Barnes and Noble Consumer Reviews - Page 3

EDGEWATER, NJ -- I ordered an item which was a gift for my sister. The item arrived in the store and I went to pick it up. The item was placed into the bag and I paid for it. That evening when I opened my bag I found the item to be damaged. "How could they give me this item like this." I was very upset. When I called the store a very helpful person said I could bring my order back and they would reorder the item for me. When I returned to the store, this item was no longer available for ordering. This person did everything in her power to get me my item. She even went to another store to pick it up for me. When she had the item in her possession, I picked it up and it was perfect.

Her name is ** and I want to thank her for all service. In the economy we have today, customer service needs to be 100% and ** did just that. Thank you again, ** for all your help.

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA -- On July 16 2010 Barnes and Noble book seller played host to Kendra of the girls next door fame. She had a book written and was to be at the store at 7 pm to sign for 2 hours and meet and great fans. Myself and 2 of my friend arrived at 6:50 pm and got in line. One employee a woman was rude from the beginning. When Kendra finally arrived 20 minutes late, she went right to signing and greeting people most did not buy her book at 26.00 per person instead they opted to have other items signed such as pics or playboys even though she was not a playmate.

After 1 hour and forty one minutes in line and 20 feet away from our goal we were told to leave if we were not buying a book. I asked to see a manager and a guy with long hair and tattoos claimed to be the manager told use to get out along with everyone who was not buying a book. The employees were rude and acted as if they were speaking on her behalf, which was unclear. I will never shop at Barnes and Noble or any of their other brand.

Although I usually order from Amazon, I got a B&N gift card, and thought I'd order my brother's birthday present from them. For about $30, I got an email promise to deliver the book, gift wrapped, within three days - plenty of time, since the birthday was still 8 days off.

Seven days later, I tried to call. The automated number 1-800-THE BOOK is a joke; three times, an automated voice tells you that the operators are busy, and then the system hangs up on you. Call the local line - 201-559-3882 - and prepare to be lied to, starting with the agent's cheerful "I can help you" (they can't and won't) and ending with "a manager will call within two hours" (that won't happen, either).

I did get an offer to refund the shipping portion of my order, which I thought was funny, since THEY HADN'T USED THE THREE DAY SHIPPING SERVICE I PAID FOR (in related news, they also aren't charging me for fixing my car, cooking my dinner, or any other services that they did not provide).

My last call - with my third "customer service" representative - ended with her saying how much B&N appreciates my business, echoing the line from their email, "We are glad we could be of service and look forward to your next visit". This, too, is a lie; I'm sure they would rather have not done business with me (since I get mad when you take my money, make promises, and then don't deliver), and I most certainly am sorry that I did business with them. Amazon works; why mess around with a firm that is repeatedly dishonest?

Wanted to warn any potential customers of Barnes & Noble (B&N - online). I purchased a gift for my son with my debit card, but actually had twice this amount withheld from my checking account. B&N told me it was the bank that put a 'hold' on it, my bank told me B&N actually reflected two separate transactions. When I tried getting it resolved through B&N customer service, I was basically told I was out of luck. They only showed one transaction.

My checking account reflects two transactions. My bank says B&N created the error and my account reflects 'two' debits, and they cannot credit it without notification from B&N who refused to help. I do not understand where two different dates reflecting B&N with two different phone numbers show up! If my bank doesn't have the money, who does? Last time I'll be patronizing B&N and I'll make sure to pass this 'business practice' of theirs along. Seems like a scam somehow, B&N 'holding' my money and lying about it.

I place one order from B&N online. It was unfortunately, divided into three shipments. The orders were to be shipped internationally. We always received our shipments from the US within 7-10 days (Amazon, mail from home, etc.) it is rare that anything would take two weeks. Well, it has been three weeks and we received the last items shipped and are still waiting for the first two shipments - shipped 4-5 days before the last shipment. Contacted B&N and no response within the promised timeframe.

Finally, I received an automated email apologizing for the delay (Apparently they don't have enough staff to handle customer requests for assistance.) They directed to their FAQ online and basically said, we will be closed on 12.25 and will write after that - a week after I wrote. Waiting for a late shipment is one thing, but completely blowing off a written request from a customer because your department is short of staff is not acceptable.

