This review is not about how unprofessional and no-good this site is. Nor is it about how they have irritated and duped me. I think enough has been said on the subject. I am only writing down some tips which helped me get all my orders from this site. I would never recommend this site, and I do not endorse their approach. I only hope this may help someone who has already wasted their money and do not hope to get it back.
I first placed an order with them without reading the reviews here. On the 2nd day I got an e-mail that my order has been dispatched. I was impressed and ordered a few more books.Thats when the trouble began Now its been more than a month and I’ve finally received all my books.
First a1books is more of a selling platform. once you place the order, these guys dont care at all. Its no use calling or mailing them. You will waste your time and energy and get frustrated. A better approach is to call the publisher directly. I found their numbers and e-mail addresses from their respective websites. It was around Rs. 20 of Std calls in total. I found that these people are not so much cheaters as they are lazy and apathetic. They did not have any idea whether the order was placed on their site or via a1books. That being said, they were polite. Once I contacted them, almost all sent my books in a few days.
Another thing is that my experience was much better with govt. funded publishers like Sahitya Akademy rather than private ones. They actually send the orders on time, though delivery is slow because they use registered post.
A1books has only one redeeming feature - they have some titles in Hindi and regional languages which I couldn’t find anywhere else. And these were the only books I bought. For everything else, there is Flipkart.
Dont trust the seller ratings on a1books, they mean next to nothing.
The high point was when they had the effrontery to send me an e-mail asking me to write a review! If I thought they’d publish a review like this one, I’d write it in a heartbeat!
I would never use them again. But if you have already made the mistake of buying from them like I did, I hope this review might be of some help. Happy Reading!