"As many of the other reviewers have stated, this company is a complete scam and should be shut down immediately. I sent books in for the buyback program on 3/13/17, numbering 7 books total. Have I been paid for them? No. Were they damaged in any way went I sent them? No, they were brand new from my school and were never used. Do they supply legit information regarding what's being done to process the books? No. Do they randomly say that they're going to send the books to be verified by the publisher - I've never heard of this needing to be done, ever - that they are legitimate copies? Yes. Here's a snippet of the emails I've sent and received back...
On 3/21/2017 I sent an email asking whether the books had been received, as there had been no contact stating as such.
They sent an email back saying the following:
"Thank you for your inquiry.
Your buyback has arrived and we have not processed your book(s) yet. During particularly busy periods it could take 3-5 business days for us to check in and process a buyback once we receive your package. Note that checked in and processed is different than receiving your buyback. If USPS tracking indicates that we have received your buyback but you have not seen any updates in your customer profile or received email notification regarding payment status this means that your package is currently in our facility and waiting to be processed.
You are able to see the current status of your buyback and payment under My Account > My Buybacks. As soon as
your order is processed you'll receive an email from us advising you of payment. Thank you for your patience."
This email came without a name or phone number to contact them by, and was signed off by "Customer Service".
As I felt there was no need for alarm yet, I took the response as is and waited. By April 9th, well past the
processing time promised, I sent another email inquiry:
"I’m following up on a buyback that arrived and was supposed to be processed. I originally sent back the books
back in the middle of March. I contacted Textbook Recycling on the 21st because I had not heard from them. It’s
been over two weeks since then and I have not had any contact, nor received my buyback total in any form.
It says that my buyback is still being processed on the website, but if the buyback check in process takes 3-5
days tops during busy periods, then they must be done as it’s been over 14 days since I contacted on the 21st. If
someone could please resolve this issue and send my buyback amount in an expedited manner, that would be
greatly appreciated. "
The response that followed provided ample reason to be alarmed, as I was neither notified that the following
situation was happening nor was it stated anywhere on textbookrecycling.com that this could happen (including
their policy & terms of agreement):
"Hello,
Thank you for your inquiry.
In this case, it looks like your book(s) were reviewed by our processors and they could not verify your book titles
as publishers copies.
At this time we have experienced a high influx of buybacks that are containing illegally reproduced as nonauthorized
or counterfeit copies of books. Some popular textbooks are illegally reproduced as nonauthorized or counterfeit copies. We receive regular updates from publishers with detailed guides that highlight how to spot such copies. When we receive one of these copies and are unable to definitively authenticate the book as an authorized copy we will not pay for that book and reserve the right to inform the publisher and government agencies the origin of the book. You will not receive
payment for any books received by us that we are unable to authenticate.
Just because we cannot verify 100% that these books are not publishers copies as of yet, doesn't necessarily mean
that they are or aren't, it just means that we cannot be certain and do not want to risk purchasing these books.
So to combat this influx we have had to take steps to protect our customers from the counterfeit book market by
holding books until we hear back directly from publishers if you book(s) are indeed counterfeit copies or not.
Unfortunately, this holding process is taking roughly +6 weeks for the publishers to get back to us. We are sorry
for the inconvenience this may cause, we are doing our best to make sure quality processing while getting back to
you with an update for your order as soon as possible.
We cannot send you your books back to you until we have verified them."
Six plus weeks for the publishers to process and send back books, huh? More like "We are never going to give you money, so give up." This company is an utter fraud and should be shut down immediately!"
"I sent two books to this company and was supposed to get $85. After waiting over 3 weeks I finally received an email saying I will be receiving $0 because of water damage!! My books were perfect!!! Then to get your books back you need to pay for shipping!!! Horrible horrible company!!"
"I wish I would have seen this page before sending my books to them. I have used several other book buyback sites and never had an issue. After waiting 2 weeks, they said I won't be getting any money. I was appalled and sent a review to the BBB only to be told by Textbook Recycling that everything is clearly stated in their terms and conditions page. I even e-mailed their company to verify that they accept loose leaf editions which I was told that the ISBN I input would state what the book is. So since the ISBN is attached to a loose leaf edition, I sent my books. Then they come back with a rude reply!!!!! Plus, I check my account and it shows it's expired so I have to contact customer service again because they actually received my books 6 days prior!!!! I sincerely believe they hope people forget and they sell your books and make money but don't actually give you anything. Now I have to pay to get my own books back!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"This company is the worst, you send in your books and then they just steal your books and don't give you any money! When you call them they just say your books where counterfeits, what a bad company to get money over the back of poor students."
