Alibris

My item got lost in the mail, and it took Alibris several weeks to inform me that they would not assist me in any way or issue me a refund. All they said was that if I wanted a refund, I had to return the book. Since then, I have not been able to get a response from them.

I ordered four RARE books from 2 different sellers (neither was alibris)and was e-mailed that both sellers shipped the next day. I received the books from one seller after 22 days. Though they specified that they would be shipped priority mail (the post office says priority mail takes THREE days), they were instead shipped media mail at a fraction of the cost I was charged. The other two books never arrived at all. I was told they were "lost in the mail", and I would be refunded my money. The books are still available from the seller, so obviously they were NEVER shipped at all. A refund was issued the next day for ONE of the books. It took several e-mails (I received automated responses which did not address my problem), and another week before the refund for the second book was issued.

My ongoing shopping experience with Alibris has left a very bad taste in my mouth. Thirty four days ago, on placing my order with Alibris, they debited my credit card. Fifteen days later (after I contacted them) they claimed the pre-owned book had been shipped to me that day but a further 20 days later, still no book at my mailbox. Earlier in the same month (Nov. 2007) I had also ordered pre-owned books from U.S. independent booksellers with 1) Amazon and 2) Abebooks. I received those books in Australia in less than 10 days from the dates of my orders.

In my opinion, Alibris offer a lousy service, with their shipping charges in line with the much superior service and shipping of Amazon and Abebooks.

I've order from Alibris before and had no issues but this time was different and because Alibris customer service was unresponsive, unhelpful and would not admit their or Bunches of Books mistake --all my future business will go elsewhere.

I ordered a used book through Alibris from Bunches of Books and received a used audio CD book instead. On my order confirmation, which I can still access on the Alibris website, it clearly states Media Type as Used Book. I included all the details of my order in an email to customer service and received a 'sorry but too bad' reply because they (Alibris) claim that their website had Media Format as Unknown.

I also contacted Bunches of Books and have not received a response.

Lesson learned and hopefully others will learn from my mistake: Do not order from an online business unless they have a valid phone number for you to reach them, otherwise they can hide behind the email and take their time in replying and in my case claim that they are not at fault.

My experience with Alibris was rather disappointing to put it mildly. The book wasn't sufficiently described in the add. When I asked for more info I didn't receive an answer. I took a chance and bought the book, thinking that the price was good and also their return policy in case the book turned out to be a softcover and not the expected hardcover. The book turned out to be a softcover, and so I returned it the day after it was received. It's been about two month now, Alibris got the book back, but won't refund the money. My e-mails don't get any answers, and I am stuck with a very sore feeling about them. Be careful when buying from them!

Extremely poor service. I paid twice for a used book that I need for a course I am taking; I paid for expedited service and as today, several days later, my book still did not arrive. Alibris does not care for their customers, all they care is to take their monies. The e-mail I received tells me to contact them again if my book does not arrive within 30 days. GREAT. They do not provide their customers with a customer phone number, nor a shipping tracking number. I DO NOT ADVISE ANYONE TO BUY FROM THEM UNLESS THEY WANT TO EXPERIENCE FRUSTRATION AND HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

A year ago, I was looking for six hard to find books. Alibris had five of them -- all at prices lower than Amazon. All five books were delivered as promised. When one seemed late, Alibris answered my email immediately. The site is very easy to use and the prices are terrific.

During the past year, I have done ALL of my bookshopping on Alibris. The one book I returned, I received a credit immediately (much easier than returning a used book on Amazon!).

CAUTION. Alibris, like eBay, is a collection of sellers. They do give you ratings for each seller, but if you get a bad seller, you may have a bad experience. Choose your seller carefully.

Horrible customer service. Received a book , hated it returned it and for over two months will not give me a refund or credit. Have never had such a bad experience on line even with ebay who has a million separate sellers. They ripped me off and I'm angry!!!!!!!!

Very unfortunate experience. When I tried to order a specific book, and then reviewed the order, it was a different book than I had clicked on. When I tried to undue the order, there was no way to do this. There is also no phone number to call: only an email address.

Alibris says that this is my fault and all that I can do to get my money back is to wait for the shipment, then return it, I pay the shipping.

The website SEEMS easy to use, but it clearly deceptive, and without a phone to call to correct any mistake, either theirs or mine, you are stuck with whatever they give you.

I will never use them again.

I have had a terrible time with their support. I ordered a book shipped standard 7/26 now 8/12 and no book. Website says 4-14 days standard shipping. When I received an e-mail back after telling them my class starts on the 23rd and need reimbursement if it doesn't show, they told me I will have to wait a full 30 days till the 26th of Aug. I won't wait for them to reimburse, I will just tell my credit card company to reverse the charge. I asked them to contact the seller but they just blew me off. Frustrating!

I ordered a book 24th August and I got an email saying it was shipped 25th August. 23rd September came and no book, so I contacted them. I was told "it got lost in the mail" and they would issue a refund, to wait 7-14 days. 4th October I wrote another message acknowledging receipt of this one, and I was told again: we will issue a refund. What ? I thought it was issued a week ago. Today is 18th October, no book, no refund, no news. I am disputing the charges with my credit card company and I have filed a complaint with BBB Reno ( they have a nice record of complaints against Alibris already ) BEWARE, bad business practice.

This company never has shipped my order and will not respond to my inquiries regarding it. They have no phone number.

Double billed - avoid like the plague.

I ordered two textbooks from the same seller (express books) on alibris for $76+.

I didn't get any order confirmation for my order. I got only one shipping notification.

I was doing online banking and found 2 charges from alibris amounting to $152+. I contacted them and they said that I have two orders and that they were filled and the orders shipped. Customer service is the worst. Also, seller didn't even reply to any of my e-mails.

May 3, 2007
Received both orders today. Express Books must be commended since they were sent by DHL.

I have checked the table of contents of these texts (international editions) against those on the publishers' US websites and they are not exactly the same. Since I need them to be exact I will return them.

Alibris seems to have a problem with its transaction servers/processes which they need to fix.

Be aware that the ratings for the seller do not come from customers giving feedback. I tried to give feedback to a seller who did not respond to my emails. He sent wrong items, missing items, and used items when I bought all new books. I have tried contacting customer service to which I solely get generated answers that don't answer my question. As far as their return policy, they don't have any for individual sellers AND if perchance you are able to return your books, be aware that you will have to eat your to and from shipping costs, even if it was the seller who made the mistake.

I am highly disappointed in their service and am sticking to amazon. The prices may not be as low, but for the frustration, loss of money and time, it is not worth it. If the price looks a lot lower than other websites, beware. If it is too good to be true, than it probably is.

I shipped two orders from Alibris on a Sunday night. One was with an independant bookseller, the other with Alibris itself. I got an email saying the books were shipped on that Monday and as I paid expediated shipping, they would arrive by Friday. The shipment from the bookseller came three days later from Oregon (I live in California) I emailed Alibris to see when it was shipped and where they shipped from and they responded with a generic computer email. Then Friday came and no book. In emailed the company again, and they said the book was mailed on Monday. Funny thing was that when the book arrived on Saturday it was datemarked from Wednesday. This company is horrible, with bad service and on top of all that they lie.