Books That Matter Anmeldelser 

SCAM. Takes money a month in advance, then never sends the box out. (If you ever get a box, it's months late or damaged). No response to emails or DM's. I tried to claim money back via Paypal but they had the cheek to fight it despite NOT SENDING ME MY BOX. Negative reviews are being deleted! Please avoid and spend your money elsewhere!

Absolutely awful company. Believe every single negative review, because they’re accurate. They don’t respond to anything, they ignore emails, they delete comments from social media if they don’t like them, they take your money and then refuse to send out the products. They’re in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and are reportable to Trading Standards because of their actions.

Yet they still continue to try and take new orders. If you’re thinking of placing one, then don’t. You’ll lose your money.

“As seen on Dragons Den” - bet they’re glad they didn’t invest.

Do not give this company your money! I have no words to describe how awful their customer service is. Lie after lie after lie. Timeframes consistently not met, orders not sent when said, refunds not issued when promised. I’ve supported the business for a few years but this year has been atrocious.
What’s most insulting is whilst many customers are chasing orders they’ve spent their money on, the company are posting on socials acting like everything’s fine and deleting peoples comments questioning where their items are.
Awful, awful company who clearly do not care one bit about their customers. Take your hard earned money elsewhere!

Like many of the reviews on here, I’ve previously used Books That Matter (now rebranded as Aphra). I had received my boxes on time and was happy. However, I subscribed again in May and it’s all gone wrong from there. I did not receive the box in June. I contacted them in July and did actually receive an email where they said I would receive the box. After a week, I’d still not received anything and social media was saying the July boxes had been sent out. I emailed again and was assured I would be sent the box. That was the last email I received. I did eventually get the June box but have not received either the July or August box. I have contacted them numerous times via email and social media. They have deleted negative comments I have posted from their Instagram accounts but not actually bothered to respond to me. I have no choice now but to report them to trading standards especially after they had the gall yesterday to tell a prospective customer to ignore the negative comments as the August deliveries had gone without a hitch. They initially blamed the June and July problems on an outside company and their social media was full of promises saying they were doing the August boxes in house. Clearly, they still have the same problem. The most frustrating part of it is the total lack of communication from them. Do not use this company.

I was once a loyal subscriber to Books That Matter, having previously enjoyed fantastic boxes from them. However, my recent experience with their 6 Month Box Subscription has been nothing short of a nightmare.


My journey with this subscription began in April when my husband gifted it to me for my birthday. Naturally, I was excited about it, given my previous positive experiences. Little did I know that the excitement would soon turn into frustration and disappointment.

In May, I started noticing that I wasn't receiving my boxes as expected. Concerned about this, I reached out to their support team, initially through emails and then via Instagram DMs since they were unresponsive via email.

To date, I have not received a single response, and it's now September! This utter lack of customer service is not just unprofessional; it's downright disrespectful.


What adds insult to injury is an audacious move from Molly, the owner of Books That Matter. Despite my ongoing struggles to get a response regarding my missing boxes, she had the audacity to slide into my Instagram DMs and request a positive review on Trustpilot. I promptly responded to her, explaining the issue with my subscription, only to be met with silence once again.


The result of this ordeal is that I am left not only without the boxes I paid for, but also unable to issue a refund through PayPal, as the 180-day window has passed. I feel like I've had £100 stolen from my pocket, all while Books That Matter shamelessly promotes its products, seemingly oblivious to the cries of disgruntled customers.


What's truly infuriating is that they continue to ignore their customers while actively marketing their products. Whenever they post on Instagram, an influx of angry customers expresses their frustration, only for their comments to mysteriously vanish. My comment, sharing my negative experience was deleted, and my account was shadow-banned (mind you I was very polite).


The recent rebranding as "Aphra" does nothing to clear their tarnished reputation, as their actions suggest that they continue to scam their customers. This has been a disheartening and infuriating experience, and I strongly advise anyone considering a subscription with Books That Matter, or their new identity, Aphra, to proceed with extreme caution. My once high regard for this company has been utterly shattered, and I hope that my review serves as a warning to others.

I ordered from them for the very first time last year in September and received my first box fairly quickly. The subscription box from October however, never arrived. I immediately cancelled my subscription and have been trying to get an answer from them ever since, but never heard back. I tried emailing, messaging on Facebook, commenting on their Instagram, nothing… It is such a shame because I genuinely loved the first box that I got, but I would never purchase a box or subscription from them again. The costumer service is pretty much nonexistent. Including shipping to Switzerland, that is £32.76 wasted 🐁

It's so sad because I have been a subscriber with Books that Matter (now Aphra book club) for over two years and have really enjoyed supporting a female led independent business. I was initially sympathetic about the issues they were experiencing and was happy to be patient while they took some time to iron the issues out. Unfortunately this has just led to me not recieving two of my boxes and ZERO response to emails. This on its own is poor but then they would send misleading emails saying 95% of orders had shipped (which feels doubtful with the number of complaints) and then pushing content on social media to sell subscriptions which they're clearly not able to fulfil. I would have appreciated an honest approach, even if it meant delaying orders for a couple of months until they sorted everything out but now it feels like customers are being purposefully ignored and lied to.

Never received my order
Order for a friends birthday in May, have never received anything. Got in touch multiple times and haven't heard back from them, have reported to trading standards

Disgusting company.
Failing to address the issues that have arisen and instead of taking some time away to reassess and focus on the existing problems, they continue to post new content and completely ignore the many angry customers.
Their decision to rebrand in the hopes of distancing themselves from their poor rep is a futile one. The damage has already been done and it’s not like people’s complaints are minor. The company is FAILING to even fulfil what it’s been set up to do - provide book subscription boxes. It’s not like it’s a small blip than can be swept under the rug. This is HUGE. And to add insult to injury, stealing people’s money during one of the most trying economic times known in recent years.

