Book People Reviews 

I previously have bought from the book people and they were great. Unfortunately I ordered books on the 23rd march and have heard nothing... I have tried calling and emailed twice, still nothing...help

My order from the 1st of March still within promised 10-14 working days. I kept an eye on the website and saw that delivery time changed to 4 weeks and I was ok to wait. In about a month after ordering I received their booklet through the door advertising deals on books which I found quite cynical and called customer service to find out why they send me adverts and not my order. I was told that waiting time is now 7 weeks and currently the orders they dispatch are from the 29th of February so this was hopeful and I decided to wait. I received a dispatch email on the 27th of April but every time I attempted to track it through Hermes I saw that they didn't receive it. Today I eventually managed to get through to the customer service only to be told that they have the same information that I do and it means that my order was lost. They offered a refund which was the only option so I had to accept it, even though I was looking forward to get the books. Very disappointed and not sure if I actually get a refund. I would have said "Don't buy from them" but they are not taking orders anymore so this review is just a way to express my frustration and helplessness.

Used to be good. Ordered 2 books on March 24th. Money paid by credit card. Never received order.

I have enjoyed shopping with you. It is a shame that you have gone, I will have to try a little harder in future for Christmas/birthday presents.
My order of early March was completed on the 29th of April, 6 books unavailable and refunded today. Ignoring the issues of my last order due to administration and covid, i have enjoyed shopping with you and wish the staff all the best for the future.

Ordered books 4th March, they took the money out of my bank on the 5th March. I received glass jars 2 weeks ago. Received an email stating my books ( plural ) and listing all of the books had been dispatched. 1 book arrived today. They have had my money for 11 weeks now. Hopefully I will receive the rest.

Update from my previous review. I have now finally received my order with just one item missing (no longer available) which they emailed to say would be refunded. I paid by PayPal and I've not had any refund yet. It wasn't a particularly expensive item so I won't lose sleep over it. Here is a timeline of my experience:

3rd March - Order placed and confirmation email received.
April/May - Several emails sent with no response and I was unable to get through on the phone.
4th May - PayPal dispute opened (but not escalated)
18th May - Received a response from The Book People within the PayPal dispute apologising for the delay and reassurance that the order would be fulfilled.
18th May - Received despatch email from Hermes with tracking details.
19th May - Goods delivered/received.

Hope this helps, it's taken 11 weeks for my order to be fulfilled, a lengthy wait with poor communication which the administrators are entirely to blame for. Nonetheless, I am grateful to the staff for fulfilling my order and hope the remaining customers get their orders too.

I placed an order for 17 books on 3 March. They arrived today, exactly 11 weeks later. I called to chase progress after around 7/8 weeks and was told my order was still in the warehouse but would be sent. The woman I spoke to was polite and helpful. I received a dispatch confirmation email last week, then emails and texts from Hermes about the delivery this week. Yes, I waited a long time but the books are fantastic value and in perfect condition. All of my items were sent, none were missing. I've been buying from The Book People regularly for 20 years or so, since I was a teenager, when I couldn't afford to buy from the high street. I'm very sad to see them go. Wishing all the staff well for the future.

I have used the Book People for many years and have always been entirely happy with their service and products until now.
I ordered some items on 2nd March, not knowing that they had gone into administration.
I expected to receive the goods within a few days but, having discovered they were in administration and had made many staff redundant, learnt I would have to wait seven weeks. In the event, they did not arrive until 8th May (10 weeks).
One item, costing £5 was missing, marked "OUT OF STOCK - REFUND"
As at 19th May I have not received any refund and wonder whether I ever will.

I haven’t given the full 5 stars because I haven’t received my order yet. BUT I placed my order on 4th March and today 19th May (10 weeks later) I finally have a dispatch email! I’d honestly just assumed I wasn’t getting my books and had written the money off. Time will tell if I get my books in the next few days! Patience is key apparently!

I placed 2 orders on the 23rd and 24th of March. I have now been waiting for 8 weeks. I emailed twice but got no response. I phoned 2 weeks ago and got through. To be told that my orders are active and will be despatched soon. They still haven't arrived. They also said that the warehouse would be closing on the 15th May. I can see through reading all the reviews on here that has changed. I'm hoping that I get an email by the end of the week. I see others who ordered the same time as I did have started to receive their items. Not sure how much longer to wait and hope.

Placed an order on the 23rd March order number 0011046158, received an email in April to say the order was being dispatched although I was only sent one item out of my order still waiting for the rest. I have sent emails no reply and attempted to ring the number but no one answers just starting to wonder if my items will even arrive now!!
I will give it a couple of weeks and then will speak to my bank. I have always had great customer service with the book people and understand with everything that’s going on, I just want the items as the books would help so much to keep me busy. Sad to see the company go as I was a regular customer.

