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The Book Depository review: lost delivery/poor customer service/failure to refund 23

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7:48 pm EDT
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I ordered three books, and only one (the one apparently dispatched four days after the original two) arrived. I emailed them about 10 days later asking where it was and got quite a rude reply about international deliveries taking up to two weeks when i’m pretty sure it was a national one. So then three weeks later, i email again due to no sign of the books and they say they really should have arrived and ask me to double check with my local delivery office and then to confirm my address.
After all this, with various different unhelpful emails from various different customer advisors, they ask would i like a refund or a replacement, so seeing as one of the books was a present, i say i still would very much like the books so i’ll take a replacement. Then, i get a reply saying we can’t give you a replacement as ‘so many’ have gone missing (reminder-only 2)…why did they offer in the first place then?
So I ask for a refund then and get an automated email apologising about the order, and one of the lines says ‘unfortunately your title was out of stock’…which made me wonder were the books ever sent out in the first place? My delivery office has never messed up before, and the fact that they don’t even follow up missing orders (which would cost potentially a pretty penny for them) makes me think they never send out some orders at all.
They’ve definitely lost me as a customer and i’ll be making anyone else aware before they buy in the future.

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

23 comments
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sumberjaya
, US
Sep 06, 2019 8:15 am EDT

I ordered a book at depository book store. but the book has arrived yet till now..
I tried to email company.. big cheater company will tell you that book has dispatch and ask you make sure your address, check it at your local post office without tracking number from cheater company.. I hope there are current duty can stop it for prevention more victims

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Kittydoll
, US
Jul 06, 2019 12:38 pm EDT

I bought 4 books from book depository. It’s been way past 10-20 days and yet nothing. I even had to go to 2 post offices, wasted my time checking. Their customer service is the worst that I’ve ever experienced. Every message is copy pasted and resent! As if they are bots! With a verified check on Instagram & facebook, one would think they would LIVE UP to their claim being a registered business. Unbelievable. Don’t even know if those good reviews came from their own made up accounts.

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SX23
, GB
Dec 16, 2018 6:35 am EST

This company has a really poor customer service and organisational skills in handling their books . I used their service as I've received praises of the variety of books that the have. Now, I really second that . I've been waiting almost a month for my book to arrive to no avail. Although the customer service is prompt in replying, their replies are not helpful in dealing with the situation at all. There is no tracking record and yet the same replies all the time" check with your local posts" ? Really? With so many other lost parcels in the storehouse, how would they expect the local post to find your parcel without any information/ tracking record whatsoever? I would expect much better organisational skill coming from an online book company which I'm sure has tons of experience in shipping and handling overseas/national/local delivery. Such a shame.

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David Kirrane
, US
Nov 08, 2018 11:56 am EST

Same experience here. Waiting over 2 weeks for a book that should have arrived in 4-6 business days. No proof of shipment, reference number provided and customer service advised me to check with my local post office. However as I have no proper courier information to give them I could not look further into it. A very poor customer service.

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Cilla Huang
, US
Oct 11, 2018 8:26 am EDT

Yup same experience here. They got my address wrong. Didnt offer an alternative other than "please check back weekly." And when i do, they copy and pasted their replies from previous emails to me. No enthusiasm and zero effort to solve the problem. It has been about 2 months, if not more. I have ordered from them for many years with no issues. But now they treat my customer loyalty like trash. No offers of apology nor ownership of the mistake in address. They asked me to check with my local post. And when i told them my local post has no records of it. They said it cannot be traced by my order number nor do they provide a tracking number. So what rubbish are your customer service people sprouting out of their mouths? Are they bots? You have lost me and you know, word of mouth is a marvellous way to either make or break a business.

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Queendom
, MY
Sep 25, 2018 2:45 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I ordered 8 books more than a month ago but received only 1. The only 1 book I received was 2 weeks ago, no more delivery after that. The shipment should take 5-8 days (working days I suppose) but now it has come to more that 20 working days!

This was my 2nd order. The 1st I ordered 2 books & received all 2.

What is more disappointing is that the customer service is unable to provide the shipment/consignment note number or anything as proof of shipment, & they are in fact asking to check with local postal service! How in the world can you track a lost/undelivered mail without any reference number?

I should have seen all these reviews before buying so many books from book depository.

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dawnkingdom
, MY
Sep 19, 2018 8:59 am EDT

Goodness me, had i known these reviews, I would never even consider buying from book depository.
customer service is horrible, no books, no refunds, nothing...
This is just ridiculous...What a joke...

DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER BUYING BOOKS FROM BOOK DEPOSITORY.
well, unless you have money to throw away, then go ahead.

