Biblio

Rec'd good service on Biblio until recently when book ordered was not delivered after several weeks. The seller apparently refused to provide tracking info, never replying to me or Biblio. Biblio refunded the purchase... And after doing that good deed the seller is still on their platform selling the book I ordered.

I didn't get the impression the lapse mattered at all to Biblio. It was just nothing... they sent me a link to buy the book i'd originally ordered that directed me to the same seller and the HIGHER priced book. So, do poor performers ever get sanctioned, or do they just keep selling books as if nothing happened? I could've reliably gotten the book in the first place from stinky Amazon... If there's a lesson here it may be that all independents aren't good or worth the trouble of supporting.

I received an email from Biblio that the book I ordered was not available and they were processing a refund. Because of this, I ordered the book from another seller whose price was twice that of the Biblio seller. I then unexpectedly received the book from the Biblio seller, leaving me with an unneeded and more expensive copy from the second seller. I contacted Biblio and they refused to make me whole by refunding me the additional costs associated with buying the second book. I wouldn't have bought the second copy if Biblio hadn't sent their email. They don't have a handle on where their books are and their inability to do so cost this customer.

I tried to order a title through Biblio twice over three days, from two different sellers--in both cases the order was cancelled apparently because the book was out of stock (though no actual reason for the cancellation was given in either case). I had to contact their Help page to find out what was going on, as in neither case did the order appear in my Order History (Help claimed this was because I placed the order as a guest, but this wasn't so--I was logged into my account both times); although both orders have been refunded, it just seems bizarre that two sellers would both be unable to supply a book that isn't hard to come by--not a rare volume. It almost appears as if Biblio is hosting sellers who are taking orders for titles they don't have in stock, not a good business practice. I'd have to think twice about attempting to order from them again, and I'm definitely glad I made my purchase via PayPal as opposed to directly through their site, as I suspect I might have had a much harder time obtaining refunds otherwise.

First, let me say that the majority of the bad taste left in my mouth is from one of their sellers, COLD BOOKS. They list themselves in NY and they may have someone there who deals with their returns, but the company is almost assuredly in New Delhi, India, which is where my "ships from NY" book arrived from. I ordered two books and never received the second. I never received a tracking number, and the original tracking for the first book was for 1 piece only, and yet they claim the second book was sent (it never was; see below).

COLD BOOKS has horrible customer service, they are listing AND SELLING books they don't have, they respond with non-intelligible emails that skirt around the issue and they try to waste your time/wear you down, at which point if you're still hanging on they will now issue partial refunds and pretend they don't know what you're talking about.

Having said that, Biblio is also not without fault in this. They were reluctant to get involved, instead forwarding my emails directly to Cold Books despite me feeling that they should be contacting their sellers directly for resolution. After 4 emails directed to Biblio customer service I finally had to say enough is enough, and I had to suggest that I would be reporting them to the Federal Trade Commission for online shopping fraud. At this point my complaint was finally escalated and a refund released (which took another 4 days to land in my account, but I did receive it).

A friend of mine ordered the same book from Cold Books and had the same runaround; they accepted her order, but then sent her the wrong book and even that was a used copy when she ordered new. They offered a partial refund only if she sent the book back and paid for shipping herself. She too, had to escalate this to Biblio and just today got her refund in full. Neither of us will order from Biblio again.

I think Biblio has some things to learn about more immediate customer service resolution, but more importantly I hope they have removed Cold Books from their sellers list. If they have not, then I would be suspicious about ordering from anyone on their site because it may well be just more of the same.

In my first experience with Biblio.com, I purchased two books from different sellers. One book arrived within the specified time frame and in excellent condition. The other, however, has still not been delivered a month after the order was placed.

When the book did not arrive as promised, I communicated with the vendor and requested a tracking number. I was given a number that is invalid and cannot be tracked and was asked to wait another week. I waited a week and when it did not arrive, I contacted the vendor and requested a refund.

The vendor did not address my request for a refund and simply "requested" that I wait another week. I contacted Biblio to request their assistance with obtaining a refund, and they forwarded my message to the vendor who again simply responded with a "request" that I wait another week.

At this point, I feel I have waited a reasonable amount of time and then some. Further, since I was given a useless tracking number, I feel I have a valid reason for requesting a refund. I'm not sure how Biblio operates internally, but it seems like if a refund is dependent entirely upon the vendor's choice, customer service is lacking.

While neither Biblio nor the vendor was "rude" per se, the complete disregard of my reasonable request for a refund is not acceptable. My bottom line is that if you purchase from this company, there is a possibility that some of your experiences will not go well. In my case, it was a 50-50 chance of not getting my order.

Further, when things go wrong, you will have to continue to deal with them over extended periods of time, and the outcome is uncertain. This is sad because I liked the fact that Biblio indicated it has a socially conscious business model, which I liked.

I wanted to give a chance to a company other than some of the big book sellers, and it's sad how poor the customer service is by comparison. I would not recommend, and I will not purchase from them again.

Ordered a book, simultaneously with a class mate (other order). After a few weeks still not received the order. A refund was proposed/demanded. But for waiting more than a month now, the refund is not received.
Update:
The refund of this order (placed on November 11th) is now received (Friday 13th :)) .