I am very careful about where I spend my hard earned dollars and expect better customer service. Still no orders... I may ask for a refund. Three weeks is too long to wait for these orders. And, I would only order from B&N online again if they were the only vendor with a book I needed. Was also considering a "Nook" but have decided not to order that from them either.

I purchased 2 books as Xmas gift for my son (online). Shipping address was the address where I wanted gift to be send. When completing purchase I provided credit card info after I saw the summary of the purchase including shipping address. The second step was to provide the billing address and I provided my address. In few minutes I received purchase confirmation with the order number and the link to view order details. Link did not work. Error was displayed when I used my email address and order number.

Today I switched my computer and saw another email with shipping confirmation and THE BILLING ORDER used in place of shipping order. I immediately called to B&N and they said that nothing can be done at this point.
Nevertheless, I went to UPS website and figured out that there was a way to change shipping address especially when the parcel was not even moved from the warehouse. But the option is only available to the sender, namely B&N.

I called again to B&N and ask to change shipping address via UPS website. Customer representative refused to do it explaining that B&N policy does not allow changing address. Order detail in the system: Shipping address is replaced with billing address. And when completing purchase I saw the right shipping address on the screen. Right now the shipping address is wrong.

The main point is: B&N system does not deliver expected value and customer support refuses to fix system error or company does not care about customers if it has a policy that prevents customer service to take care of customers when they have trouble caused by B&N system. Happy Holiday B&N!

TENNESSEE -- On November 11, 2008, I ordered a book from Barnes and Noble online. This was "supposedly" sent out on November 13th. I have yet to receive this book. I have contacted the "Customer Service" 8 times by phone and 4 times by e-mail regarding this issue.

The individuals I spoke to were not knowledgeable and lacked training to speak to customers. They let me know that they couldn't care less about my problem by their attitudes. I went ahead and ordered the same book at auction on eBay and won. The transaction went smoothly and it arrived in time for Christmas. I still do not have the first book, nor have they refunded my money. So in fact I am out $30.00. Since I paid for the same book twice. I did sent B&N an e-mail telling them to contact eBay regarding Customer Service classes for B&N employees.

EVANSVILLE, INDIANA -- Last Saturday me, my husband, and our four year old son went to Barnes and Noble to buy some new books for the kids. We were going up the escalator to the children's section when my little guy lost his footing on the escalator and fell, cutting open his leg. We immediately went down to the registers and requested a manager. The staff was very friendly and very helpful, and paged the manager and within seconds she arrived.

Without any questions she handed me a first aid kit and took me into the back to provide me with antiseptic wipes and neosporin ointment. She even locked the women's bathroom so we could care for him in the bathroom in privacy. When we were done she took our personal information, and took us to the Starbuck's cafe in the front of the store to give him free juice and a cookie. We read a lot of complaints on here, but every once in a while it's nice to read about a company going above and beyond what they should do to help a customer.

Barnes and Noble currently carries pornography. This is highly disturbing since pornography is causally linked to violence against women. Creating Social Justice has launched a campaign against 10 companies, including yours, that we have feel have played a role in the mainstreaming of pornography. As pornography becomes more mainstream it becomes more readily available with no consequences (to the men) for consumption. The women pay the consequences.

We realize that you make a lot of money off of pornography. However, the human cost has to be taken into account. A woman is beaten every 9 seconds. As if that weren't bad enough, domestic violence is one of the leading causes of women with their children becoming homeless and women with their children are the most rapidly increasing segment of the homeless population. Creating Social Justice is calling for a boycott of your company until the pornography is removed.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- I ordered Canon EOS Rebel XS Digital SLR which was listed on site with 50 % discount for after holiday sales, they have taken my order but after two days they rejected saying the price listed on site was low. Now I bought other accessory worth of 100 $ but they have rejected my order for nuisance reason, & when I called them they behave very rudely & said they are not responsible for anything. Is this a way a fortune 500 company deal with customers??