Hand Me Down Book Club 

Paid my money in January. No books have arrived and it’s May. No reply. Dead website. No refund

DON'T SIGN UP! Terrible experience. I signed up in October '24 as a gift to my husband, but we only received 2 books in the many months. I've been trying to email to stop the money coming out of my account but am getting no response. I'm going to have to go through my bank but not sure if I'll get the money back fro the previous months. It's very frustrating considering the company has been dissolved that people can still sign up and get charged money monthly! Scam.

Bought a subscription in December, by February nothing had arrived, emailed support and that bounced back, ultimately had to go through my bank to get my money back. A look on companies house suggests the company was dissolved in July 2024.
I noticed today that the website now just says coming soon and is no longer taking subscriptions like it was up until very recently.

Only one star because zero isn’t an option. Ordered this for my niece as a Christmas present, subscribed in November. It’s now nearly the end of January and nothing has been delivered. I’ve emailed them three times without response. Hugely disappointing. Scam company and I have no idea how to get a refund from them.

I signed up to Trustpilot just to write this review...
I ordered 7th December and as of today my order is still "processing" - I have had no response to communications, so far they've just stolen my money. Wish I'd checked these reviews sooner, I usually do. Be warned.

Sadly a scam. They took 3 months payments, when I emailed to say I hadn't received any books at all and to ask about the order, they didn't reply. I've now cancelled my subscription, after receiving no books at all.

After repeatedly chasing I finally received my first month's subscription a month late. I still have not revived the second month's. I have sent several emails (the only way to contact them) but have not received a response. Generally terrible experience. Avoid

I have paid 2 months subscriptions and still no books have appeared. Allan

After reading a few reviews on this page, I was a bit concerned placing an order for a gift.
It seems I was completely wrong, the gift turned up to my sister as organised, and the books were fantastic, she loved them.
In my experience, I highly recommend this company!

My son bought this subscription for my birthday. I am so upset that what he bought in good faith to give me pleasure has been what I can only describe as a waste of his money. Books did not arrive monthly. The first ones were very late and at one point 2 lots arrived days apart. The website shows carefully packed books in nice brown paper tied up with string. Not sure what happened to that! Books are received in a postal bag and the ones I received today were even sticky. Not one of the books has been worth more than about £1. They are the ones the charity shops can't sell! One even arrived with a 2 for £1
sticker! The whole concept is sold on the premise of the fact that books can't be recycled and appeals to those of us who care for the environment. I feel that the company care only for their profit. I feel so disappointed that these people have exploited the good intentions of buyers.

It's a scam. They have taken 3 months of money but only provided books once. The books were terrible - 25p jobs. Emails bounce back. Have cancelled through bank

My son signed me and his mother up for this as a Christmas present. A thoughtful gift but my books stopped arriving though her’s kept arriving. I tried to contact them about this and also to ask if we could change the type of books my wife was being sent.
I used the email address on their website. The emails bounced back.
I contacted customer services online, having to register first.
Two weeks plus on and still no response.

Terrible scam - took the money,no books sent, no reply to emails and now email address on the website bounces back as email address ‘does not exist’.
No phone number listed to call. Have blocked through bank so they cannot take any more payments. Steer well clear!

In short, never delivered and now been chasing a refund for nearly a month. Order from Tea Time Bookshop instead.

Overlong cathartic vent:
Loved this idea so clubbed together with a group as a 40th birthday present for our friend.

Emailed before ordering for a guide on how long despatch takes as would like it to arrive vaguely around the birthday. Told approx 5 working days so ordered it for ten working days.

A few weeks later get the "new management" email and set up my account where I see my order won't even be despatched for another two weeks. Contact them and they say that a handful of delivieries have been delayed (ok, then tell me before i have to chase it up??) but will process with urgency.

Another week goes by and it still hasn't been despatched let alone delivered. Birthday was weeks ago by this time and I am holding everyone's money!

Lose faith so ask for a refund which they confirm has been processed on 15th March, but may take ten working days to clear on my card. 20 working days later, no response to my request for an update so I am going to start the chargeback process. Hopefully if enough do this, their account will get flagged with the payment processor and they won't be able to keep taking money without delivering a service.

In the meantime, I ordered from Tea Time Bookshop which delivered within a few days and she was thrilled. I wanted to support the sustainable element of HMD Bookclub, but I only have so much time to dedicate to buying a birthday present!!

I don't really have the spoons, but I am out of pocket having bought two group presents now so I really need this refund.

This company is terrible. They began quite well a couple of years ago but have deteriorated beyond recognition. The selection of books is hopeless. The books are so low quality and look like rejects from charity shops. Out of season Christmas books, doctors and nurses romances and historical potboilers are all included in the Lucky Dip subscription. Really miserable. I have complained numerous times but the selection never improves. I have emailed but get no response and we note that no phone number is listed on the website. I will have to terminate my subscription through my bank instead. Avoid!

I took out a subscription in nov 2023, money taken but no books,two emails now dec 2023 no answer.

Avoid this company! I bought a subscription for my daughter-in-law, for two surprise books each month, but after the first batch of readable books, the second and third batch of Danielle Steeles and Catherine Cooksons were incredibly disappointing. I switched the subscription to my mum and changed it to crime/thriller. This was back in March. Eight months later and my mother has since received precisely nothing whatsoever. I have chased and chased customer services, but they have responded just once months ago stating they sent the books out, but they haven't. There is no phone number to contact them and 'customer services' have not responded to my regular emails asking where the books I have paid for are. I have had no books and no refund. I would advise anyone to avoid this company - poor quality books and no service to speak of.

Only giving 1 start as I can’t give no stars.

Signed up for this club for all the right reasons - surprise books each month, different genres, reducing waste etc but unfortunately had issues from the start.

1. I signed up for the six book membership, they sent four books. I then chased and after a week or so they responded and sent me the missing two books. Book range was interesting but the kind of light fiction that you can get at The Works easily.
2. Second set of books arrived and several books were sticky. I cleaned them off as much as I could however the books were around 20+ years old so faded and yellowed.
3. Third set of books arrived and there was a duplicate with one that was in my second set of books. I emailed asking for a replacement and got no reply.
4. Having had no reply, I emailed and asked to cancel and again after a few weeks I had no response. The subscription fee was charged to my credit card without my consent but no books arrived.
5. I received a confirmation saying that my account has been closed, however no response after several weeks when asking whether my books for my last payment would be dispatched or if I would receive a refund.

Nice idea, abysmally executed. For the cost I would suggest that people go to a charity shop with a budget each month to try different authors and genres. At least that support charities too.

Will never respond to your emails. Will send you a Christmas book in august, and the 15th book in a series. Won’t let you cancel. Absolutely no thought behind it. Great idea, dreadfully executed.

Great concept but disappointing books received.

Had Hand Me Down Book Club for four months and had selected to have surprise mixed genres each month. The first month was two interesting sci-fi books and a great intro to the subscription box.

For the next three months, both books each month were what can only be described as trashy romantic crap. We had: two Danielle Steel books, Patricia Scanlan's 'A Time For Friends', Catherine Cookson's 'The Blind Years' and Charlotte Bingham's 'In Distant Fields'. Hardly a way to discover new and interesting books! All of which are the sort of books that would be outside a charity shop for 50p or less.

It's a shame there didn't appear to be more 'careful curation' in the book choices - it appeared they just threw the cheapest old rubbish in each month.