Powell's Books Omdömen 48

at one point the site used to be really good - great/friendly customer service, excellent quality items & reasonable prices.
what came next within the last year or so at least (should i speculate whether this has been a blatant attempt to maintain maximum profits during 'covid'?), standards COMPLETELY dropped.
items in such poor condition they would not even make a charity store being sent (severely water damaged books at times, books looking like a dog has eaten them, books with loose pages/binding, books with significant creasing, etc)!
to make matters worse, these books have usually been listed in their 'standard' condition (which appears to be akin to 'good or very good') while they SHOULD'VE been correctly listed as 'less than standard' (a condition the site claims to have).
refunds have been reluctantly/grudgingly given in cases like this - seemingly with no genuine understanding of the inconvenience of then needing to source these same books elsewhere - which can be made infinitely harder if a 'rare' book!
in fact, customer service staff (usually higher staff members such as 'ashley' their 'customer care MANAGER'), attempt to remain tactful, while coldly 'polite' - without actual empathy/understanding/humanity - only profit motive.
wouldn't it be thought that a GENUINE, HONEST & ETHICAL business of ANY kind not only 'own up' to their own slipped standards & poor customer service but also adhere to THEIR 'guarantee' (listed prominently on their site)?
no, instead, i had a newer order cancelled, ALL blame put on me for the 'increase' in refunded items (not ONCE addressing the MASSIVE, worrying drop in quality of items).
laughably, i was told:
"...it's become clear that we're unable to meet your condition needs. Due to this, and the fact that such a high rate of refunds has become cost-prohibitive for us, we're unable to continue shipping orders to you."
BIG problem is, they don't even meet THEIR OWN 'condition' standards - not specifically MINE!!

here's their general condition that they claim to have/follow:
"Standard
What does "Standard" condition mean at Powell's? Books in good or better condition, free of writing or other markings in the text (with the possible exception of a previous owner's name in the front). The great majority of the books in our stock fall into this category. In short, when a book is listed as "Standard," you can expect it to be a high quality copy."

"All our new, used, and out-of-print books are in good reading condition — guaranteed.
We recognize that ordering used books on the Web, sight unseen, requires trust. If you've ever tried to sell us your old books, you know firsthand how tough our standards are (haha - we wish!!). By enforcing strict quality guidelines, we can guarantee that every book we sell, new or used, is a good reading copy."

A LOT of FALSE/FRAUDULENT/DISHONEST claims made on their website - insult to injury, one of the worst is:
"We're nothing without our customers. Powell's would not be the destination it is now without its loyal customers." - CLEARLY COMPLETELY FALSE, unless you're a customer who is fine with near throw-away/give-away items amongst ones that DO fit their (meaningless) 'standards'.
based on the proud history of this store displayed on the website, personally, i'd say the store's founder/s would be rolling in their graves to see just how their 'family business' is being conducted AND how their 'loyal customers' are treated!
STAY WELL AWAY!!

Powells is one of my favorite things about living in Portland. Used to love getting lost for hours among the endless bookshelves. Now, during the lockdown, love the fact that I can order reading material on their website, and (almost completely) avoid Amazon. Getting ready to place another order today!

Great customer service! Had a problem, because of a delivery issue--our fault--and Powels made it right!

Terrible business practices.

I recognize that in order to make money selling used books you need to get them for a decent price. However, this place is a gold mine. It's not just that they pay insultingly low prices for your books, it's that they're rude to you while they're doing it. They truly act like they're doing you a favor, and forget that without you selling back your books, they would be out of business.

What's worse is that they have aggressively put every other mom-and-pop bookstore in the area out of business. Portland used to have a thriving used bookstore presence but Powell's has driven their competition completely out of existence.

And they ripped off their customers with a contemptuous eye-roll while doing it.

There are alternatives, albeit mostly online (Thanks in part to the business practices of companies like Powell's). I get that there is a thrill in hunting through thousands of books in order to find a diamond in the rough, but for ethical reasons, I will be going elsewhere in the future. Don't waste your time.

The best part of book buying is wandering but since it's closed I can't do that. The online ordering functioned well and I was able to pick it up curbside so I have no complaints. I did hear about them not carrying a certain book because of twitter-verse pressure. That's not cool.

The best part of book buying is wandering but since it's closed I can't do that. The online ordering functioned well and I was able to pick it up curbside so I have no complaints. I did hear about them not carrying a certain book because of twitter-verse pressure. That's not cool.

Powell’s is taking the middle ground by selling Ngo’s book online and not in the stores. I support their decision to compromise in a polarized environment.

A book store claiming to support free speech banning a book that it doesn't agree with!
Can't make this up!

Powell's Books have joined the fascist regime in trying to suppress dissent against the corporate oligarchy. They censor books critical of the authoritarianism oppressing all Americans.
Don't give them your money.

I have sent them around 10 orders. The books arrive at Powell's in about 4 days. It takes them about 2-3 weeks to acknowledge them. They are fair about getting back to you. Overall they rate about a C among the 25 or so book buyers. There are several that are much smoother and faster, yet there are some that are far worse. So you get about average service here.

Their website absolutely sucks. After about 2 minutes of entering ISBNs of books to sell, it times out so that you have to start all over. If you don't completely finish your transaction in about 5 minutes, you have to start over. It's ridiculous.

They are very slow. I sent them 3 orders of books. They paid me after about 2 1/2 weeks of receiving for one order. They say the other 2 have not been received. After checking with the carrier they have had both orders for some time. They may or may not get back to you in e-mail. There are several that are much smoother to deal with. Use this as last resort.

My order shipped on july 16 and did not received yet, wrote them a message and told me to wait another two months. They did not want to give me a refund ( i would of sent the books back when i got them ) i live in canada. Just a bit disappointing.

Bought a book from Powell's books on the 24th of July. They shipped it under 12 hours and it got delivered in two weeks. It was shipped from America, while I live in Northern Europe. They said the shipping might take 15 to 20 days - I am amazed about the speed under the conditions COVID pandemic puts them. The book arrived in good health, I am very happy to be a customer of Powell's books.

Powell's Bookstore is the absolute worst online business you can imagine. They take your money and fail to send you books. They do not reply to emails. The link they provided to follow my order was a bad link. The web site will not let me log into their Web Site or change my password.

They have convinced me to go back to Amazon, which is very sad.

I bought books in Powell's as a gift to my friend and it was delivered on time.

Experience was great!

I ordered 6 books on March 27th and my books arrived April 3rd three days before they said it would which is great. I order the books in very good condition and I expected them to have some rips in them but they looked brand new I wouldn’t have known they weren’t. I would totally recommend this book store to a friend and I will definitely order more books from their.

Powell's did not pay me for the books I sent them for buyback. In fact, once the books were in the mail (using their label) I never heard from them again. I would recommend using one of the other buyback companies. This is not a business Powell's should be in. Had they been more expensive books, I would be furious.

They don't buy used books they steal them . I sent them plenty orders. They make up badcondition excuses claim discard. I.know my stuff was good. They are stealing books. Do not sell to them .they don't really what the quote. They lie about condition so as not to pay. They don't prove just throw. But prob books on shelf for sale.

Well known indie bookchain, now located in the Pacific Northwest. I've never had any difficulties ordering items from the web from them. They were early pioneers of e-commerce, before the 'big gorrila'.

Their strength is new and used books, especially academic and scientific publications. This family owned company is a well known collector of used books in North America.