer a book that you are clearly struggling to supply. Are you not fulfilling my order so you can get a better price from some-one else? Please respond with actual concrete information on what you are planning to do to fix these two outstanding non-delivery issues. Sincerely, but with mounting frustration and annoyance 6th September Layla wrote back to say she had contacted the Team for a reply. She empathised with my frustration. 10th September, having not heard from Layla or anyone else at BD I wrote again: Any update on this? Do you actually have a vendor team? That's 3 times now you've referred my issue to them and I haven't heard anything. I still don't know what your team is planning to do to supply the book that I paid for more than two months ago. You are still advertising it on your site, you've told me three times the vendor team will get back to me: I'm still waiting to hear from them or you on the status and, most importantly, I'm still waiting for my book, Imagined Interiors. Please follow up and respond with some useful information on progress of delivery. 21st September with no communication since 10th September I received this ‘bombshell’ regarding Imagined Interiors We're sorry to let you know we are unable to fulfill your order of the below items, and have issued a refund. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. We've refunded this amount back to the card you used to pay for this order. Your refund will appear on your card in 2 - 3 working days. Same day I wrote back, noting that the book was still offered for sale on the website (it has now been marked unavailable): You just gave me a refund on a book that I have not cancelled. I have been asking for over three months for you to deliver this book to me and despite numerous emails with your customer service team and promises that your vendor management team would be in touch I heard nothing from anyone until I received your latest mail. This is completely unacceptable, particularly given that you continue to advertise the book for sale to buyers in Hong Kong like me, albeit now at an increased price. This may explain your original reluctance and delay in supply! I insist you honour the contract and deliver the book to me immediately at the agreed price. Please do not refund the money. I WANT MY BOOK!!!! 22nd September I heard from Tina, a Customer Advisor. She offered to supply the book which was now available from an alternative supplier (hence the 50% price increase). Since they’d already processed my refund could I please pay the new price and then they would subsequently refund the difference. 24th September, rather than plunge straight in, I decided to ask Tina some questions: Thank you for your explanation. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain. I have become increasingly frustrated by your colleagues over the past 3 months who, when they did reply to me, gave me no information of any usefulness to enable me to determine the progress of my delayed or missing orders. I am very interested in re-ordering 'Imagined Interiors' from your alternate supplier but, before I do, I would like to understand your ability to meet your stated delivery times. On your website your COVID delivery times to Hong Kong are shown as 5-9 days. In my previous order of 8 books none arrived within that time period and 5 took almost 60 days. Note I received no help from your team whatsoever in tracking the whereabouts of my order beyond asking me to check at the post office!. If I re-order this book will you be able to meet your stated delivery time? This is important to me because I begin my masters study program on October 3rd and will require this last book close to that date. Additionally, please understand that your company (a wholly owned subsidiary of one of the world's largest and most profitable companies) have held over HKD 600 of my money since early July and have yet to refund this amount. You are now asking me to pay an additional HKD 900 plus for the new book, with (in my view) an unknown delivery time and then, at an unknown time after that you will refund me the excess HKD 300. Does this seem like good customer service to you? Do you feel it is likely to make you use and recommend your company to others? Please respond to my comments above so I can decide if I will continue with my order. Tina, replied straight away but was unable to commit to a delivery beyond what was stated on the website: 5-9 days delay due to COVID. Later, Tina politely chased me to see if I wanted to continue with the revised order. 1st October, after struggling for a week, I wrote to TINA and confirmed I had placed a new order. Tina wrote back and confirmed BD had processed the difference in price from the new order and the original price. I was beginning to feel comfortable. 16th October and my order is ‘still processing’. I wrote to Tina. 17th October I heard back from Soraya, Customer Advisor: I'm terribly sorry; it appears that the item Imagined Interiors was made unavailable from our suppliers. We tried every resource available to us in order to obtain this title for you however we were, on this occasion, unsuccessful. I can confirm that a full refund has been processed for this order on 21st September. Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by this. I wrote back to Soraya immediately: You are totally wrong. My original order was cancelled unilaterally by your company on 25th September. When I complained, I was told to re-order and that you would supply the book through a different supplier (the one you are still advertising on your website I assume). I paid the full increased price on October 1st and was given partial refund to compensate for the difference in the original price and your new price. It is this second order that I am now chasing you for: it is now 16 days from the date I placed the revised order (more than 100 days from my original order) and your website still shows my book as 'processing'. When will you finish processing and send the book to me? When can I expect delivery? This drew an immediate response from Soraya: I am very sorry for the error. I checked the incorrect order. I have looked into this for you and do see that we are currently waiting for your order order to arrive from our supplier. This is expected to arrive by 20th October. As soon as we do receive it, it will immediately be dispatched to you. Please accept our sincere apologies for the time it is taking to receive this book. 3rd November I wrote again, having heard nothing Still waiting and no update from you after you assured me that you would be despatching around 