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Alpha Textbooks FAQ (Last updated January 2, 2010)
Thank you for taking the time to familiarize yourself with our policies and procedures. This will help ensure you have a pleasant experience with us.
Orders
Do you take orders over the phone?
How do I order textbooks online?
Can I use any web browser?
Do I need a credit card to order online or by phone?
How can I make changes to an order I placed?
How can I view orders I've placed?
Can I pick up my books if I ordered online/over the phone?
Can I pay for the orders when I come to pick them up?
Will my store credit be applied to my order?
Used Books
Do you sell used books?
What kind of condition are the used books in?
Can I order used books online?
Can I reserve used books when they come in?
When is the best time to order used books?
What are the benefits of ordering used books?
Back-Orders, Substitutions and BookLists
What is a Back-Order?
What is a subbed/substituted book?
Why doesn't the booklist my School gave me match the booklist on the Alpha Textbooks site?
I have an older version of a textbook, can I use that instead?
Shipping
What are my shipping options?
Returns
What is your Return Policy?
Problems
Where the heck is my Order?
Who do I complain to?
Other
What is an ISBN and why do you keep asking me for it?
What is your contact information?
What are your store hours?
I didn't see my question answered here. Where can I find out what I need to know?
Do you take orders over the phone?
Customer service is important to us and we do our best to facilitate phone orders, however, during busy times we simply can't take phone orders. You are encouraged to use our website to place your order. Most of the time when we take phone orders we just go through the steps of placing a web order for you anyway.
If you haven't used our website to order before, there's a step-by-step tutorial to assist you. If you have any issues while completing a web order you can also call in for help. Our website defaults to telling us you want Used books so you have just as much chance of getting Used books from ordering online as you do by calling in.
If you can't place a web order we will try to take a phone order for you, though we may have to call you back if it's busy in the store at the time. If you do place a phone order that's for delivery, please give us your e-mail address when you place the order. This allows the couriers we deal with to e-mail you tracking information.
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How do I order textbooks online?
There's a step-by-step tutorial that will assist you in ordering online. It will open up in a separate window so you can switch back and forth between the tutorial and our site for help as you go through the stages of placing your order. Note: that although Used prices and availability don't show on the web, our system is setup to try to get you as many Used books as possible, unless you specify that you want New Books Only.
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Can I use any web browser?
Our site is tested and works with:
- Chrome 5 or higher
- Firefox 3.6 or higher
- Internet Explorer 6 or higher
- Netscape Navigator 9 (This browser is no longer in
development and will not render all pages properly)
- Opera 10 or higher
- Safari 5 or higher
Javascript must be enabled for site functions to work properly. This can usually be enabled in the Tools Options menu - check Google or Bing for instructions for your specific browser.
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Do I need a credit card to order online or by phone?
Yes. It would be unfair to our other customers if we allowed books to be held without payment, so we do need immediate payment before we will pick and hold books for your order.
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How can I make changes to an order I placed?
If you registered, you can login from the My Orders link and make changes to any orders that haven't been processed yet. Once an order has been processed or if you didn't register, you have to call in to make changes.
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How can I view orders I've placed?
If you registered, you can login from the My Orders link and view all orders placed under that login username/e-mail address.
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Can I pick up my books if I ordered online/over the phone?
Yes, you always have the option to pickup your books in person. Note, however, that if you ordered online we will call or e-mail you when your order is ready, and if you show up prior to being contacted your order may not be ready for pickup.
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Can I pay for the orders when I come to pick them up?
You can, but you will have to wait in line. Our pickup area is only for orders that just need to be picked up and have already been paid for.
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Will my store credit be applied to my order?
If you're purchasing in store, we'll usually see and apply any existing credit. You can also ask us to check in case it was placed under one of your other children's names. If you're purchasing online the credit won't show online, but will normally be processed when we see the credit on your file when the order in later processed in store. You can note in the comments area for your online order that you have a credit that should be applied towards your purchase.
Note: Credits are sometimes applied directly by the school and may not apply towards your Alpha Textbooks order. Please e-mail us to find out if this is the case for your school.
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Do you sell used books?
We happily sell used books as we are strong believers in recycling and ecological thinking. All our Used Books are guaranteed satisfactory and are in good to great condition. When you're ordering books online, select the titles you want from the booklist or book catalogue, and our system will tell us to fill the order with as many Used Books as possible, unless you specify later in the process that you want New Books Only. If you're purchasing in store, we'll ask you if you want Used Books if possible, and will be happy to provide you with any we have in stock.
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What kind of condition are the used books in?
We only buy back books that meet a certain standard. For more information about our buyback policy click here. Note that in special cases a book may still be in use that hasn't been available new for a long time. These books will have had years of wear and tear, and the quality may not be as high as we'd like to be able to provide you with, but we will never sell books that are falling apart or are unuseable.
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Can I order used books online?
Absolutely! Although our system only shows new book pricing, it automatically defaults to tell us to fill your order with Used books if possible (unless you specifically choose the New Books Only option).
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Can I reserve used books when they come in?
Unfortunately, we don't have a waiting list for used books. If you call in to inquire about a particular book and pay for it over the phone it'll be set aside for you. Otherwise, because of the number of orders that we process, all used books are sold on a first come first served basis.
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When is the best time to order used books?
