Books-A-Million’s earns a 1.9-star rating from 9 reviews and 33 complaints, showing that the majority of readers are dissatisfied with purchases.
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hidden subscription fees
The clerk from Books-A-Million flat out lied to me about the magazine subscription. I asked her if I was going to be charged anything once the trial expires, she said:
"No payments at all and if you dont like the magazine, you dont have to do anything at all. It will automatically cancel."
How naive I was.
I look at my credit card, and I have over $65 worth of subscription fees months later.
I was absolutely livid.
I immediately called whoever I can, and after spending hours, was able to cancel the subscriptions. Not sure if I'll receive a refund, but I will not be charged anymore by these scammers.
What was worse is that they give your bank account infos and numbers so they can charge you. Despicable.
Lost a customer forever. I thought these shady business practices are done with.
From now on, Its all Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
customer service, return of gift
My daughter received a dvd from Booksamillion from her Aunt. The day before Christmas(same day she received the gifts) we took them back along with a few others she had received that she didn't want. I told the cashier I didn't have a receipt for the dvd but did for the other things. She said no problem. Rang us up and then proceeded to make a big production when I asked for cash back instead of it going back on my mothers card. Hollered for a manager for a 304, cashier beside her said REALLY a 304? Manager arrived and stated a 304? I had to look back to see what happened. I don't know what a 304 is...as far as I am concerned I was tagged as a shoplifter, embarrassed and humiliated in front of a line of customers for merely trying to make a return. The she shoved the unopened dvd back to me and said can't help you with this one. Gave me a dirty look and hollered Next! I will never shop there again. Have returned all gifts for my kids bought there and will rebuy elsewhere. Will never buy another thing there nor will my mother or sister after this.
poorly trained/rude cashier
I took a friend to Books a Million recently. I could not find one computer kiosk to help her find the books she was wanted. After wandering around for over 15 minutes (no clerks to help us) we finally stumbled across one book for her. I decided to buy a world map puzzle - bad decision. When we checked, my friend's clerk was helpful, assisting her with her list. My clerk however, flunked business manners. I was asked if I wanted some kind of membership card. I said no and was countered with a lengthy description of how the card could be used for on line shopping, etc. I again said no because I do not shop on line & because I prefer Barnes & Noble. I got more talk about the pros of online shopping & a rant against Barnes & Noble. The clerk also commented that my puzzle would soon be outdated due to the way countries are constantly changing, which made me start to wonder if I was making a smart purchase. The clerk then suggested I use my friends membership card, then said it couldn't be done, then got two other employees involved. The last straw was when I was told I would have to wait a few minutes before using my friends card because she had just renewed it. At this point my friend & I were both getting impatient so I told the clerk the puzzle wasn't worth the hassle & left. I will not be going back to this store & have shared my story with several of my avid book friends.
return
A family member purchased a New King James Version Bible from our local Books A Million store. He discovered that he had purchased the wrong version (should have been the original King James Version). When he tried to exchange it, he was refused because he did not have the receipt. He purchased a second Bible, the correct KJV, and used it as gift. I tried to make the return of the wrong book. The store manager explained that the policy is not to refund or exchange without a receipt or some way to trace the transaction. The Bible was still in the original packaging, with the ISBN and their tracking data. Other retailers honor gift returns without receipt, and BAM could also. Customer Service and Satisfaction a joke at BAM. Will not do further business with Books A Million.
I hate this company, but what do you expect. They have policies for a reason.
good looking bookstore, but a lousy business
I wasn't a fan of Books a Million growing up so, I wasn't surprised Books-A-Million went out of business, and was replaced with 2nd and Charles. This place often encouraged job discrimination policies based on sex or race; always hiring & promoting women, who was not qualified to hold managerial positions, and constantly discriminating against...
