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Barnes & Noble Booksellers Customer Service Phone, Email, Contacts

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2.0 284 Reviews

Barnes & Noble Booksellers Complaints Summary

69 Resolved
215 Unresolved
Our verdict: When using services from Barnes & Noble Booksellers with a poor resolution rate, be vigilant. Understand the common pitfalls other customers have faced. Prepare thoroughly for any interactions with their customer service, and consider alternative solutions if your issues are not addressed satisfactorily.
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Barnes & Noble Booksellers reviews & complaints 284

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4:38 pm EDT
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Barnes & Noble Booksellers nook customer service

Barnes and nobles has very poor customer service. I do not understand why they would invent a product like the nook and hire piss poor personnel to deal with the customers. They are just plain rude, not only will they cut you off before you can even tell them your issue. I had one lady tell me I didn't even have an email registered there, i've been with b&n over 15 years, bus she couldn't spell jamaica! She kept taking deep breaths, like I was bothering her but she's the one that couldn't spell. I've even gone so far as to go into the store to allow the associates there to deal with them and the "corporate" office seems to be just as rude as to them. My complaints were about books missing from my library after a software upload, gift cards not being charged, missing gift cards, nook books with missing chapters, etc. I was called by a rep, rasheed west-ford, he spoke very loud and was no help at all. He sent me one email stating they were not aware of any other customers having the issues I was having and exactly 3 mins later he sent another one stating the exact opposite. So finally I was offered a $25 egift card for my trouble, I arrived almost a year later and then there was no money on it! I couldn't make this up if I tried! So I email mr. West-ford (Who can be reached directly at [protected], he claims is direct boss is the vp of customer relations) and got an out of office reply, eventually he returned and sent me an email stating the exact order numbers that I used to deplete the gift card. I did make the purchases but they were not charged to that gift card! This is awful, I have an entire spreadsheet dedicated to b&n, i've exchanged exactly 113 emails, 19 complaints, over 187 phone calls, 29 gift cards, $1, 009.47 of purchases and 48 store visits! Yet b&n launches the color nook and had the nerve to email me about it. Really? They can't provide reasonable customer service for the current nook! The bad part is that b&n is a good company that have decided to employ awful people, I would love to see the qualifications and training the employees are required to have. If it is more than three paragraphs, i'd be amazed!

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blue52
New Haven, US
Feb 12, 2013 4:34 pm EST

This complaint sounds like a bunch of crap to me. Lady also complains about edible arrangements travelocity, Baymont Inns, and prisontalk.com. SO wait the guy offered you and gift card and was talking too loud for you. Guess you would have rather talked to someone whispering and who offered you nothing in return for your troubles. Good luck with those prisoners.

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6:18 pm EST
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Barnes & Noble Booksellers return policy

I just had a baby. Do you know how many people have given us duplicate books? Everything from what to expect (During pregnancy, during year one, etc. ) to baby books, and children's books. Often the books come wrapped in the box from barnes and noble.com. However, since I don't have the receipt, I can't return the duplicate items. It is tacky and rude to ask the gift giver to locate the receipt and hand it over. I've been donating the books, but it seems ridiculous that we are unable brand new, unopened books. Store credit would be great. I don't need cash - just let me select a dr. Suess book that we don't already own!

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pobarjenkins
Minneapolis, US
Mar 03, 2011 6:52 pm EST
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You shouldn't blame B&N for that. Blame your gift-givers who didn't think to give you a gift receipt.

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5:07 pm EST

Barnes & Noble Booksellers customer service department is an absolute joke

This is the 2nd time that I’ve ordered Barnes and Noble Gift Cards online and did not receive. The first time was 4 years ago and I was able to get a refund for the purchase that was never received after several phone calls.

This year I thought I try again. Big Mistake. I ordered the items on November 30. Received an email that the items shipped on 12/3/09. Never received the items – meantime I’ve made numerous calls to track the shipments, etc. The Customer Service department is an absolute joke.

