Waterstones Reviews

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1.3 stars
Average rating for this product is: 1.3 out of 5

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Average Ratings for Waterstones

  • Quality of service1.2 stars
  • Layout of shop1.8 stars
  • Value for Money1.6 stars
  • Reviewer Ratings1.3 stars
  • Overall Rating1.3 stars

21 Reviews For Waterstones

  • clubcardkid 6th Nov 2009

    Reviewer rating: 1 stars


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    I received a £15 Waterstones gift card for xmas 2008. I finally decided on a book I wanted and ordered it through the Waterstones website and inputted the gift card details as part payment.

    The order was subsequently canceled (after about 3 weeks) and the email I notification said any money would be refunded. So I signed into my online account, added an alternative product to my basket, but when I went to pay for it I find that the £15 credit had not been refunded.

    I emailed customer services, explained, then they replied with an apathetic 'you must wait 72 hours before a refund will appear' (it obviously slipped their attention that my email was sent ONE WEEK after cancellation).

    I humored them and waited a bit longer. STILL no credit. So I emailed again, explained that there was still no credit in my e-wallet and they replied with instructions on how to make a purchase on the website... (????wtf?!). I have just emailed back pointing out what they are failing to grasp - THERE IS ZERO CREDIT IN MY E-WALLET.

    Currently waiting for a sensible response (and a refund).

    ABSOLUTE RUBBISH service.

  • Guest 14th Oct 2009

    Reviewer rating: 1 stars


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    On viewing the free delivery and Waterstone's points offer I thought I'd give it a go. What a great error this was. 10 days after placing my order the good still hadn't been received by "supplier". So decided to give them a ring. Where I was told the error was mine and that monies could not be collected. This surprised me but I guessed there could have been an error so I re-submitted my details and 4 more days later still nothing. So I started doing research and found out what a shambles t ...
  • Guest 23rd Aug 2009

    Reviewer rating: 2 stars


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    Waterstones shops in the high street are well stocked places with helpful staff I find.
    Unfortunately, it would seem that, if you want to order anything more obscure than a Harry Potter book on-line then you are in for a long wait. I ordered a book at Christmas which I cancelled because they could not get it from their suppliers. Now, you would have thought that, 'once bitten......' but I received a gift card in July for a birthday present and because I was busy I ordered on-line again. MISTAKE ...
  • Guest 5th Aug 2009

    Reviewer rating: 1 stars


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    I wouldn't bother with Waterstones unless you are sure the book is in stock. I ordered a book on the 20th May hoping to receive it in time for my wife's birthday on the 8th June. Admittedly, the entry did say "Usually despatched within 7-10 days" but that should still have been fine. Needless to say nothing arrive. I was patient but eventually contacted them two months later. I got a feeble response saying that they were contacting the publishers, who would let me know via e-mail when it wa ...
  • clanger1 8th Jul 2009

    Reviewer rating: 0 stars


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    Ordered a book and a map in January from Waterstones online. Was told that they were awaiting delivery from the publishers - fair enough. However, 6 months later, still no order arrived!
    Emailed customer services in March, who told me they were still waiting delivery from the publishers.
    Phoned their helpline in July and was told that the map was no longer available to purchase online, but no one had bothered to tell me!
    Cancelled the order and because I bought it with a gift card, the proceed ...
  • Guest 6th Jul 2009

    Reviewer rating: 0 stars


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    Waterstones.com....what can I say? The most exasperatingly ineffective online retailer I've encountered. Their product availability projections are basically lies. Why list titles when they are clearly unavailable. I've been trying to spend a gift card on this site for 2 weeks - I've yet to find a book which I want and which they deliver within 2 weeks. Oh and they're really expensive (up to twice the price in some cases) compared to Amazon etc. The fact that this dinosaur still lives is a mirac ...
  • passthedigestivesmother Rank: Lance Corporal 7th May 2009

    Reviewer rating: 0 stars


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    I bought £60 worth of books on-line at Waterstones in mid-March and five weeks later with no progress on delivery I called & was told 4 of 9 had to be cancelled as they were not available on-line; this in spite of the fact that they are still listed on their web site, and were available for purchase at the time of my original order.It's now 2 months down the road and despite calling Waterstones half a dozen times now, all I keep getting told is that they've requested a status update from ...
  • addscot 31st Mar 2009

    Reviewer rating: 0 stars


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    I ordered books from Waterstones as I like the stores and thought that free delivery was a good deal. I usually check most online stores that I do not normally use for consumer reviews before ordering. I foolishly assumed waterstones would be reliable.


    Well free delivery actually means no delivery when it concerns Waterstones online.

    Ordered 3 books online a month ago, 3 e-mails, 3 phone calls and a lot of hassle later I have been told that my money has been refunded.

