Comments on: Abe Books

By: Kate Birley

Kate Birley — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 10:13:15 +0000

First Edition in Oswestry owes me £3.40 for the book I didn't receive. I found them through Abe Books. Abe says they will refund my money but NOT via Paypal or cheque: I must send them all my bank details. Given their bad publicity and all the negative reviews this is a risk I'm not prepared to take. I'm glad the amount is so small. Moral: AVOID ABE BOOKS! There is no satisfactory redress.

By: Barb L

Barb L — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:43:21 +0000

I am not finding a problem with selling to Abebooks only reaching someone by phone..most annoying…I have never bought only sold and have had no problem and payment is very prompt.
As for some information of book dealers…and the need to find..
try Leedy books in Orlando, Fl
and I believe Brandywine books in Winter Park, Fl is still in existance.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:45:16 +0000

I ordered 2 books from abe books. I recieved my $8.00 book but my $104.00 book has never been sent to me. After reading everyone's comments I am begining to realize I'm never going to get my book. I have emailed them and emailed them asking to speak with someone and no one cares!! I am going to file a complaint with the BBB and I have told them this. I hope action can be taken. This is not right what this company is doing. It is unethical business and although they are selling with independent book stores abe is still responsible for getting this book to me.

BOTTOM LINE NEVER BUY FROM ABE BOOKS THEY ARE A SCAM!

By: Grace

Grace — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:37:29 +0000

I ordered a book and canceled the order. However, after a week, the money is still not refunded back to me. I had submitted a complaint to abebooks concerning this and I am waiting for them to reply me.

By: S K Thomas

S K Thomas — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:04:24 +0000

Bottomline: I have been victimized by abebooks.com. I never received my book. I was suppose to receive my book on/before Sept.8, 2008 (I ordered on Aug.27 and paid extra cash for 4-8 day priority shipping). I live in North Hollywood, CA and the book is being shipped from San Jose, CA . There is no way that it would take this long to receive my book--- if the book was ever shipped out. The days are still counting and I have class work and reading assignments that are due. I got poor customer care. I followed the steps to rectify the situation and I haven't gotten any further than I was before I took any action. I will never order through that website again. They are a bunch of dirty birdies that are looking to make a quick dollar but unwilling to deliver the service that they boast about. I am going to file a complaint with the BBB. Thanks a lot abebooks.com for providing unreliable and less than quality service. And thanks for stealing my money!

By: rpeters

rpeters — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:14:15 +0000

ABEbooks.com works well as long as everything "works well". They are so virtual, that if the smallest thing goes awry (as evidenced in the last post) you will never get it rectified and will probably lose money. Some tips--, Never order from abe, order direct from the supplier. Of course, some suppliers are virtual also with no phone contact, etc. These should be avoided anyway. The combination of virtual abe and a virtual supplier "virtually" guarantees that if there is a problem, it will be very difficult to resolve. Also, Paypal (used through the abe order system) has been problematic. I have obtained over 200 books using paypal, and have found that it is always best to order direct from the listing dealer.

By: Sonny Hung

Sonny Hung — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:59:32 +0000

i have ordered from AbeBooks twice thus far. The first order went without a hitch. However the second didn't fare so well.

Desc: Ordered a book using a coupon for 10% off up to $10 on the last day (6/17/2008) for a text book I need this coming 08FA semester. I received the normal confirmation email.

6/18/2008 I get an email that the order is canceled due to my credit card being declined. There was no attempt at contacting me to resolve the issue.

Dear Sonny T Hung,

We're sorry to let you know that we weren't able to charge your credit card for the book(s) listed below.

There are a few possible reasons why your card might have been declined; our credit card processing service does not specify the cause. We recommend visiting your AbeBooks account to review your credit card details. If this information is correct and up-to-date, your credit card company may be able to provide further details regarding this transaction.

To review or edit the credit card information we have on file for you, please click the following link: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/CCManagementPL

Again, we're very sorry for any inconvenience. The book(s) will be restored to our inventory shortly; we do hope you'll place your order again.

I contacted them through their website and get the following response.

Hello Sonny,

Thank you for contacting AbeBooks Customer support. I'm sorry to hear that your credit card was declined for this order. When your order was placed, an email notification went to the bookseller allowing them 4 days to process the order before it expired. When the bookseller went to confirm and ship the order, indicating 'Will Ship', AbeBooks at this time attempted to process your credit card on June 18th. As your card at this time was declined, we sent you an email notification indicating this had happened and you can see this email within your account.

Unfortunately, I cannot apply this discount to your declined order as it is no longer active and because the coupon has unfortunately expired. I'm really sorry that this is the case and can let you know that you will be eligible for coupon promotions in the future.

Sincerely,

Megan H AbeBooks Customer Support AbeBooks.com Passion for books.

Basically they don't give a hoot - Too bad your out of luck. No clarification what the exact issue was other than the order was declined because the charge cold not be processed. Of course I used that card that same day. Hm..... I wonder if someone screwed up on their end huh?

Enough said - Basically DO NOT order anything important through them. There is NO REAL CUSTOMER CARE. Just a, ' Sorry, you can try again next time'. you are so SOL (So Out of Luck!)

By: LaJoyce C. Brown

LaJoyce C. Brown — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 01:35:59 +0000

ABE Books are a grand fraudulent Scam. I have notified the BBB and filing a complaint with the Attorney General. This company never intended to send my book, but charged my card with a quickness. I would NOT recommend anyone to do business with these crooks. This book was coming from California Books, no such thing Crooks!! I will do everything in my power to expose these scam artist.

By: Dora Smith

Dora Smith — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 23:14:32 +0000

I learned today that complaints about Abe Books should be submitted to their local Better Business Bureau.

BBB of Vancouver Island

220-1175 Cook Street

Victoria, BC V8V 4A1 Canada

Abe books appears to be known to that organization as abebooks.com.

Include your own name, address, and phone number, and names and dates as well as anything in writing.

They have a number of a variety of sorts of complaints about Abe Books. In their own judgement they don't have a greater number of complaints than normal for a business of "that sort". In other words, what's needed is for them to get more compaints.

Also, when people complain about orders not received, the complaints are apparently resolved - though it does not say how.

I sent my complaint, even though it concerns new meaning to poor customer service rather than a complaint. It sort of looks like they may actually handle such complaints, but anyhow, since this company's handling of any matter at all follows the same pattern, I reported my experience so that they can see the pattern.

By: Dora Smith

Dora Smith — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 01:40:03 +0000

I don't recommend Abe Books to anybody. I just ordered about 16 books, each from a different book seller. I ordered in two separate orders. Abe Books processed each book individually, and then processed the payment for each, individually. The third payment from the last that they processed did not go through.

They did not try again. They didn't wait a bit and try again. They cancelled my order and let me know they couldn't process my credit card. They said to notifiy them if the bank said there wasn't a problem with my account so they could process the order.

I spent two hours trying unsuccessfully to check my bank account. I forwarded my notification from them to work. After teh bank told me nothing whatever is wrong with my account, I e-mailed them from work, enclosing the entire e-mail they sent me with the e-mail address and the order number, and putting their own subject line with the order number in the subject line. I got back an automatic reply saying that they couldn't accept my e-mail because not from an address associated with any account - but I could phone a certain phone number.

I phoned the phone number, and to start with, I asked for the name of the president of Abe Books, so he knew how angry I already was. He told me that once a payment doesn't go through they cancel the order and they can't put it through again.

I just re-ordered the book - and several others - from Amazon.com, for a bit more money. But with Amazon I know I won't get bull shit.