Waterstones Reviews 

5,363
TrustScore 4.5 out of 5

4.6

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Evaluating 643 reviews, reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Consumers frequently praise the support team for being exceptionally helpful, friendly, and incredibly quick to resolve any queries or online purchase complications. Many buyers mention that staff members consistently go above and beyond to track down rare items, manage replacements smoothly, and ensure shopping feels personal and reassuring. However, some customers also noted that books occasionally arrived damaged or with torn dust jackets due to overly flimsy packaging materials. A few people expressed frustration when orders faced unexpected delivery delays or when communication regarding out-of-print titles completely fell short.

What people talk about most

Customer service

People report positive experiences with customer service, noting that support agents are consistently helpful... See more

Staff

Consumers find staff to be positive, helpful, and exceptionally professional during interactions. Reviewers... See more

Order

Users describe ambiguous interactions with order, highlighting both positive and negative experiences. While... See more

Product

Customers had ambiguous experiences with product, often highlighting a great selection of signed and special... See more

Response time

Customers consistently note positive experiences with response_time, praising the team for fast replies and... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Lisa was very helpful and quick to respond to my original query, and then gave some additional information which I found really useful. Great Customer Service!! This is one reason why Waterstones is t... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Love visiting a Waterstones. Last visit I bought a signed copy that turned out to be missing the signature - didn’t realise this until I got home. Contacted customer service and they shipped a new s... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I’m impressed at how helpful Lisa and Peter were when I asked a question about stocking my recently published poetry book (bilingual) . Lisa quickly passed my query to the relevant department and then... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great customer service for cancelling an order that was taking to long to arrive before we were moving house and were even given a link for where the book was in stock. Cecilia was very helpful an... See more


Company details

  1. Book Store

About Waterstones

Written by the company

Waterstones' mission is to be the leading Bookseller on the High Street and online providing customers the widest choice, great value and expert advice from a team passionate about Bookselling; uniting readers with the perfect books and bringing them together with authors through our events programme.

Browse millions of books online - Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children's, Textbooks and Audiobooks. Discover our range of Signed & Exclusive editions, Gifts and Games. Sign up for our Waterstones Plus card to earn and redeem as you spend in our shops, cafes and online. Free UK delivery to store and on orders of £25 or more.


Contact info

4.6

Excellent

TrustScore 4.5 out of 5

5K reviews

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Asks customers to review

This company invites their customers to review, whether positive or negative

Replied to 62% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 2 weeks

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4.6

All reviews

(5,363)

637 reviews in the last 12 months

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Companies on Trustpilot aren't allowed to offer incentives or pay to hide reviews. Reviews are the opinions of individual users and not of Trustpilot. Read more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great customer service

When I had a book that had been misprinted, it was very easy to get in touch with customer services. Lisa got this sorted for me right away!

30 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Incredible customer service

I was attempting to get a specific book for my partners birthday, it was out of stock, and it is currently out of print.
Lisa in customer service tracked a copy down for me and it was in their store just 7 miles from where I live, she reserved it for me late in the afternoon, I collected it this morning.
Whilst Waterstones may not always be the cheapest, their staff are second to none.

28 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent experience

Excellent experience. I love the shop anyway but I had a self inflicted problem that they (Lorraine in customer services) went the extra mile to sort for me.

29 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Books shipped always to order

Books shipped always to order. On the very rare occasions I have needed customer service to address an issue they have always quickly addressed the matter in hand satisfactorily and without delay

29 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great customer service

Lorraine the Waterstones Service Advisor responded to my ticket quickly and managed to sort my problem with the Waterstones Plus cards fast, also making sure I don’t lose any stamps I had collected. Absolute star.

28 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Had a query with a promo code not…

Had a query with a promo code not working, the customer support assistant Lisa, answered my query really quickly, and offered me a solution to the problem. Really pleased with the service, Lisa was polite and sympathetic. Always a good experience with Waterstones, whether in store or online.

27 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I’d definitely recommend Waterstones!

I’d definitely recommend Waterstones’ customer service. When I had an issue with a gift card not working properly, they responded very quickly and resolved it efficiently. The whole process was easy, and they kept me updated throughout. Excellent customer service – thank you!

24 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I had difficulty finding copies of the…

I had difficulty finding copies of the complete works of Lord Macauly, so rang customer services and received remarkable assistance from Hayley, who tracked down publishers, ISBN numbers and a wide range of his works. I am very grateful for her time and effort.

24 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great Customer Service

After not receiving two stamps for my £19.98 purchase, Jo at Waterstones Customer Support heard my concerns and rounded up the £0.02 to ensure I got the stamps. They were so kind and helpful and responded quickly. Thank you!

