Friday, July 30, 2010

Jitterbook: If they don't like the price, they cancel your order and relist higher

I purchased a book from Jitterbook through Alibris on July 15th. I got a good deal on it, paying less than half what it was worth.
A day later, boom, cancelled.
Well, I looked that same book up today.
It's up on their site, relisted at market price.
Bad Bookseller! Bad!

Their Amazon feedback is pretty abysmal. It's real easy to do better than the 93% they are running.
Check out this charming feedback:

1 out of 5:"on the bright side i paid fo expediated service and it did arrive on time but it was the wrong version. i had the correct ISBN number for a student edition but they sent the instructors version. I had to pay my full return shipping and did not hear from the manager after that. A promo code via email was promised but never got it. amazon came to the rescue and was awesome and there to assist "
Date: July 6, 2010     Rated by Buyer: Cindy M.

Seller Response: "A full refund was issued by JitterBook for this order. Also, a shipping credit was provided for this order. "     Date: July 27, 2010


1 out of 5:"I ordered a book and they sent me the wrong one. They blamed Amazon saying they had the wrong part number listed. They said I could return the book at my cost for a refund but it would cost me that much to mail it back. I had to contact 3 times to come to the conclusion they would not correct the situation. They still show the book I was trying to order on Amazon so they haven't corrected it."
Date: June 8, 2010     Rated by Buyer: Curt M.


There are various problems in their feedback. Some happen to every seller.. you have a book where the publisher or Amazon have a catalog error, or the like. What is consistent is that almost every buyer who left a negative feedback mentioned getting poor customer service from them.

Compare that to this guy, Amitcj:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/seller/home.html?seller=A2ZX3UCEGAR8GY
He refunds a healthy percentage of the books ordered from him
In several cases, he has pretended to send the book, going as far as generating a false USPS shipment so he can claim that he sent the book, but didn't actually send it. He actually confirms shipment on books he never sends.. but he's really, really nice about it and has lots of nice feedback on orders where he provided no product:

5 out of 5:"Through an unfortunate USPS mistake, my book was lost in shipment. Amitcj was always prompt in returning emails and helping to resolve the lost shipment. Ultimately, I was refunded my payment in full. I would recommend Amitcj based on their superb customer service. "
Date: July 26, 2010     Rated by Buyer: Mbogoscars

Jitterbook, you can give better customer service. It wouldn't kill you. A guy that actually charges people's credit cards on Amazon for books he *NEVER EVEN SENDS* has feedback 3 percentage points higher than you. The secret? Excellent customer service.
Bad Bookseller Jitterbook! Bad!

In addition to the above behavior by Jitterbook, which should stop you from ordering any books from them that you can get from anywhere else, here's another defect: they have a horrible track record with books that are sent in to their online book buying site.
The site bookscouter.com [great site, by the way, use it every day] has reviews of various online sellers.
Check out their reviews, from this page:
http://bookscouter.com/vendors/38-jitterbookcom


RatingDateComments
Rating: 2 starsRating: 2 starsRating: 2 starsRating: 2 starsRating: 2 starsFeb 2010No response after book sent in. I had to follow up with them to learn why I hadn't received any acknowledgement. They claim I sent in the wrong book; however the ISBN on book match what is on their site.
Rating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsOct 2009Sent my books and received payment for the books for the same amount i was quoted through paypal 8 days after i sent the books. i was skeptical at first when i read some negative feedbacks on this forum but decided to give them a shot afterall and i have to say i wasn't dissapointed. Will do business again.
Rating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsOct 2009Worst experience in selling my used books! I've been waiting for the payment for 6 weeks now. All my emails were ignored and their customer service seems to be non-existent. Not sure I will be paid ever.
Rating: 3 starsRating: 3 starsRating: 3 starsRating: 3 starsRating: 3 starsOct 2009Jitterbook gives the best quotes for books, some of which aren't accepted by any other vendor on Bookscouter, which I appreciate a lot. It takes a long time for them to process your books so don't expect the cash right away - usually it's 2-3 weeks until they process the book, and it takes at least a week longer to get a check in the mail. They've by and large received my books but lost three out of four that I shipped once - which is MIGHTY interesting how they "found" only one book, considering they were ALL SHIPPED IN THE SAME PACKAGE. Not the best customer service or accuracy rate, but definitely the best prices for used books.
Rating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsOct 2009I had a good experience with Jitterbook. They offered the highest quote for my book, and paid exactly what was quoted. I got my check in the mail a little over two weeks after sending the book in.
Rating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsSep 2009Very poor customer service.
I have received no reply to my phone calls or emails.
Rating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsAug 2009BEWARE!!
They seem unable to handle more than very few books.
They have no listed telephone number.
They do not reply to emails.
Very slow to pay if at all.
They will not call you.
If you have a problem, you are out of luck.
A bad Company.
Rating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsAug 2009VERY BAD EXPERIENCE!!

