QBD Books Reviews 42

I shop in store not online, but I’ve always found the staff helpful and enjoyed the experience

would give them a zero if I could. ordered a gift voucher online. received PayPal notification confirming that payment was complete. never received a confirmation email from QBD or my gift voucher. got sent a text with a link that didn't work. then sent email requesting help only to get a generic reply telling me to wait up to 3 days for a response. Called head office and the "online orders' contact number only to reach the same person on both occasions. He confirmed that all numbers would be directed to him and he couldn't help me himself. He would have to email the "management team" that I myself could not contact directly. still don't have my voucher or now the refund that I have requested. What a complete joke.

I got 2 50 dollar gift vouchers for qbd booka, after i went to checkiut and put my voucher coded in, it still asked for my credit card info, total of the order was 90$

I ordered 2 books.I arrived after a week which was fair enough but the other was not here after another week so I emailed customer serviceand got no response I emailed them twice more and still nothing.They are the worst company I have ever had dealings with and their "customer service" is non existent.I would never use them again

Ordered books early Dec 2025, were supposed to arrive by Christmas Eve. One book wasn’t in stock, I was aware at time of ordering, 2 weeks later I was asked to pay for extra postage for a split shipping. Delivery was do 12 Jan 2026. We were home didn’t see anyone, books were returned to QBD and they refunded the order. Very frustrating, get a better delivery service, trying to support Aus companies and this is the service….

Poor customer service. Purchased books online and they were never shipped. Customer service were useless. Very disappointing
Use another book store at all costs.

No customer service
Purchased 2 vouchers for Christmas gifts. Promptly received 1 voucher and 1 duplicate. Tried calling, left many messages, filled the online form. No response at all. Never again very disappointed. 0 stars

I really wanted to support the little guys and spend my Christmas voucher at QBD, but they couldn’t make it a more difficult experience. Using the $200 voucher online was a nightmare—no clear confirmation it applied, and the checkout process kept trying to charge my credit card for the full amount. After multiple attempts, I had to log out completely and start over just to get the order through.

The mobile site is clunky and frustrating. There’s no proper filtering, sorting shows out-of-stock items, and the search bar doesn’t work well—you can’t just hit enter, you have to pick a suggested title. Logging in was another headache: password reset emails never arrived, and I ended up creating a new account with a different email just to complete the purchase.

Even now, I don’t have much confidence in the order. Two items are pre-orders with different release dates, and everything else will wait over a month for dispatch. There’s no option for partial shipping and no free shipping even after spending over $200.

I love the idea of supporting Australian bookstores, but this experience was disappointing and far from user-friendly. If they don't respect their customers enough to invest in their online store, why should I bother supporting them?

Avoid!
Book arrived quickly and very well packed but had red crayon on 2 pages. Someone had tried to erase this and just left more marks. There is also a deep indent on the back cover.
I contacted customer service and received a computer-generated generic reply asking me to allow 2-3 days for a response at this busy time. That was nearly 3 weeks ago. A follow-up email from me after a week waiting received no acknowledgement whatsoever. This was a Christmas present for my granddaughter.
I thought I would use an Australian company. Definitely will not be using this one again. Not impressed at all.

Great experience with my Christmas shopping, QBD Bookshop Northland was the first shop I went to. I needed to get books for a few young relatives who have become voracious readers. I didn't know where to start given the time constraints. Asking the customer service representative was so worthwhile, she was a scriptwriter and really knew the most suitable books, it was a fantastic help. Thank you.

Horrible experience twice now when pre ordering a book. First time I ever did it, it shipped on the day and was perfect. The next time I did it, as I had such a great experience before, it didn't ship for over a week and there was no communication as to why it was delayed. When I reached out they said their online warehouse/store gets stock delivered seperately from their stores. Would have been nice to know there is a delay expected? Then again, I pre ordered a book the day prior to release and hadn't heard anything for a week. Reached out 3 times and no answer for another week. When they got back to me they said it was in "high demand" and my order is coming on a second shipment in the next TWO BUSINESS WEEKS!! How can you possibly treat customers this way with no heads up with this delay! I responde saying as much and that customers would be more understanding if they had information sent to them and updates etc and no response. Never again. Piss poor customer service with attitude and horrible stock system.

Worst experience trying to make an online purchase to send to a family member in Australia. I live in Canada and QBD’s website would not accept my contact information. A customer service representative wrote in an email, “QBD only ships within Australia. For this reason, our website will only accept valid Australian numbers. Additionally, QBD's website will sometimes reject orders being made from a device outside of Australia. If you have any additional issues completing your order, please contact our call team for assistance so they can complete the order on your behalf.” I tried calling (long distance) and the man who answered the phone asked if he could put me on hold so he could find someone who could help me, as he was new. After several minutes, he came back on the line and asked for my contact information, as nobody else was available. Unbelievable. I provided my email address and phone number 4 days ago and never heard back from the business. A book seller that couldn’t successfully sell me a book. Just incredible.

Bags are 75c for paper.
Should be free

Firstly your voucher advertised as gift order or own use. I ticked the gift box. Then advised who to send to (email supplied)- fairly simple process don’t you think. Now it appears qbd is blaming me the buyer for not reading the small print where I was supposed to have actioned. What a crock of baloney. Seriously low business acumen.
7days to process an online order

I purchased a 3 book series and they arrived a week later with dents, crushed edges and extensive edge and cover fading. Clearly at least the extensive cover fading was present prior to shipping and they chose to send books in this condition. I'm very disappointed after spending so much money on this order at brand new book price.

Worst customer service (online - in person they are great in stores). Been 5 weeks and I haven't even got acknowledgment of an order or receipt - luckily I used Afterpay which proves the QBD purchase and order number. Calling them is useless, no answer or their choose an option doesnt work. Driving me nuts and it was supposed to be something nice for me and my daughter. Stores can't help so I'm stuck out of pocket with no items. If they didn't have bricks and mortar stores you would feel like you have been online scammed. Certainly ruined my retail therapy - this treat just made me sadder!

Terrible customer service. I live in London and bought a book for my two sisters and mum on the 8th January as a gift. One of my sisters hasn’t received it, I’ve sent online enquiries and had no response. I’ve had to ask my sister in Australia to chase up her own gift and she can’t get any information. I spent close to $100 on this idea that was meant to be lovely and now it’s become a mess and I can’t get through to anyone!!

I would avoid purchasing from this company.

They have poor communication - they provide ZERO updates when delays are going to happen. We purchased two books and over a month later, the order is still not processed.

You send them emails and you may not hear from them for a while (over a week). When you call them, it says they're too busy and to leave a message or try again later - then nobody calls you back - and when you leave a message, THEN they finally reply to the email from two weeks ago, with no apology either - no joke...

Avoid this company at all cost. If there was an option for zero star, I would have chosen so.

Encouraged to join VIP program and receive $25 voucher. No t’s and c’s except an inadequate summary explained by Kawana store rep. When I went to redeem them at Morayfield store I was told I could only use $10 at a time with a min of $50 purchase. I was informed the vouchers are 2 of $10 and 1 of$ 5 which can’t be used on-line and can only be used singly with a minimum purchase of $50 and $40 respectively. Therefore I have to buy $140 of books to use The whole $25. It’s not illegal, just unethical to hoodwink customers into a “club” that has hidden t’s and c’s. It left an impression of being conned. Better trained sales people and a rules leaflet should be offered. Ps I will not shop here in future.

Card debited for online purchase, no response, no conformation. I contacted them and was assured that this would be sorted out, no response, contacted again, oh now I need to wait longer whilst customer service address my concern. If you want stress in your life use this online seller