AbeBooks Reviews 

Bought from Awesomebooks via Abebooks. I would have given zero stars if there was the option. The following is the description that was given of the condition of the book “This book is in very good condition. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far”.

This could not be further from the truth. The book had a deep piercing (as if a pellet gun had been fired into it) at the centre of the front cover. Though a fairly small piercing the damage went through to page 60. The edges of the books pages were yellowed with age. I would not even describe the condition as reasonable. When I initiated a refund I was prompted to return the book. But why should I pay for the return of something that I was mislead about the condition of.

I have messages both Abebooks and Awesome books on the matter over the past week and have yet to receive any reply. I will not be buying from either of them again and would advise others to steer clear.

My book, ordered for delivery on 22nd of October has not arrived. I have sent two requests for tracking numbers and requests for an explanation for the non arrival of the book. I have also now asked for a refund. Abebooks has passed my requests to Awesome Books which is supplying the book. Neither company publish telephone numbers or seem to have customer service that can be contacted directly. (Abebooks is just a market place selling other booksellers books). I just find both companies attitude completely unacceptable and frankly rude.

Be very careful using AbeBooks. I purchased an item, and while the money was immediately withdrawn from my bank account, AbeBooks never logged a receipt or sent a confirmation.
To make matters worse, their customer service is non-existent. The platform is structured in a way that leaves almost no space for buyers to log complaints or trigger investigations into dubious seller practices. By making it nearly impossible to resolve issues, this website effectively protects dishonest and deceitful sellers while leaving the consumer completely vulnerable.
Avoid this site unless you are willing to risk your money with zero backup.

Wish I’d read these reviews before I ordered. Ordered one book, was due to arrive over a week ago. They gave me a Royal Mail tracking number but that only shows Royal Mail are waiting for the book and that was ten days ago! I emailed the seller, they’ve ignored it, I tried to request a refund but AbeBooks rejected it because the seller provided a tracking number but the tracking number only confirms I haven’t had the book. There’s no customer service, no way of contacting them at all. Think I’m going to lose my money at this point.

Genuinely good experience. Ordered Friday, 2 batches arrived Tuesday, one due tomorrow and the last Thursday (several different sellers).

All so far are in fantastic condition and packaged well. This site has saved me £100’s in coursework book prices.

The book finally arrived very bent .
I have initiated a return but it has to be returned to the USA.
Whilst it states in Abe books website that postage will be returned if book damaged I cannot get a reply from Abe Books Customer service and there is nothing in my returns email to state I will be refunded my shipping costs.
I have now been refunded.
Thank you

The order never happened. They take our details. No customer service. Beware of the site.

Have bought a couple of used books so far, promptly delivered. They were a good price compared to other sellers, my gripe is they were described as very good condition but were certainly well read, covers tatty and spines very cracked, some loose pages. Readable but a bit disappointed.

Their sellers regularly ship books that are below the standard claimed on the website. It seems that some sellers are disreputable and ignore the messages they receive from AbeBooks when a buyer files a complaint. There is no longer any way to contact AbeBooks direct as their website's links to help and customer service etc. take their customers round and round in circles and NEVER to an option to message them. In my experience, it's much quicker and easier to lodge a claim via the payment card provider so that they can resolve AbeBooks abysmal service on your behalf.

I have bought 20 or 30 books through abe books since lock down began. Mainly second hand books. I have always received my orders undamaged within 7 days. I have never needed to ask for a refund. I have used whoever is selling the book l want at the cheapest price. I am a very satisfied customer.

I ordered a book which was meant to be excellent condition - it was mouldy and stained when it arrived. I emailed to let them know but was ignored for ages. I persisted and eventually they said they would refund me, but only after I refused to waste my time returning it at my expense. A month later, I still have no refund

Was sent a book from the US to the UK, half the back cover completely ripped off. Refused to refund unless I shipped the book all the way back to the US at my own expense.
Not a legitimate or trustworthy company.

For years AbeBooks has been a reliable source of books. However, recently the service has declined drastically. A seller, GreatBookPricesUK, has taken payment for an order which was subsequently cancelled before being sent, but, despite initial promises to refund the payment does not do so nor respond to emails. It is impossible to reach AbeBooks customer support (they have removed telephone or email support).

I would recommend that AbeBooks is avoided by all book hunters. It has become a rogue seller that allows payments to be taken without goods being sent or refunds made, and without any means to contact AbeBooks for help.

It seems either people are very happy because they receive the book(s) they ordered or very unhappy because they didn't.

Unfortunately I am one of the latter. I ordered a book, was pleasantly surprised to find it at a very good price and delivery was promised a couple of days later. Nothing received. I contacted the bookseller - no reply. I have now asked for a refund - it's not much money but I have to wait another 8 days at least in case the book arrives (I am sure it won't).

Looking for other copies of the same book, including on other sites, I find it is only available at a much higher price. I am therefore coming to the conclusion that some of the books offered at low price are actually "click bait" to get you to sign up to this site. Sorry I won't be using them again as there is really no customer service to speak of.

Edited to add - after submitting the above, I have received a very fulsome apology from Abe Books plus a promise to expedite my refund within 3-5 days. In view of this I feel it is only fair to "up" my star rating from 1 to 3 stars and let others know that there is some customer service, albeit slightly delayed!

Book was exactly as described, very quick delivery, would definitely use them again! 10/10, thank you.🙂👍

ONLY RECIEVED HALF MY ORDER. TRACKING NOT MAKING ANY SENSE AND YOUR NOT REPLYING TO MY EMAILS AND NEITHER IS THE SELLER. OUTRAGEOUS SERVICE!

Total criminals. Our father passed away and one of his collections of books was a 1st edition, 1st print lord of the rings. As a family we sold the 3 books on a British TV show.
4 years later this disgusting website is saying that they now have the books & that they are all signed by the author (not true) with dust jackets (not true) they also mention that they were purchased from our father's estate and his connection to everything Tolkien, a totally disgusting collection of fabricated lies - this company AbeBooks is a total scamming criminal bunch of XXXXXX

Ordered a book that was termed to be in very good condition. When received I found it was quite the opposite. I paid for the return of the book and still did not get a refund despite the tracking informing me it had been delivered. I then chased this refund and then recieved an email that made out it was doing me a favour by issuing a refund. Blimey, talk about adding insult to injury. This transaction left me £4 out of pocket. Do not use this marketplace, it is a sham.

We ordered two books one for myself and one for my friend.
Paid for them and then one item was refunded, no explanation
The book that arrived needed to go in the bin, pages torn out, spine damaged and over all rubbish
Contacted the company and they want us to send the book back and pay for it even though it’s not fit for purpose
No customer service at all
Will never buy from Abe books again
Shocking company

AbeBooks wouldn’t even respond to my question about the book I waited three weeks to receive.
Obviously not a Christian book seller.
I’m afraid my review is negative.
Thank you