"I rent textbooks from Barnes and Noble. I rented one last year, sent it back and then kept getting charged for that book because they kept saying they didn't receive it.
Also, I rented one during the fall of last year and forgot to return it, never got an email or notification that it was late, then all of the sudden I get charged for the late fee and the buyout fee and they won't acknowledge that they never sent me anything.
Also, Anout two months ago I had purchased a few books and forgot to charge them to a gift card I had loaded onto my account. I had charged it to my debit cars instead. Within half an hour I had contacted them and asked if they could change the transaction to my gift card. They said they couldn't because it had been more than 15 minutes, they said I could return it, purchase them again with my gift card and pay shipping...
I find their customer service not helpful at all and they don't seem to make things very easy "
"I usually never give bad ratings or leave comments about things, but this situation is completely out of control. I used B&N textbooks for the first time last semester, and I should have known better. I rented two foreign language books, and sent them back in the same box (after calling and speaking to B&N customer service to make sure it was okay). Then suddenly I start getting charges all over for one of the books saying I didn't return it, yet they somehow received the box...with the other book. IT WAS IN THE SAME BOX. So I called B&N and the manager was super nice saying that she thinks they forgot to scan the label and is almost positive it's just a misunderstanding. Surprise, it has been over 4 months, and B&N just took my bank to court over it. I just called again and had a manager tsk at me for not packing the books in separate boxes.....sorry I'm a college student and don't have 5 billion boxes. All because of their own incompetence. Spread the word: Barnes and Noble is petty and just out for money...lying if they have to. "
"PORNOGRAPHIC images at child's eye level, at checkout stand, in Scottsdale, Arizona store. Playb**, Sports Illustrated (cover model suggestively posed in a tiny swimsuit), and more. You can not make a purchase without your children seeing these. I spoke with the store manager who's only comment was that the magazines pay for placement. I will be sharing the photos I took of these magazines in stands placed low enough for any 2 year old child to grab on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Yelp. Also with the PTO of our elementary school the next time they consider having a book fair here. The business decision to place these pornographic images in front of our children at their checkout stands (obviously a corporate decision since concerned parents from ALL OVER the country are posting similar comments) boggles the mind. My family has been such a big supporter of BN through the last 2 decades, but as my husband said, "No longer".
What in the world are they thinking at BN? They are obviously trying to pull more families in by increasing the number of toys, and then they put pornographic images at childrens' eye level. CRAZY!!"
"I ORDERED A BOOK FOR MY WIFE WHO IS TAKING AN ESL CLASS. I BOUGHT THE BOOK USED FOR $36 INSTEAD OF NEW FOR $43. THE EXPLANATION FOR GOOD CONDITION OF A USED BOOK WAS DAMAGE TO PACKAGING ETC. I FIGURED IT MAY EVEN HAVE SOME TEARS ON A PAGE OR TWO. THE FRIGGIN' THING SHOWS UP WITH WRITING THROUGHOUT THE TEXT. IT IS ONE THAT HAS EXERCISES IN THE BOOK - THEY ARE FILLED IN, NOT SOME OR A LITTLE BIT, BUT A LOT! THE MULTIPLE CHOICE EXERCISES HAVE BEEN ERASED SO MANY TIMES THE LETTERS OF THE CORRECT ANSWERS ARE FADED. C'MON YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME. THEN IT SAYS TAKE IT BACK TO YOUR LOCAL BARNS AND NOBLE FOR RETURNS, AND THEY WON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE THING, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE THE RECEIPT THAT SAYS RETURN IT TO YOUR LOCAL B&N. I THINK THIS IS RIDICULOUS.
I SHOULD HAVE LOOKED AT THIS PAGE OF TERRIBLE REVIEWS BEFORE EVER TRYING TO ORDER WITH B&N ONLINE. i WILL NOT DO THAT AGAIN."
"Hi, I ordered a book online.
I noticed that I wasn't given an specific delivery time at the beginning or the end of my checkout...only "standard" delivery time.
ummm
guess what?
A month they said on the first email, a month to deliver a book from Kansas to Florida.
I needed the book earlier than that.
So, when I tried to cancel my order, they went on to say it belongs to a third party seller?
oh crap.
End of the story:
They cant cancel my order directly.
I have to wait almost a month to get my book, which btw I ordered it from another company already.
Then I have to process the cancelation and refund.
The customer service guy was just talking like a freaking zombie, and taking no care or whatsoever.
I will never again buy a book with Barnes and Nobles and I don recommend it to anyone I love.
God be with you if you do so.
"
"I tried to purchase a rental text book. The online process to purchase had an issue with my credit card. They sent me an email asking me to update. So I did. But there was no way for me to process the sale again. I called customer service and they could not charge my credit card because the sale was final. Even though I never paid for the book! I tried to pay for a book I had in my possession. I tried to pay for a book I wanted. I tried and tried. I contacted several people to asking them to charge me for my purchase - none of them could. There was no way to reverse the sale. No way to credit the book back to the rental. There was no way for any B&N representative to charge me for my purchase. But there was a way for them to email me threatening me that they would take me to a collection agency if I didn't pay. My account has a valid credit card and I have tried to pay. Now 5 months later I receive a phone call from a collection agency. And just a cold call, no idea who these people are harassing me for my checking account information. BandN effing scu bag. I look forward to you being next in line to follow - what was the name of that other big box bookstore? Yeah, don't remember. "
"I went to the Wyomissing, Reading, PA store today and as the cashier was ringing up my order she had trouble with the gift certificate I presented. She apparently entered it the wrong way and the register froze. She ended up restarting her register and after the wait she attempted to re-ring my transaction. Guess what? Now my card shows NO BALANCE. !!! I said Well, you know the card was used and that you have the money - couldn't you just cut me a new one or give me store credit? I came just for the book set I was purchasing - the last set. I drove 40 minutes to get there. Nothing they can do. I was told. I shou;ld try again tomorrow because it will take 24 hours to re-credit my card. Why couldn't we complete the sale since you already had my money? I am not coming back. If I ever get my money back I will re-gift the card and never have to be disappointed like this again. Never again. No reason for turning me away.
