Comments on: The Book Depository Doesn’t Suck That Much

By: James

James — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 03:41:58 +0000

Alright, enough now – esp. as this is getting spammers attention.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:56:17 +0000

I have had lots of problems – books going missing, books left with status “Processing” for weeks, even though they say they are usually dispatched in 24-48 hours. The worst part is a complete lack of response to emails by their customer service dept, and no phone number on their site.
I have just emailed Kieron directly and we’ll see what happens.

By: Theo

Theo — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:01:14 +0000

After contacting the publisher, the excuse that they had not printed enough copies was revealed to be a lie. I was directed to the direct sales section of their website to purchase the book, which was offered at twice the price offered at Book Depository.

I have emailed again and asked for explanation.

By: Theo

Theo — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 11:52:42 +0000

My experience has been similar to others – poor. Ordered a book which was due to be published in 30 days. When it was supposed to be published/sent, checked my order status and it had still says ‘processing’.

Emailed Book Depository, didn’t think too much about it, no response.

Emailed again a few weeks later and was told that they had run out of stock because the publisher had not printed enough copies. Hard to believe when I ordered 30 days in advance of the publication.

Offered a refund, or I could wait, but gave no indication as to when I might expect my book and have not responded to further queries.

They have other copies of this title – which appear to be identifcal – at a much higher price.

Deceptive business practices. Book despository sucks.

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:19:03 +0000

I have been using the book depository for a couple of years now and have bought well over 100 books to date. I have found the experience of dealing with them nothing short of faultless. On the one occasion that it took a little longer than expected for a book I had ordered as a xmas gift to arrive I emailed and received a prompt reply letting me know that if the book had not arrived before 22 december I could get a refund or they would send another copy. Given how busy the mail systems are at xmas time around the world I felt it was a very gracious offer and beyond the usual level of customer service I have come to expect. The book in question arrived on the 21st! As I live in Australia I am often amazed that I can have a book delivered to my doorstep from the UK in as short a period as 3 working days and cheaper than I can get the same title at a discount department store – even with the A$ not as strong as it was. Big ups to the BD.

By: picsel

picsel — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:04:18 +0000

Well, it seems that BD did well in the end. I contacted Kieron using Twitter, he quickly replied and the next day my new book was dispatched. It arrived only yesterday, that is 12 days, but hey! it arrived! So I have to cancel all the bad words I said about BD, because it was not their fault in the end, and they proved to be nice guys (except for those days before when they did not reply my emails :P)

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:35:32 +0000

I’ve been using BD for years now and they have been fantastic. I have used them as a customer whilst living in the UK, Ireland and Australia and have always found them prompt and efficient.
Their prices are reasonable and the free shipping is a winner in business terms.
I have only ever had one problem with one book (I must have ordered well over 100 with them), which was a book arriving damaged with a bashed corner. This was probably not BD’s fault but as a result of shipping. The BD were so understanding and just sent me a replacement copy of the book and told me to hold on to the other book. I offered to send it back to them if they would look after the postage costs, but they said it was ok and not to bother.
Overall I would give the Book Depository a well deserved 10/10 as a business. They have also revamped their website which has been a plus, with java enabled browsing allowing lightening quick purchasing etc. I also love the way you can check against amazon and books at abebooks.

Thumbs up for the Book Depository.

By: Brian Kavanagh

Brian Kavanagh — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:59:41 +0000

I’ve had no problems with BD at all. In fact when I made a mistake in ordering I advised them and they corrected my error immediately. I guess every firm can have mistakes occur. Even Amazon, which have messed up some of my orders.

By: picsel

picsel — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:32:40 +0000

I had problems with them, too: 10 days after my order was placed, paid and not receiving anything, I wrote them an email, and got no answer.

2 or 3 days later, I get a plastic envelope which encased a burnt, torn and broken paper envelope (on which my address was visible, ironically) that was supposed to be my package.

The transparent Royal Mail plastic envelope had a “standard text” including apologies and an UK telephone number for me to call to request refunding of some sort if I believe that the contents of my envelope is not in there. I hope no-one died in the meantime, that paper envelope looks like it went trough some war or plane-crash.

Sure, there was no book nor anything else.

I wrote to BD two emails, no answer since (more than a week).

Now, searching the web for similar problems, I have reached your blog and I am surprised to see so many situations. I was hoping BD is an alternative to Amazon.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:18:06 +0000

I have a bad experience with them too. Placed an order for 3 books, 4 days later money refunded for 1 book (they said it was not available, checked their website, they have but cost a bit more). I asked them to cancel the order and they can only cancel the second book because one already been dispatched. It’s been a week but none arrived (despite shown in their website that the book will be dispatched in 24 hours). And now just checked my credit card account online and they charged the full amount dated on the day I placed the order. Very very dodgy. I think I was amazed with their 98%, 5 star rating in Amazon. Never again