We visit some schools to buy-back books in June and start getting stocked up on used books then. We usually have most booklists up by the end of June, and people start coming in for their books in July and selling us their books. Generally, we have a good stock of used books in early to mid-July, but we do still get plenty of used books throughout the year. Remember to sell us your used books as well, and if your friends don't know about us, let them know we may buy their used textbooks too.
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What are the benefits of ordering used books?
You save money, you help others save money too since we buy back their books to meet demand, you teach your kids the value of reusing things, and you optimize the useful life of the textbook.
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What is a Back-Order?
A back order is an item that we're out of stock of. Usually this is just something that we sold out of, and can easily get back in stock to fill orders. In some cases though, one or more titles on your booklist may be back-ordered at the source because it is:
a) Out Of Print - A publisher may have stopped printing the title. This usually only happens when a new edition is coming out and the book will be substituted (subbed) to the new edition. In some cases, the book has simply reached the end of it's life and no substitute is available from the publisher, so the school may choose to sub to a different book.
b) Subbed to a new edition or alternative edition. If a new edition of a book is available the school may choose to substitute to that title so that your child has the most current material available (Though in some cases schools find older editions more useful and may stay with previous versions). They may also substitute to a completely different book from a different publisher. Substitutions happen as the season progresses and books become unavailable, so you may find that a booklist you received from the school earlier no longer matches the up-to-date booklist on our site. Our booklist reflects the current known situation, and we do keep schools appraised of any issues as they come up. If you believe that we have made a mistake on one of our booklists let us know, and we will make sure that there hasn't been a communication breakdown.
c) Reprinting or Not Published/Printed Yet - Due to the cost of printing and warehousing books, some Publishers will wait until they've accumulated orders and know how many copies of a book to print before printing them close to the start of the school year. This way they only print as many copies as they need, and prevent having to pass unneccessary costs on to you. This can often make it difficult to get titles to you in a timely manner since we sometimes don't receive these titles ahead of the beginning of the school session.
We do our best to get all titles in before the beginning of the school year, and minimize any back-order issues. In some cases that isn't always possible, and we keep schools appraised of the situation so your child doesn't suffer from not having the textbooks they require. The best way to avoid issues is to place your order early so we know how many copies of each title we need to source.
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I have an older version of a textbook, can I use that instead?
The booklists that appear on our site are the ones approved by the schools. These are the titles and editions we've been asked to ask you to get. While we understand the frustration and expense involved in moving to new titles, we do have to advise you to purchase the specific editions the school has requested. Changes from edition to edition may or may not be substantial enough to cause confusion if an older edition is used. Due to the number of Titles we deal with we won't know the specific changes between different editions.
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What are my shipping options?
You can find out about all your shipping options here.
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What is your Return Policy?
Items must be returned within 7 days for most of the year. If you bought books in the summer for the Fall Session we allow returns up to three weeks after the school year begins in September. New books must be returned in new condition - no bent corners, scratches on the cover, wear and tear from being carried in a backpack, open packaging, online resources that have been activated, etc. Used books must be returned in saleable condition. If you can't make it down within the cut-off period, call us before the cut-off period and we'll try to arrange a reasonable length of time when you will be able to come down. If you don't call or if you can't make it down within a reasonable time we may wind up only being able to treat it as a buyback instead of a return.
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Where the Heck is my Order?
If you ordered online a while back and haven't received your order a book maybe back-ordered. Our policy is to wait until all books are in to ship your order/call you for pick up, or to wait until a deadline has been reached to get items in your hands prior to the school season starting. If you're concerned that maybe the order was shipped and lost, you can call us to check if the order was shipped.
Note: If you placed your order online we will include your e-mail address with your shipping information when we ship your order. Most of the couriers we deal with e-mail a tracking number to our clients after they pick up shipments from our warehouse. Check to make sure that there isn't a tracking e-mail from one of them in your spam folder. If you placed a phone order and gave or were asked for your e-mail address tracking information should be sent to you as well.
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Who do I complain to?
If you have a complaint you can either call and speak to the Manager, fill in a Customer Survey here (Please include Contact Information in the appropriate area), or e-mail us. Before doing so, please take a moment to read through our FAQ and familiarize yourself with our policies, and note some details about your complaint like the order or receipt number, person you dealt with (if any), etc. It'll be easier for us to resolve your issues if we have details to work with.
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What is an ISBN and why do you keep asking me for it?
An International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is an unique identifier that allows a specific book and edition to be identified - it's like a fingerprint for books. If you ask for a book by title there may be many books that match that title. Even the same publisher may have different numbered, revised, or regional editions that use the same title. The ISBN allows us to make sure you get the specific book and edition you want. This is why our booklists always show the ISBN and why we ask for the ISBN instead of the title when you contact us. ISBN's were 10 digits, but are now migrating to 13 digit EAN/ISBN codes, and can be found on the back of the book (near the barcode) or the copyright page.
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What is your contact information?
You can find all our contact information on our Contact Us page.
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What are your store hours?
Our store hours change based on how busy it is. For most of the year we aren't open Saturday, Sunday, or late nights other than Thursday. As we get into the busy season we starting opening Saturdays, and then Sundays. You can always find our current store hours on our Store Hours page.
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I didn't see my question answered here. Where can I find out what I need to know?
If you don't see your question answered here, and can't find the information on our website, you can e-mail us, or call us (416-461-3542 or toll free at 1-877-63ALPHA) and we'll do our best to get you the information you want. If you believe your question should be on our FAQ, please let us know so we can consider adding it.
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