I have not received my check form selling them my book on April, even I call them, and the bookstore told me they will pay me on Jun. Still received nothing. After Jun, I have sent them several mails, no response has been replied.

Till today, I still have not got my check I should have.


Rating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsJul 2009very good site, i definitely recommend,i sended the books and got the check in two weeks.
Rating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsJun 2009Absolutely horrible - sent them several hundred dollars worth of books - e-mailed them and have never heard back - during the same time period have received multiple checks from other bookbuying companies. Of the 6 companies I have been dealing with - they are the worst. They also have not updated their website for $50 giveaway in over a week - supposed to be daily.
Rating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsJun 2009Quick turnaround and easy to deal with overall. Used paypal method.
Rating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsMay 2009Don't use this company. There are plenty of other buyback companies that pay well, fast and have good customer service. I sent in a book and they didnt send me any payment or email for about a month and half. Finally, i had to go to my account to find out that i didnt send the book as described. I had sent a BRAND NEW BOOK. They stole my book and my money. Stay away from JITTERBOOK.
Rating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsApr 2009I sent my books in February on the same day that I recieved my quote and they claim they never got them. I thought they were a great company because they gave me the best prices, but instead they stole my books. The post office says that it's practically impossible that they wouldn't have received that big of a package, and they would have returned them to me if they couldn't find the address. I called for 2 months and they were no help and rude most of the time. I guess they pay some people, but I won't send any more books. My suggestion is to track and/or send at your own cost through UPS if you insist on using them. Otherwise, you may end up like me out of books to sell, and no money to show for it. They owe me over $300.
Rating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsApr 2009I've sold books to them sveral times and each time they are efficient and pay fast.
Rating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsMar 2009Excellent communication. I called them, spoke with a woman and she handled the transaction for selling my books with ease. Tried them again, and they were again extremely competent. Payment was fast and accurate. I would definitely sell to them again.
Rating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsMar 2009Basically if you have a couple books to sell back you should be fine. However they robbed me when I started sending them more and more books. They lumped the payment all together and when I added up the individual quotes I found out I was shorted over $900.00. We are not talking about a book here and there that they missed or got lost in the mail. They flat out robbed me. They responded to my email days later saying that they already paid me and no more funds would be sent my way. I tried calling them numerous times over the course of the next month and received no answer and their message box conveniently being full and unable to take messages.
Rating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsFeb 2009Great place for selling books.
Rating: 4 starsRating: 4 starsRating: 4 starsRating: 4 starsRating: 4 starsJan 2009I was really nervous when they hadn't received my books in a month but I guess it was due to the holiday slowdown. I emailed them and they extended the quote period. Shortly after they received my books and I was paid. I would recommend.
Rating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsJan 2009I sent my book out on December. 31st and received my payment on January. 16th. The process is extremely easy and I would highly recommend them.
Rating: 4 starsRating: 4 starsRating: 4 starsRating: 4 starsRating: 4 starsJan 2009Generally very good, they offer some of the highest payouts, though they don't accept a lot of books, wish they took a wider variety, and they do payout on paypal. But they had some technical issues this past month, and they didn't handle it proactively; I had to contact them to find out was going on, and then it was a little longer until they sent out a general email, so I'm dinging them a star. If there are no issues, next time a 5.
Rating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsOct 2008I was very pleased with this company. From quote to receiving my check took about 4 weeks, since I live on the east side of the country. I received my full quoted price. Would definitely recommend this company.
Rating: 4 starsRating: 4 starsRating: 4 starsRating: 4 starsRating: 4 starsSep 2008Good service. Turn around was not as fast as I'd like, but I got the check. Returns emails too.
Rating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsRating: 5 starsAug 2008JitterBook is awesome! I had no problem whatsoever and they paid me within days
Rating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsRating: 1 starsAug 2008They stole my books. I sent them two boxes full of books and they told me that the books were lost in the mail. When I called the post office, they said it was very unlikely that 2 20lb boxes would get lost like that. When I complained to the BBB, the company had their representative from the postal service call me to lecture me. They owe me $565.67. The company is a fraud.