<p>Has anyone had success buying textbooks from half.com?</p>
<p>My daughter (new freshman) ordered some books for English Lit from half.com last weekend - the order went through and she and I both saw on her online bank account that there was a "Pending debit" of $1.00 to half.com.
checked the bank two days later the entry was totally gone and her order completely disappeared from the half.com website.</p>
<p>I have no idea what happened but now she has to go to the bookstore and buy them so she can get her reading done this weekend.
This was the crisis of the day yesterday - ;)</p>
<p>I've heard of several people who've had good luck from them. Did your D get any kind of explanation from contacting/reporting this to half.com?</p>
<p>D uses an online service that delivers the books to a location specifically set up for this near her campus.</p>
<p>p.s. I know it's a real problem when it's happening, but hopefully this will be the worst crisis your D has to deal with! I got a call from D yesterday, she was fuming at a roommate situation....a couple of hours later, it was a total non-issue. I do realize, though, that textbook "issues" potentially have hundreds of $$ of potential impacts... Good luck!</p>
<p>I am going to work with her this afternoon - she is coming home for the long weekend.</p>
<p>This has been the worst crisis - lucky her! My kids have to pay for their textbooks though. She needs 6 books for English Lit - since she paid over $400 for her Bio and Chem books, lab books, lab gear etc. she was really looking forward to saving some money. She was also feeling a tad bit "homesick".</p>
<p>Funny how issues that are a major crisis one minute are non-issues the next minute!</p>
<p>I have always had success with half.com; have ordered dozens of books from them. Within a day after you order, you either get a confirmation saying the book is on the way or (rarely - has happened to me 3 or 4 times) a note that the order could not be confirmed. When the order isn't confirmed, your credit card is credited and you are emailed a refund receipt.</p>
<p>We used half.com this year and it will be the first place we look from now on. We had no problem with the financial end at all - it was put on my credit card. Paid $50 for brand new accounting books that I would have had to pay $200 for thru the bookstore USED!</p>
<p>I've only had one problem with half.com and that was when a guy sent me a paperback international edition instead of the hardback US edition. I went through the dispute resolution service and got the guy to credit me back the difference between what I paid for it and a little below the going price for the paperback edition.</p>
<p>Try amazon.com for used textbooks too. S has had success buying and selling on half.com, as have I. He more often than not, finds his textbooks on Amazon.<br>
Good luck!</p>
<p>I've bought some of my textbooks for this semester from half.com but I'm also renting some from chegg.com. I had never thought of renting before, but the price is really good. It's like buying a used textbook with the intention of returning it -- only you're only paying the net cost.</p>
<p>I have also used half.com with no problems. I like Amazon, too, especially for selling (I often get more than I paid). Another good site is borders.com - search the internet for coupons. D & I each used a 40% off coupon we found, plus got free shipping. We got new books for less than we could find them used.</p>
<p>The only problem with Amazon can be timing. We have always received our books quickly. D sent a book recently, though, and it took almost 3 weeks to get there. We send media mail & always buy delivery confirmation. The buyer was upset, but Amazon states that books will be shipped media mail (unless otherwise agreed upon), and USPS gives media mail time as "up to 4 weeks." This is the only time we've had it take so long, going or coming, though.</p>
<p>$1 authorizations by merchants are typical to see if the credit card is valid. All authorizations are "pending debits" until the merchant sends the actual charge to the credit card issuer at the end of the day. In the case of the $1 auth, the merchant never sends the charge and the "pending debit" is removed from your account. However, this doesn't explain why half.com didn't follow through on your order.</p>
<p>I had my daughter sign on to her account and there is zero evidence of her order - no pending order, no canceled order - she received no email. The fact that there was a $1 pending transaction on her bank account leads me to believe that she did indeed place the order. It just vanished - :eek:</p>
<p>I used textbook.com for a couple of books- fast shipping, and although "used" in excellent condition for 1/2 the price of new. They also had $33 guaranteed buyback, so the net cost will be about $20.</p>