AbeBooks Reviews 

Terrible customer service. They title their agents ‘heroes’. That is a joke. They are useless. I have been trying to follow up a refund they issued 10 days ago. Every time I contact them I get the same message back from a different ‘hero’ which repeats that the refund has been issued. No attempt to read and correlate previous correspondence. Some of them don’t understand the issue at all and tell me the item was delivered. It is truly pathetic. I still have no refund.

I ordered 'BRM Racing for Britain' via Abe books. There was some conflicting information on the order confirmation which I questioned with Abe. The issue raised was settled very quickly, courteously and effectively by the supplier (Widney Manor Books in Solihull, UK). The book arrived promptly and was well packed.
I was very disappointed when I opened the packaging. The book was, as stated, new but it had been a bit beaten about. The original protective cellophane covering was partly missing and/or torn and there was a scratch through the cellophane into the dust cover. One corner had been damaged with the hard cover bent.
This was an expensive, limited edition book which I expected to be in pristine condition but which looks as if it has not been stored with due care. It is a present for a dear friend on a special birthday in two days time. I have neither the time nor inclination to press for a refund and try to find a copy in better condition.

I ordered a GCSE English textbook, and the listing clearly showed the 4th edition. Instead, I was sent a version that was 9 years out of date. When I reached out to return it, AbeBooks said they’d send the correct one.

The replacement? Still the wrong edition—this time the 2nd edition. Not what I paid for. When I pushed for a refund, they told me to contact the *individual seller* who shipped it. Excuse me? I bought this through **AbeBooks**—they should take responsibility.

To this day, I haven’t gotten a refund, and I’m left empty-handed. For a company that seems legit, this experience was shockingly unprofessional.

Don’t waste your time or money. If you need the right book for your exams, go somewhere you can trust.

I was sent the wrong book. Have been advised I have to organise and pay to return the item to be eligible for a refund and only a partial postage reimbursement. Terrible customer service, putting the onus on me to fix their mistake. Taking AbeBooks off my list of businesses to buy off.
UPDATE: Upgraded rating from one star as I've now been advised I will receive a full refund.

The book never arrived and although I have contacted the seller and Abe books I have had no recent response. They did say it had been delivered and would check for me but nothing has happened. I have also asked for a refund but this hasn't been honoured. I will not use them again.

I ordered a signed 1st edition of Identity Unknown by Patricia Cornwell in December 2025. The book was to be supplied by Mostly Signed Books in LA and shipped to me in London.
Despite extensive e-mails to AbeBooks, my book has still not arrived.
I have ordered many books from AbeBooks over the years, but due to the extremely poor service/support on this occasion, I will not be ordering from them again. The support has been truly appaling.
My book last appears to have been heard of as "being out for delivery" in New Zealand !!!! The book was coming from LA and I live in London !!!! WTF !!!!!
Steer well clear of both AbeBooks and MostlySignedBooks - they simply don't care about their customers.

Sent a filled in old crossword book instead of my order, asked for a refund for a week and was totally ignored, deleted my account and will never use again

I was looking for a book, it was an old out of print edition and could not find it anywhere. I found a seller on abebooks and they said they printed the one I was looking. I ordered it and was given 2 month estimated date of delivery. I thought that was strange but whatever, must take a while to print or something. 2 months passed, no delivery. Contacted seller no response, contact abebook they replied with seller is not responding to them and as the sale was through PayPal they can not refund. So be careful of sellers on Abebooks. I wouldn't use the site at all. They should really have a system in place to stop this happening.

I wish I had checked Trust pilot before buying off Abe Books.
Ordered a book “A Shepherds Heart”. It was VERY pricey. It arrived and is tiny, 89 pgs, fir the crazy price!!
BUT thats not the worst. Its FULL OF ERRORS. Names, places and dates/years that are WRONG.
How is that acceptable ?
Avoid them

Still waiting for book. Customer service have not gotten back to me and tracking number not working

I have ordered a book on 16/01 and still haven’t received it as of today, 23/02.
I have tried to reach the customer services couple of weeks ago but no response yet. Neither did I receive any book nor any refund was provided. Very poor service/ communication.

Arrived on time
Well packaged... Book as described
Very satisfied JG

Book delivered not book ordered. No replies to emails. Terrible company. To be avoided

I ordered a book that had a delivery time of 1-3 working days. It arrived in about 8 working days and only after I contacted Abe about the matter. The tracking reference number given with the item did not work either.
I have had lengthy email correspondence with Abe and been promised a postage refund (within 48 hours) - that was eight days ago.
I remain still waiting but will order nothing from Abe ever again.
Very poor customer service. Very sad.

I bought a 2nd hand book described as "in very good condition"....and ... "This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far". It was an ex library book, lent multiple times. The pages were dirty, as was the cover. There were pencil and ink notes on some pages, sections highlighted, and even a few phrases crossed out. There were some old post it notes stuck inside the book. I returned it, and will not buy from this company again.

Ordered a book last year that was never delivered. Asked for refund and now being asked to return book. No proper line of communication, no proper responses. Amazon apparently tried delivery (while avoiding the camera on the buzzer) and now being told that Yodel have confirmed it was delivered. No complaints process available to buyers either.

Book described as 'Good Condition' arrived actually in pieces and very very badly worn - this wasn't damage in transit. It was also a different edition to the one listed. I returned the book according to their instructions and they have been impossible to get a refund out of. When you chase, they just keep asking the same stalling questions, round and round. The only possible conclusion is that they are actually deliberately dishonest.

Charges postage for each book then sends with combined postage.

Very slow (~3 weeks) to process refund and only once I prompted by entering tracking info on their site.

Excellent. I ordered my book 18th January, it arrived 22nd January. They used Amazon for delivery. It didn’t turn up until nearly 9pm but not the end of the world.