Here is an e-mail exchange that occurred between the Amazon seller Awesome Books USA and me. I am putting them in chronological order. I am also including my original feedback for the seller (since it is important to the story). I have removed all names of people involved.
July 14th, 2010, 6:28pm PST (message sent to seller via Amazon):
I ordered 'The Politics of Field Research: Sociology Beyond Enlightenment' from you a few days ago. The book that was shipped and received was '100 Great Ways to Use Rubber Stamps.' I am writing to find out what we need to do to get this book back to you, and if it is still possible to get the book I ordered.
Thanks.
July 14th, 2010, 11:49pm PST:
Dear D-,
Thanks for your email.
prior to look the matter further we would be grateful if you could send us the ISBN, publisher name including title of the item you have received in error so we can look in to the matter straight away.
PLEASE keep this reply in any email you send to us.
Warmest Regards,
A-
Customer Satisfaction
AwesomeBooks
the same books at cheaper prices, with cheaper shipping.
We pass on the savings to you
July 15th, 2010, 8:23am PST:
As I said in my first e-mail, the title of the book you sent me was 100 Great Ways to Use Rubber Stamps. It is published by David & Charles, and the ISBN is 978-0715324585.
The book I ordered was The Politics of Field Research: Sociology Beyond Enlightenment, published by Sage Publications, Ltd; ISBN 978-0803982260.
-D
July 16th, 2010, 12:51am PST:
Dear D-,
Thanks for your recent order from AwesomeBooks.
Please accept our apologies for the recent mix up with your order. We have looked into the matter and are sorry to report that we do not have your original order in stock. We apologise for the obvious inconvenience this has caused and are keen to make amends in the best way we can.
You have been fully refunded for the cost of the book (inc. P& P) and we would like to give you a $1 voucher off any future purchase from Awesome Books. Simply present this email after any future order you may make.
As a small gesture of goodwill from our side, please keep the book rather than returning it to us.
Please do not hesitate to contact us in case of any further questions.
Our apologies once again.
Warmest Regards,
R-
AwesomeBooks Cus tomer Service
[e-mail address removed]
the same books at cheaper prices, with cheaper shipping.
We pass on the savings to you
(Note: Sometime on the morning of July 16th, 2010, I rated the transaction and left feedback. It is included in the e-mail below, which I received from Awesome Books USA.)
July 16th, 2010 11:13pm PST:
Dear D-,
Thanks for your recent purchase from AwesomeBooks.
Periodi cally we go through our feedback to ensure our cus tomers are satisfied and to contact any cus tomers who have been disappointed with our service. On your feedback below, you have given us positive comments but a negative rating which discourages others from purchasing from us.
2 Seller shipped the wrong book (not even close to my order). While they were quick to financially rectify the situation (full refund, $1 off voucher, and keep the shipped book), they no longer have the book I ordered. I'm frustrated that I have to go shopping again for an out-of-print book. I will not buy from them again. The $1 coupon is insulting. And I have no use for the book that was shipped.
103-7430120-8186616 D-
We are sorry to hear that you received the wrong book. You have been fully refunded for the cost of the book (inc. P& P) since we did not have a replacement copy. This is our standard policy regarding item mix-ups and we usually act on this whenever cus tomers tell us the wrong item arrived.
If we have left you dissatisfied in any way we would encourage you to let us know so we can rectify the situation. Otherwise, would you be kind enough to revise your feedback so that it does not have the negative effect it currently does? This is of course your decision, we realise the feedback system can sometimes cause confusion.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Warmest Regards,
R-
AwesomeBooks Cus tomer Service
[e-mail address removed]
the same books at cheaper prices, with cheaper shipping.
We pass on the savings to you
July 17, 2010, 9:35am PST:
R-,
I will not be revising my feedback, but I am happy to explain why.
First, I am very dissatisfied with my shopping experience with Awesome Books USA. Receiving the wrong book is understandable - mistakes can happen. But I was incredibly disappointed to learn that you no longer had the book I ordered. I was also confused as to why it would not be in stock still. There seems, to me, to be 3 possible explanations: 1. You did not have the book to begin with; 2. You had the book, but sold it to someone else either before or after you shipped me the wrong book; or 3. You shipped my book to someone who had ordered the (wrong) book you sent me. The first two explanations represent rather duplicitous behavior; the third is an example of corner-cutting. You have allowed me to keep a book I did not order or want, framing this as a gift and partial apology when it is really a thinly veiled effort on the part of Awesome Books to save some money on shipping and handling. If you did have the book I wanted at some point, and did not sell it to someone else, then you mistakenly shipped it - perhaps to the person who wanted the book I received. It is safe to assume that your practice of "keep the book we wrongly shipped" was not exceptional to me, which means the book I want is sitting with someone else.
If you were really concerned about the situation and offering me a good shopping experience, you would have made an effort to figure out where my book was, retrieve it, and taken the wrong book off my hands. Instead you saved a few dollars in shipping charges.
You say that you "periodically" go through your feedback - I find it an odd (and unbelievable) coincidence that such a periodic check occurred less than a day after I left my review. Perhaps you should put as much attention into serving your buyers as you do in scrutinizing their comments. I suspect you would need to spend less time "periodically" reading feedback - your ratings and buyer feedback would be high.
Also, I resent your efforts to prompt me to give you a better rating. Any positive comments in my review are the reasons I did not give you 1 star. If Amazon made it ease to revise my rating and feedback, I would give you 1 star for trying to hustle me for more stars. The fact that you are more concerned about your rating than taking my order seriously is more insulting that offering me a $1 voucher and a book I don't want as compensation for my inconvenience.