Read full review of Books-A-Millionreturn policy
My teenage daughter bought a book based on the blub inside the cover (50 Shades of Gray). Of course when I saw it, I immediately took it back to the bookstore. She did not keep receipt, so they were not willing to exchange for another. This is crazy. If books are given as gifts when you already have or so not like, what do you do?, give it way? I then called customer service and they were not any help. I had been a bam member for 3 years, but will no longer shop at their store. No wonder their other store had to close!
On another note, please buy your books at Barnes and Noble as they have a fair return policy. They indicated that they base returns without receipt on a case by case basis.
no holiday return policy
Books-A-Million has no holiday return policy. I tried to return books that were purchased on black Friday as Christmas presents. The official policy is returns are only excepted with in 14 days, no exceptions, regardless if it was a Christmas gift. The response I got was basically "too bad". This is a ridiculous policy, I want to make sure everyone is aware.
Read full review of Books-A-Million and 2 commentsforcing magazines that you haven't ordered
While paying for my books I was asked by the clerk about getting magazine subscriptions and I declined the offer. Told the sales person "NO THANK YOU". A couple of weeks later I receive a notice from Synapse Retail Ventures, Inc that they were charging my debit card for 4 magazine subscriptions that I got from Books A Million. What a scam. I am having so much trouble cancelling these magazines. There automated system sucks and you can't talk to a real person. I plan to at least go to the books a million store where this happened and talk to the manager. From what I've read with the other complaints, this is not unusual. I'll never use a credit or debit card at books a million again. Next time I'll get my books at Target. Are Synapse and Books A million in this together?
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
My wife went to the Johnson City TN Books a Million to buy a book for our daughter. The clerk asked if she wanted 3 "free" mag subscriptions and she said no. After she arrived home she looked at receipt and noticed he had signed her up anyways for three random magazines. We called the store and manager gave us the corporate number. The corporate hotline is an automated mess and even after they said she was taken care of guess what we received in the mail today? Two of the subscriptions she never wanted! They also retain your debit or credit card info to pay for the subscriptions. I am looking at charging the clerk with identity theft and suing the company as this seems to be an ongoing issue.
Upon checking out at Books A Million, they offered a FREE Magazine for Time, and Southern Living. They said I would not be changed until the magazine company sends a notice. THIS IS A LIE! They charge you automatticaly with whatever card you used upon check out. DO NOT AGREE TO THIS NOT FREE MAGAZINE OFFER.
I walked into the book store to pick up my husband who reads alot. I had a refill cup from joe mugs i mean the cup said joe mugs asked the rude blonds worker for coffee. She said well yopu have to buty a full cup I have been in there alot she is so rude where do they hire them from?
If the employees do not perform to the quotas that are berated and often made to cry, This is a company that ONLY cares about profit. They don't give a flying damn about their employees. If fact they'd rather hire new people than work with the older ones that are having trouble hocking their membership card.
and the magazine scam
and the coffee for the troops
and the bookdrives
and salvation army
It takes over 5 minutes to even check out.
Regarding the mags, I am fairly certain that Maine outlawed that practise. Contact your state reps and tell them about any trouble anyone has with the mags.
This is how books a million stays in business. I was told this by the clerk that checked.me out. She said that the employees are told to sign up customers or they will be fired. They have a quota and they get in trouble from senior management. I am not fond of there customer service style. I think this is a failing company trying to stay alive. I buy from Amazon or Barnes. At least at Barnes you don't get hassled to join a membership and unknowingly get signed up for magazines you never wanted.
rude cashier
My son and I stood behind a women at what appeared to be a check out counter for about 3 minutes. We were RIGHT behind this lady. The cashier was looking something up for her I guess, not sure what they were doing. When the lady left. The cashier ignores us standing there goes to ANOTHER cash register and asks a woman, May I help you? What? I said well, I guess we will get behind her. The other customer, not the cashier, says "Oh", I think she was here before we were. The cashier never apologizes. I talked with a manager, but got "I am sorry that happened" Yeah whatever! Lost my business. There is no excuse to be rude to customers whatever her reason was, still not sure!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
They must not train their people to deal with the public. The store in my area is terrible. I'm through with them. Rude and obnoxious beyond compare! Beware of the bogus information you might get about their discount card.