I was told conflicting stories – items shipped on 11/20/09 (odd because the order was made until 11/30), item shipped and should receive in 3-5 weeks ) for gift cards). Item never shipped, etc, etc. Finally I requested that the order be canceled and that the gift cards be voided. Was told that I would receive a refund in 3-5 days. Never happened!

After many, many phone calls to Barnes and Noble, I got nowhere. Finally filed a dispute with our credit card company who took care of the refund.

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airwi90
Spokane Valley, US
Dec 31, 2011 8:09 pm EST

When I was in the store yesterday there were approximately 75 people in the store. There was only one cashier on duty at the register. I had to wait with 8 customers ahead of me to make my purchase and there were 20 customers waiting behind me, complaining loudly. I complained to the cashier and she only complained to me about how overworked she was by the company. This is outrageous abuse of customers by B and N. I'll do business exclusively with Auntie's in Spokane from now on, even though it is an inconvenience to travel into town!

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3:45 pm EST

Barnes & Noble Booksellers rip off

When barnes and noble first released their version of an e-reader (The nook) , my fiance wanted one so bad, so I went out and got a credit card just to get the nook for her. I spent 250.00 dollars on this nook and just two days later had to return and exchange it for another one due to the fact that the first one had terrible loading times. Then shortly after we get the second one, the nook goes on sale for 200.00 dollars. Just for the record, im not complaining about how much I spent, im upset cause I could have bought her a 50.00 dollar gift card for the nook if it had originally been 200.00 dollars. Then this second one starts to have networking problems even after daily updates, but the worst thing about it is now barnes and noble now have a color nook for the same price I payed for the black and white screened nook, which is now 150.00 dollars. I just do not see why barnes and noble could not release the color screened nook first to begin with, now I look like a fool when that commercial comes on about this great new colored screen nook and the love of my life does not have one cause times are hard and I cannot afford her one. By the way, that nook of hers is still having trouble and now it will not even turn on.

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rkfla
Miami, US
Jun 21, 2011 3:35 am EDT

123321 & kissmekati: can you comment on the fact that this customer has had 2 nooks, neither of which work correctly ... rather than the relationship?

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KissMeKati
Las Vegas, US
Mar 21, 2011 8:03 am EDT

a) you were dumb enough to not get the warranty. It would have solved your proplems.
b) You hear of the ipad 2? Guess what? people are holding out from getting that for the ipad 3! Companies always release something bigger and better the second go around. Just because your g/f was too antsy to wait around to see what was happening next is not the companies problem.
c) "and the love of my life does not have one cause times are hard and I cannot afford her one". sounds like a whiney spoiled woman and I would be getting out of that relationship super quick

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5:52 pm EST

Barnes & Noble Booksellers No answer from customer care

I pre-ordered a book on Borders.com. I also ordered a second book. Since the first book was in stock I was charged for both books and the first one was shipped right away.

The second books was released for the first time two months later. I waited two weeks. I called customer service and talked to a representative, she told me that she could see where I paid for the books and that one was shipped. She said she would get back with me by email. I heard nothing back. I tried to call, the representatives see my account online, they hang up on me immediately without a word.

I made a Better Business Bureau complaint, they emailed me that something went wrong with the order and I was never charged for the book. I have a credit card statement that says otherwise. They will not respond to the Better Business Bureau complaint, they will send me the book, they will not give me my money back, and now won’t answer my emails or talk to me on the phone.

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Ellen K Lewin
Plattsmouth, US
Feb 25, 2011 3:35 am EST
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On the 14th of November 2010 I ordered 2 books on line. " The Wimpy Kid : The Ugly Truth and Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment. The order number is [protected]. The amount I charged to my Visa was $17.26. I have called 9 (NINE) time to find out about my REFUND, each time I have been told that the refund has be posted to my account IT HAS NOT!

Would someone PLEASE just send me a Check (If you know what that is) and let's get this over with?

