yeah, I've had ZERO problems with BN.com.... they've gotten stuff to me in a timely manner and without any problems.

You've got to remember that this is basically mail order. There is NO guaranteed delivery unless you're paying extra for o/n delivery. Even then, there can be handling problems where it doesn't go in the mail, distributor problems, etc.

As far as customer service, yeah they should have treated you better. Buth that's customer service. Doesn't matter the particular outlet, you're always going to have problems with customer service. What you don't tell here is the other side of the story. Were you an irate asshole?? Were you accusing the person you were talking to? "You get more flies with honey..." No, it doesn't excuse poor customer service and excuse the initial problem, but you've got to keep in mind that the person on the phone isn't usually the person who screwed things up and they also have limited access to fix your problem.

Sure, go with Amazon... you may have the same issues, though. If you want a book, CD, DVD, etc. in your hand that moment, you should go to a physical store and buy it. You should also order it weeks in advance of when you need it if it's a special order.

Based on the fact that you smugly wrote a letter to the CEO over a late shipment, I am going to have to go ahead and assume you were an asshole. This just in... not every transaction you become involved with is going to be perfect. It seems quite self-important to me that you sent a letter to the CEO because your shipment was a couple of days late. Sure, you had the email address, so you obviously are ALLOWED, but seriously what planet do you live on and who do you think you are?

Based on the fact that you smugly wrote a letter to the CEO

- How did I do so "smugly"?

over a late shipment,

- Not so much over the late shipment (though that did cause me quite a bit of grief with my classes...), but over the fact that their Customer Service Department treated me like human garbage. They *hung up* on me! And no, I was not being irate; in fact, I explained to them that I understood this was most likely the fault of the USPS and not B&N. I didn't demand my money back, just some consideration. I got nothing.

I am going to have to go ahead and assume you were an asshole.

- I'd be happy to provide a copy of the letter I wrote. It was very polite and profesional. I made no demands; I merely wanted to know if B&N would like my business in the future. (I've spent hundreds of dollars in the last year alone, just at their website. This doesn't include trips to their local store.)

This just in... not every transaction you become involved with is going to be perfect.

- I realize that. But, at least where I come from, when the customer gets screwed, the business makes it up to the customer, even if it wasn't really the fault of the business. That's the whole point of *real* customer service...

It seems quite self-important to me that you sent a letter to the CEO because your shipment was a couple of days late.

- Sigh...as I explained above, it wasn't merely over a late shipment...

Sure, you had the email address,

- ??? No, I sent a typed letter to B&N's corporate headquarters, addressed to their CEO, Steve Riggio.

so you obviously are ALLOWED, but seriously what planet do you live on and who do you think you are?

- I think I'm a customer who has spent hundreds of dollars on B&N products over the last 12 months. All I really expected (and rightfully deserved) was a little empathy from their customer service department. I got nothing but silence. And I'll be shopping at Amazon.com in the future.

This is precisely why I won't shop chains and stick to independent merchants. They tend to treat their customers like human beings, whereas the massive chains simply don't have to be humane. Of course, I am fortunate enough to have the option of an independent -- don't know what I would do if there was not one nearby, because shopping a chain -- for me, YMMV -- would be immoral.

On another note, wow, Craig, with all due respect, could you *be* more presumptuous?

based on the fact that you had to write this AND another pretty much duplicate post and the the fact that you are a "customer who spent hundreds of dollars..." yadda-yadda, I have to assume that you're rather pissed and you think that spending money entitles you to be treated specially for "spending hundreds of dollars" or whatever.

You got bad customer service. It happens to all of us at one point or another. It's going to happen again, trust me. Amazon isn't any better... writing two self-serving posts about it isn't going to change the fact. Write your letter, say your piece and move on with your life... it's gotten enough mileage.

as far as shopping at "indies" goes.... try to find some of the stuff you can find at B&N, Amazon, etc. at a corner store.... good luck.

BTW: I've had worse experiences with Amazon than I have with B&N and I still shop at both....

I was goosed by a Borders.

Actually, I've had problems with Barnes and Noble and I think they are a SHIT (let me repeat that), SHIT company to work with online. Their customer service DOES SUCK INCREDIBLY BAD. I REFUSE to buy online from them ever again.

Let me say this once more.

BARNES AND NOBLE ARE A SHIT COMPANY TO ORDER FROM ONLINE.

Amazon.com rocks in my world. I get things on time. I think the prices are reasonable. There have been some times in the past 5(?) years that I have ordered from them and they have always be very helpful and quick to resolve my problems.

I cannot say enough good things about Amazon.com as a company. I have NEVER had a problem with them- and that is rare.

