A1Books Don't Waste Time With This Book Seller Netcong, New Jersey Internet

I am very disappointed with the service I received regarding an order I made at barnesandnoble.com with their authorized seller, A1Books.

On Friday, December 19, I received an email from barnesandnoble.com saying that, "The Authorized Seller fulfilling your used book order has confirmed the shipping date for the item listed below." A1Books was "The Authorized Seller". The item I tried to buy was new not used.

On Saturday, December 20, I received an email from A1Books, saying that the order had not even been processed. Later on Saturday, December 20, I called barnesandnoble.com customer service to inquire about the aforementioned emails. The representative the representative continually claimed that the book had been shipped. She then gave the infamous excuse that there is a problem with our system updating, and she did not have the email to which I was referring. Huh?

In order to provide poor customer service, the email address for A1Books, bnb@a1books.com, that barnesandnoble.com included in their email to me was incorrect. The email I sent to A1Books using that email address was returned to me with the following message: "You are receiving this message because you attempted to contact us by sending an email to an address that cannot process incoming email. For solutions to all your customer service queries, please get in touch with us through our Help Desk at: http://support.a1books.com."

On December 23, I checked the order status on the support page at the A1Books website and it said, "Regrettably, the item you ordered sold out and our expected reorder has been delayed. Your order should be dispatched in approximately 2 to 3 business days and you should receive it within 4 to 14 business days". Of course, my credit card was charged the day I made the purchase on December 18.

There is way too much bad information and miscommunication from both, barnesandnoble.com and their authorized seller, A1Books.

As of January 1, 2009, A1Books continues to sell the particular item that I tried to purchase even though they do not have it in stock nor do they know when the item will arrive. Of course, the particular item that I wanted is now at a higher price. There are several listings for the same item I tried to buy. One listing shows that shipping will be delayed, but two other listings for the same item don't mention that the item isn't in stock. FYI, they refer to an item not being in stock as "shipping delayed" because of the holidays.

Unlike Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com forces you to first sign up and then sign in in order to view feedback left for their authorized sellers. I wasn't able to leave feedback in my case because the order was never shipped.

There is also a copy of this experience under the heading barnesandnoble.com.

This is not the worse thing that could happen, but why try to do business with second rate companies that will cause confusion and problems.

Dillan
Cleveland, Ohio
U.S.A.