The last time I called was February 21, I talked to Amber, this was in the evening before 8 PM. She was very pleasant and helpful and concerned about my problem. She with a Manager Jackie said that they would make sure this would be posted to my account in 3-10 business days, the 10th business day will be, 7th (supposedly). I want to know what to do IF I do not get my refund by then? I'm not sure, what this number is that they gave me, but I'm going to use it as a reference number #317875. The number on the order is [protected].

I have always enjoyed the convenience of on line shopping with Border's, BUT this is the last time I do this and I'm not so sure I'll shop at the Border's stores either. The one big problem I did have with the online was that I could not understand anyone, and I'm sure there are other AMERICANS that have had the same problem. 1. you are taking away jobs from Americans and 2. Even though they are polite and all they do not speak understandable ENGLISH. If I wanted to deal with foreign employees, I would move to their country, LEARN THEIR LANGUAGE and be done with it.

Now all I ask for is PLEASE get my REFUND posted to my account by or before the 7th of March.

UNHAPPILY,
ELLEN K LEWIN
19911 BEACH RD. #117
PLATTSMOUTH NE 60848
[protected]

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4:59 pm EST
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Barnes & Noble Booksellers Auto Renewal of membership not wanted

I was charges $25 for a renewal of my Barnes and Noble membership over a month prior to when the account should have expired. Not only does this short me a month of membership it also is not a valid renewal as I never pre-approved the renewal. I have had a membership for over 5 years and each year I allow my membership to lapse for a couple of months because I know it will be inactive for that time. I was not made aware of this auto-renewal at any time during my purchase of the membership nor during the time of my membership. I did not even know that I had a renewed membership until my bank called me with a $35 overdraft fee because they charged an account that I was in the process of closing. If B&N even allows the reversal of the $25 membership fee my bank will not allow the $35 fee to be eliminated so either way I am stuck with a $35 bank fee! I feel that B&N should pay this fee with no questions asked.

I have been a long time loyal customer of B&N spending many thousands of dollars there and at their gift/coffee shops. I find this auto-renewal to be very presumptuous and it is a new addition to their contract, which I had read the first few times I applied. Having read the contracts before, upon purchase of the new membership the clerk should have informed me that their new policy was to automatically withdraw money from my account a month prior to the expiration of the membership.

I found all this out through the over-draft and protection division of my bank. They told me they would close my account if I didn't win the dispute or pay the amount owed. I feel this is a little nasty on the banks side as well.

I feel that I should be refunded the $25 membership fee and the $35 overdraft charge that the bank is insisting upon collecting. I also feel that I should be given a fair sized gift card to B&N for the 3 hours I have spent trying to clear this mess up. I am self employed and I have had to put off a lot of work to take care of something that should not have been an issue.

My final note is that NO company should assume auto-renewal unless the customer specifically asks for it and puts a SIGNATURE and date behind it to make it official.

At this point I am so mad that I will never shop at B&N again nor will I ever accept gifts purchased there or recommend them as a business.

I have no photos as proof as I received nothing from B&N and the overdraft card does not show anything of value. It is up to you whether you want to beleive this or not but I wouldn't waste my time reporting this had it been anything else but true.

Good luck and keep an eye on your bank statements!

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HHbooks
, US
Dec 13, 2015 3:15 pm EST

I have NEVER signed up for auto-renewal and they did it to me anyway this year "by default." Fraudulent practices that have cost them a customer.

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S….
, US
Feb 22, 2014 10:54 pm EST

I have to say, when you sign up for the membership, you agree to the auto-renewal. It's right on the form that you sign. Not many people read what they are signing. Also, you may opt-out by 1) paying cash (they can't charge you if they don't have an account to charge the fee to) or 2) calling the 1-800 number on the back of the card.

I do agree though that this is a bad practice.

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Not as Loyal to B&N
New York, US
Dec 21, 2013 10:46 am EST

The same thing just happened to me. My membership expires in January and I was planning on renewing my membership in the spring because I am really broke right now. Barnes and Noble decided to renew it for me in December and charged my credit card without my permission. Like I said, I am really broke right now, and by doing this B & N maxed out my credit card. I was planning on using that credit card to pay an important bill that was due, but I was unable to pay it. I called B & N and they said they would refund me and it would take 24 hours, so now I will have to pay my important bill that was due late, and get stuck with a late fee and possibly a ding on my credit for paying late.

