"Beware of doing business with this company. I had a book sent to my mother who lives in an apt. building. The post office listed the package as refused. My mother said that a package was never delivered to her. Obviously, the package was delivered to the wrong apartment because it was given back to the postal worker. The post office then returned the item to the sender. The sender says they haven't received the return (6 weeks after postal return). I explained the situation and asked for a refund several times from Alibris. All I get is the run around. I finally just disputed the charge with my credit card company. I will not be doing any business with this company again"

"Hi.

I ordered a grammar book last Sunday and it arrived 6 days later. The book was a former library book so it was very cheap but in excellent condition.

Excellent service. I did ensure that I used a highly rated seller. "

"I agree with everyone that has written a negative review. As a first time customer, I asked for a coupon and was told a coupon would be applied to my order, but not how much it would be.

When I replied that I would only buy the book when I knew the amount I was paying for it. Didn't hear from the agent I had been working with. Someone else emailed me and took back the offer.

Not honoring the offer of a coupon has caused me to view this company as dishonest and lacking integrity.

I will not bother with them again."

"This is specifically for the seller on Alibris called Powell's Books, in Portland OR. Their rating on both Alibris and Abebooks is the highest possible, and they offer antiquarian items, so I thought I'd be safe ordering from them, even though the book was not expensive. I ordered on Sept. 26 (Monday) and received the SOP email from Alibris informing me the book was shipped (got email same day as I placed order). 2 days later got another email with a tracking number. Clicked on tracking number and USPS came up stating they couldn't find it; recheck tracking number or try again later. This happens from time to time, so I waited. By the end of the week when USPS was still saying the same, I thought maybe the tracking number was an error, so I sent Powell's an email (Alibris allows buyers to contact seller), asking about tracking number. After several days of no response AND the PO showing same message, I got concerned and suspicious. Started running tracking number on other carrier's websites. Struck gold with UPS Mail Innovations. Showed shipment being tendered to them on Wednesday 28th (2 days after I placed order) in Portland OR. Then showed package received for processing in Auburn WA same day. On Thursday the 29th the package was processed by UPS MI and transferred to destination MI Facility, all in Auburn WA. And that's all the information that was available for several days, until Tuesday October 4. Then the data showed the package was received by destination MI Facility in Windsor CT; ready for PO entry in Windsor CT; package enroute to USPS for induction in Windsor CT, and at 2:07 PM same day shipment info received by PO Albany NY. Then it said that on the same day, the package was transferred to Albany PO. I of course then ran the tracking number on the USPS website; it showed that on October 4th, Pre-shipment info sent to USPS, USPS awaiting item. That's when I saw it had been classified Bound Printed Matter by PO. I paid $3.99 shipping which is standard for Alibris and almost always results in items going 1st Class Mail (the exceptions are for companies I've given other negative reviews here and at Alibris). Every time I get items going thru Albany (I live in Upper NY State) that are classified 1st Class Mail, the items get to my PO from Albany in about 7 hours; usually they leave late one night and arrive next morning in time to be sorted and out to my house. This time, since the package was not classified 1st Class, no delivery was made to our PO until October 11th; I got the book that afternoon, resulting in 15 days from ordering to getting (no I'm not counting Columbus Day, the PO celebrates that day). I've gotten books from Europe in less time. I never did hear back from Powell's concerning the tracking number, and I can only guess they didn't want to admit they'd used a cheaper carrier when I paid the cost of 1st Class mail. While I waited for more info and my book, I had time to check other feedbacks on Alibris concerning Powell's. They assuredly are a large dealer (I saw available feedbacks for thousands of items) who have been selling even before the internet was born. But I saw that amid the 1000s of feedbacks at least 200 negative ones. People have gotten books in bad shape, bad packaging, slow shipments, and wrong items altogether! I saw quite a few feedbacks saying they never got their book, despite their credit cards being charged with alacrity. At the same time that I placed this order, I ordered from 2 other dealers thru Alibris. One shipped 1st Class day after I placed order and I got book on Saturday October 1st. That's 6 days from Louisiana to upper NY State, (outstanding) and the amount I paid was actually less than what I paid Powell's. I left as bad a review as space allowed at Alibris, & will probably get one of their canned responses about how they eliminate bad dealers every day (not 1 that I've badly reviewed has ever been eliminated), and how sorry they are this happened to me. The worst thing is that I buy quite often antiquarian books (go to bookfairs several times a year) and was using this order to test Powell's with the intention of buying from their antiquarian selection. No way will I do that now. And the list of sellers I keep under the note NEVER BUY FROM AGAIN just got another seller. Probably I should quit Alibris altogether. But some of their dealers have treated me very well and I don't think they should be punished. "

"Extra fees were added to my invoice that were not originally disclosed. Customer Service is terrible. From my experience Alibris can be a scummy company."