For the last time:

BARNES AND NOBLE ARE SHIT AS AN ONLINE MERCHANT. DO NOT GIVE THEM THE BUSINESS.

Can you tell how much they pissed me off when I ordered from them?

NEVER AGAIN, BARNES AND NOBLE, NEVER AGAIN!

BTW... I HATE BARNES AND NOBLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nat, you are right, I was very presumptuous. I just think it is so ridiculous that someone would send a letter to the CEO of the company. It's like playing the lottery. It isn't the best way to get results. It is a way to make yourself feel more important because you have something important to say and you are going to go straight to the top. This person should know something, and I am going to be the person to educate them. Blah blah blah. So, I did project this onto RJ. I guess it is my own pet peeve.

RJ, you were wrong to complain to the CEO.

See, big business rules the day. It doesn't matter how much money you spent on them. YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO. But you must remember, you are just a lowly customer and this is BARNES AND NOBLE which is a bigger company than you are a person and you have NO RIGHT to contact the CEO and complain about crappy service. He's just the CEO and doesn't have time to listen to the complaints of the likes of you since his job is to figure out how to make the company make more money with less.

You're lucky that they even let you shop there are all.

You Jerk.

Good point Victoria. You bested me with your sarcasm. You must be a self-important consumer too. You would rather concentrate on making yourself feel better with your bullshit letters to the CEO than trying to get results. Very productive. Hope it makes you feel better.

Lord, the things some folks complain about. I came close to being arrested at a Barnes & Noble a few months ago. I wanted to buy a couple books. I also wanted to return a book about iPhoto 1 and replace it with one about iPhoto 2. (Had gotten it late and had the editions change on me.) I took the book out of my computer bag (a Kensington saddlebag type) in plain sight of the clerk. The next thing I knew there was a manager talking down to me about how there must be a copy of the book I was returning missing from their shelves if I had one in my possession. They backed down when I flashed my bar card. I got distracted from the matter, but thinking about it has made me angry all over again. I still may sue them.

I am not saying these things are limited to B&N. Far from it. But, I am again reminded of the fact I live in a different society than people like R.J. Elliott. He gets a late delivery and spits nails over it. People who look like I do suffer all kinds of abuses and move on.

Maybe you should just write a letter to the CEO. Maybe that's the best way to get something accomplished, MD.

Craig wrote: "I just think it is so ridiculous that someone would send a letter to the CEO of the company. It's like playing the lottery. It isn't the best way to get results."

Maybe not. However, I sure as shit wasn't getting any results by calling their "Customer Service" number, so I honestly didn't know how else to pursue this matter.

What would you have done? Just bent over a little further and bitten down on the pillow a little harder?

Craig continued: "It is a way to make yourself feel more important because you have something important to say and you are going to go straight to the top. This person should know something, and I am going to be the person to educate them. Blah blah blah."

That's part of it, sure. It's a venting process. I was pissed, and rightly so. I'm *still* behind in my studies over this.

Maybe that's your little pet peeve. My pet peeve is getting a lead pipe slammed about 2 feet up my large intestines by a faceless corporation that doesn't give a shit about their most loyal customers.

Hey RJ, shut up you queer.

MD,

Let me get this straight:

I'm crazy for writing a letter to a corporate official from B&N due to their failure to provide me the promised services,

but,

you're perfectly sane for threatening to *sue* them simply because their loss-prevention folks were actually doing their job?

Craig, are your 'roids acting up? It's the only reason why I can see why your are so hostile to people who don't agree with you?

Also, how come your run around making assumptions all the time? Frankly, that is really stupid.

I used to be like that too. The only voice you have is to use a different service/store. I guess that's all I am saying. It's this kind of "I deserve justice" attitude which fosters all sorts of wrongs in our society. You took the bad service personally and you sent a letter to the CEO. It is this kind of attitude which has lawsuits flying around the country all the time. I also have known people in the past who send their letters to the CEO in hopes of getting something out of it.

Don't you think you are over-dramatacizing the late delivery of your books? If that is a lead pipe to your keester, then I don't ever want to do business with you. Plus, you knew it was a risk of ordering online, right? You probably could have gone to the school bookstore, but with their monopoly they would have been inserting a Christmas tree shaped object up your buttocks, right?

Oh, overt racial discrimination is just following one's loss prevention program. But, a late delivery to this clown, probably because of weather, is grounds for endless lamentation. R.J. Elliott isn't just a self-centered whiner. He is an idiot. This is the kind of person who makes our country hopeless. A slight inconvenience to him is reason for endless whining. But, a major problem in the society impacting millions of lives is to be dismissed because it does not impact him. I await the day when people like this no longer exist, though I don't expect to live to see it.

