AbeBooks

Ordered a "new" Ken Follett book for a holiday gift that is not in production anymore. With a lengthy delay I received a damaged book; pages torn and bent. Packaged poorly but book was clearly damaged previous to shipping and used. Poor packaging probably added some corner damages. The rep "Shannon" that was in touch with me seemed really concerned and was responsive. Asked what discount I would like or should they send another. We wanted the book! With a huge delay another book was sent and received. Packaged well but damaged and used? A red stamp with a date was on inside of back cover. Dust jacket for both books used and pages damaged. Received too close to the holiday to be able take advantage of pricing and new books elsewhere plus those books at this point were gone. They gave me $7 off and Shannon wasn't quite as supportive anymore. She was always quick to respond each time though. So I paid an hugely inflated price for a "new" and at this point used book. Never again!

AbeBooks is just fine with its sellers shipping a different book than was ordered.The listing was for a 'New!' book in unused condition. When the seller realized the book wasn't actually in stock, she ordered one from Amazon and had it delivered to me. Needless to say, it was not 'New!'. And it cost me twice as much as if I'd ordered it from Amazon myself. When I emailed "customer service", they replied - "Occasionally, when you order an item from an AbeBooks seller and they no longer have it in stock, they will locate and ship the item from an alternate source rather than cancel the order." Really? How is that OK? Because cancellations reflect poorly on a seller's star rating, based on the percentage of successful (non-cancelled) orders. Cant have those sellers looking bad! So now I get to return the thing at my expense, along with two weeks I'll never get back. BTW I never have these issues with Biblio.com, who I recommend highly. Good luck!

I placed an order for 2 of the same books for a class. One of AbeBooks seller's, GreatBookPrices, sent me the wrong books for which I paid over $50. This is after I waited 13 days for them to arrive. I contacted them the day they arrived and they refused to give me a refund, send out the correct books, or send me a prepaid return label until I send the books back. So, now I have to send the books back at my own expense. If I send them via media mail, which is how they came, I'll have to wait a total of at least a month from the time I ordered before I get my refund. This is horrific customer service. I will NEVER order from AbeBooks or their seller, GreatBookPrices again. This was totally their mistake and it is unconscionable that I'll be out this much money for their mistake. Beware before you purchase.

Made a purchase.
After purchase, I was told by AbeBooks that the seller wanted more money (additional money) than what was agreed upon.
I asked questions to AbeBooks in return.
My questions were unanswered and my order was canceled because they sold the books from under me even though I had an active order.

At the time of this review, they have 700 reviews and a 1.8 rating. No wonder.

The site offers a wide array of books and the prices are typically competitive with other sites. The site is also fairly easy to navigate with the usual search tools and a fairly intuitive interface. My issue with the site is that when I did purchase a book and an entirely different book was sent to me, and I attempted to return the said book for a refund, I discovered I would have to package, label, and ship the item back to the seller entirely at my own expense. When a buyer receives an incorrect item, every effort should be made to make the return process as easy as possible, and the buyer should absolutely not incur expenses.

I ordered a book from AbeBooks via Thiftbooks. This was an out of print music book and was to be a Christmas gift. A book arrived and was placed under the tree. On Christmas, it was discovered that Thiftbooks has mailed a children's novel rather than the book ordered. That day, emails were sent to both companies explaining the error and asking for the correct book to be sent. A week later, I still have not gotten anywhere with either company, although Thiftbooks says they do still have the book I paid AbeBooks for. Almost daily I hear from a different person at AbeBooks who seems to not understand that the wrong book was delivered. It is impossible to actually speak to a person to solve the issue. I work in sales and if I treated my customers this way, then I would be out of business. This is dreadful customer service.

I have had the experience now two times of ordering a textbook on AbeBooks, but receiving the wrong edition. In the first instance I ordered a calculus textbook but received the solutions manual for it instead. In the second instance, I ordered the 4th and most current edition of a biology textbook, but received the 3rd instead. With the calculus book, it cost more money to ship it back for a return than I paid for it, so essentially I just lost my money. I am sending back the biology book and hoping I will get my refund as it cost me almost $170 with the postage and tax, but I will only get back what I paid for the book. I strongly advise against trying to save money on textbooks by using AbeBooks instead of your school bookstore/publisher. The sad part is, AbeBooks used to be a very reliable place for buying books (I was a customer for years), and I can only think it went downhill after being taken over by Amazon.

I've ordered already ~ 20 books, just one was not as described, but refund was issued the next day. I'd recommend this website.
I saw bad reviews here, but experience is opposite to that, maybe Abebooks become better.

Ordered book and never received. Seller said via email sent it day after ordered. This is the only item not received during pandemic, via abebooks. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time or money! Awaiting word on refund as can't get anyone on phone. Will call credit card company if don't get rapid response.

This most incompetent company I've ever dealt with. I purchased a test book from a seller named Book Deals. Do not buy from this person he is a scammer. I returned the book 2 months ago still have not received a refund. Contacted Abe books keep getting the run around. Find someone else to buy a book from. Horrible customer service no way to contact by phone only emails. Every time u have to explain the citation over again because they never go back and look at the prior emails to know hats going on.