return policy nightmare
A friend purchased DVD season 1 and 2 of Weeds for me for my birthday. Unfortunatley I already purchased season 1 and 2. I took both seasons to the Books a Million where it was purchased, new in the package and with a books a million sticker on the outside (no receipt though), and asked to swap the seasons out for seasons 3 and 4. The manager refused because I didnt have a receipt. Really what is wrong with swapping out an item when it is new in the package, obviously came from BAM and you are requesting to swap an item for an item that is the exact same price? BAM would not have lost any funds by swapping the product for me. The only thing they lost was a customer.
When I walked in the store initially and spoke to the first clerk and explained my situation the clerk actually said "I'll go ahead and call my manager but I am going to warn you that BAM has the worst return policy I have ever heard of and BTW my manager isn't exactly nice to work with." THE CLERK WAS RIGHT!
When the manager arrived, to plea her case she tried to compare BAM to Target. She claimed that BAM and Target had the same return policy. That is not true. With no receipt Target would let me return an item. Granted I would get a credit for what the current price is but that is understandable.
Now I am sitting here with $60.00 in DVD's new in the box with books a millions name all over it that I have no use for and I can't even swap out because I don't have a receipt. I would never purchase any gift from this establishment for risk that the recipient could be in the same predicament as me. BAM has too much competition to have a faulty return policy.
Hilarious, Otakumas. BTW, do you have some sick fettish with tampons? You mention them in so many posts. There are a lot of educated people in this world that could help out idiotic, copying and pasting, tampon worshipping low lifes like you.
OH! looks like someone dug themselves out of the gutter to comment on this post. As usual, people can't have decent conversations without trash being involved. Only a ### (AKA otakumas) would discount the importance of customer service.
No one is required to do exchanges and/or refunds but most do to retain customers and offer good services. I can't think of any decent business that wouldnt offer an even exchange if the product obviously came from their store and they could resell it.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I agree previous customer otakumas is a stupid idiot.
magazines
Bought books at Booksamillion. Then clerk told me I could get three magazine subscriptions free for two months. Presumably this was a reward due to the amount of my purchase. I gave her three magazines from her list. She then handed me the credit card slip to sign. And then another slip to sign for my free magazines. She told me to just sign. I read it. What it was was an authorization to, after the two free months of each magazine, to release my credit card number to Magazine Rewards Center, which would then bill me for continued subscriptions. I was to sign to give them permission to release my credit card number for this. Of course, I refused to sign. They said it was no use, the credit number had already been sent to Magazine Rewards Center. If they had already done this, without getting my signature, why get me to sign? They said I would have to call Magazine Rewards Center to get the charges cancelled, as they had already gone through.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I went into the free subscription offer with eyes wide open. I followed all the instructions to cancel. I can even call the number to cancel them right now, and it will give me a confirmation that all subscriptions were canceled last summer. Yet, I still get the subscriptions, and I'm still being charged. DO NOT fall for the scam!
This magazine scam happened to me also. Unfortunately went a year without noticing charges on my card! I hate them!
Upset!
I am annoyed. This guy talked super fast asking me if I want to donate blah blah blah so I said "yes" because I'm a people pleaser and stupid. It turned out to be a a 15 dollar bag of coffee FOR THE TROOPS. I spent an additional 15 dollars FOR 1 BAG OF COFFEE FOR THE TROOPS who presumably already have coffee. ANYWAY to reward my generosity this fine establishment rewarded me with 3 free months of magazines! Lucky me! Except now I'm being charged for a year subscription. Really? After I so generously provided coffee to our troops? The one thing that they need the most, so shameful. They suck and should prepare themselves for the sass coming their way.
I just found out today I also was scammed with their little magazine trick they do! Never did I agree to share my bank account information with any 3rd party magazine company! Never will they get my business again!