How the HELL is this whining?

When I order something from Amazon, if there is going to be a delay in the order, they let me know. Fine. I can then cancel the order or not.

When I had my problem with Barnes and Nobel, they didn't even let me know. When I contacted customer service, they weren't very nice and did not give me an answer. That is not what one expects from customer service.

If you don't open your mouth up and just suck up bad service, that is what you are going to get. Take for example Dell's Business PC support division. They were having all of their support done in India. The service sucked. Enough people complained and said they were going to take their business elsewhere.

Guess what?

Dell moved that division back to Texas (now they just need to do the same for home PC'S).

Complaining about service is not the same as suing someone. Expecting your books is not a bad thing. It would be nice to have even a form email to tell you if there is going to be a delay. Amazon does it. It's not too much to ask.

We don't have B&N here in Canada, but we do have the monolith of Chapters-Indigo (who tried to do a deal to bring B&N to Canada, but were stymied, and then went on a rampage to keep Amazon out of Canada).

Chapters probably spent well over $100 to get me and keep me as a customer in coupons, etc. And then they totally blew it with piss poor customer service. Which escalated into just plain stupidity.

I wouldn't piss on them if Heather Reisman was on fire in the middle of Younge Street.

I do use Amazon because they understand and respond to their customers.

That is the major problem with most corporations, they don't interact with their customers.

As a major corporation, it is hard to interact with customers when there are millions of customers who buy merchandise from the corporation. Have you ever thought about things from that point of view?

That is why I think Mr. Nobody Matters But Me doesn't have a legitimate complaint. Furthermore, bad weather has tied up different parts of the country for a week at a time. It got so bad out here, we had Sunday mail deliveries for the first time in history to try to catch up. Was B&N supposed to overcome Mother Nature just to please RJ Elliott? Unless late delivery is a pattern for the company, he has nothing to complain about.

On the other hand, harassment of customers in stores based on race is a proven, and, illegal, pattern. One of these issues is a pebble in one's shoe, the other a mountain of trouble.

Vic, your point is different from RJ Elliott's. You are saying a warning of late deivery should have been sent. True. But, he is trashing the company in general, in two separate entries. And, I find his dismissal of people of color being abused in stores as 'just fine, thank you,' really offensive.

Dwaine said:

"As a major corporation, it is hard to interact with customers when there are millions of customers who buy merchandise from the corporation. Have you ever thought about things from that point of view?"

Sure. But you see, they have a toll-free number set up solely for customer support issues. I called it. Twice. Between those two calls, I would say nearly an hour of my life was completely wasted. The first call was worthless; the lady told me to call back the next day, "when we can do something for you." The second call ended in my being hung up on by a B&N Customer Service *supervisor*!

Why bother having such a "support" line if they refuse to actually offer any support for their customers?

MD wrote:

"That is why I think Mr. Nobody Matters But Me doesn't have a legitimate complaint. Furthermore, bad weather has tied up different parts of the country for a week at a time. It got so bad out here, we had Sunday mail deliveries for the first time in history to try to catch up. Was B&N supposed to overcome Mother Nature just to please RJ Elliott?"

They did not mention poor weather as the reason, so I doubt it was. And if it was the reason, their Customer Service people should have informed me of this. That would have been an actual *explanation*, and I wouldn't have wasted an hour of my time trying to get an answer...

MD continues: "On the other hand, harassment of customers in stores based on race is a proven, and, illegal, pattern."

Since you have zero proof that you were being "harrassed" because of your race, your lawsuit would likely be tossed out of court faster than you can say "frivolous".

You still might be able to receive a small cash settlement, though: Mega-corps like B&N are usually more than happy to pay off race-hustling, overly-litigious, "the-USA-is-horribly-racist-and-I'm-a-victim!" whiners like yourself, rather than take a PR hit in the media.

So good luck to you, MD. Though unfortunately for you, I understand Mr. Cochran is currently enagaged in other race-baiting, er, I mean business...

Two whole phone calls. A whole hour lost. Wow! That's almost as bad as the Middle Passage.

Get back to pretending to be Shrub on possibly the worst blog in existence, boy. You are way out of your league.

MD wrote: "Two whole phone calls. A whole hour lost. Wow! That's almost as bad as the Middle Passage."

Wow, you must be really old. You know, to have lived through the Middle Passage personally and still be alive to Blog about it...

MD wrote: "Get back to pretending to be Shrub on possibly the worst blog in existence, boy. You are way out of your league."

Aw, poor little MD is taking this debating stuff awfully personally. Maybe you'll sue me for "harrassment" next?