20th October. Will I ever get my book? 4th November I heard from Ernie Finch, Customer Advisor Ernie here from Book Depository. Hope this e-mail finds you well. I'm terribly sorry; it appears that the item was made unavailable from our suppliers. We tried every resource available to us in order to obtain this title for you however we were, on this occasion, unsuccessful. I can confirm that a full refund has been processed for this order; on the 21st September 2020 for the amount of 642.31 HKD under reference number 5F687759884AE4184334CDXXXXXXXXX. I gave up on BD and after discussing with friends in UK, I discovered PS books. They didn’t deliver to Hong Kong but with help I was able to order to a UK address and then DHL to Hong Kong all for a lower price by 20% than BD’s best offer. I waited for the annoyance to subside. It didn’t. On January 3rd I wrote to Ernie: Hi Ernie and all the other book depository customer service people who failed to help fulfil my order. I wanted to let you know that I obtained the book very easily from a different source almost immediately after you failed after 6 months of not trying hard enough. Taking my money (twice) and making a promise which you couldn't be bothered to go even an extra inch to fulfil will stay with me when I talk to my many friends and social media contacts over the next year and beyond. Whilst you were not helping, you still continued to advertise the book as available, albeit at an increased price, until, after I chased you for what seems like at least 10 times and is probably more, you unilaterally gave up even a minimal effort to complete my order and refunded my money. If you had wanted to complete this contract you could have easily gone on the PS Books website and bought the book for £22.00 for delivery in the UK then shipped it to me in Hong Kong for another £28.00 ... and made a tidy profit of £10 given that you were going to sell it to me for over £60! Why I had to fund your company for 6 months whilst you were not bothered I still don't understand. You are, after all, a 100% subsidiary of Amazon: Surely you didn't need the money. Anyway, I hope that you've been able to enjoy reading this note as much as I've enjoyed the cathartic experience of writing it. I suggest you might want to forward a copy to your supervisor so they don't get too surprised when it starts appearing on various social media channels. Happy New Year Marisa, a Customer Advisor, wrote back to me Thank you for your email. We have passed this to the appropriate team, and we will get back to you very shortly. Thank you for your patience. Jody, a Resolutions Specialist replied: This is Jody from Book Depository Resolutions Team. I hope you're well? Reading through the below case - I firstly want to apologize - this matter should have been escalated to our warehouse team for an informed response instead of keeping you waiting and only giving you the option to cancel. Your patience with us while we were trying to find an alternative supplier is much appreciated. I'm very sorry that we weren't able to meet your expectations this time around. I hope that you will allow us another opportunity to serve you in the future. For the inconvenience caused, we would like to offer you 15% off your next order. Once you've placed another order, please contact us and we'll be glad to apply the discount in the form of a refund. I know this does not make up for time lost but I hope you receive it as a token of goodwill for this situation - Should you require any additional assistance, please feel free to contact us at any time - we're always happy to help. Take care. I’ve just written back to Jody… This will be my last communication with Book Depository. My advice to you is do not deal with this company. Dear Jody, There is so much wrong with your inadequate response, I almost don't know where to start, but let me try. 1) Please do not refer to my negative customer experience as a 'case'. I was a potential customer who was expecting a reasonable level of service. Actually, even marginally above 'just adequate' would have probably been enough. Appallingly bad wasn't even close to acceptable. Your view, which I assume represents your company position, that I am a case to be handled rather than a customer to be cared for sums up your company perfectly. 2) What you gave me was not an 'option to cancel' : there was no option. Your company refunded my money unilaterally after giving up on trying to fulfill the contract into which we had entered. This was after waiting more than 2 months for you to tell me you couldn't get the book I had in good faith ordered from you, along with 7 other books (which were also mostly delayed more than 60 days) whilst continuing to offer the book on your website to other unsuspecting 'cases'. Your company did not withdraw the book from your website until after you gave up on me, thereby giving other customers the opportunity to fall into the same trap I did: this is unconscionably bad corporate behaviour and woeful customer service. 3) Your offer of a 15% discount off my next purchase is, given the awful experience I have had with your company and the information I provided you in my email laughably derisory on all levels. I explained to you I could have received the book much quicker (within a total of 10 days) and much cheaper (by 10 pounds approximately which equates to 20% less) if I had ordered it from PS books. I know this for a fact because that is what I had to eventually do! On the same day I received your email I also got a regular customer junkmail solicitation from your company offering me 10% off my next purchase. So, your 15% discount is in reality only 5% more than you offer your regular 'cases' to induce them to purchase from you again. Honestly do you really think that this offer is suitable recompense for the total inadequacy of your service to date? 4) You mention the matter should have been escalated to 'the warehouse team for an informed response'. This suggests that a) the responses I have received to date are ill informed and b) you have a procedural problem. Other than a hook on which to hang your apology I see nothing here to suggest to me that your company will do a better job next time. Did you find out what went wrong? Did you change your procedures? Can the same problem happen again to another unsuspecting case? In summary, thank you for at least trying to respond, albeit that nothing you have said gives me any reason to ever do business with your company again or to say anything good about your company to my friends and associates. Please remove me from your mailing list.”

