<p>We had a TERRIBLE experience with Valore Books (an online discount book/text book site) and wanted to pass along the information so that folks an make informed decision before dealing with this company.</p>
<p>We were trying to save some money on textbooks for the Spring semester. After researching the books & prices we ordered from a few different sources - Amazon, school bookstore and Valore. School does not start for my child until Monday. The Amazon order has arrived. The school bookstore order is waiting. Thank goodness we only ordered three books from Valore.</p>
<p>The problems:
ever since ordering from them I have received, at least daily if not more, all sorts of emails from them about various things other than the order.
they deal with third party sellers so they do not control the inventory. Apparently all three of the third party sellers ran out of these three obscure books all at the same time! I am not buying it but…whatever!
-while I am getting all sorts of emails from Valore for a week I do not receive a single email or phone call letting us know that the order has been cancelled or that there is any type of problem with the order. I come upon this when checking on my order to get a status since I am so pleased that the Amazon order has already arrived etc…
-it is difficult to find a contact phone number to call the company. I finally found the customer service number (888-387-3705). It was then difficult to get through to them without getting a busy signal. When I finally did get through it was to leave a message.
Oh but you can “tweet” the CEO (I did).</p>
<p>Anyway - sorry this is a venting email as well as a warning to all. Thanks for “listening” and beware of Valore Books!</p>
<p>I recently sold books to this company. They decided to only pay half of what was quoted and not tell me. After having issues getting into my account I finally noticed the quote change. I found a 800 number and they just told me that they didn’t know why it was changed. I emailed them dozens of times, and told them that if I do not get my original quote of $70 I want my books back, I just got a check in the mail for $36. I called the number you had posted and got threw to a customer service rep right away, I told them that I was reporting them to the BBB as a scam if they did not fix this. I am waiting for a manager and if I do not hear from one today I will be calling back again.</p>
<p>Right now trying to deal with them. Couldn’t find a phone #. Thanks for that.</p>
<p>D returned a rented math book at end of rental period in December and a full month later they charged my credit card $175, sent me a form e-mail saying book was damaged or incorrect book and refused to accept it. Have e-mailed them repeatedly the past 10 days with no response. Have not received book back, am sure it is in perfect condition. About ready to dispute charge with my credit card company.</p>
<p>Had a similar experience with discounter Alibris Books, another one of these “marketplace” hosts, not actually a seller.</p>
<p>When my problem first arose they directed me to the seller. Mysteriously, the seller’s contact information had been shut down or otherwise made unavailable. Alibris then sent directions to return the book and file for a refund. More than a month after I returned the book by certified mail, Alibris and the seller stated that they never received the book and therefore denied my request. Time for a letter to the State Attorney General. And my credit card company has reversed the charges.</p>
<p>Lesson learned. Try to patronize textbook sellers that have a thorough track record of service.</p>
<p>And this is exactly why D buys and sells all her textbooks through Amazon, using Prime with free shipping. One obscure book was purchased through an authorized seller on Amazon but we at least know that Amazon will back us if there is a problem.</p>
<p>Just to throw out another one - we had a problem with Abe Books. Same thing - it’s a third party who is out of their control. They cancelled my order without telling me, and even though the book had been ordered weeks in advance, I ended up having to pay top dollar to another seller plus expedited shipping. I’ve had good experiences with Abe (as well as Alibris), but one screwup can wipe out all the other savings, because they don’t stand behind their product and their promises. I’ve decided that life is too short and I’ll pay a couple dollars extra and use Amazon.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the heads up. There was a thread the other day asking why anyone would buy books from the campus bookstore, this is evidence of one of the reasons. I too stick with amazon or the college bookstore.</p>
<p>Sorghum, that wasn’t my first purchase with Alibris and up until the problem occurred, I was quite happy with their service. What’s irritating is what companies do, or don’t do, when a problem arises Alibris’s customer service could have been better. This should imperative for a business that has a lot of competition.</p>
<p>Also, let me put in a good word for AbeBooks. Used them twice this semester just past.</p>
<p>Our son, a compsci/cogsci major never spent more that $100 per semester for book. He bought them on-line(usually from Amazon). But the big savings was buying earlier editions, sometimes for less than $10. His cogsci classes often assigned regular non-fiction books by philosophers/psychologists rather than text books. If the college library had the book he borrowed that one prior to the reading assignment. He did this a handfull of times.</p>
<p>Not to hijack this thread but yes, there are some great alternatives to the college bookstore and I’ve used Alibris, AbeBooks and Textbook.com, usually with good results and at times much cheaper than Amazon. But Amazon’s advantage is their rock-solid customer support.</p>
<p>I have used most of the mentioned third parties. However, I’ve only used Valore for textbook buyback. I found that on two occasions they were the only reseller purchasing a particular text. (well, not quite true Amazon had a buy back price through another third party in the .01 range). I looked up the Valore reviews and knew the risks. However, since these books were worth nothing to anyone else, really the only risk was a waste of a packing box. Valore does not issue credit, they send a check…a bit old fashioned and time consuming. </p>
<p>I checked their website for order status after several weeks and it still showed as ‘not received’. I emailed them and they responded within one day. One week later I had the checks. So, it did work out. Given my experience, I’d use them again as a last resort, but not for anything that was critical path.</p>
<p>I have used Valore several times and never had a problem with them. I use bigwords.com to see who will give me the best price for my used books. I have them send my money to a paypal account and they have always been on time and on price. </p>
<p>I did have trouble with AbeBooks this last month- they canceled my order so I had to order through someone else- Albiris- which took forever. </p>
<p>Thought I’d follow up. After 10 days of not being able to get through to Valorebooks on phone and at least 4 emails with no response, I got fed up and sent a somewhat curt email saying either they are trying to cheat me or the book was damaged in transit in which case I need it back so I can take it up with shipper and I am frustrated by the lack of response so if I don’t hear from them in 24 hours I am contesting charge with credit card company. The next day I received a short cryptic email that made a vague reference to refunds taking 2-5 days. I replied asking are they refunding the money. They replied that yes, the $175 is being credited back to me. And it was. But I never received any sort of explanation for what happened or apology. Kind of baffled, but glad to recover the money.</p>
<p>I usually trade in my books to Amazon; however, I was tempted to send in my book for a higher quote here. I understand the policies; however, they are very vague in their Q&A. They did not define the book condition requirement, rejection only refers to different ISBN/material.
My book is consider good condition with high amount of highlighting and bent corners. It was “REJECTED”, $0. They should at least give me a partial of the quoted amount! I contacted them to return the book with a prepaid shipping label from me. THEY REFUSED!!! I
NEVER AGAIN!!!
BTW, THEY DO NOT HAVE A PHONE CONTACT NUMBER (RED FLAG)!</p>