The sad thing is, people like you have unearned (discriminatory!) advantages over people like me in hiring, government contracts, and college admissions, and then you still claim this country sucks and you're a victim-for-life. And when someone disagrees with your hyper-sensitive world-view, their an idiot (or maybe a racist?)...

Any more encomiums for RJ Elliott? Vic? My eye for self-centered nincompoops is pretty good. I definitely identified this one correctly.

He does raise one interesting question: Why do people who can barely read and write and have no analytical ability try to blog?

We were gold Blockbuster members (meaning we purchased tons and tons of rentals over the course of a year). That's the program they don't even advertise about except by special invite snail mail. It's supposed to be some super special thing, right?

Well all is well until this one day we had a run-in over a free rental with one of their clueless new employees. We were right, we knew their policies and procedures much better than their own employee. The employee flat out refused to get the assistant manager out of break when after getting nowhere with him we calmly asked to speak to the manager on duty.

The incident escalated to the point where we said we would wait quietly for the manager to return from break and the employee told us to leave or he was calling the cops.

We weren't doing anything that warranted getting kicked out, so we said no, we would peacefully wait. He ultimately called the cops.

The assistant manager returned, recognized us immediately as regular, repeat customers and told the cops to leave because there was no problem and they should never have been called. She sided with us and we never saw that employee again.

The store manager never called us or followed up on the incident which we felt completely got out of control, and in light of the volume of business we were doing with them, this bothered us. No follow-up whatsoever.

Next, we filed two detailed complaints about the incident on the Blockbuster corporate website 10 business days apart. We never received a response. Not even a fucking form reply!

Moral of the story: we haven't been back to do business with that Blockbuster store since. We did visit another store for about two months afterwards and enjoyed good service, but then decided to give up on them completely over the lack of care/concern from the corporate machine. All it would have taken was somebody from the corporate machine to send us a 'we care about your business' email, phone call or snail mail letter, but nadda. Zero.

Vote with your feet, RJ. Doesn't do much good to be pissed, but it does do good to spend your money elsewhere.

We cheer any hint of ATNT (see I won't even call them the right name to googlejuice them) having troubles because of their godawful service. Those bastards charged us and ultimately turned us over to a collection agency for 300 bones in LD calls from a phone number we didn't even own! Had to get our local phone company involved to get it squared away. We had the last laugh, because they lost over a grand a month in our long distance business. They still send salespeople out to our office occasionally to beg for the business back. It's a no every time.

Vote with your feet, RJ. It's the best way.

This has headed off in about 10 different directions, but I see this:

never order anything you really need at a given time to be delivered - it will likely be late

complaining about poor service is relevant, helpful, and in a sense is a duty in that the company should know if they have not lived up to expectations and other customers and potential customers should be given the courtesy of this information as well.

When complaining, I would recommend this: follow the chain of command, but don't waste any time if someone isn't available, skip them and move on up until you at least get someone to listen and comprehend. The customer IS always right and deserves the courtesy of someone at least addressing their problem, whether or not it can be resolved to the customer's satisfaction. I find humility and calm work better than outrage in this process. Since most unhappy customers are outraged, this gives you an advantage and makes it much more likely that you will be viewed sympathetically.

Oh, and lastly, hyperbole doesn't usually work under these circumstances: late delivery does not equate to rape in my estimation. They are about as far apart as you can get on the violation scale.

I was chikaned by a Walton's.

May I please make the obligatory monthly plea for BRICKLAYER to get a blog? I know it won't do any good, but man, what a shame!

yea, c'mon...we'll throw a big shindig for ya!

we'll have singers.

we'll have dancin' girls (The-AssplowEttes).

we'll raise money for your 'supplies' (maybe we can convince barger and mac diva to have a public whipping...one dollar per whip...al's up for the discipline).

I will host it for free. No joke.

Hey, maybe the good folks at B&N saw RJ at their website. B&N immediately saw a sucker in RJ since his last name is Elliott. They thought that "Elliott" was a panzee name. The good folks at B&N decided to make little RJ's life a living hell. RJ then posts this up and gets laughed at by everyone in America for his inane stupidity. And now RJ will be milked for his hard-earned cash for the rest of his life. Why? Because he is a sucker.

Dwaine sums it up well. He should get a blog and RJ Elliott should go back to elementary school. Case solved.


As for Right Wingers not commenting on Elliott's racist rants, I know you by what you do. Remaining silent while he carries on like Strom Thurmond says a lot.

MD drooled:

"Dwaine sums it up well."