Posted 3 years ago

“I have been ordering books for years now and wouldn't go anywhere else..delivery is so prompt for free and variety is just second to none. Definitely recommend, yiu won't be disappointed.”

Posted 3 years ago

“At one point i could easily recommend the site, but not anymore... Prices can fluctuate significantly for the same book (independent of taxes/currency differences), depending on the IP (!) EVEN IF THE SAME DELIVERY ADDRESS IS LISTED! Discounts/coupon codes are rare these days & on & off you may be subject to orders you've placed, cancelled & refunded out of nowhere with no consideration of compensation to be given. Customer service can range from excellent to exceptionally poor, bordering condescending & dismissive! The strange thing is, book depository was bought out by amazon, yet to this day, amazon does have one of the best, attentive standards of customer service so how is it that it has not flowed through to book depository? In all honesty, it's as though book depository does not feel the need to 'try' with their customers anymore... These days, i'd recommend up & coming sites like 'awesome books' - sites that have re-focused on customer service, expanded range & offered more competitive prices at times than book depository offers.”

Posted 3 years ago

“At one point i could easily recommend the site, but not anymore... Prices can fluctuate significantly for the same book (independent of taxes/currency differences), depending on the IP (!) EVEN IF THE SAME DELIVERY ADDRESS IS LISTED! Discounts/coupon codes are rare these days & on & off you may be subject to orders you've placed, cancelled & refunded out of nowhere with no consideration of compensation to be given. Customer service can range from excellent to exceptionally poor, bordering condescending & dismissive! The strange thing is, book depository was bought out by amazon, yet to this day, amazon does have one of the best, attentive standards of customer service so how is it that it has not flowed through to book depository? In all honesty, it's as though book depository does not feel the need to 'try' with their customers anymore... These days, i'd recommend up & coming sites like 'awesome books' - sites that have re-focused on customer service, expanded range & offered more competitive prices at times than book depository offers.”