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bsg1
White Bluff, US
May 01, 2012 8:37 am EDT

Barnes & NOBLE is running a scam. I spent several hundred dollars during Christmas 2010 at the Cool Springs Galleria Barnes & NOBLE for my college age kids. I did not sign up for any program. I learned a long time ago that these things were deceitful. However, somehow my checking account has been debited twice for this program and I caught it during tax season. I contacted Barnes & NOBLE to immediately remove my name, bank numbers and issue a refund for their mistake. They asked for all my personal info and like an idiot I gave it to them in order for verification and issuance of my refund. After several emails (polite and informative on my part) they finally proceeded to deny my refund! They said even though I had not shopped there since the initial 2010 season, I had to cancel my auto renewal within 30 days of the renewal date! I am livid and though it is $50 - it is more the principal of the thing. I am not done with these people. DONT SHOP THERE. There are many other places to buy books and overpriced items. This company is not at all NOBLE.

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B&N member for two years
, US
Mar 10, 2012 5:38 pm EST

I just discovered they took $25 out of my bank account also. I received an email from them on my old email addy that I haven't used in years and when I decided to sign in and look it up, I tried to log in and uncheck the auto renew box that B&N says they provide and I can't get logged in. I tried to reset the password and they asked for the last 4 digits of my credit card that I used as my last purchase and I put it in and the B&N website said that was incorrect. ...and they took $25 on march 2 clearly out of my bank account. I haven't been to B&N in at least a month. So what is this about? I was actually wanting to renew it but I didn't want to spend the money renewing it right at this time, was going to wait until May. didn't really have the extra $25 to throw around...
I will call them and repost their response. I am sure it will be a battle.

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K
11:19 am EST

Barnes & Noble Booksellers ebay store wont give you your money back!

I have been trying for 2 months to get them to credit me for my returned item that I bought from their ebay store. It only allows paypal, and they seem totally inept at doing so. I have spent hours on hold and then they promise my refund, but it never appears.

you stay on hold forever, and when they forward you the next person has no idea and you start all over again. their computer system starts mixing your orders up. its just a total CF from the start.

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sg1324
Rancho Cucamonga, US
Apr 11, 2011 9:27 pm EDT

well I work for Barnes and Noble and we get people who will bring books they bought from borders and try to get store credit or return their books. So maybe you should start saving reciepts

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5:32 pm EST
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Barnes & Noble Booksellers $25 membership refund

Paid $25 for membership a year ago. Never received any discount or offers. B&n says its the fault of internet explorer, and that their mail to me was considered spam.

Even the person at bn bookstore said that many were having this "problem. " barnes & not so noble—how about fixing this?

Why then, am I able to get promotions from amazon and borders? Why was it up to me to fix this problem?

I want a refund or one year's extension of my "supposed" membership.

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OhWowReally
, US
Feb 11, 2011 11:54 pm EST
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Agreed. You should have checked your filters. About the only way you'll get your money back is if in addition to never using an email offer, you also never used the card's in store discount. If you did it even once, like the day you got it, you won't get anything back.

Besides, one year went by and you never thought to bring this fact up to anyone? You paid the fee, so clearly you go into their stores or shop online enough that you should have mentioned this to someone long ago. Sounds to me like you didn't use it as much as you thought and now you want your money back.

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12:35 am EST
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Barnes & Noble Booksellers stupid employees: unable to count as high as 5

I ordered 5 copies of Timothy Ferriss's new book, "The Four Hour Body." I don't normally order multiple copies of a book, but in this case, the author promised admission to a private webinar to anyone who bought 5 copies of the book. So I paid for 5 copies. When the box containing the books arrived, there were only 4 copies inside. Apparently, Barnes & Noble employees who fulfill their orders are incapable of counting as high as the number 5.