I order at least one time a year from their website (almost always some Christmas gifts)and have been doing this for years and have always been happy with their service. Never had a problem with any order.
My last order was ordered Dec 10th and shipped on the 12th. I think good response for the time of the year and the fact that there is free shipping.
While reviewing my credit card statement, I just realized I was being charged for 3 magazine subscriptions that had gone through Books A Million. I spent over two hours on the phone with my credit card fighting the charges and then canceling the subscription that I never authorized or was aware of. I was promised I will get my money back but I do not care too much about that. What bothers me is the business practices at Books a Million. The solution for me is simple! I will never buy anything from them ever again.
Oh, yes, I also found out the hard way about this scam. And I do consider it a scam because when I checked out using my debit card and was given the offer of the free magazines I accepted and was not told at any time that in two months the magazine company would be charging my debit card for the magazines. I just figured that I would eventually get something in the mail asking if I wanted to actually subscribe to the magazines after two months. Alas, I was too naive! I went to bed one night with close to 90 dollars on my debit card(I am very vigilant about keeping up with the balance). Next day I went to make a six dollar purchase and was declined, and when I called I had less than two dollars on the card. This was at a difficult time of the month a day or so before my disability payment came on the card, and there I was with myself and my teen-aged son with no money for food or anything if he had not earned thirty dollars that weekend doing odd jobs. After a mind-boggling afternoon of calling the debit card company and ascertaining what had happened I then had to call the magazine company and cancel, but since the money would not go back on the card for a couple of days I was sitting there broke and desperate. They had taken 95 dollars off without my knowledge. I also called Books a Million in Albany, Georgia, to complain, and to the manager's credit she was very polite and apologetic! But now I am skittish about such offers and have learned my lesson the hard way.
I totally agree. I shopped at Books A Million, who by the way have PERMANENTLY lost a customer. Anyway when i checked out they lady says for your purchase today you will get 2 free subscriptions to a magazine. Thank God I read my reciept and guess what it said.. Books a million gave my bank account info to this company and I will be billed for a 12 month subscription. Shame on book a million. Tried to call to cancel and can't w/o a subscription # plus they already did hits to my bank acct to check it. I had my bank to a stop pay but i'm not sure what company name they will try to use to make the debit so I just got a new bank card which should stop the drafts all together.
frequent customer scam
I am a frequent customer of BAM - I enjoy sitting for hours, working on research and homework, while enjoying a Soy Caramel Frappe. Yesterday, I went in, ordered, PAID in advance (as usual) and then took my seat to set up for the work I would be doing. After a few minutes, the young barista gets my attention, and tells me that they are out of soy, and asks if I would like a regular frappe. I say no, I'm lactose intolerant, so it's soy or nothing. I was patient, and she offered to go find some in the back. I wasn't in a hurry, or dying of thirst, so I wasn't concerned. A while later she comes back and says that they don't have any at all -she also said something about them being short a manager. I said 'okay' and waited for her too suggest a solution - she asked if I would like a refund. I said yes. However, I didn't have the receipt - I have a habit of throwing them away when I get a napkin and straw on the way back to my table after ordering. It's never been a problem before now. Awhile later, a very pushy employee comes up and fires off questions almost quicker than I can answer, and says she'll put the amount of a gift card for me - I didn't see the point in that, so I just asked could they make me something else, non-coffee? She said yes, and asked what I wanted, repeatedly, obviously trying to hurry me along and get back to what she was doing. I said how about a smoothie? She yells a the barista 'make a smoothie!' and then proceeds to tell me all about how she's staying late because there are no managers in the store and someone has to be here to do returns - I didn't get the point nor did I appreciate her complaining to me about it. The poor barista already had 2 other orders going, but she asked what I wanted - trying to make it easy on her I said strawberry and sat back down. She brought it to me pretty quick, but I couldn't drink it - I remembered too late that I don't get smoothies here because they taste like pure syrup and aren't fresh at all. Awhile later I went and bout an apple juice to stave off my thirst, and the barista promised to talk to the manager that just showed up about getting me a refund. I left an hour later, having payed $7 for a $2 drink and a very unsatisfying experience.