Posted 3 years ago

“I don't recommend anyone to order from here. I recently ordered a book which was available on the site, I paid and got the confirmation email. "your order will be dispatched from our warehouse soon" so I kept checking the order status. It was under processing for more than a week when I finally messaged customer service for further information. They said sorry but it's out of stock (it wasn't when I ordered) and cannot tell me when is it going to be available again even though it is still marked as available on the website. They said yes, they got it from another supplier but I would need to order and pay again. Then they said my order got cancelled a few days ago but I didn't receive any notifications about it. I had to message to find out I can wait forever. Extremely disappointing.”

Posted 3 years ago

“I have ordered a book on November 12 did not come until today, December 9, a lot of energy and time wasted for nothing. They don't know were the book is and they are promoting 3 bussiness days dispach time.”

Posted 3 years ago

“I request not to purchase the book in book depository its better to purchase in any other website rather going for this. They can't even provide the order status and updates. They can't provide a single book even after 1 month from the day you purchase. Don't waste your money and time by purchasing in Book Depository”

Posted 3 years ago

“So far,so good ! I’m very satisfied with my book ordering”

Posted 3 years ago

“All I wanted was a tracking number. Three email threads, dozens of emails, and they wouldn't provide it. I think it became an office game for them to find out new ways to reply to anything, including the weather, but not answer my one, simple question. I told them to please never write me again, but then when the package finally did arrive (late), they send an email praising their service and... get this... they then provided the tracking number for the book that had arrived the day before! Whenever I see on the news a plane crash or a bus going over a cliff, I won't feel bad about it. I'll just imagine these guys in the plane or bus, and I'll feel just fine!”

Posted 3 years ago

“I don't normally write reviews but feel compelled now to warn others from buying from these scoundrels. The first book I bought, earlier this year, was out-of-print. They sent me a version they'd evidently printed themselves. Nowhere was this advertised as being so. I would not have particularly minded; but the text was so minuscule as to be illegible. I don't understand how anyone with a pair of eyes could have thought it was suitable. I later (not realising it was the same company) bought another book which I'd failed to see on offer elsewhere, for my sister's birthday. They promised 'posting' times within 3-5 days; i did not see that there was an additional 11 day 'processing' time. Such a long time I now realise is required because the company does not even stock the item. THEY SOLD THE SKIN BEFORE THEY SHOT THE BEAR. In fact a month after I'd bought the item they informed me they could not procure it!!! What a packet of rascals! I will never use them again. The company is also apparently owned by amazon so don't think you are supporting an alternative to that behemoth by using it.”

Posted 3 years ago

“I have ordered a book and understand the delay in deliveries due to the pandemic but at least provide a tracking ID to know my order is sure on the way! Moreover, due to uncertainty, I requested to cancel the order and the team tells me that I cannot. They ask me to keep on checking with local post office if there is any order under my name! WOW! Please improve your system! If you cannot provide tracking number, how are even YOU sure that a customer's parcel is on the right track???? I am extremely upset. I will never order again from here and would definitely ask people to check out other reliable stores. Thank you!”

Posted 3 years ago

“Probably some of the worst customer service possible. There default answer is just to refund your order without trying to send it back if they mistakenly sent it to the wrong destination. This was a problem for me since I live in a heavily taxed country with massive amounts of inflation. I simply needed to have them sent it back but they used the COVID as an excuse but would tell me they USED TO do this normally in the past (thanks for telling me this). If you live in a country that isn't the united states or Europe I don't recommend it.”

Posted 3 years ago

“worst ever! I ordered my book last 16th of September and until now i didn't receive my order. They don't even have the tracking no. Please guys don't waste your time and money in this terrible company.”

Posted 3 years ago

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Book Depository is rated 3.4 based on 246 reviews