"I was a bookseller on Alibris and cancelled my account due to their lack of customer service. I sold a book and sent it to the customer. I then received an email from Alibris that the order was cancelled and they refunded the customers money because it wasn't shipped on time. It was shipped on time, I have the post office receipt to prove it. I contacted Alibris customer service to have them address the error and not cancel the order. They told me it was my fault and if I wanted money for the book that I had to contact the customer and have her pay for the book again on Alibris.
I was so offended. Why do I pay a yearly fee to sell on Alibris if they are going to blame their errors on me and as a customer I would be upset if someone outside of the company I bought from contacted me and asked me to pay for an item again. This is not good business tactics. Horrible service. Alibri's has not contacted me in response to my second inquiry in this matter."

"Alibris is deceitful. I have used it a number of times but each time have issues with shipping costs. They claim that there is a choice of shipping at checkout, but have not seen it yet. Shipping is always marked up from what the seller would charge (and seller has no control of shipping costs) and so Alibris makes a tidy profit. If transaction is cancelled, has to be done directly through seller who may then be penalised. Have to concur with most of other negative comments."

"I have sent numerous emails, no response. I was given a tracking number that tracks nothing. I still don't have the books I ordered. They had no problem taking my $160 but actually getting the book is not happening. Now I have to buy a book from someone else and pay for expedited shipping."

"Horrible! They sent me an email one day after I placed my order that my book had been shipped and I would get it within 4-14 days. When I asked them for a tracking number, I got a rude one-liner response: "Order in process". After reading their reviews online I had little hope I would actually be receiving my book. And I was right. After waiting 2 weeks I asked them about the whereabouts of my order and they said: "We ship it within 48 hours of order via USPS First call mail. It take 4-14
days. If still not deliver then might be lost. Can we reship it or process
refund". I asked for a refund and two days later they replied with the SAME generic email again! It was only today, 3 weeks after my order was placed that I finally got the refund confirmation from them: "We process refund". That was it! No attempts at any explanation about what went wrong and completely unapologetic! I will never be doing business with them again and advise you to also STAY AWAY!"

"I received a book that I never ordered. I do not know, yet, where they charged me but I will have to change my account numbers. I do not appreciate a company selling me and charging me for something that I did not buy. This is going to be reported to LifeLock.

Jeff."

"I am very disappointed with Alibris. My husband and I are in the same class and we ordered two textbooks 2 weeks before school started. We received a confirmation email and were told that it would take 5-16 days and that we would receive another email when they shipped. Here we are, 14 days later, without any email confirmation of shipment. We looked at our bank statement and realized that we were refunded two amounts equal to what we paid for the books, but we never received any kind of notification that our order was cancelled or that our books weren't going to be shipped. We have a reading assignment from our book tonight and we do not have access to the textbook.

To make matters worse, the only "customer service" options Alibris has is email. If you call the telephone number, all you get is an automated response. I am very frustrated with Alibris' service. "

"I ordered a few times from Alibris. I had problems with their delivery times. The last order I placed, 57124118, is one month into it and still there is no word on when it will be delivered. The excuse I received is that, since it comes from a bookseller in England, delivery takes much longer. This is close to absurd in this day and age, when Amazon delivers overnight on Sundays. Another problem is that this kind of delay was not apparent in the book or seller description at the time I placed the order. It only surfaced a few days later when I inquired why my order showed as "pending" (it still does).
This is a textbook for a class, so delivery times are important. Classes already started and I still don't have the book. I had to buy it again at the college bookstore, new. I asked for a refund but haven't heard yet.
Unfortunately this is not my first bad experience with Alibris. I will never order again from this company and I don't recommend it to anyone else.

UPDATE 8/24/2015-
I emailed Alibris and they responded that they will refund my paypal payment in full. The emai came within hours and I am very appreciative of the speed of resolution. I will update customer service overall rating from 2 to 4 stars."

"Alibris charged my credit card 7 times for the same transaction, their customer service has been unresponsive. To top it off, they couldn't provide a shipping method that I requested and have done nothing to rectify the situation. This company is irresponsible and clearly unwilling to provide proper customer service. I will never buy anything from here again and I suggest that anyone use any other ecommerce site for what you're looking for besides this one. They have hurt my credit, caused interest to unnecessarily build and have been unresponsive. Just terrible."

"Just used Alibris for the first time and was quite impressed. Was looking for an out-of-print book, typed in the author name and found several available copies. The order took a few minutes to process. Received the book in less than a week. Thanks Alibris!"

"Ordered a book that was described as "Very Good". Received the book and the spine was broken and the corner was bent on a Hard Cover book.. Company issued a refund.. thank you"