In February I ordered a Jonathan Carroll book from one of their booksellers who promised the book to be in New Condition. The book arrived promptly but not in an acceptable condition. The bookseller merely wrapped the book in a manila envelope, threw it into two more envelopes and wrapped a ton of tape around the whole-unprotected mess. Needless to say the book was banged up a bit from delivery. Even if the book hadn't been banged up in delivery the description of the book left a lot to be desired. The book I doubt was ever in Like New condition, the dust jacket had been cut incorrectly so it barely fit on the book. These are not huge deals but when I pay fifty dollars for a book I expect the book to be in the condition described. So I sent it back a couple of days later.

About a month after the book left my hands I received an email from Alibris telling me that they would be refunding my payment. This email I received on March 27th. They also told me that I would be receiving the credit in about two weeks. On their webpage they said shipping costs would be credited, on the email they sent me they informed me that only the cost of the book would be refunded. Fine I thought, at least I'm getting most of my money back. Being slightly anal-retentive is costing me a few bucks, but at least I'm getting the bulk of it back.

Or am I?

A month later, I sent them an email asking, "Where's my money?" I didn't receive a reply. A week later I wrote another letter. No reply. And one more email followed where I explained how I had enjoyed doing business with them in the past, yadda yadda, and would like my money refunded to me so I can continue to do business with them. No reply.

I just sent them another email after trying to contact them by phone. Getting their phone number took a bit of detective work on my part since it wasn't anywhere on their web site. When I called them I received a message saying that they do not discuss orders on the phone but please leave a message. I did, and then I emailed them again for good measure.

The funny thing is that I'd contacted them before about pending orders and received very good customer care, now when they screwed up and owe me money I can't get a word out of them. I used to recommend using their services because they do have a great selection of books, and many times great bargains on books that are difficult to find. If it's this difficult to fix a problem though I don't know if I could justify doing business with them again. Abe.com has just as good of a selection and for the time being I would have to recommend using them for all my hard to find literary needs.


Recommended:
No

What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Jonathan Carroll - The Heidelberg Cynlinder