Abebooks Reviews

I m giving Abe Books three stars - until now it d have been four but I ve just had a bad experience I bought a book and accepted the charges Then I was asked to pay a few extra post - no problem However my bank tell me I have TWO pending debits one for the original total cost the other for the original total cost PLUS the extra After several emails the seller told me he has only the latter one on his account and he wasn t very keen to fix this saying it d all work out I ve managed to get him to at least ask Abe about it Abe customer service have not replied to my enquiries My bank says they can t reject these charges unless Abe or the seller agrees I understand as when the original payment happened they texted to ask if I had spent this large amount over 100 and I said yes To add to my distress I d previously tried to buy a copy of the same book on Amazon cancelled immediately on learning the seller was a scammer yet they falsely claimed they had already sent it - on Christmas day Amazon are helping They own Abe so why the discrepancy Sometimes I wish for the days of real physical bookshops to come back

This could have been 5 stars as i have always been very happy with their service and have ordered lots However not so now Twice in the last week i find items with pictures of a different item from the item being described And for the same title frm all the different sellers the same wrong image When i explained this and how it led me to end up with the wrong item i received the pictured item not the described book and a second case when i looked for a different item and found the same kind of issue I received from Ali in customer services a standard email explaining for Idiots their ordering system and saying it is a bookseller issue Both times So Ali is either not real or can t read Or So no Customer Service in fact Caveat emptor Very disappointing indeed

so far i ordered a couple of books from 8 sellers i had problems with three orders items didn arrive in three cases for one order i formally received a refund but no money actually have been transfered to my account i was sent a different edition the book was really in a poor state I am really fed up even though on paper you can find rare books for a special price there is a too high chance of being disappointed losing money I won t use this web site anymoreUpdate i added two stars because in the end i did get my money back for those books that haven t arrived and or were not as described Overall it wasn t a perfect experience but now i think it was worthy browsing this website

Book was described as excellent condition which to me would mean like new but the spine was very creased and there is an inscription on the inside cover which was not mentioned Being a soft cover I m not sure how long the book will stay in tact Not happy

My view is for a seller rather than Abe avoid monster books as after been sent incorrect book and trying to get a response from them is impossible For a seller to be allowed to sell when they dont respond to myself or Abe is beyond me Abe have tried to contact them and offered to reimburse me but it still doesnt solve the problem of sellers that dont respond So its up to me to return and pay p p in the hope to get a refund Although Abe have offered to reimburse the inconvenience has already had the best of me so looks like iv paid for something wont get

Got there in the end with customer service Problem with seller but it took two months to resolve and only when I lost the plot But still it s resolved now so at least there s that It s frustrating because when you want a rare book there s few places to go

As a portal for finding out of print or 2nd hand books ABE have proved useful - especially when Amazon fails to list an item Thus far I ve had superb service when a book arrived the day after ordering and a poor experience when a seller ignored email requests for confirmation of despatch I d certainly recommend using ABE when you want something that is tricky to find - but probably not as a way of finding a new book Unfortunately Amazon is often hard to beat in that area

I dislike that Abe Books won t allow me to review a specific seller on their website I will instead name the seller I ordered from here and hopefully this information will be useful to someone I ordered a book from the seller Gyan Books Pvt Ltd When I placed my order on March the 28th I selected the Priority Shipping option which I paid 13 18 for When I selected this shipping option the estimated shipping speed was given as 5-10 business days giving an estimated delivery date as on before 11th April I constantly asked the seller for updates as I could see my order hadn t been shipped and they told me the binding process of my book takes time I completely understand the binding process takes time however I paid extra to have my order shipped in 5-10 business days and this deadline was not met I finally received my order yesterday the 26th April I am very pleased with my order The book is beautifully bound and clearly a lot of effort and consideration was put into the binding This is why I am giving 3 stars I am very pleased with my book However I am displeased that I paid 13 18 for a shipping deadline that was not met My order was 11 business days later than the last date I was given when I placed my order with priority shipping I find it very misleading that I was allowed to place my order and select this delivery option If the seller knew that the binding process would not be completed within that time frame then they should not have allowed that time frame for selection on the website

Took a while to arrive as came from abroad Not sure that was obvious Packaging was terrible and open but somehow book was in good condition

So far I ve gotten most of what I ve ordered not much had to be chased up or was canceled The website however needs work Lots of errors when using a mobile Why do I have to select visa or Mastercard The number tells you which it is and I don t have that memorized