-D
20 comments:
Wow, I wish I read this before ordering my book from awesomebooksusa. Thank you for posting this.
I ordered from them too, through Barnes and Noble. B and N is giving me a complete run around, Awesome Books won't respond. I've spent over an hour on the phone with B and N trying to find a book that has never arrived. No one seems to even have the ability to refund my money. Won't order from either one of them again. Don't Waste Your Time!
WOW - I really wish I had read this 2 weeks ago... I, too, ordered a book from this seller through bn.com. It supposedly shipped over a week ago (from 3 counties over from where I live, btw) and it still has not arrived. I thought I would google the seller to see if I could find anything out. Unfortunately, I am now very concerned that my book will never come. Just for the record, if they don't respond or fix it in the next few days - I won't wait for a refund, I'll contact my credit card company directly and dispute the charge. Let them deal with getting paid... Thanks for the info, I just wish I had checked them out before I bought.
Awesome Books is apparently a drop shipper--i.e., they order the book you want from another dealer, who then ships it directly to you. I ordered a book they listed as a hardcover but, in due time, received a paperback printed in and shipped from India. Awesome Books apologized profusely and, once I returned the book to their US address, refunded all costs ( also had to send them a copy of my postal receipt). But given the time and trouble this has meant for me, I will not order from them again. Neither they nor "their" books are awesome.
My bugaboo with them (and others may not have an issue with it) is that the book I received shipped from the UK. I live in NJ and chose to buy from them because they indicated pretty much everywhere that they're located in and ship from NY --- so naturally I think it should take no time arriving. 23 days later....my book arrives....from the UK. I just don't understand how they can do that. Yes, book was cheap, book was as described, but for people like me who need to get their book quickly, awesomebooksUSA is not even USA based.
I ordered a book from them through amazon 21 days ago. 18 days ago I got the email that it was shipped. Still no book. It doesn't seem possible that anything shipped within the US would take almost 3 weeks to get anywhere. I can't wait to be given the opportunity to review. I also hope that they hustle me for a higher rating so that I may insult them in a way that would make their mothers cry. I wasn't all that upset about waiting until I asked google where awesomebooksusa is located just now and a link to this thread was at the top. Now, after reading that this situation seems to be standard I am rather pissed.
oh c…p…well I guess I needn't count on getting the out of print book I ordered from them in time for xmas, despite it supposedly having shipped more than a week ago. I too assumed that someplace listed as being in NY would get to MD in plenty of time….
I have just received a refund for a book I had ordered. They claimed the USPS had returned it to them. They are not answering my emails---like you, I really wanted the book I ordered & have been waiting for it. The postmistress says she did not return it. I checked the address I left on the paypal & it is correct. They should have contacted me before refunding. I found on the paypal refund at the very bottom, "note: item missing." I think they realized they could charge quite a bit more for the book & made up a BS excuse for not shipping it to me in the first place. I have contacted them with every email address I can find for them telling them "do not put this book back into stock. I am anxiously awaiting it." I am about to leave them negative feedback.
I recently bought on Ebay what was purported to be a set of 13 books at a fabulous price, so good that I ordered a set for a friend. What came was one remaindered copy of an early book by the write, at a price that would be at least 4000% above what that book sells for on Ebay. Totally bogus, with no response to emails
Wish I had seen this posting before my most recent attempted purchase. Important points for future readers: (1) Awesomebooksusa is not based in the US. They are based in the UK. This is verified in emails they send in response to your complaints that include British spellings ("apologise") and phrases ("lost in the post"). (2) Any reseller that goes to such lengths to hide their true location and actual shipping costs and times cannot be trusted AT ALL.
Add me to the list, I emailed them re a book that was supposedly en route, I was enquiring why there was a 3 week transit and it still wasn't due for 2 weeks, I got this back. (Order: 115-3029960-9660213)
Given all our items are dispatched the morning after they are ordered and it has been over 10 days since your order was posted we can only conclude that the order has been lost in transit.
I am sorry to say that we do not have a replacement copy; as a consequence, we have refunded you in full.
We would like to apologise for any disappointment - the vagaries of the postal system do cause such unfortunate circumstances and we are chasing up with our postal carrier to prevent future occurrences.
Warmest Regards
Amy
AwesomeBooks Customer Service
I'm sending this entire list to Amazon customer service and I suggest you all should do the same.
i got battlefield 2 complete collection for 0.39 cents and it arrived in good condition and it arrived earlier than expected
They were rated 93% positive when I was looking for a purchase. Of course nobody was rated less than 90%. I guess I'll stick with the 98-99 crowd.
Bought a book. Was told it shipped. Next day got a note that they didn't have it after all, and they returned my money. Guess it happens more often than they'd like.
Similar story here. Bought a book on Amazon. It did not arrive. Wrote to awesomebooksusa, who totally ignored the matter. Crooks. Avoid at all cost
They not only gave you a full refund but allowed you to keep what they mistakenly sent rather than have you deal with returning it, and you nonetheless give them a negative rating? I felt uneasy about even being allowed to keep a DVD that I was sent having placed an order that I thought was for a book due to the item being listed in the book category with terminology having been used in the description which applies exclusively to books.
I ordered a game from them on Amazon, and they sent me a UK version which on xbox 360 will not work here in the US. The description said that the game was here in the US. I will no longer buy from them as they have not contacted me back about a refund. I am rightfully mad and upset.
I was getting ready to order a book from them. Not now. Thanks for everyone’s feedback.
Wish I had read this before I ordered from them. It says my book shipped on May 9 but is not due to arrive until June 9 and there is no tracking information to see where it is.
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