Do not use this retailer if you can help it - terrible customer service. I ordered my book Jan. 2, 2006 and still have not received it (today is March 11, 2006). They sent it to the wrong address after I repeatedly, via email correspondence with one of their customer service reps, told them I wanted the book sent to a friend as a gift. I have emailed them repeatedly (can't find a phone number) and have never heard anything. Frustrating!  
P.J. Canada (now in New Jersey)

DONT USE A1 BOOKS, there are alot of other good book sellers out there. i was sent the wrong book from a1 books, after waiting about 14 days to get it in the mail(i think the website said 3-6day delivery). there customer sevice is terrible, it took me a while just to figure out how to get a hold of them,which is only by email, and it takes them about three days to respond.i sent back my book for a refund and they told me it would take 30-45 days to refund my money. then they told me they never received the returned book in the mail. so i dont think i will see a refund.

This was simply the worst experience I have ever had with a book company. I am STILL trying to recieve all of my money as a refund for a book I purchased a month and a half ago, but I am very doubtful that I will ever get it back. I was sent the wrong book, and that alone took 3 weeks even though it was stated as in stock. I was quoted a terrific return policy, but upon that return I am not recieving my money. Not only that, but they charged me a restocking fee of 10% for their mistake!  
I strongly suggest that nobody buys from this company.

I am so incredibly dissatisfied with this retailer. I purchased the Phaidan World Atlas of Contemporary Architecture from them because it is a book that is normally $160, they offered it for $105. I ordered it as a gift for Christmas, and since I ordered it on December 14, I was pretty confident that it would arrive on time. My mistake. It is January 5th, and I have still not received the book. I was forced to buy the book at the standard price from a local bookstore, so now I have paid a total of $265, when I should have just paid $105. I have contacted them by email repeatedly by email (they have no other way listed anywhere - that should have been my first tip-off, but I was naive before), and just get stupid automated responses that do not answer the problem, they just say they have contacted the merchant (I thought they were the merchant?). I asked for a refund, nothing. DO NOT USE THIS BOOKSELLER! They are absolutely horrible! I will contact the Better Business Beureau in hopes of shutting them down. Judging from all of the other posts, my case is not unique.

I purchased The Management and Control of Quality ISBN 0324202237 from A1 books. They shipped me The Management and Control of Quality ISBN 9812435220. They substituted an international version for the US version. When I enter the ISBN from the book they sent me into book buying web sites, it doesn't come up. Nowhere did the purchase order state they may sub my order nor did I authorize it. As far as I am concerned, since the front cover stated "For sale on teh India Subcontinent only", A1 books are in violation of federal commerce laws.

I ordered 3 books on November 28. They were going to be shipped together. I have been charged for all three books and still have not recieved it. I have emailed and emailed ut no response.  
 
Nancy O'Donnell

i wish i had known about this website before i bot from these people...terrible service, they say that they send the item in two days and it will arrive in 4-14 business days...i had my doubts...well when i receive an invoice from them, they say it will arrive an dec 9th...but if you look on their faq's they say that it could arrive as late as 21 business days. pathetic! i dont know of any mail service that takes 21 days for 1 book to arrive..lets take these guys down!!..will keep you informed of my experience.

I ordered a book Elementary Particles on Sep.6 2005, I received it a month later and I was charged twice for the order. They first asked me to send them documentation via fax to verify that the information was accurate. The fax # did not work I then emailed them with the information and Rini the customer service rat could not read the document because it was too small. I told her to magnify it and then she told me that she couldn't return the money because I had ordered with a credit card and the info she had for that order was checking. I explained that I paid with debit/checking in which case she said I could get a refund. I was told 1st that I would get a check, then I was told that I would get a credit, none of which ever happened than after insisting to speak with her superior Stacy I was told the credit was put through. There of course was no credit, but I did get a call from Stacy on proper phone etiquette. I couldn't get them to deal with my refund but they are ready to call you with tips on how to address them, I gave them a few tips of my own. I asked my bank officer to contact them and they refuse to speak with her to resolve this issue. My bank is now treating this as fraud and I have submitted a complaint with the NJ Better Business Bureau. Students contact your student Gov. Office and warn them to warn other students to stay away from this company. We may not be able to get our refunds back but we can push for a boycott of this company. Don't hesitate to warn as many people out there as you can. We can put them out of business. I am going to contact as many student gov. offices throught out the NYS area, I encourage you to fight back.

