Cook the Books - The Cookbook Store

Excellent service from 'Cook the Books'. I had been looking for 'Me'a Kai : The Food and Flavours of the South Pacific', which is so difficult to find, for more than 3 years. Finally, tracked it down in Auckland and requested shipping to the UK. Freight to send such a heavy book 11,500 miles from NZ to London would have been a tad expensive but 'Cook the Books' Proprietor, Felicity O'Driscoll very kindly offered to bring it with her on a forthcoming trip to London and send it in the UK. Definitely above and beyond. Hard to think of better customer service. Highly recommended and special thanks to Felicity.

I wouldn't even give them a star if I didn't have to!! Bought a book 5 months ago...5 months!!...still not here...still no updates from this dodge business. So have decided it might be best to pay them a visit in person, because they don't respond to emails and I have never had my calls to them answered. So just do yourself a favour people...don't buy from this business! They take your money and run! Commerce Commission will be getting involved too. Update: I received an email after posting this review...how ironic. Look forward to seeing my refund when your accountant is back Tuesday as you stated in your email to me last night. What you could do different you say?..Communicate better with your customers on the status of their order and actually reply to queries, not ignore them until you get Google reviews. By the looks of the reviews on here it is a problem a lot of your customers are having or have had. Maybe to avoid upset customers don't allow for books to be pre-ordered if out of stock and you have no idea of when you will be supplied. I'm sure you yourselves would be upset waiting 5 months for an order with no update after parting with your hard earned money? It's a sad thing not to be able to trust and support a local business. I look forward to hearing from you with the refund details.

Just to confirm the bad reviews about this scam of a business. I had the same kind of experience as others. Bought a book, never received it. Called them lots of times to find out when I would receive it. Rude unhelpful dismissive staff. After several months of this, they finally gave me a refund and said they would call when they found my book. Haven't heard from them since. One word.... AVOID

DONOT purchased any books from this business!!!! I ordered and paid for a book in May 2025. I have had no communication despite sending them numerous texts, calls and email. I have tried contacting them again 7/8/2025 but they are not replying, I have been conned and very unhappy with this service. I live in the South Island so cannot visit the store if in fact it even exists.

Utter scam. Ordered books over 3 months ago after being given a voucher by friends. On the occasions we have had a phone answered have been given empty promises of delivery dates. Not been offered refund despite it being clear they can’t complete the order within the promised time frames. Avoid at all costs

Totally big scam it’s been 1 year and no refund made so far and no status regarding my book .. just false promises and no response.. don’t buy anything from these people just utterly ridiculous and pathetic behaviour.. hope they will response soon I haven’t received any refund so far please solve this issue asap

Do not buy from this store, they are a scam! I purchased three books back in May for Mother's Day for my wife and was told that one wasn't in the store but would be couriered out to me immediately as it was in the warehouse. I paid for the book up front, however no book arrived. Over the following three months I followed up multiple times with no response to emails or calls. I finally get hold of them via phone call in August and they promised it was being shipped that week which was once again a lie. Finally in late August I demanded a refund and they responded that they would refund me if I sent over my account details. Details were provided, however it is now November and still no refund has been received. The owner is a complete scam artist and holds no accountability. I cannot warn enough about this business and the owner Anna. Update to Response: The owner has finally refunded me however once again has lied in their response so I have attached screenshots for reference and to help protect other purchasers! Not only were the three books I ordered online said to be in 'stock', they responded to my email confirming I could come pick them up as I live very far away - see the screenshot where they responded and also the invoice where they charged me. Upon arriving at the store, I was told as I said above, that it is definitely in their warehouse and will be couriered out to me the same week - hence the screenshot of the two emails sent (which were NEVER responded to) were I followed up on this. In the single phone conversation (that you answered - I called multiple times with no response but only spoke to you once) you are referring to, not only did you NOT say it was unavailable, you said there was a 'mix-up' due to two versions of the book and it would be couriered out that week. Not to mention no apologies that it was now almost 3 months late. Fast forward a few more weeks and nothing arrived so I finally demanded the refund and my wife then provided over the bank details via email (once again in the screenshots provided), in the email chain that you have since responded to. You once again did not process or acknowledge this for two months and only after this review and my email informing you that I would be laying an official complaint did you respond and say you never received the email with the details. Once again, rather than taking any responsibility you continue to lie and blame your customers for your actions which effectively account as fraud. There is a reason why almost every review on here has had the same experience and you need to seriously look at not only your business practices but your connection to the truth.

In December 2022 I came into the store looking for a book I saw they had in stock online. The shop assistant/owner stated that they did not have it physically in the shop but indeed did have it at the warehouse. I paid for the book in anticipation of coming back in to collect it. I emailed and called numerous times to ascertain when the book would be available for collection. Emails went unanswered. At one point I called the shop and they said they would call right back. They did not. When I did manage to speak on the phone I was given various reasons as to the delay and more assurances they book would arrive which it did not. The gathering I wanted the book for had now passed so I asked for a refund which was agreed to on the phone. Over a year later I still do not have a refund. Update regarding response: I will email an outline of each time I contacted you (email and phone). I also have the payment receipt of the transaction. My name is Sam (Samantha) and the book was Afternoon Tea by Will Torrent if that helps to locate any records. Update 2: they did contact me and said the refund should have been processed and they were following up with the bank. Since this I have had no communication for a couple of months. Still no refund.