Ordering Textbooks online

I generally order textbooks from online sources because it is much less expensive than the college bookstore. All of the books I ordered from Amazon and half.com have arrived but the one ordered a month ago from abebooks has not. I emailed the seller twice and have not received a response.

What experience have you all had with abebooks? It was recommended in a previous thread. I guess I can ask for a refund from my credit card company but it is funny that their book is the only one not to arrive.

 

I've ordered from them with good results, and I have to say I am surprised at this. I would e-mail a final time that you will have no choice but to leave negative feedback if you do not receive a response--I suspect you will get one quick enough.

 

I once ordered a book from Akademos and abebooks was the middleman (or something like that). I never got the book from Akademos and my emails were bounced back and my phone calls were never returned, which pissed me off because I'm not going to let them keep my money AND the textbook without a fight.

I did an internet search of Akademos and found a website where other students complained that their credit cards were charged nu Slsfr,pd, but they never received the textbooks. All of these students chalked it up to a loss and dropped the issue and allowed Akademos to keep their money and the textbooks, which probably empowers Akademos to continue ripping off people.

I was not going to allow Akademos to keep my money AND the textbook, but since I could not get feedback from them, I went through the middleman (abebooks) and finally got my credit card refunded. It was only around $10, but it was the moral point that drove me.

I urge all of you to stay away from the following:

• Akademos, Inc.
  [email protected]
  http://akademos.com/

I avoid them like the plague.

 

I have always had pretty good results with abebooks, so I'm quite surprised that you've had problems.

 

I did a search on abebooks and at resellerratings.com, a popular website, abebooks has numerous negative and dissatisfied reviews and as you read the reviews you get the feel they aren't lying, if ya know what I mean. Anyhow here's the link:

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2814-p2-s1-d1.html

Here are some reviews:

10/5/07 8:21 PM
Awful place.
I first made a purchase with a seller that had "5 star rating"
My book didn't come, my e-mails were unanswered.
I went to return the book only to find that according to their web site rules, I have to wait for 30 days to file a refund request.
30 days down the road, return request filed, I am sent an automated email saying that I have to wait for another 7 days and in case the seller provides a tracking number, I won't get to roll it back.
I want to get that seller a 0-star rating, but there is no way to rate a seller!
THis place is just nuts. Don't buy there, especially if you need a text book and need it soon.

One more:

10/2/07 11:44 AM
This is the worst website I've ever used. No confirmation of the order, no tracking info of the shipment,...there's no any feedback at all after they charged my credit card. I contacted both the seller and the website for multiple times, nobody ever answered my question.

Avoid this place to make your life easier.

 

I've bought dozens of books through Abebooks and never had a problem (except once I recently ordered an engineering book and the seller could not find it - I got my credit card refunded the next day).
If I did have a problem or fraud my credit card would protect me.
I also use Amazon and Alibris often, plus any other book seller who gets me a good price.
I also buy books through professional societies and get the member discount.

My wife sometimes buys books through e-bay - she just bought a $25 cook book for 50c + $4 postage.

 

What irritates me are on-line booksellers who list books at very attractive prices but do not list the edition

 

I just received the book I ordered from Abebooks last week. I ordered it through an Australiain book store but the book was sent via registered mail from India. The book is a student edition restricted for sale in the Pakistan to Vietnam region.
Also I ordered a paperback but received a hardbound.
This book is for my work, not for school.

 

I generally prefer dealing with Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, and Chapters.ca when ordering textbooks. If the course is of a general education nature I might purchase a used edition. Sometimes when I want an order edition, maybe to complete a set of books, I will use an Amazon listed seller especially for the harder to find books.

 

http://www.addall.com/

http://www.bigwords.com./

http://www.campusbooks.com/

http://www.bookbyte.com/

http://www.ecampus.com/ <- great for 6 mos if you don't want to buy the text version.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE/WWW/WEBPAGES/homepage.php

I rarely use amazon.ca / chapters.ca due to their (generally) inflated prices.

 

Mostly I use Amazon but I've also used Kalahari

http://www.kalahari.net/

 

Abebooks is owned, or is being acquired, by Amazon.

 

Abebooks is owned/being acquired by Amazon? This is interesting! The two original used book search engines, so far as I know, were Advanced Book Exchange (now abebooks) and Bibliofind. Bibliofind was taken over by Amazon quite awhile ago and, while it was initially allowed to retain its identity as Bibliofind, was eventually transformed into Amazon z-shops. I wonder why they would need to acquire Abebooks. If indeed they do/have acquire(d) Abebooks, I wonder if they will allow Abebooks to maintain its identity or whether it will be blended into an expanded Amazon z-shops.

 

I usually use Amazon www.amazon.com or Bookfinder www.bookfinder.com .