Lonely Planet Reviews

Since brexit you have to pay taxes if your order from europe. Since they ship from the UK. This is not very transparant beforehand. Had to pay 9 euro extra for an order of ~45 euro.

This made the order way more expensive compared to ordering locally.

( ORDER No. 4766508A and 4767228A)

These were placed on 30th of October 2021 and till today that is February 14th 2022 they still have not arrived. Like other posters I was initially offered the same excuses which overtime dried up and now Lonely Planet simply stopped responding and or updating me on this.

John ????? (Who did not feel necessary to write his full name), Shop Operations Manager who wrote to me in December last year to apologize for the delay and who has also since then simply and conveniently disappeared from the scene.

The worst disgusting unethical company I have experienced in my life. Needless to say everyone should read up and avoid buying or dealing with Lonely Planet.

All those affected by Lonely Planets' failure to uphold its's end of the deal should look into what legal options exist.

Terrible service - ordered 2 books well over a month ago, apparently an issue at the warehouse. Despite numerous contacts they still can't tell me when I will receive.
I can't believe they can't sort the problem out and send replacements. Don't order from them. Shocking customer service.
Order 4766712A
Update. Still no further forward. No one can tell me when or even if I will receive an order that I paid for some time ago. Pretty much worst service I have received. Awful company. Don't buy!

Extremely poor service, very robotic and template answers,
I ordered two books for my wife, one for her birthday and one for a upcoming holiday in December. Ordered over a month ago and when I checked on Friday why they didn’t arrive yet I was told there was an error in they system and they don’t know if the order was actually processed not. They also wouldn’t be able to provide me with a tracking number and couldn’t give a timeframe on when I would get the order (if ever?). Are you joking ?
I can see both books are in stock and available to ship within 1-2 days, I am appalled you don’t just send me a replacement. I don’t want a refund because when I ordered I used an offer for buy one get one free, but I am now thinking that might have been a scam, because clearly you are not sending me both books and just want to refund me the money for one.
This really has been the worst experience and customer service is not friendly at all.
My wife used to live lonely planet and only ever bought your guided, but having told her about this she’s been very disappointed
Order 4765327A

10 January 2018 - the date our tour in India started!! Two women with our two young daughters arrived in Terminal 3 in New Delhi- India. Mr Kamal from Jaisalmer, owner of the Thar Desert Tours planned everything for us, well organized and for sure safe. The car with a very polite driver, the hotels, the train- trip and the tour in the Thar desert. In Jaisalmer we had the opportunity to meet his parents and fanily and we were very welcome.! It was an experience we never forget and we are already planning to come back! Thank you mr Kamal

I find Lonely Planet books very informative and useful. They are ideal to take on a trip as a guide, with lots of information on sites, restaurants, hotels and local cultures. They make sure one doesn't miss out on anything during a trip. I wish they had a little more souvenir value though, through more colour photographs and a more attractive layout (I'm comparing them with DK Eyewitness books, which have such great souvenir value in addition to information). But that's just the aesthetics. In terms of content, Lonely Planet book are great!

best online service in romania

We went to bali last year and used the guide of lonely planet. It was not bad, even if the shadow show in ubud was tuesday instead of thursday as stated in the guide. We also had a local guide to complete our trip.
As the guide said we made attention at the exchange of currency desk but we had no fraud.

I placed an order with the L.P. Shop beginning of December. After one month (and two emails), no travel guide.

I needed to receive the book so placed an order with another company (which arrived promptly).

After six weeks, I had sent a further three emails requesting a refund. No reply to the emails and no refund but someone finally got around to putting the order in the post. I therefore now have a second, completely useless, version of the guide.

I have better ways to spend my time than chasing refunds from such an inept, incompetent and untrustworthy company.

My advice: AVOID ANY BUSINESS WITH THE L.P. SHOP AND THEIR INCOMPETENT CUST. SERVICE.

A Edwards

Guide books: the main reason I buy LP is the fact they make a solid base to plan a trip, especially due to the "how to get there/getting around" section for every city/sight. I never use the information about accommodation or food options as there is usually no reason to do so. The overall quality depends on the book, for example "South East Asia On A Shoestring" was perfect while the one about Egypt seemed to miss a lot of information.

Onlineshop: fine, there is usually some kind of discount which makes an order from here cheaper as getting the book from the most competitive Swiss online store. Delivery was always about two weeks.

Service rate -0 !
Placed On 11/22/2020 at 10:12 PM
Status Open
After a month I still haven't received my order ! Sent lots of emails to customer service - Jana - who keeps sending me replies saying that she is checking and checking and checking...Absolutely ridiculous !
The order was allegedly dispatched on 16th December but nobody knows where it is. And Jana keeps saying that she is not responsible for the shipment.
What I am left with is no Christmas gifts and a legal action to take against Lonely Planet.
Would anybody expect that from such a reputable brand?

BTW. The order was NOT placed for Madagaskar, just within EU.

This is to prove that Jana from Lonely Planet keeps saying untrue information. The email was sent to me nearly a month ago. Till now I havent received any replacement order or refund.

Dec 9, 2020, 6:16 PM GMT

Hi Awajs,

Thanks for your message.

Yes, the order was shipped, but most likely lost in transit.
No tracking number was supplied to me.
I do apologize for this.

A replacement order has been sent out.

Thanks!


Kind regards,
Jana | Customer support team
​

Book order- I wish I had looked here first!

I have always loved Lonely Planet, an old travel companion I trusted and looked to for awesomeness. First time ordering a book on their site.......I added express post as it was for my Dad's birthday.
No email confirmation, no item arrival....now I have contacted customer service, but it sounds like I am wasting my breath. I wonder if I can do anything via my bank.
So VERY disappointed !!
I will never order from you again and the books I had planned to additionally order will not be purchased either.
Such a shame to see the demise of such a fanatic company! (when Australian owner) the reputation is down the toilet, now it is OS owned and useless! a scam!

Ordered 2 books from Lonely Planet. Waited over a week (despite paying for first class delivery at an extortionate £6 with no tracking) before contacting customer services. They assured me the products will have been dispatched and to continue waiting although they couldn't confirm with the warehouse as couldnt find the information, not the greatest of help....

Then out of the blue they sent me a refund (even though I didn't request one). The books still never arrived so clearly had not been dispatched like they originally stated.

Will never shop with again.

Have been waiting for a refund for the subscription money taken from my bank account after the magazine was stopped. Keep being passed from pillar to post with continual promises it's being sorted. It clearly isn't.
Over a month now and many many calls and emails. Very poor customer service

Terrible. First time purchasing a book here. It has been over a month and they still have not shipped it. Been emailing them back and forth but they still will not send it. They say they have no control over the factories that hold the books. Asked to speak with a supervisor or manager and have been completely ignored. So right now I’m out $40.