    I was also told to ...
  • Guest 26th Feb 2009

    Reviewer rating: 0 stars


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    On the 9th Feb 09 I ordered 6 books from here. They have been sitting with the status 'on order' since then despite not saying that they were not in stock when I ordered.I ordered on a giftcard and the books were being delivered to the store.Today I phoned (for the second time) and was told that several books were sitting in the warehouse but they could not give a delivery date. I asked to cancel and was told I could but that I could not get the money back on my giftcard but into a Watersone's e ...
  • Guest 8th Jan 2009

    Reviewer rating: 3 stars


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    I do find it easy to navigate around the site and there are always products that I am interested in. Unfortunately most of the products I like are out of stock or out of print and I'm currently waiting on 4 or 5 books that they don't have because they're waiting on their suppliers. I usually receive them within the 3-5 days predicted by Waterstone's for free delivery. I received one half of an order today which is a little strange as I requested complete delivery but I'm not fussed as I love get ...
  • Rich n Em 23rd Dec 2008

    Reviewer rating: 1 stars


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    Issues over order made in November for Christmas (present) delivery, as Bad Points entry made above. Kindly offered that they could cancel order - a bit late in December! Offered Jan 09 date, when supplier/ publisher known to have stock - could it be W.Com had NOT ordered the book from the supplier at all by then?
  • Guest 10th Sep 2008

    Reviewer rating: 1 stars


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    Someone very kindly bought me a card worth £20 but as both books I wanted weren't available and nobody offered to order them, I found this the most irritating bookshop. The crowning glory was buying a local calendar with the title picture being of an "occupied" stately home when I know it to be a "ruin"! Fortunately I will be sending it abroad so they will be none the wiser - not your fault I know, just about summed up the visit. The awful thing is out of £20 I still have £3 ...
  • schroedie 8th Jan 2008

    Reviewer rating: 0 stars


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    I ordered 8 books from Waterstones online towards the end of November as Christmas presents: the money was taken from my account on November 30 (before the books were despatched). Five were allegedly sent early in December and I was then told the other three would be delivered in seven weeks - so I cancelled those. The other five never arrived - I phoned on December 17 and was told there'd been an attempt to deliver them, a card had been left and they'd be at my local sorting office. I had no ca ...
  • Guest 23rd Dec 2007

    Reviewer rating: 0.5 stars


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    Wish I'd read the reviews before ordering the goods from Waterstones. I would NEVER use them again! Any discount received has been used trying to get through to them on the phone - only for them to be useless!!
  • Guest 15th Dec 2007

    Reviewer rating: 0.5 stars


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    A complete waste of my time I personally would never use Waterstones again. I ordered 3 books, paid, put in discount code, the next day said being shipped, then the next day they said not in stock so I canceled just the one book, however all books canceled so when I went to reorder I couldn't use the discount code.
  • yeahzzz 31st Oct 2007

    Reviewer rating: 2.5 stars


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    Not too wide a selection. But the funniest thing is their Waterstone's card. You get only ONE penny for every pound you spend! So for the books I bought, one of them expensive, (a total of £20) I'd get a pound discount if I had their card. Keep the card, I'll just order off Amazon.com or ebay.
  • davej39 Rank: Lance Corporal 12th Feb 2007

    Reviewer rating: 1.5 stars


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    Still waiting after 9 weeks of inaction. When placing order, was not informed BEFOREHAND that book was subject to 'special order and could not be timed for delivery.' After several mails which were NOT answered except for a standard 'we have received your mail' response, have now been told that supplier will be sending books to Waterstones who will then send to me AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (ie still no idea of when). Will NEVER again place an order with this service - I could have WALKED to the supp ...
  • tartanman 24th Jan 2007

    Reviewer rating: 0.5 stars


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    Ordered 2 books: 1 for a test which I have in 2 weeks and the other just to get free shipping.
    Asked for delivery to be shipped together as both were showing in stock,
    but when I checked the order page the next day, I discovered 1 book had been shipped (the one I bought to get the free delivery).
    The other book was now showing as waiting for supplier (even though there were 3 still showing in stock down from 9 the day before).
    Phoned to find out what was going on to be told they were having ...
  • Belle16 Rank: Lieutenant-Colonel 10th Dec 2004

    Reviewer rating: 3.5 stars


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    Waterstones is a very organised shop, everything is easy to find and if you can't find, there's always someone there to help. They have a large selection of books separated into different sections for easy browsing.

    My only 'bad' point about Waterstones is that they don't do a student discount unlike some other bookshops, and educational books can often be very expensive!
  • Kanarki Rank: Captain 2nd Dec 2004

    Reviewer rating: 4.5 stars


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    Waterstones - Customer service is excellent, they are friendly and almost always able to find what you are looking for. The store layout in every one I've been in so far is very customer friendly. There are always some up-to-date 'interest' tables for those who can't be bothered to browse alphabetically.