Here's what Dwaine slobbered:

"Hey, maybe the good folks at B&N saw RJ at their website. B&N immediately saw a sucker in RJ since his last name is Elliott. They thought that "Elliott" was a panzee name. The good folks at B&N decided to make little RJ's life a living hell. RJ then posts this up and gets laughed at by everyone in America for his inane stupidity. And now RJ will be milked for his hard-earned cash for the rest of his life. Why? Because he is a sucker."

If that is MD's definition of "sums it up well" then I guess she really *does* come from a different society than me...

MD continued:

"He should get a blog and RJ Elliott should go back to elementary school. Case solved."

Sorry, I'm too busy signing up for my University's Honor Society to return to the ol' Alma Mater...

MD goes on:

"As for Right Wingers not commenting on Elliott's racist rants,"

I just *knew* I'd be called a bigot for disagreeing with her! This is no doubt MD's favorite tactic...

Sadly, MD went on:

"I know you by what you do. Remaining silent while he carries on like Strom Thurmond says a lot."

The late Strom Thurmond wanted (about half a century ago) to keep the races seperate. I just want everyone to be treated equally under the law. Kinda like Dr. MLK Jr. dreamt about, you know? But, I guess that makes me a "racist" in your "mind"...

I think that Al wants ME to whip him.

Now Ms. Tek, I have first dibs on smacking The Farmer around. I intend to use a mallet. If any unbruised areas are left, you are free to take over from there, but leave some skin for Natalie, Vic and all the women in Kentucky.

Vic= Ms. Tek ;)

Had to change the username.

Sub Dawn for Vic, I forgot her other handle. Mrs. Olsen may want a piece of the action. The baby, too. Barger has claimed to be as sweet and innocent as he is.

I'm a little lost?

"Sub Dawn for Vic,"

No, I am saying that I am Victoria. I had to change my postings from Victoria P. because of what google was doing.

I know who you are, Vic. But, you can't use two screen names to get double swats at Barger-:). (Admittedly, that's tempting. My name from my smaller blog could take up where Mac Diva leaves off.)

What was Google doing? Perhaps it impacts others, too.

I have been wondering if the people at Google are all there since they bought the problem-plagued Blogger.

Nothing. Just my given name will point to my website as #1 on a google search. I am not ashamed of my website in anyway, shape, or form. The thing is that the current world isn't down with women who might have very political/sexual/goofy websites where they occasionally cheesecake on and use bad words. Therefore I needed to change my username here. This is the only place I have ever used my real name so I am thinking that is why goole pull it to equal my website.

I have a website with my real name for whenever I decide to run for office or get famous or something.

It really, really, really, bites. One cannot be themself in this world without ruining the sensibilities of someone else. How I look, how I think, how I personally feel has no bearings on if I can get the job done. But I am not in charge (YET!!!) so for the moment, I shall bend ever slightly to the "MAN". *giggle*


Then I am going to spank him to kingdom come and educate him too! ;)

That was a very random comment, Jacob. But I am Scooter, king of random comments.

MONKEYSTICKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I AM THE LAW. THIS IS MY HOUSE NOW. DIE.

Oh man ... here comes the Ja Rule v 50 cent fallout.

Beavis and Butthead live!

I believe this started with King Tone. A thread that makes ya go, 'huh?'

How in the name Jeeezus H. Krrr-ist did
one mans complaint,a legitimate complaint,
about the poor service and indifference
of a corporate bookstore toward the
people that keep them in business turn
into a thread dealing with S & M,misguided
views on racism,& petty,immature,verbal
cheapshots at other people??????????????
VERRRY C-LASSSSSSSSY! Sheeesh, enough is
enough already!The guy had a real good point.
If enough people would take as much time
and effort to bring corporate CEO's to
account for their poor attitudes toward
their customers(by writing them letters of
complaint for example,as they did name calling
like brats in a pre-school sand box then,
we wouldn't have to deal with nonsense like
R.J.Elliott did in the first place.I realize
this is a bit over dramatized,but come on grow up!

HW, there are comments and there are comments - I have learned to scan.

Ms. Tek, anyone who has a problem with your cheesecake is a dirty dog, and simply not worthy of your attention or time. Now, uh, more pictures please (I am interested only as another heavily inked individual, and am in no way referring to your smoking hot voluptuous figure, and exotic beauty)!

Hey, I just have to agree that Barnes & Noble is a shitty company period. The one in Joliet is the worst. The manager, Sue, is close friends (and possibly lesbian lovers) with Dawn Olson, head of "loss prevention" in the Midwest.

They have this thing set up where they spy on the employees with "secret shoppers" and basically screw them over. They trick you into doing the wrong thing, signing things that give away your rights, etc. I know several people who have gotten screwed over by Sue, and I have to say shes an evil, heartless bitch and that the "secret shoppers" are all bullshit.