I used to be a big fan of this subscription box back in 2021 and 2022. However, not anymore due to the lack of fulfilled orders and the lack of accountability.

DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY. The rebrand is just window dressing for what is a sinking ship. I’ll be surprised if it makes it to 2024…

I'm not sure where to begin with the issues I've had with Books that Matter, now renamed Aphra Book Club. I wanted to give them time to reply to my multiple emails and resolve this issue before I wrote a review, however at this point I'm unsure if that will ever happen. I ordered an ongoing subscription in December 2022 as a Christmas gift for my sister. Several months later my sister informed me she had never received any books. Unfortunately I was too busy at the time to look into this, and also trusted this small, woman-led company to send these orders out eventually. Admittedly, it was an error on my part to let this go on for so long, however in July I confirmed that not only had no books had been delivered, none had even been shipped. The December 22 box was still marked as "Processing" on their website - 8 months later. I had paid over 200 pounds and they had not shipped anything.
I contacted the website a month ago now and received no reply, so disputed all transactions with Paypal. Books That Matter (now renamed Aphra Book Club) did not reply to any messages from Paypal regarding the disputes, so I had to escalate these all to claims which were all closed by Paypal in my favour. Unfortunately, two of my transactions fell outside the timeframe in which Paypal offers Buyer Protection, so I have been emailing Books that Matter regarding this. Emailing implies a conversation back and forth, however this is all one-sided - the only replies I have gotten to approximately 5 emails over the course of the past month have been auto-replies. I have never before experienced such poor customer service. Books That Matter have mentioned issues with fulfilment and mail carriers before, however the resounding issue for me is the total lack of customer service. Perhaps most infuriating is the fact that they not only still accept orders for subscription boxes (unfathomable given these ongoing issues), but have now totally rebranded to Aphra Book Club. I cannot help but be cynical regarding this name change amidst all these negative Trustpilot reviews. It is incredibly disappointing that this experience happened with a company whose ethos I very much support, and would have liked to continue supporting. Ultimately this has been a very expensive and lengthy lesson in always reading reviews and never falling for a company's marketing. Sadly, I now will feel the need to comprehensively vet any small business I wish to support to avoid being - and I don't use this word lightly - scammed.

Like so many other reviewers here I have paid for a subscription and received nothing, despite several emails. I am planning on doing a chargeback via my bank, I would recommend others in the same boat do the same.

Unbelievable is all I can say. They have now relaunched themselves under a different name/brand called Aphra!
Meanwhile I like many others are still waiting for book boxes not delivered in June and July. I am extremely doubtful that I am going to receive the books or a refund. They have the audacity to say they have asked customers about the cost of living crisis. Well perhaps start by not taking customers hard earned money when you are unable to ensure delivery of your product. So cross and disappointed with Booksthatmatter aka Aphra !

I have had two payments taken from my bank account and still not received my goods or any communication from this company. Today I will be reporting to Trading Standards and would urge others to do the same. If there was a genuine problem with getting orders out they would have been open and honest about it. Instead they are choosing to ignore. Whatever you do, do not part with your hard earned money to this company.

I ordered books in May and expected them to arrive in the following weeks. It's now mid-August, and still nothing. Like many others, I've complained on Instagram, received a lot of likes from people in the same boat, and my comments have been deleted. No replies to emails, either. Meanwhile, they promote new offers to customers. I expect they'll get their orders in December - or never! I've requested a chargeback via my bank and sent an email using wording from Citizen's Advice so hopefully I will get my money back. So disappointing as I just wanted the books! I can't wait to get the refund and unfollow them so I never have to deal with them again!

Payment left my bank promptly each month, but for the last two months I've received no books. The customer service is absolutely abysmal. Judging from Instagram posts the business is growing and growing, when they can't even handle their own core business model. Absolutely shocking.

Such a shame this once a great little community book subscription box has quickly gone down hill i used to love engaging in their monthly unboxing videos and looked forward to my monthly read however something has clearly gone wrong deliveries are always late or not at all no communication at all and I have to say not fulfilling orders and not receiving goods you have paid for is never going to end well I would have to say avoid sorry

really poor communication, meaning no communication at all on a few occasions. Left messages twice in the chat, no response. Website is really confusing and it's impossible to find what you're looking for. Really bad experience, not recommending for a gift or anything - gifts are supposed to make you happy and this is anything but

Please don't waste your money! Absolute joke of a company.
They are struggling to deliver orders made months ago but are continuously advertising new boxes & live events... After many emails and Instagram messages I finally received my money back from my bank - I would advise others do the same. Contact your banks as you'll never get any refunds from this company...

As with others who have commented I have not received books for my money nor a refund. Not even an email or message back on Instagram despite emailing and messaging several times over the last month and more. My husband purchased me a 3 month subscription as a gift and we have received absolutely nothing. After doing some digging I realised there are hundreds of very unhappy customers. They delete negative comments on their Instagram page and things don’t get better when you see their Companies House page!

Do NOT purchase.

Still waiting on my orders months later. Have asked for a refund several times but have been ignored. We get it, mistakes happen and orders sometimes get lost, but any other company offers a refund or resends the item if it gets lost. Terrible service, can't believe they're still advertising to new subscribers when they clearly already can't handle the volume they have. Such a great idea but so poorly executed.