beware
I was sitting in the floor in the children's section of Books-A-Million in Sevierville, TN this weekend when my daughter says "Gross...why are they licking their privates?" You can't imagine my horror when I realized she had found a Penthouse magazine on the bottom shelf of the children's section and was looking at a full page photo of a woman performing oral sex. My six year old daughter now has been exposed to pornography thanks to Books-A-Million! It is bad enough for pornography to be sold in the same store as children's books, but to have it randomly sitting around is outrageous! After several phone calls and e-mails I have learned that most major book stores sell "adult magazines" and this Books-A-Million store has received several complaints from parents whose children have found them in the children's books. I do not think Books-A-Million is trying to correct the problem, so be aware when you take you children to the book store.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Gave my cc number to a magazine seller without my permission. Fraudulent charges resulted.
The negative reviews on here do not surprise me. BAM is a poorly run book store. During my last visit I asked not one buth two members of the staff if they had any more books by Agatha Christie because there was only one copy of her books at the very bottom of the Mystery section (many of their book sections are not chronologically in order). Neither of the employees knew who Agatha Christie was. One of the employees started at first before she said she didn't know and the other employee aasked me "Who?" And actually asked me did I check their humor section?! These were two grown women who work in a book store and they didn't even know who one of the most popular authors In history was! After I realized that book I was hoping for was not going to obtained, I decided to just get a bookmark. But They didn't even get that right! At the cash register one of them tried to get me to pay for their magazine subscription to the tune of 2 minutes. After I finally got the total of my item I found I was charged twice for it! I had to correct her mistake before I left, and even then she still tried to get me to sign up for that magazine subscription! This book store is beyond ignorant and irritating. I won't be back.
I'll never shop at books a million again ! A couple of months ago after purchasing my books and checking out the cashier asked if I wanted to try 3 magazines well I was hesitate and asked her if I would be charged for anything ?! She assured me I would not ! Months later they are taking money out of my account for these magazines ! I really hate being lied to ! NEVER GOING BACK STEALING FROM YOUR COSTUMERS IS WRONG !
Firstly, I hate BAM. I will never go back there and I agree that their mag scheme is a scam (write your state legislators and tell them about it!), however, the staff can't be held completely accountable for porn mags being left lying about. There are hundreds of people through there in a day and it is not surprising that books and mags would be left in random places.
It's not the end of the world if a kid sees some naughty pictures, anyhow. I see kids' bibles sold there and those contain rape, incest and genocide. Adults frequently buy kids that book. No one ever seems to complain.
Your stupid
The Bible has nothing to do with this
Books a Million is one place I refuse to shop any longer. They have people working for them who seem to have NO training in dealing with the public. They are rude and obnoxious. They give bogus information about their discount cards. So beware if you are planning to buy one. Don't take their word for anything!
UPPER MANAGEMENT: PLEASE READ
I'm a current employee. In almost three years I'm on my third GM, fourth DM and third RVP. Get your act together.
MFM - It's a scam. No employee wants to puch it because it's a scam. Ditch it.
Discount cards - Not a bad program, with notable exceptions. Still, if you want better sales, decouple spiff from store goals and raise spiff. Good things will happen. It will empower emplyees; they will effectively be working for themselves. This seems obvious, so I have to think the folks sitting around the corporate table don't want to pay spiff.