When you call customer service for a large U.S. corporation and you don't get the treatment you are accustomed to, it is because the person in Bangledesh that you are talking to, doesn't really give a rat's ass about a wealthy (by their terms) overconsuming American citizen getting his or her book a few days late.

I've had no problems at all with the dozen or so orders I've placed with Amazon.com, but BarnesandNobel.com lost the first order I've placed with them.

I also find it highly ironic that these people come onto Blogcritics.org, find a post about a bad incident with a big corporation, and bitch about "endless whining" for 60 comments.

Wow!

I once had the TekWhore and Natalie Davis defending me!

And I've ALWAYS had the Diva attacking me.

Ah, memories...

I had a very bad experience with
Barnes and Noble I ordered some books for my grandma [for Christmas] and they never arrived they would not do anything to help me.
I had just gotten laid off from my job , I explained this to them they didn't care I still had to pay.

Another site to check out Barnes and Noble is ResellerRatings They also have some reviews on Barnes and Noble and a questionair on their service, I gave them a poor rating as I had a bad experience with their customr service.

yOU KNOW, i FOUND THIS PAGE LOOKING FOR CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS PAGE FOR A BRICK AND MORTAR STORE. *BUT* i HAVE THIS TO SAY, iN PERSPECTIVE....IN ANY CASE YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ANY SORT OF RETAIL ENVIRONMENT, THE CORRECT THING TO DO IS TO GO IMMEDIATELY TO THE SUPERVISOR
AND RELATE THE EXPERIENCE, EVEN IF THAT MEANS THE CEO. HE CERTAINLY GETS PAID ENOUGH TO LISTEN.....

question to the person regarding the very beginning of the post - why didn't you just order the books right when you were given the assignment or just go to your school bookstore and get them there

"question to the person regarding the very beginning of the post - why didn't you just order the books right when you were given the assignment or just go to your school bookstore and get them there"

At the time, I was taking classes online. I would receive the course syllabus on the first day of classes. The syllabus would inform me of what books I needed to get, ASAP.

The closest college bookstore was over an hour away. I thought it was best to order my textbooks from a "reputable" company, rather than drive 90 minutes to a bookstore that might no longer even have what I needed in stock.

And I got burned...

I work at Barnes and Noble and not too long ago a guy went into the music department to the far end, and proceeded to urinate on the floor, we only noticed when one of wandered back there and saw a giant wet spot. That yes, smelled like pee. Today we found blood on a book and almost daily some lucky soul has to gather the porn strewn around the mens room. It's shit like this that makes you lose your faith in humanity.

so I was saying it's shit like this that makes you lose your faith in humanity that makes you want to scream and cry and bite the walls, and not go on. So......After a brief unsatisfying cry, in the ladies room. I proceeded to help the next fool who came up and asked "Do you have that book.... I dont know the author or the title but its written by some guy" Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrgh!!

I work at a barnes and noble and it makes me sad to hear that you have one bad experiance and it causes you to write them off completely. Everyone has had a bad experience with some sort of retail organization, but I would hope that your overall experience would change your mind. I have had to deal with their "customer service" on many occasions for customers that come into the store and need us to help them with their problems. We at the store level have had problems with them as well. Just know next time you shop online, Amazon gets their books from the exact same place that bn.com does. the EXACT same warehouses. With the millions of transactions that each do everyday, things are going to go wrong. you just happened to be the one. Textbooks are very hard to find at bn.com as they don't stock large quantites in the warehouses BECAUSE 99% of students get them at the school bookstore for a lot cheaper. There probably wasn't many in the warehouse and you probably weren't the only single person looking for it. Next time, go into the store right away and have them help you. I promise you would get great service where I work.

ohyeah, and men
PLEASE don't take stuff into the bathroom... its just gross. Pay the $4.95 for the maxium and go home. AND we don't care if you look at the sexuality section or buy a playboy. just ask for what you want. buy it. then take it home!!

one more thing.... the "secret shopper" thing. they are just doing their job. their job is only making sure that YOU are doing YOUR job. You are probably only complaining cause you didn't pass. You only have to hit 4 little things are you are complaining??? you do get paid for something right???

Yeah, it sucks that it got there a little late, but you seem ridiculously hung up on this.