Warning to all prospective buyers! Do not use this company! I ordered a class texbook from them on September 22th and they said it would ship in 2 days. They finally sent an email that the book was shipped on September 29th. So much for the two days. The book finally arrived October 18th or 21 days after the supposed shipping date. This is totally unacceptable. In the meantime I was forced to purchase the same book from another company which had it to me in 2 days. Now I have two books. Their customer service department is non existant so getting a return credit is unlikely. Stay away from this company. I am contacting the Better Business Bureau.

A1books' service is TERRIBLE! They shouldn't be in business! I wish I would have looked at these reviews before I purchased by books. Out of 4 books, 1 had to be refunded, but my credit card has not been refunded yet, I ordered that book from another site 5 days later and it was delivered to me yesterday, while I'm still waiting for the other 3 from A1books. I'm very disappointed in A1books and will tell all my classmates to NEVER use them!

It has been over 43 days since I ordered and 42 days since my credit card was billed. I still have no product. This store is in direct violation of Amazon marketplace rules and should be removed. Amazon states,  
 
Delayed shipments or pre-sells are prohibited. Items offered through Amazon Marketplace must be shipped within two business days of the close of a sale. In the event that an item you are offering will not be available for immediate delivery, alert your transaction partner and  
initiate any necessary refunds. It is important to maintain accurate inventory records, as instances of "stock-outs" could be reflected in your seller feedback rating.  
 
I was not informed 9 days after my order was placed that it was "out of stock"  
 
I was then told I would recieve it by Sept. 04.  
 
It is now September 29, and they are telling me to wait until October 6th. Then contact them again.  
 
They have made no attempt to make right on this at all.  
 
On their web site they say that they ship video games Standard ground. Why did they send my software media mail? Isn't it the same? Its not like software weighs a ton like books.  
 
This is the worst online store ever. Their customer service rating is going down.  
 
ALL BUYERS BEWARE!!!!  

AVOID A1Books AT ALL COSTS.  
 
I ordered a textbook 8/31/05. A1Books claims they ship in 1-3 days. 10 (TEN!!) days after my order, they informed me that they just realized that they needed to order the book. As of Sept. 26, the US Postal Service says the order has STILL NOT BEEN RECEIVED BY THEIR SYSTEM.  
 
As of today, I am almost a month behind in my class, and the post office tracking info still says they are STILL WAITING to RECEIVE the book.  
 
It is so hard to find the store’s phone number. It is almost as if they are intentionally hiding it! A little detective work shows the following:  
 
A1Books  
Tel 973 426 9995  
Voicemail-based customer support: 973 446 8345  
 
Good luck getting someone to answer the phone, let alone getting someone to solve your customer service issue. Their web-based customer service is nonexistent, too.  
 
AVOID A1BOOKS at all costs!

on 8/1/05 i ordered a book as a gift from a1Books through amazon. the website and receipt stated the book would ship within 2-3 days. i inquired by email - no response. their status showed "processing". on 8/17 they supposedly shipped, but the tracking link on their site is a dead link and the book has not arrived. i requested a refund through them, their response was that it could take 21 days to arrive. totally unacceptable and a miserable experience.

Most recent order through amazon Jun 19th shipped? 20th USPS(...arg), no tracking.  
Received intact.  
 
Past orders direct with a1books for novels, and textbooks also completed favorably. I don't remember if USPS was used--it would be nice if they used Fedex.

DBA/ A1TEXTBOOKS.COM for our transaction. Best price we could find and their shipping was very quick. No problems at all. Will shop thre again.

This review was modified by its author, talltrees, on 5/10/05 2:07 PM.