Like many people on here, I placed an order on 11th March and have managed to make contact by email (it took 5 weeks for a reply!) and phone. I was initially told my order would arrive after 7 weeks so by the end of April, which came and went with no delivery. I called again and was told that orders were being sent out in the order received (which judging by other reviews here is entirely untrue) until the warehouse is emptied and closes on 22nd May. I was offered a refund, but decided to wait another week because there were items for my child's birthday in it and I didn't want to disappoint them, after their little brother never received the items ordered for him. I rang again and was advised that it is now too late to cancel my order and receive a refund, because apparently my order is on a pallet awaiting collection by Hermes. However another week has passed and I still have no email about despatch or order.
I have previously had really positive experiences of Book People, so this is very disappointing. I feel for their staff because they are losing their jobs and are friendly and helpful, but it feels like I have been totally fobbed off. I have checked tonight and thankfully a debit card will allow a chargeback if a merchant stops trading, so I will be placing a claim should no order be despatched by Friday. Hope this information helps others.

Order placed on 6th March, payment taken straight away but have heard nothing since. I have made 2 calls and both times staff have been lovely buy still nothing. Emails unanswered. Order number 25278577. If anyone from the book people read this please let me know where my little girls toys and books are she was so excited when we placed the order and as a single mum I cannot afford to loose nearly £40.... £20 of which was my 4year olds birthday money 😢. I would love to be able to update this and say we had received the items... please someone get in touch.
UPDATE... had totally lost hope of receiving this order when 2 out of 3 boxes arrived last night and a delivery notification for the others. One item missing as out if stock. Took forever...but all good condition and fantastic prices. Don't give up hope!

I placed a large order on the 20th March, like a lot of people after reading the reviews I had no idea how long I would have to wait for my order. I did not call TBP to chase up my order because I knew I would be told to wait. At the time of my order I was told a four week delivery time, which increased to 7 weeks. I realized with the lock down I would most likely have to wait longer.

However, I was pleasantly surprised to receive my dispatch email, with Hermes delivering my packages over two days. A few items were out of stock, but everything arrived in perfect condition. I am now wishing I had ordered more!

Thank you to all the staff at TBP for the years of excellent customer service and who are working tirelessly knowing they have lost their jobs in these difficult and unprecedented times. I wish you all the best for the future.

I ordered 20 items on 20th March and in spite of waiting 8 weeks, all items have turned up (well packaged) and are in excellent condition. I did try contacting customer services about four times with no responses but having been on the verge of raising a paypal dispute (especially reading the reviews here), I received notification of dispatch of 3 boxes to Hermes and received two yesterday and one today. I am sad this company has come to an end as the value of the items was excellent and service was good. I suggest to those waiting for orders to wait a bit longer and hold out.

I have given four stars because the books arrived,16/5, after an advisory delivery email, in excellent condition and amazing value. This is the standard that The Book People set as a norm many years ago.
I bought the books knowing that the company was selling off stock and that and Lockdown meant that I should expect delays in delivery.
What was unacceptable, and nothing like the usual customer service I have received over many years, was the failure to update the message re delivery to reassure me that my books may be delayed beyond seven weeks. Literally, a changed date would have saved me wondering if I had wasted just over £50 on two orders made on 19/3 and 20/3, using a credit card rather than PayPal.
I would like to thank The Book People for a fantastic experience over the years and wish all its staff ‘all the best’ and ‘good luck’ in securing new employment.

Ordered on 1st March and heard nothing for months, no response to emails, etc so thought I had lost my money. Got a dispatch email last night and 2 boxes of books today. Most of my order arrived and the email said that I will be refunded for the missing items. I haven't seen the money go back in yet but the email was only yesterday. Very happy with the items. Obviously TBP are struggling and really should at least be keeping people updated on delays but posting to say there is still hope for those still waiting on orders.
As annoying as it is to wait so long and have no contact from the company, thank you to the staff who are still working to get orders out. I can't give a good rating but I'm giving 3 stars because I did eventually get my goods.

Waiting since March 2nd. Never got a confirmation email so cannot even remember what I ordered at this stage. Got through to customer service - she said they are dispatching in no particular order and aim to have the warehouse empty by mid May. Hardly expect them to turn up at this stage!

Placed an order on March 20 and it arrived today. After almost 2 months waiting finally my ordered arrived, all in one parcel and all in brilliant new condition. Received dispatch confirmation just yesterday, almost jumped for joy. So happy my order has arrived and my kids are all very excited With their new stuff. Great bargains I had as most of it are clearance items. I will miss ordering from the bookpeople as its really good value. Thanks for fulfilling my order. Thanks for all the staffs’ hardwork and good luck on your next endeavour.

Put my order in on 3.3.2020 with little concern that I would experience any difficulties. However when by the end of March I hadn’t received the order I checked online to see the order was ‘pending’. It appeared the items had been received by The Book People. It did say orders were now taking 7 weeks.
8 weeks passed and many items would have lightened my lockdown experience so I decided to phone to be told I would receive my order.
When 10 weeks passed I was about to leave a review but stopped on the arrival of an email to say my order was on its way.
Today the order duly arrived but I was horrified to receive only 3 items out of 17!!
The most galling part was the comment on the despatch note for Pick List No:944942,Order one more time before16/06/20 to become a VIP. Is that a
Very Idiotic Person?