Abebooks Used Bookseller - Division of Amazon Internet

I needed a textbook for a class that just started. On the first day of calls, the professor told us to get a certain book. Like most these days, it cost over a hundred dollars new in the campus bookstore. So, even he advised getting it online. Abebooks said they had several in stock, and the price was much lower. Great. So I ordered it, and I added an extra $6.99 for "priority mail" shipping. And THAT is the problem...

Abebooks has redefined "priority mail" to mean collecting their money fast and then sending the order on to a third party who will do whatever they feel like doing. When I didn't even get a tracking number in 48 hours and complained, they responded with the advice that they would pass my complaint on to the seller and if the book didn't arrive in 12 days, I could make another inquiry. So I complained again that this was unacceptable, and they replied with the same canned response.

The seller finally responded with a "tracking number" - that their shipper says is not valid. I complained AGAIN - and got the same canned response AGAIN.

Six days later - the shipper (USPS) now acknowledges the tracking number, but what it shows is that the seller has printed a label but not yet taken the book to the post office!!!  I complained again to Abebooks and got the usual canned response

I hope I get this book before the class is over!! And frankly, now that I have read the reviews, I worry about the condition of what will arrive - assuming it ever does.

IN THE MEANTIME, I have been forced to buy another book from another seller so I have something to work with. So much for "AbeBooks", one of the worse online retailers I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.

Buy from Abebooks at your peril. Remember, they are NOT the real seller, but an order taking service that couldn't care less about the honesty of their sellers.