The Book Depository

Would give zero or minus stars if I could. Sadly I didn’t read the other reviews which expose these guys as a scam. Book depository used to be fantastic but since they were bought out it seems that they are just there to steal data as I certainly did not get any book. I had also emailed them to cancel my order immediately after ordering and never… Read more

got a reply. Having said that no payment was taken either as far as I can tell. These guys need to be shut down.

SCAM - it says business is DISCONTINUED but they still let me order a book 6 weeks ago. Since then I have heard nothing. Despite a 14 day shipping claim. They don't charge until dispatch which seems hella dodgy... Now they just have my card details in their system. I suspect the shell of this former business has been taken over by SCAMMERS AVOID

Paid and not sent and no response to communication – Placed and order and paid. Order no dispatched and no response to email or social media communication about the order.

Amazing Service – Book arrived a week late however the service I received whilst awaiting the book was incredible! Very quick responses, they kept me up to date. Thanks Sunny and Amit. Greatly appreciate it :)

great service with free delivery – used this online book company many times. the product is shipped from london to margaret river, western australia. i've had no reason whatsoever to complain. the books arrive swiftly, packed perfectly (eg no tonnes of plastic like other companies) and the price is fair. not many companies get this type of review from me!

Mostly Reliable, But Compare Prices Carefully – Book Depository is fantastic and generally very reliable with deliveries, but pricing is something else! I just checked the prices on two Claudia Fleming cookbooks and they were way above Booktopia prices (Au$14 and Au$11 more) This is only one example - during the last few years some of the BD prices have been extraordinarily high, to the point… Read more

where they were laughable! It almost seems that they don't want you to buy. Some prices seem to be chosen quite randomly. If you see something you want, make sure they show the RRP, and if it's not there, don't buy.

Used to Be The Best eBookstore, now the Worst (edit: and soon to be shut down) – I have bought close to a hundred books over the years at tremendous prices with fantastic discounts, then... COVID hit. Post 2020, the prices are the highest online, even higher than my local bookstore. There are few discounts, and small when they are. I don't get notified of price drops (even though I have that checked), and they rarely drop… Read more

anyway. Going from a prolific buyer to never buying now, all I can say is R.I.P.

EDIT: And R.I.P. it is now going to be closing, 26th April. I can't help but think they bought into the false economics that many businesses buy into when times are tough – raise the prices and don't offer discount deals. Beast way to drive down sales. The old adage, you have to spend money to make it, suits this best. Had they just stayed with their excellent pricing, unrivalled customer service and frequent discounts which the made the store number 1 in my book, I'm sure the book, even in these hard times of bloated inflation, they would have survived. What a shame.

Going downhill quickly – This used to be excellent but I have stopped ordering from it Books either arrive very late or do not arrive at all Mediocre customer service that will put up all sorts of roadblocks to offering real help I gather it's owned by Amazon which probably explains a lot

The customer service is very poor – I ordered a book that never arrived they sent it to unit 6 not unit 16 so is my problem. They now want to wait approximately 10 weeks for the book to be returned to them. The Post Office would have been able to deliver a trackable package so I ask you is it worth doing business with a company owned by Amazon that has a customer service that has… Read more

no interest in providing service when things go wrong. The least I would have expected is another book sent out to me. It would appear my money is good but not my future business. Shame on Book Depository

Not the store it used to be – Very hard to contact when there's an issue with your order, and their customer service does not even entertain that the fault might be their end. If they charge you for an item you didn't order & send you said item, it completely falls on you to return the item & wear the cost of return postage. I don't even know at this point if I'm getting a… Read more

refund from them, even though I have returned the item ($129 + $10 p&h) I was charged for and didn't order. Customer service seems unable to grasp the simple concept that I didn't order the item and sent me an irrelevant and unhelpful email reply saying their 'payment team' had looked into the bank statements I'd provided and the charge discrepancy was due to foreign currency exchange. I have no idea what they're talking about. Have provided no bank statements, the price was in AUD so no foreign currency exchange, and the amount I was over charged EXACTLY matches the price of the item they sent me that I didn't order. I won't be sending my $$ to The Book Depository ever again.

The packaging failed the test – My package arrived here in Alberta Canada with only 1 book of the two I ordered. I didn’t try to get a refund or replacement, however, I relayed my concern with their faulty packaging and Canada Post put the single book into a thick plastic bag to deliver the shrapnel to my address. Show details

Misunderstanding Completely Resolved – My family and I have always held The Book Depository in very high regard. One daughter lives in the UK and we've always been impressed by the extensive range of books they seem to warehouse in various countries enabling the speedy and nearby dispatch of orders plus minimal, if not free, delivery costs. Hence, I was dismayed over, what I… Read more

perceived as an ambiguity in the wording of a recent Book Depository Discount offer. The good news was that by both parties treating each other respectfully, clearly explaining their differing points of view and Book Depository going out of its way to resolve the issue my family and I can only recommend and hold Book Depository in even higher regard.