Here's some vicarious satisfaction for you, RJ. Though I understand your frustration and agree that it's your place to complain to corporate, I think you'd have more bite if you'd suffered poor service more than once. I *have*, not regarding online ordering, but with consistently rude in-store treatment. Yesterday took me over the top. I got a call from the local outlet saying my special order book had arrived. When I asked for it in person, the cashier couldn't find it right away. "No problem," I hastened with a smile. "Probably just misshelved." A cashier superviser stepped in to help, but, having no better luck, she asked me snidely, "Are you sure we called you? I mean, the computer shows it just came in yesterday." It seems she couldn't believe her own store's efficiency. I pleasantly assured her that, yes, the store called yesterday. (After suffering repeated remarks like that at this place, though, I felt like saying, "No, actually, people posing as employees are calling your customers to say their orders are in"). This is *not* a small deal, folks; businesses rise and fall on customer attitudes.

So, for you and for me, RJ: besides two trade outlets, the company also operates the campus bookstore of a major university here and promotes it heavily during summer orientation. But my colleagues and I have direct access to those 6,500 incoming freshmen and their parents each summer. We will never speak the company name that shall not be mentioned - that could be slander and interference with commerce - but we can tell those students and parents, "By the way, the best textbook buys are at 'XYZ Bookstore'" - which is true! Small satisfaction, sure, but it's likely all that folks like you and me will get from this arrogant giant.

hmmm, has anyone here besides myself worked in customer service for a large corporation such as barnes and noble? just in case you don't know, customer service folks like myself, we don't get paid nearly enough for the amount of crap we deal with. i mean crap in a literal sense as well. all i will say is rupture colostomy bag. and no, it wasn't mine. i doubt any of you have ever had to clean up someone else's menstrual blood or some kid's pee off the floor in the children's dept because their parents were too busy reading the da vinci code and getting fat off a frapp to notice the kid doing the potty dance. yes, i work at a bookstore. a big one. i bet you can guess which one. have you ever had a customer come up to you and say, "if i sharpened the perfect knife, would you kill me?" I doubt it. Customers always feel victimized by the establishment but who really loses are the employees. we're underpaid, underthanked, work shit hours, and have to deal with some of the most wheels off people you can imagine. if i order a book or cd for someone and it doesn't come in on the exact estimated day (emphasis on estimated) it isn't my fault. once i hit enter and the order is processed, it's all up to distribution from then on. customers think that they have some kind of right to good customer service when in fact they don't. we are in no way obligated to be cordial to asshole customers and are even told so by management. we are not there to be harrassed to have to peoples' grievances taken out on us. customers have the option of shopping elsewhere if they are unsatisfied and that's about the most they can do about it. writing a letter to steve riggio will get you nowhere. you are one of millions and to lose in is to gain 10 more. unfortunately the customer is not always right, they just think they are. some think they've earned some kind of honor because they spend money at a particular establishment. no one asked for your business, you gave it willfully and if you aren't happy with it, then take it away. don't complain to people that aren't paid enough to do something about it.

UPDATE:

It's over two years later, I haven't spent a dime of my own money at B&N since this experience, all thanks to the horrible customer service they gave me back in early 2004. (I have used a few gift cards, however...)

If their "customer service" staff hadn't been so incredibly obnoxious and uncaring, I probably would have spent four figures there over these last 2+ years.

Instead, I buy my books (and lots of other stuff) from Amazon now. And the one time there was a major shipping delay, their customer service staff immediately looked up my record, apologized for the inconvenience, and issued a discount on a future purchase.

Oh, and FWIW, I WORK in customer service, as a manager, so I kinda sorta know the difference between professional, quality customer service and abysmal, shitty customer service, TYVM...

Just because you may or may not have spent an ungodly amount of money at barnes and noble, doesn't mean much. let me tell you something about riggio. a friend of mine encountered him at an art gallery in NY where he intended to purchase a piece of art. in the process, he requested the gallery workers to pose as furniture around this particular painting he wanted to buy to see if it would "flow with the motif of his living room". that should tell you something about his personality and how much he "cares" about anything. odds are he'd wipe his ass with the four figures you may or may not have spent at barnes and noble. as a mangaer you should be aware of the fact that one customer service rep is not wholey indicative of a company and to think that someone like riggio in charge of a huge corporation would take the time to even think about your complaint when they probably get tons of them a day is kind of idiotic. i'm sure, assuming you have employees, that they are all perfect, never have a bad day and treat all customers with the respect "they deserve". when it was obvious your text books were going to arrive later than expected, did you think to try to campus library to catch up? i ordered a text from amazon once that was shipped from thailand. even though i didn't get it on time i was still able to borrow the univeristy copy from the library in the meantime. that's what happens when you procrastinate. we get students all the time that order books right when the semester starts and think they'll get them by the next class day. it's illogical. generally, i think people that shop at barnes and noble are fools anyways. there is no reason on earth to pay 29.99 for movies like Gigli but they do it anyway. i'll be damned if i put a single penny back to into riggio's pocket. when you say you're a manager, a manager of what? being a manager of retail establishment isn't exactly a real job. anyone can do it if they put up with crap long enough to get promoted. you don't even need a degree. retail jobs are monkey jobs. i'm not going to graduate college with honors just to work at some crap retail job. i mean if under or middle management is an aspiration of yours then go for it. you're obviously a type A personality so i guess it would suit you to get underpaid to boss around other people that get paid even less than you.

maybe you should've just pursued criminal justice as a major since you're a victim and everything.

