Books-A-Million - Reviews and experiences

the logistics worked, the payment flow didn’t. I’ve had better experiences with other retailers who sorted billing glitches fast and without the patronizing tone. That’s what stings most — not the six bucks, but feeling ignored and dismissed. In the end the company fixed it. But I’m wary now. I’ll buy again only if I really have to, and I’ll watch my card like a hawk. It works, but the customer service needs to learn to listen before assuming the customer is wrong.

double-check your order before you submit it. Overall I’m pretty happy: solid customer service, reasonable prices, and the delivery steps were clear. Would use them again, cautiously though.

in the end the refund went through after disputing the charge, so I didn’t lose the cash. Not ideal to have to fight for it, but at least it didn’t vanish. I mentioned the whole mess to a couple of friends and warned them to avoid ordering rare items online from this retailer. Wouldn’t recommend their online service for collectibles; maybe their stores are better, but I wouldn’t risk it again.

I get an automated email calling my order a pre-order, then a human reply saying it's backordered. So which was it? In stock, pre-order, or backordered? No one seemed to know, and their site flip-flopped to "Unavailable" a few days later. Because it was a signed edition and hard to find, I kept watching the clock and watching the page, feeling more and more like I was on hold with their inventory system rather than with a company that actually wanted my business. I asked customer service directly if my order guaranteed me a copy since I bought it while it still showed available. The answers were vague — stuff about pending charges, that the charge drops when it ships — but no straight "yes, you'll get it" or "no, sorry, we messed up." So after a few days I ordered the same signed edition from Amazon, which I didn't really want to do but, well, you do what you have to. Amazon arrived within a week and the signed copy was exactly what I hoped — the handwriting on the title page felt personal, the paper had that nice density and smell that makes you hold a book a second longer before opening it. That tactile bit really mattered to me; I was relieved to finally have the object in hand, but annoyed at how avoidable the whole thing was. Customer service is the difference between a store that earns repeat visits and one I won't bother with again. A simple apology and an honest update on stock status would have saved me time and the whole extra order. My little tip for others: if it's a scarce signed edition, don't wait for a vague "ready to ship" line — confirm, or if you can, buy from somewhere that actually guarantees it. Emotionally? I was a mix of relief and mild irritation — happy with the book itself, irritated at the process. I probably won't order from Books-A-Million again unless they sort out their inventory messaging and customer replies.

thankful some parts worked, annoyed the service didn’t help much, and hoping they tighten things up.