"
"I ordered a book that I needed for a book club and they sent me an email a couple days later saying it had shipped. 3 weeks later I find out that they had actually cancel the order. Now I'm scrambling to find the book as I'm already behind in the reading. A weak apology and a $5 egift card to spend with them was all I got from customer service. I've been a loyal customer and a member for years and this is how they treat me!? Why did they send me an email saying the item was shipped if it wasn't? And why no email saying they had cancelled the order? I've never experienced such poor service anywhere! After all this if I log onto my account it still show the item as "shipped" in my account history. There is nothing that says it was cancelled. The only way I know that is that the online chat rep told me. Idiots!"
"I've been buying stuff from Amazon for years with hardly any complaints. Certainly I've purchased many, many books, and I've never had to track them down or wonder if they will ever arrive.
Not so with Barnes and Noble. I only purchased from them because I found an old gift card in my desk so I used it to purchase 3 books. That was 2 weeks ago. Of the 3, 1 arrived, the other was cancelled by B&N (their marketplace seller became unable to fulfill the order - never ever happened with Amazon) and the 3rd book just says it should arrive in a couple more weeks, with no tracking # or other info to indicate anyone knows where it is.
No wonder Amazon has beaten the pants off B&N. I will certainly never purchase from them again. What a lame **** company!"
"My son ordered a college textbook that clearly stated 'Financial acctg with CONNECT PLUS which is the online code that professors require. When the book arrived - there was no CONNECT PLUS. My son called B&N and was told that in the Terms & Conditions it was noted that it wasn't guaranteed. THEN WHY is it in the description of the item? If the title of the book says it is coming with Connect Plus - then it should be coming with it. I have called the Corporate Office twice to elevate this call to someone who can make this right; however, no one has called me back. Meanwhile, my son had to spend $90 to buy the Connect Plus online code since his college class started and he needed the code. There is no time to return the book and get a credit because he needs the book now. We will not buy from B&N again and my son and I will tell all his college friends to avoid B&N. VERY poor standards!"
"Let's preface all this by saying I live in Canada. Alright, here's my situation: My cousin has a wedding in late January, so I bought her a gift from their website. This was on the 28th Dec. Two weeks pass and I haven't received the item. I tell myself it's probably because of the holidays. Check the tracker a couple of days later, and turns out the item arrived in the country on the 7th January, Good news right? Well, turns out the delivery is 'on or around Jan 22' which **** because I'm leaving on the 21st. I call their customer support to see if we can expedite this somehow, even if I have to pay more for shipping or whatever. The lady on the other end tells me that they've done their job and handed over the package to a facility on the 4th and to follow up with 'them'. This information is not available to me on my tracking page so I ask her - multiple times - to provide me with a number to follow up as she's no help. She puts me on hold to check with her resource. No problem. After coming back, she tells me a few things: 1. the 'promise date' of 22 Jan is the last possible date of delivery. Which is a relief, but not much of one as it could still arrive after I leave the country. I still want to follow up to expedite the process. At this point she tells me to call customs to track the order. As in, customs Canada. I'm pretty done with this company. It was a huge mistake to order from them in the first place."
"Their website offered free express shipping if I signed up for a membership. I signed up, but that option didn't appear. I ordered anyway, assuming that I could sort it out with Customer Service. Wrong!
They said the book was from a marketplace partner, so express shipping wasn't available.
I asked for contact info so that I could ask the seller how long it would take. They said they wouldn't give that info until it shipped in 4 to 14 business days.
I asked to cancel the order. They said that they couldn't cancel it.
Unbelievable."
"Terrible online ordering!!! I placed two orders. The series I bought was eligible for buy two books get the third free. So when I paid, it showed that bn took the third price off. But when the shipment price came, I had been charged for the third book. Also, in the order, I pre ordered a book. But 24 hours later it showed that bn canceled the book order but it was still charging me for it!!! I had contacted customer service, and one, they barely helped me and two, the woman I spoke too had very poor english skills. I had to ask her the same question three times because I could not understand her. I am English so I need a strong speaker in the English Language. Oh and I almost forgot to mention but it takes several days to know the status of your order. Sometimes they will just cancel it even if you payed for it. Terrible online ordering and customer service. The only thing I am satisfied with is the items they sell. Their prices are mediocre."
"Customer disservice is the apt term for their online platform.
A) No indication that a book isn't in stock after ordering. Plus no option to cancel a day later
B) Chat phone "support" by an individual with poor English skills.
C) Status of processing for days with no indication what that means.
D) Accepts paypal for paryment but refunds in store credit/gift card.
"
"I ordered a Sphero BB8 Star Wars Droid for my son. The box arrived on December 21st, I decided to open it the next day on the 22nd. I am glad I decided to open it because if I didn't my 9 year old son would be wondering why he was getting a fairy tail book written for teen age girls. They sent me an order for someone in CA. I hope their teenage daughter likes the BB8 Droid. I called customer service. They said they would not be able to get me a new one in time for Christmas. Now I need to go the UPS store to send this back to get a credit. "