Actually, I am getting my Masters in CJ...

Why get raped by Barnes or Noble when you can get raped by Sam "WalMart" Walton's Estate and think you got a bargain?

I WILL NEVER shop at Barnes and Noble again. I returned a bible because it had added verses and chapters that I don't believe in, went to return it, and was told to show my ID because of 'fraud' problems they have. Excuse me?!? I told him that it was very insulting to be treated like that and asked him how he would feel if I were a store that asked people for ID's to make sure they're not wanted on a child molestor listing. IT'S VERY VERY VERY RUDE AND INSULTING. I WILL NEVER SPEND ANY MORE MONEY AT THEIR STORE IF I HAPPEN TO WANT TO RETURN A SINGLE ITEM AND BE TREATED LIKE THAT. THEY ARE HEARTLESS AND DON'T APPRECIATE LONG TIME CUSTOMERS. WELL, THEY JUST LOST ANOTHER GREAT CUSTOMER.

I have had 3 recent experiences with B&N and all have been horrid. "Customer Service" was exceptionally bad. The difference between Barnes & Noble and Amazon is that Amazon seems to take responsibility for mistakes, ensures the customer is fully reimbursed for costs (like return shipping) and holds re-sellers accountable for mistakes and poor service. As a teacher I spend thousands of dollars a year on books, and it will continue to be with Amazon. Incidentally, I have heard other teachers complain loudly about Barnes and Noble as well- guess we just don't matter much to them. Oh well.

I am a Barnes & Noble employee. Voluntarily. Honest, no one is holding my family hostage to get me to put up with some of the customer's that I do. Almost all my customer's are nice people but those who come in with a chip on their shoulder before they receive service I could do without. I am not dirt under anyone's feet nor am I a brainless underling. I am not a fan of corporate. I make less than $8.00 an hour. I still work as hard as I can. I am not infallible, I've been employeed over two years and every week I learn something new. I make a point of following through with every customer until their request/complaint has been handled to their satisfaction. There will always be those who leave unhappy and this is regrettable. I have been screamed at, sworn at and worse. I do not yell back (I'll admit I do enjoy thinking about what I might have said!). I just want you to know that many of Barnes & Noble's employees are considerate, hardworking people who are not out to get anyone. It is a shame your on-line service was so shabby and unprofessional. Too bad corporate is so uncaring. At my store long-time employees are quitting in droves. Personally I'm going to wait it out longer but my stomach doesn't always agree with that decision. At this rate I'll end up senior personnel and have even more problems with corporate! (Gee, do you think I'll eventually make a whole $8.25 an hour?!) I agree, vote with your feet and I appreciate you bashing the CEO rather than everyone of us collectively.

Funny story:

I recently ordered a book for a class online from my college bookstore (which happens to be run by B&N). I waited about a week and a half, and I hadn't received the book or heard anything from them, so I gave them a call. The person I eventually got ahold of (after numerous attempts where I just got voicemail, despite it being during regular business hours) said something like, "yeah, our computer system can't tell us if the book has shipped or not, so just wait a couple days and I'm sure it will get to you."

Of course, a few days later I still had not received the book. So I called back and talked to someone who was actually competent. He said he had no idea why the book hadn't shipped...there were copies of the text sitting on the shelf in front of him! So he promised to mail me a copy, and I received it a few days later.

However, by this point I was (once again) behind in my studies thanks to incompetent B&N employees. I had to beg a classmate to let me borrow her book for the first couple weeks of class (actually, she was kind enough to photocopy the relevant chapters).

Screwed again by B&N!

Related...

I hope you don't have the same experience I just had at Amazon. I ordered textbooks and their site said they were in stock. I ordered two-day shipping and two weeks later, still no stuff. And at least B&N has a customer service number. Try finding a CS # for Amazon on their site: you won't.

So my friend be prepared to be anally raped by the member of Jeffrey Bezos. You might even get some DP action from the whole executive team.

Here's looking at you kid.

RJ: Borders will soon re-launch borders.com. I think you will be very pleased with their services.