Poor customer service. I hope whoever's is running this book store is healthy. Ordered a gift card for Christmas never received. No answers to my phone calls, or emails. I would like my money refunded. read more

If there was a way to give negative stars I would. I have never had such abysmal customer service in my life. I placed an order on Dec 4th for a Christmas gift for my autistic son. I thought that should ensure plenty of time to have it processed and shipped for Christmas. Then the company went dark for two weeks, no responses to my email, no answer to my phone calls. Finally Sunday I get this response, "Le Hook, We moved and in the process lost internet and phone service for 2 weeks. I'll cancel your order since we are not a real company. Bill KAREN'S BOOKS" Really? What business of any statue and character loses all contact with their customers for two weeks? A further inquiry got this answer: pardon his language please "We do a shit bucket of business which is why things got out of hand fast. But you probably can't get your little mind around that either." Resorting to personal attcks is a poor way to do business! I recommend to anyone that you never use this company and warn all your friends also! read more

I emailed an order on 12/15/18 which doesn't show any action by 12/20 other than "approved." I've purchased many items and received good service from Karen's over past years, but this is the first unexplained delay. What's going on? read more

My father had a book on his Christmas list that I ordered through Karen's Books. Needless to say, they had the book at a reasonable price. Christmas was looming closer and closer, but I had not heard from the sellers yet. An email went unanswered, so I decided to try the direct approach and gave them a call. Bill answered the phone and apologized that they were behind due to a recent move and had no phone or internet set up. When I inquired about my order, he asked if it was a Christmas present. I replied that it was and Bill said he would get it in the mail that day - priorty - with no extra charge. Not only that, I asked if it could be shipped directly to my father's house, since Christmas was getting close. Again, not a problem! The order got there in plenty of time. Thank you very much, Bill! A littled understanding and patience goes a long way. Thank you all for a making it a Merry Christmas! read more

placed two orders on the net over a 1 year period. never got anything other than automatic confirmation of orders On inquiring (via net) as to the status of first order, was told they would be shipping when all books ordered were in. That was 9 months ago.no answer yet to a inquiry. The only positive note I can think of is that no charges against my credit card were made. There is no fraud suspected here .These folks seem to be challenged as to acceptable order follow up practices. I will shop elsewhere in the future. read more

My husband ordered a railroad book from Karen's Books 2 weeks ago. The website said they had it, so we ordered the book. We had not received the book for a couple of weeks, so I called Karen's books. The first time (last week), they said that they were in the middle of changing warehouse, so they had a delay in the orders. Today, I called them again to find out what was going on. They said that they could not find the book (it was out of stock). I told them that the website said they had it and we already paid for it. So, I told them I want the money back. They said that we just a pre-authorization and that the money was not there anymore. I don't recommend that anyone purchase books from them. I feel that if you don't have a certain book you should remove it from the website. I told them we would never order from them again. read more

I had the same exact experience as Lalo (see Oct. 2 review). I ordered two books on October 7 - the website said they were in stock. (If the website said "out of stock" or "backordered" I would not have placed the order.) Hearing nothing for 3 weeks, I called them on October 28 and was told they should be in that week. I waited another 2 weeks and called again. I was told they were still waiting on the books. I have received books from them in the past, but also after a lengthy wait and a phone call to check up on the status. Bottom line: they CAN get hard to find books, but you may have to wait weeks or months to get them, and they will not contact you to let you know of any delays. If you check your order status online it will say "completed", but it was explained to me that this is for their own internal tracking only. So - your mileage may vary with this company. They are very nice on the phone, but be aware that you may not get the books you order for quite some time. Keep this in mind if you are planning to purchase books for Christmas presents...(unless it's for 2015). read more

Says 3-6 days max for shipping. Been 13 days now. Slowest store I've ever dealt with. Not very promising when you buy two pretty common books and it takes more than 13 days to ship read more

I've been there on several occasions to buy books about railroads. Karen is a sweetheart! She's not really set up for walk-in customers, but has always allowed me to stop by and browse. read more

On September, 28th, I ordered a book through their website and got confirmation by e-mail the same day. The order status was labeled "complete" already. After 10 days, nothing had happened. The book hadn't been shipped and my credit card hadn't been charged. Since the book was still available on their website and I would be out of town the following week, I wrote an e-mail and asked about the status. No answer. Then I tried to call them during business hours several times. Each time, the answering machine replied that they are on the line with another customer. I should leave my phone number, they would call me back. I did so; no response. Therefore, on the 9th of October, I cancelled my order by e-mail and requested a confirmation. Again, no response. That does it for me. read more

Poor Business practices. Take orders for items not in stock, and then send wrong items much later. Fail to read and respond to emails with complaints noted. Placed order 12/3/14 for 2 books. Payment posted 12/8/14. 12/8/2014 I get notified Books not in stock after all. 12/22/14 I get notification books finally shipped. 12/31/14. I get package in mail - Not the two books I ordered or invoiced for. 12/31/14 I send email with photos showing the mistake between the invoice and what was shipped. 1/7/15 Still no reply, so I resend email and leave a voice message. 1/8/15 I get call back stating that I should already have my books. I ask them if they listened to either my message or email stating I got the Wrong books. Stunned Silence. Sound of Tapping on keyboard. "I have your email stating you got shipment". I asked: Did you read the part about the shipment being wrong? More silence. Finally acknowledgement of mistake. They want me to mail wrong books back to them. I say No, you send the right books and postage for the return of the incorrect books. After additional discussion they agree. I finally get correct books 1/15/15. I return theirs 1/17/15. Just not worth the hassle. They sell what they do not have. No indication on web page that items may be out of stock. read more