Textsociety

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS SITE! I was looking for a cheap textbook and I was thrilled when I found it on this site, however, after completing the checkout I found (days later) that I was never charged for my purchase. Hopeful and believing in the goodwill of mankind, I kind of shrugged off this incident. A week later from the purchase date, I was notified via email that the item I ordered was out of stock. Oooh, but it doesn't end there! Since I was still in need of a textbook, I was surfing the web for deals when I came upon Textbookw.com. If you compared textsociety.com to this other website, you would see an undeniable similarity that totally stinks of fraudulent activity. Why make two websites for the same content but with different prices?! I'm not sure if I should cancel my debit card or what. Can they steal my identity with the information I provided them? I check for weird account activity everyday (often throughout the day), however, I'm not sure if that's enough.

Anyways, don't have the same kind of anxiety I do these days and stay away from these sites!

This website lures people in with low priced books, and you may be able to place an order quickly but that's all. I placed an order with this website, and waited five days for any action to be taken on my order. After nothing had been done I canceled my card, and will never use this site again. I tried to call, and check the status, but all that is available is an email contact. Beware of this website!

This applies to, and is posted at, the review sections for the following websites:

cocomartini.com, bukmall.com, saanjhi.com, 8ookstore.com, collegexpres.com and textsociety.com

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!" ~ Sir Walter Scott

Here's a tale of disappointed students to tug at your heartstrings. Or perhaps not...

From Sandy D:
"Don't order from this company! I placed my order 4 weeks ago when site said 7-10 day delivery. I received a shipping confirmation only after 3 angry emails. Impossible to find contact information on site. Of course, my bank was charged immediately, so I can't stop payment." 2/8/2010 Review of cocomartini.com

Sandy D then becomes Mecky C:

From Mecky C:
"Don't order from bukmall.com! I placed my order 4 weeks ago when site said 7-10 day delivery. I received a shipping confirmation only after 3 angry emails. Impossible to find contact information on site. Of course, my bank was charged immediately, so I can't stop payment" 7/20/2010 Review of bukmall.com

Mecky C then morphs into "David Parker" to post on Reseller Ratings:

"Don't order from bukmall.com bookstore! I placed my order 4 weeks ago when site said 7-10 day delivery. I received a shipping confirmation only after 3 angry emails. Impossible to find contact information on site. Of course, my bank was charged immediately, so I can't stop payment."

David Parker (the late Mecky C) then posts, on Reseller Ratings:

"don't buy college textbooks from this website http://www.saanjhi.com/ never get any replies, communication. Never receive the textbooks. Cheating"

David Parker then becomes Jeff C, of whom more in a moment, and goes over to Sitejabber, posting:

"don't buy college textbooks from this website http://www.saanjhi.com/ never get any replies, communication. Never receive the textbooks. Cheating" 7/3/2010 Review of saanjhi.com

Jeff C then channels the late Mecky C:

From Jeff C:
"Don't order from 8ookstore.com bookstore! I placed my order 4 weeks ago when site said 7-10 day delivery. I received a shipping confirmation only after 3 angry emails. Impossible to find contact information on site. Of course, my bank was charged immediately, so I can't stop payment." 7/25/2010 Review of Bookstore.com

Meanwhile we have another dual personality here...

From Brian W:
"I had an AWFUL experience with cocomartini.com too. Ordered books in January, never got them. Five months later they still refused to resend or refund my money. Customer service was INCREDIBLY RUDE. Accused me of lying and wouldn't answer my questions. WORST ONLINE SHOPPING I'VE EVER DONE!" 7/2/2010 Review of cocomartini.com

And

From David P:
"I had an AWFUL experience with 8ookstore.com. Ordered books in January, never got them. Five months later they still refused to resend or refund my money. Customer service was INCREDIBLY RUDE. Accused me of lying and wouldn't answer my questions. WORST ONLINE SHOPPING I'VE EVER DONE!" 7/22/2010 Review of 8ookstore.com

David then has a sex-change into "ellakoon", who I believe is 'Ella K' here at Sitejabber, and is also found at ResellerRatings.com:

"7/21/10 12:58 AM
I had an AWFUL experience with ErgodeBooks.com. Ordered books in January, never got them. Five months later they still refused to resend or refund my money. Customer service was INCREDIBLY RUDE. Accused me of lying and wouldn't answer my questions. WORST ONLINE SHOPPING I'VE EVER DONE!"

