Nora E.

I have had only one experience with this company and it was god awful. I rented a textbook and although it did arrive quickly, their rental period did not reflect any normal semester. It would have cost 20 dollars more to keep for just a week longer, so I open for the shorter version. I got one e-mail reminding me that my rental was due that was sent extremely early. Finals had been stressing me so I was a few days late on my rental and when I went on the website to extend my rental fee, I was not given the option. (I have done this before with Amazon with amazing ease, but Bookbytes website is not user friendly whatsoever) I attempted to find a phone number and was unsuccessful. The online chat was disabled. I opted for my only other option which was the customer service email. Considering that is their ONLY form of communication, they take ~2 days to respond. Not very convenient when your rental is already late. The woman who was attempting to help me was extremely vague and so I just decided to let the company bill me the difference between the rental and the purchase price. I received an email several days later saying that I was, in fact, going to be charged the difference in price so that I could purchase the book. I though the issue was settled. 5 days later, and with no warning, I received a threatening email that they would report me to the IRS because my credit card used to rent the book was unable to get charged. I logged on to the website again to make a payment and there were no options to pay! I was not given a deadline as to when they would report me to the IRS, but was instead told that I had to call an 800 number provided in the email that same day to settle the debt. I received the email at 8:30 in the morning and attempted to call the number they provided to their collections department for 3 hours before I got an answer. I left a voicemail the first time I called and it was not returned. I have never written a bad review for any business, but this company has awful customer service and lack the basic necessities of an online business like a customer service telephone number and a more interactive website with payment options and a more detailed account history. The last email is what set me off. I found it unprofessional and extremely rude. Again, I was given no warning that the credit card on file was not working (a few months ago I got a new card and didn't realize the old card is what I used to pay my rental). And again, when I tried to go online to verify and see if they had the card I used on file, at least the type of card and the last 4 digits, that information was not available, and neither was a payment option. I can't believe this company is still doing business...