As a previous Books-A-Million employee I have to say there are weirdos and creeps out there who like to do nasty things. I have found pornos in the changing station in the bathroom and in the holding tank of the toilet (not to mention a blow up doll), but what these jerks really like to do is mix porno in with the christian books and the childrens books, gross I know. It is not something the store condones nor encourages but it is a simple fact that there are bad people out there and you can't stop every one of them no matter how hard you try. BAM does need to make several changes though, If you think it is bad as a customer you don't even know what you go through as an employee. The company DOES encourage you to deceive customers and cram discount cards and magazine subscriptions down their throats. If you don't meet your outrageous "quota" your job is threatened. While I was with the company I saw the "quota" go from 3.9% to 4.5% then to 5.0% (during a recession) and depending on the store 10 to 30 magazine subscriptions a week. Due to the increasing selfishness of the CEO and his goonies Books-A-Million has become one big scam, of course they want to sell these discount cards to everyone not because it is a service to the customers but because that is $20 tax free dollars every time. This doesn't even begin to scratch the suface of BAM's faulty policies but I hope it clarifies some things for you.
Wow some of you are a little on the looney side. I am sorry but in nearly any store checking for counterfeits is policy and the magazine issue you know the chances are very high a teenager moved it there. The porn is usually kept on the top shelf and it us labled mens fashion not women and children please look here. I mean honsetly watch your children why did you not notice her reading it hmmmm? I understand you being upset but it is not really the fault of a book store. Also FYI wal-mart, target, and any major store that sells magazines and books all carry pron in the form of either magazines, books, movies it is something you will have to just make sure is not around your child. YOU are the parent in case you forgot.
My granddaughter, age 13, handed the clerk at the Murfreesboro, TN BAM a twenty dollar bill to pay for her book, only to be embarrassed by the clerk who then went through a series of antics in front of the other customers, holding the bill to the light, etc. in an effort to determine if the bill was legitimate or counterfeit. This embarrassed my granddaughter, but when I asked about it the clerk explained that "there are a lot of bad people out there, " and the manager stepped up to explain that it is indeed the policy with any customer paying with twenty a dollar bill or any of the larger bills. So book lovers, you're better off using all singles or a credit card unless you enjoy being humiliated at the BAM cash register.
Oh my god, how rude of you 1-highlander!
I would be upset too if my 6 year old daughter saw that kind of nonsense!
I don't think MUCH of books a million. I like the store itself, but its staff are awful!
They hire all the degenerates and the sub-culture people here in Asheville.
Like would like to order coffee and a nice tasty brownie or muffin from someone who's arms were all cut up due to the fact she liked to cut herself repeatedly and had all these creepy piercing son her face, including her cheeks? Uggh. .hardly makes it appetizing to order food or even drink from that kind of customer service rep.
That's it's like in our store in Asheville, Sevierville mom. I know, when I walk by the Magazine section at their store, part of it, is like walking into an Adult bookstore!
Why cannot they put those magazines up high where the kids and ladies couldn't see that stuff and be exposed to stuff I do NOT want to see either!
And the staff is so snooty and disrespect to you in that store too!
There is a number you can call Sevierville mom, that asks, "how we doing?"
Call them and complain... Keep complaining, I think they need to revamp their entire staff! It's stinks to shop there now and I used to love that store!
About Books-A-Million
Overview of Books-A-Million complaint handling
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Books-A-Million Contacts
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Books-A-Million phone numbers+1 (800) 201-3550+1 (800) 201-3550Click up if you have successfully reached Books-A-Million by calling +1 (800) 201-3550 phone number 0 0 users reported that they have successfully reached Books-A-Million by calling +1 (800) 201-3550 phone number Click down if you have unsuccessfully reached Books-A-Million by calling +1 (800) 201-3550 phone number 0 0 users reported that they have UNsuccessfully reached Books-A-Million by calling +1 (800) 201-3550 phone number
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Books-A-Million emailssupport@booksamillion.com100%Confidence score: 100%Supportbusiness@booksamillion.com83%Confidence score: 83%
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Books-A-Million address402 Industrial Lane, Birmingham, Alabama, 35211, United States
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Books-A-Million social media
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Checked and verified by Stan This contact information is personally checked and verified by the ComplaintsBoard representative. Learn moreJun 30, 2025 - View all Books-A-Million contacts
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