Alibris

Horrible. Placed an order for a college textbook from Alibris through Half.com.  Order was confirmed.  The next day Alibris sent an email informing me that the order was shipped.  Four days later an email arrived from Half.com  telling me that I was getting a refund as the order could not be filled!  This AFTER I was told the order had been shipped!  Alibris never contacted me that there was a problem, the only notification I got was the refund notice from Half.com.  All other books I ordered on the same day from different companies arrived!  Alibris never contacted me that "the seller"  made an error, made no contact at all  Learned there was a problem because Half.com issued a refund.  Result - no textbook - had to reorder at a higher cost, higher shipping - would NEVER use this company again.

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.

I was looking for an out of print book and found it on Alibris for a good price so I ordered it, the payment went through and a few days later it said my order had been shipped...that was almost two months ago and it still hasn't arrived, I've contacted them and have received no replies at all. I have no idea what has happened to it or if it was even shipped at all.

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 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.

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.

DO NOT ORDER FROM ALIBRIS.... THEY WILL NOT SHIP YOUR ITEMS AND BLAME THE POSTAL SERVICE, THEY ASE YOU TO WAIT 30 DAYS... IT DOSEN'T EVEN TAKE 30 DAYS TO SHIP TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD.

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

Never shop at Alibris. They shipped me the wrong book and there is no way to contact them except through a very complex process.

No way to get my refund and I even sent them the book back.

Alibris is a scam, if you have a problem you are screwed. Stick to Amazon or Half.com or other reputable sites.

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 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.

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.