And there are more of these people:

From Ann O:
"ME TOO! I BOUGHT A BOOK FROM THIS WEB SITE A WEEK AGO AND AND STILL DIDN'T GET MY BOOK, AND I SENT TWO MESSAGES TO THEM AND GET NO REPLY. DID YOU GUYS GET YOU BOOK NOW?" 2/8/2010 Review of collegexpres.com

And back comes Jeff C:
"ME TOO! I BOUGHT A BOOK FROM THIS WEB SITE A WEEK AGO AND AND STILL DIDN'T GET MY BOOK, AND I SENT TWO MESSAGES TO THEM AND GET NO REPLY. DID YOU GUYS GET YOU BOOK NOW?" 7/8/2010 Review of textsociety.com

What does this tell us, aside from the obvious fact that SiteJabber ought to be paying me to expose this stuff?

It tells us that certain people believe that review sites such as this one really do influence their readers.

Otherwise, these people wouldn't bother with all this. Which means we're having an effect, which is great to know. But it also means they think we're all stupid, or unobservant, or that none of us care enough to root out the phoney reviewers and their often-obvious phony reviews. I think they're wrong.

It needs people to decide not to leave it to someone else, but to get involved, and give something back to the community, which isn't always easy, but it would be worthwhile and I have a feeling it will come, sooner or later.

Meanwhile, I'd definitely recommend you proceed with caution before using any of these student book sites, and especially if they are in China or India or some other foreign country. There's nothing necessarily bad about trading with a foreign country, but do remember that you've probably got little or nothing by way of a guarantee or a chance to send anything back, and you probably have about an equal chance, or less, of getting a refund if things go wrong. Or goods don't arrive. We know the Chinese are notorious for, how shall we say, a very distinctly Chinese way of doing business, and you should know what I mean by that. If you don't, you should probably not buy anything from there. But take care to at least make sure you know, if it's at all possible, what country you're buying from. And please let me or any of the top reviewers here know, if you stumble across a similar bunch of hoaxes.

I placed an order with this company but has yet to hear back from them. I'm afraid this might be a scam. The only way to attempt to contact this company is to send them an email. They do not respond! My credit card has not been charged but I'm afraid they are attempting to steal my identity. Please don't order from this website!

They sent me a book that was an international version of the book that I needed. The ISBN number wasn't even the one that I entered. The front cover says "Not for Sale in the United States". You can't reply to any of their emails, you have to go to their site and use their online messaging page and they will respond if it's in their best interest.
I would be cautious of this place.

There site listed my book in stock and I ordered in plenty of time to have it for my class. Seven days later they notify me that it is out of stock. What kind of company takes 7 days to figure out if something is in stock? Don't use this company. They may appear to have low prices, but you'll end up disappointed.

Same old story. I ordered a text book because the price was cheap and I am on budget. No book and now the website cannot be found online so there is no way to contact them or track an order. They have not charged my debit card yet and I changed the number today. Do NOT NOT NOT use this compnay.

They just took my debit card information, and I have not received my textbooks. I have not been charged yet, but I am changing my debit card number ASAP. Don't order from them.

ME TOO! I BOUGHT A BOOK FROM THIS WEB SITE A WEEK AGO AND AND STILL DIDN'T GET MY BOOK, AND I SENT TWO MESSAGES TO THEM AND GET NO REPLY. DID YOU GUYS GET YOU BOOK NOW? –