24 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Rude staff

my daughter was in your store yesterday at Trafford Centre (she’s 18 but looks slightly younger) browsing through books, looking for one to buy. She was told off by a staff member, accused of “bending books”. She wasn’t. She had been leafing through the first few pages, as so many people do, quite carefully, just to be sure that it was the kind of story she would like. She was so embarrassed and upset by the interaction, due to the staff member being so rude and so unfair, that she immediately left the store without buying anything. That’s not ok. Shame on you. That’s not the kind of service I had come to expect at your stores.

22 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I was attending a release of pokemon…

I was attending a release of pokemon cards in Norwich waterstones. And having not been apart of the hobby for so long, a member of staff named Joel was highly helpful. Particularly in which door into the store was the best for me to wait outside was. It was an amazing experience in comparison to other places! Joel's customer service and conversation was what made a large part of experience brilliant.

24 May 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I always love shopping with Waterstones…

I always love shopping with Waterstones & have had fantastic experiences in store even down to book recommendations. All staff in store go above and beyond and are very friendly & professional.

Today I’m able to write a review on the amazing customer service team. I was having issues with one of my orders, and the customer service representative I spoke with on the phone was warm & engaging as well as very helpful, I was advised that my query was already being dealt with by another representative, but that all would be dealt with accordingly.

I then received an email not more than half hour later and my issue was resolved and also had a lovely exchange with a warm and personable customer service agent via email (which isn’t the easiest thing to do!)

Highly recommend Waterstones both in store and online.

22 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Superb service

I emailed late Tuesday afternoon regarding a problem with accessing my loyalty plus card. By Wednesday morning I had, had a response and Cecilia had very quickly rectified my issue. Superb service

22 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Pretty books for everyone

Chatted with Adam today who helped me very quickly in identifying and resolving an issue that had offcured when I cancelled a selection of books I had on preorder and not all of the funds got correctly allocated back to my gift card balance straight away.

This was mostly I believe down to my confusing the system by cancelling 3 books in 2 separate requests in a short space of time which probably resulted in the last request getting lost in sending the funds back.

Adam quickly identified and agreed with me about the missing funds and about an hour later emailed me back after speaking to a supervisor and resolved the issue without question. Great service 💖

Love ordering from Waterstones and their wide selection of books they have, especially the special edition books pretty sprayed edges. Never had any issues and the few times I have required it their customer service is always great!

20 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Stop Shipping Special Editions in Thin Cardboard Mailers

Waterstones sells premium special edition books that are signed or include exclusive features unavailable in any other edition. Many of these editions sell out quickly, making replacements impossible. Despite this, Waterstones continues to ship these collectible books around the world in thin cardboard mailers that provide inadequate protection during transit.

It is therefore unsurprising that many customers receive books with dents, crushed corners, torn dust jackets, or other damage. What is surprising is Waterstones' response. Rather than offering an appropriate remedy for a damaged collectible, they often offer a partial refund of around 25%, even when the book has been significantly damaged. For international customers, replacements are frequently unavailable because the edition has sold out. Waterstones states that a full refund is available only if the customer returns the book at their own expense, despite the fact that the item arrived damaged and was not in the condition advertised.

What is most frustrating is that this problem is entirely preventable. Proper packaging would dramatically reduce the number of damaged books. Instead, Waterstones appears willing to risk disappointing customers and damaging its reputation over the relatively small cost of better packaging or providing an appropriate refund when things go wrong.

For a retailer that markets certain of their books as special collector's editions, the level of care taken in shipping them falls well below what customers should reasonably expect.

16 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant.

Brilliant, easy online ordering service. 3rd time to order books online with 'click and collect' at the friendly Trowbridge branch. It's remarkable Waterstones don't ask pre payment, can pay when you get the book. Efficient and convenient.

19 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

In the last three months I’ve…

In the last three months I’ve pre-ordered two special edition books from here. As they use Royal Mail BOTH books arrived damaged. I’ve taken pictures and sent them to Waterstones with a complaint and asking for a refund. BOTH times they have refused saying I can still read them! Well yes, but that’s not the point it is it?! I didn’t order “damaged” books, YOU didn’t advertise the books would be sent damaged! If that’s your attitude on your site offer customers the option of a book that’s been thrown around or a book that’s been cared for and I’ll choose the cared for one everytime! Your excuse is a pathetic one, your partial refund offer of 25% ridiculous the book is damaged at the spine anything can happen to the spine now where the book can fall apart if I attempt to read it! Your customer service is non existent your staff member Georgia is rude/sarcastic and belligerent to say the least. I don’t order a damaged book it’s a full refund process and nothing more! I won’t be using you again due to your attitude, your lack of care with the gods your selling and for using Royal Mail when you know they’re the worst delivery company around. My last order with you I’m done.

15 July 2026
Unprompted review

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