So I've been purchasing items (mostly books of video games) online for the past six years and never really had a problem until yesterday. Sometimes a book would come in a little worse wear than was described but other than that I've been completely satisfied with what I've received.
I decided to try and buy some of my college books on half.com this semester to help save me some money, however it turned into a giant sh
itfest. First I bought the study guide for my psychology course rather than the actual book, and by the time I received it in the mail it was too late to try and buy another one so I had to go up to school and buy it. Well sure enough the Psychology 101 book only comes bundled with the study guide, so now I've got two of the damn things! I can maybe make $15 for the book, which would only put me out another $15 which isn't the end of the world. The buyer clearly stated what the book was, it was my fault for not really paying a lot of attention, so I can let that one slide.
The other book I bought, The Media of Mass Communication for my journalism class is another story. One of the annoying things about half.com is that they make it incredibly hard to find out what edition you're getting, so I was having to rely on the pictures and pray that they were correct. I found a cheap copy for $50 (I would've saved $30) and purchased it. However, the book I received in the mail was the 8th edition. When I tried to contact the seller to ask for my money back, they shot me an angry reply stating that the book they sold was the correct one, they checked the ISBN number on "the website". Now they didn't bother to explain which website, so I tried the ISBN number in the book on the publishers website and sure enough, the 8th edition popped up. After I took a screenshot of both the original e-mail I received telling me I bought the item, and the screenshot of book I found on the publishers website I found that the seller had actually blocked my e-mail address so all I got was an error message telling me my e-mail could not be delivered.
Luckily for me, half.com is pretty good about dealing with disputes and almost always takes the buyers side. If the buyer wants a refund, the buyer will most likely get a refund. I've got all the proof I need to get my money back, and with any luck get this seller barred from using half.com or ebay. Unfortunately I have to wait 48 hours after I initiate contact with the seller to file a complaint and request a charge back. In the end though, I had to buy all my books on campus which just leaves me a little disillusioned with the whole practice of buying things online. I understand one of them was my fault, but to go 0/2 is just a little bit much and starts to make me rethink my strategy of where I purchase my products...
Here is the screen shot of the book I was led to believe I had purchased, and the book I received.
I had to resize the photo a little bit, but there's a giant "9" on the cover of that book, hence the "9th Edition"
what I received after checking the ISBN number on the publishers website.
and the ISBN number if anyone wants to check it as well to confirm my side of the story. (I know it's a little blurry but it reads: 0-205-49370-X)