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Jacques Didier Ferriere
, AU
Sep 19, 2018 2:09 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Hi,
I should have read the reviews on this book site Book depository I Am from Australia and have ordered books from them before they have come but are very slow. I received another 2 books today but they were someone else s books. I have tried calling them and emails they are the worst company i have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. They HAVE NO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ALL... They were rude and blamed me and the postal service. They have lost me as a customer and i will make sure that i tell everyone that there service is repugnant . Rant over. If any one else could advise me of a better book store to purchase from i would be so happy.

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Anna Pelova
, US
Sep 13, 2018 4:49 am EDT

It turned out the order arrived it 6 days but the idiots at the local post held it for 14 days for whatever reason... worth checking, even if you don’t have a tracking number they can locate a package by name and address if you say it’s been missing. So Book Depository has done their job well.

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dawnkingdom
, MY
Sep 19, 2018 9:00 am EDT

where do you live? In my country, there's no way to track items based on Name

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Anna Pelova
, US
Sep 12, 2018 5:01 am EDT

Waiting for three weeks now after dispatching, four after ordering. Nothing arrived. All my orders from Amazon got delivered in time with the local post. This website is definitely fishy and should be put out of business. AVOID. Order from Amazon instead and cough up a few dollars for postage, at least it arrives. SCAMMERS.

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Anna Pelova
, US
Sep 13, 2018 4:50 am EDT

Taking my words back... it was the post that held it for two weeks for whatever reason!

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Tianhao
, NL
Sep 12, 2018 4:40 am EDT

Same! I have waited for two months since I first placed my order. Terrible company! Don't trust them!

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Jack, Yupeng Gao
, US
Aug 29, 2018 1:35 am EDT

Save here in Singapore. Bought 2 book and have not received any after 10+ business days. There is no way to check whether they really shipped them out or not.

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BookDepositoryCustomer
, HK
Aug 18, 2018 1:48 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Same experience! No follow up with my missed order! Worst customer experience! Just said it has been delivered but no any proof and follow up!

Order No.: BDM-148-[protected]

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Alicia Tay
, US
Jul 07, 2018 3:45 am EDT

Reference BDU-314-[protected]

Same! Except that I ordered just one single book, which got dispatched on 15 June, but still hasn't arrived after 16 business days or 23 days. Fuming because it's only one book, and regretting my decision to buy from them when there are SO MANY OTHER ONLINE BOOKSTORES we can choose from. I have just asked for them to resend it, let's just wait and see...

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bkdpstrysux
, US
Jun 26, 2018 12:32 am EDT

Omg exactly the same experience as mine. Book Depository customer service is so terrible. I have ordered the books since 9 june, and it is already 26 june and I have not received a single book. Worst of all, their customer service enquiry has no help at all. They asked me to check with the local delivery office but said there was no tracking code. How do I even check my parcel if they themselves do not even know the tracking code. I am extremely disappointed in their service, and would make sure to tell anyone who is interested to buy from them to think twice.

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Sophie Mitchell
, US
Apr 25, 2018 6:54 am EDT

I've been waiting three weeks now for my delivery, not one book out of five have come. I have emailed them today and hope to get a responce asap!

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NBose
, HK
Apr 21, 2018 7:49 am EDT

Reference BDU-518-[protected]

Same experience - with 5 books i bought on 23rd March and received only 2 till 21st April 2018.
On contacting customer service they told me to go check with the local post office. Did not even provide any courier details. Looks like they have not learnt to streamline their after sales process looking at the number of customer complaints online. So basically they transferred the onus of tracing the missing books to me without even providing me courier details. Needless to say this will be my first and last purchase from the website. Have requested for a refund - lets see if i even get a response!

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EdyH
, MY
Feb 08, 2018 7:37 am EST

Exactly the same case to me, they asked me to check with my local delivery office and then to confirm my address. There are various local postal providers but they can't tell me the exact local service provider name and tracking code, so the solution is totally unreasonable & meaningless!

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Markus123456
, US
Jun 02, 2017 1:11 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Yes my experience also! Customer service didnt answer my emails. Lost 4 books. No REFUND! Terrible company!

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The Book Depository
Gloucester, GB
Jun 30, 2011 10:54 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Sorry to hear of the problems you have experienced.

Could you email us your order reference number to contactus@bookdepository.co.uk so we can look into this for you?

Many thanks,

Zara
Customer Advisor
The Book Depository Ltd

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Fathun1
, US
Dec 07, 2019 11:20 pm EST

I have ordered 3 books in 2018. 1 year, no refund, automated and stupidly unhelpful replies to my emails and still no sign of the damn books. I use the same shipping address for all other online shopping sites and I have always recieved the things i have ordered. I did receive the books I ordered in 2017 but none after that.

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