"I shipped 3 books to them 3 months ago for their buyback program. After 4 weeks, I contacted them and they told me they shipped them to the publisher to verify they were legit books - WHAT?!?! I was never notified of this and knew the books were legit. They told me it would take 2 - 4 weeks for the publisher to send the books back to them with an answer. That was 2 months ago. Every time I email them, they respond with, "Thank you for your inquiry. Some of the books have come back from the publisher and we're working through them as fast as possible. If your books were in this batch, you'll receive another email from us once your order has finished processing. " I have emailed them weekly and get the same canned response. They have no intentions of paying me or shipping my books back. They are a bunch of crooks."
"Sent my books immediately. Took 3 weeks for "processing" and when asked if they had them they immediately sent a memo saying 1 of them had water damage so they were not paying for it. Being reasonable I said that was fine but was still expecting $70. They said they paid me immediately, but of course they did not and they stopped replying to any correspondence. How is this "company" allowed to exist."
"I decided to sell TextbookRecycling 5 books. I sent all 5 books in one package, per the company's instructions. Ultimately, the company told me that they only received 2 out of the 5 books. They also claimed that the package arrived undamaged, such that they could not account for the remaining 3 books. However, it would be impossible for them to only receive some of the books in an undamaged package, as all books were sent in the same package.
The customer service experience was extremely poor. STAY AWAY. The company is either incompetent or fraudulent in its processing. I will never be paid or get back three of the textbooks that I sent to them, which is unacceptable. "
"textbookrecycling.com has had too too many bad reviews and complaints about fraud. If you have had this company keep your books, lowered your quote, claimed missing or damaged books or any other claims by www.textbookrecycling.com take a few minutes to send an e-mail to the Idaho Attorney Generals office Lawrence Wasden lawrence.wasden@ag,idaho.gov take a stand against people taking advantage of students. Making money off students trying to save money. "
"They quoted a price for my book and after receiving it, although it was in great condition, they kept my book with no compensation. When 72 hours passes they won't even send the book back at my expense. They don't even reply to emails."
"This company is as unethical as it gets. They will steal your book by claiming water damage. Check out other reviews here as well as the BBB:
https://www.bbb.org/snakeriver/business-reviews/internet-marketing-services/textbookrecycling-com-in-moscow-id-64029667/reviews-and-complaints
"
"Textbook Recycling quoted me a price of $101.35 for five books, after they received them I was told $20.50 was the amount they were sending me claiming 4 out of the five had water damage. Not one had water damage textbook Recycling are crooks!!! I would be more than happy to send ya pictures."
"I sold three textbooks back to textbook recycling, didn't get a whole lot back (but they're a buy back site I wasn't expecting much I don't grudge them that). They quoted me about $73, but when I got their email that they processed it it only said $60 so I looked at it and they were claiming that one of the books I sent (that was almost brand new because I had ended up not taking the class it was for) had water damage and they wouldn't give me one cent. And then they said they could either keep it for free or I could have it mailed back to myself at my own expense which would cost me more than I would ever make trying to sell it. So they got a free brand new textbook to sell and cheated me out of it. Their email said 5-10 business days to get my check and it was almost two weeks before I finally got it. I will NEVER use this site again and I'm going to make sure my friends don't either. "
"I really wish I had read the reviews first! I was quoted for $92.06. This is the email they sent me as reason for no payment:
Thank you for your inquiry. We received your box, but there are no books in it. We received a hat, a pair of shorts and three neck ties. The box was taped well and doesn't look like it's been tampered with at all. I don't know if your labels got mixed up with something else you were mailing but we can't pay for books that we don't received.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions or concerns.
Thank you
Customer Service
www.textbookrecycling.com
Now, y'all know this sounds like a lie!! A freaking hat, shorts and some neck ties! Really!! "
"I have sent books that are worth at least 50 dollars, they placed false excuses to steal my books under writing on the book or water damage which is FALSE. The books were like new!
Do not send your books and warn your friends!!
Do not deal with this website!! "
"Received a price quote, mailed them the books the same day. 2 weeks later they sent an email stating 2 of the 3 books are "water damaged" and will not give any money for them. I asked for proof such as an image that the books were "water damaged" and they could not send me a picture or any proof. I asked for the books to be mailed back to me and the representative said that they were "disposed" and that "nothing" from a customer service perspective could be done. Do not use this company. They lied, scammed , and cheated me. "