Can people actually do this? – I pre-ordered my book in march this this year, now that they decided to price it up by nearly double because the book cause the series is popular, they decided that I haven't paid enough and refunded my order. I still have a few more books like that. I exclusively buy from there now I have to find a new place

Order took waaaay beyond the suggested time to arrive; am still waiting and haven't gotten a response to my email – Their website says that, for an order to arrive to Aus before Christmas, it would have to be placed by 7 December. I ordered on 5 November and haven't had any tracking update for weeks, not did I get a response to the email I sent.

Christmas RUINED! DONT USE THEM – Ordered on Nov 30th apparently cut off for orders to Canada cut off date was 8th Dec. So I got in plenty of time right ....? NO ! My first order a calendar due to go to my cousin has just been cancelled ! Money refunded. Now I have no chance to send anything else because from Australia it just wont get there for Christmas. Then my cousins Grand… Read more

kids all had gifts from me (3 in total) AGAIN order put in on 30th Nov apparently they will arrive between the 30th Dec and 8th Jan NOT CHRISTMAS !!!! They could at least have offered an alternative calendar so she got SOMETHING or given me the option of buying something else. No just an email they returned my money thats it! I would NEVER EVER use this site again its not worth the upset ...yes I was crying because I had put myself under pressure to order quickly and was excited at the kids getting a gift from us. DO NOT USE THEM JUST DONT. Its not worth the fact they dont keep to thier end of the bargain and items are cancelled without option and will arrive late despite giving cut off dates.

Great at cancelling preorders then doubling the price – Several times I have made preorders months and months in advance for a really decent price only to get an email saying your item has been released followed by your order has been refunded. They say that the supplier they chose has been unable to supply the book, yet they manage to put it up the same day for double the price. Upon questioning they… Read more

claim it was priced to cheaply and following their terms and conditions they don’t have to honour it. You may as well order from your local store as it will be the same price in the end.

Unfair policies and bad customer service – Book depository is good in theory. However, it relies on suppliers to get it's books delivered. It's basically just a midway point to the customer. The issue with this is that if a supplier fails to pull their weight, Book Depositry will cancel the order without even notifying the customer. Then when they source the book from somewhere else it can… Read more

be twice as expensive. They'll refund you, but there's no accommodation made for your lost product or the massive change in price. ALSO they are regularly more expensive than retail price, you are better off just going to a local book store.

What a waste of time and money! – This company takes your money, says that it posted your order, but never delivers. Also not interested in answering your queries. Thank goodness for PayPal support. Keep well clearcof this company, unless you're prepared to lose money.

Inefficient and uncaring – Constant long shipping times (in their defence I’m used to that, I live in Aotearoa). Progressively worse (again- probably no their fault with global shipping how it is!). My last two orders were lost and the customer service I received was not really enough when I’d spent hundreds of dollars. Felt very brushed off and they ended up refunding me… Read more

even though I’d stated clearly more than once that I would prefer the books to be resent. At this stage there really is nothing I can do. I will do what I should have done initially and shop local instead.

Thank you! – I have purchased many times from The Book Depository. I have been happy with each purchase. Review: Excellent, perfect, beautiful - product, service & delivery. Thank you!

Does not care about their customers – I have bought through book dep for years, my last 2 orders that were placed within 4 weeks of eachother were approx. $600 combined. The second order i had added the wrong address. I emailed minutes after placing the order and was told specifically it was fine, the address has been updated and if a shipping acknoledgement had the first adress, it… Read more

still would ship to the right address. Surprise surpise. They sent 3 books to the wrong address and 7 from the same order to the correct updated order. Those 3 were the only ones that hsd the incorrect address on their shipling notices. When i contacted them i was told they hadnt changed it and (essentially sucked to be me) id have to wait and see if the books were sent back to them in 4-8 weeks. I opened up a paypal dispute as thats wrong - the address was updated minutes after the order was placed and i was told it was fine, and some books made it. They finally agreed to a refund within 3 days. Then i was told i had to close the paypal dispute. Then once i closed it i was told 1-4 weeks for a refund.

I was very loyal and they do noy give a f*** I will nevrr purchase again and i urge you not to do the same. Terrible customer service.

Reliable online bookshop – I have ordered numerous books from this bookstore and I have always been pleased at the speed of the books arrival. They have a huge selection of books on offer and it's free delivery. I won't order books off anyone else.

Unreliable and misleading – I've purchased three times from them and the first two have been fine. But the third book it was stuck on "processing" for more than a week. So I cancelled my order and got refunded. Apparently they couldn't find the actual book. Why advertise it if you don't have it?? It said it was in stock. Free postage is the only reason why I used it but they don't provide tracking to some countries. Not to Australia anyway.

Reliable supplier of wide range of books – I have ordered many books from this company over a number of years, and have never had a problem. It's easy to order, it's easy to find out order status and books arrive in reasonable time with no problems. They have enormous stock and prices are ok. Recommended. Solid.