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Shannon36535
Foley, US
Feb 08, 2011 1:28 am EST

Guess you didnt take the time to call the store or contact the website and ask for your 5th book before coming here to complain. You need to remember the old saying about throwing stones...

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Marge Gunderson
Fargo, US
Feb 08, 2011 1:25 am EST
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Grow up, and resolve the problem instead of whining on a board completely unrelated to the company. You've got a lot to learn about the world, kiddo, if you think this is some major issue.

Man up, call them and get your fifth copy of a useless book by a real scammer. That is, if you aren't too humiliated to actually admit you got suckered in five times by this loser, all for the chance to hear his sales pitch to further sucker you in!

Talk about taking your eye off the ball here!

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pobarjenkins
Minneapolis, US
Feb 08, 2011 12:51 am EST
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Because no one ever makes mistakes, [censored].

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1:46 am EST
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Barnes & Noble Booksellers incorrect order recieved

I received the wrong order.
The package I received had the correct packing slip but the items were wrong.
I contacted barnes and noble customer service initially by e-mail only to get a response:

We received your recent email and apologize that we have not responded.
We are experiencing unusually high email volume, and want to assure you that your concerns are always very important to us.
We invite you to have a look at our help desk by clicking on this link:
Http://www.Barnesandnoble.com/help/help. Asp

I then called the phone number indicated in their e-mail response (At 1-800-the-book [protected]) ) only to be put on hold for 30 minutes, answered by someone and they then hung up.
So they now have my money and I have the wrong items.
I will never shop at barnes and noble again.

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2:39 am EST
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Barnes & Noble Booksellers they suck!

We were robbed of our money on our gift card - we tried to make a purchase online on january 8, 2010, then received an email saying our credit card was denied, but they also robbed the gift card and did not process our order! We have called more than 7 times in the last week and have sat on hold for up to 2 hours! The customer service for barnes and noble sucks! We sent emails and got automated responses saying to call the number, so we call and all we do is sit on hold! We were robber and we will never buy from barnes and noble ever again!

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lsweeks
, US
Nov 30, 2011 5:45 pm EST
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We had a similar situation. We registered a $20 giftcard online in August. It was a gift to my son from his Aunt. His grandmother gave him a Nook for his birthday as well. The giftcard was still accounted for as of mid-October. My son hadn't used it yet...opting to download some free titles first. He wanted to use it last week...and the giftcard account show $0 for his balance. Customer service was of no help. They did not show the giftcard ever being there yet they showed every free download. Customer Service then sent me to the giftcard people but they were no help either. Did we keep the actual card? No. Didn't think we had to since it was posted on our online account. My mother-in-law purchased four Nooks, one for each grandson. Now no one in our family wants to spend money with Barnes & Noble! They are thieves!

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dsotm
, US
Mar 10, 2011 6:38 pm EST

A similar thing happened to me. My credit card was charged the full amount and the gift card was removed from my Barnes Noble account. I called them and they basically called me a liar. Do not use Barnes and Noble online.

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zhuiqui77
newyork, US
Jan 18, 2011 5:15 am EST

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9:47 pm EST
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Barnes & Noble Booksellers customer service

I have had my nook for little under a year when I got a black line in the screen obstructing a few words making it difficult to read. This was not a major problem I just thought I would call and get a replacement. Well the problem started with their customer service... After being on hold for a min. 15 minutes before speaking to anyone I got someone who really didn't know how to explain the resetting device... Told me to do that then call back... Nothing worked... I called back and spoke to another person who took my name and account info, and told me the replacement would be sent out in 2-3 days. 4 days later, I have to call to check on the device, another lady told me that it was still on the way and would be there by the next day. Come the next day, it had not shown up. This is almost a full week after my first contact with them. I call them back (Everytime I wait about 15 minutes before speaking to someone) and they tell me it probably got lost in transit... Wtf. So she takes my account info again and sends out an new order on the 12 of jan... It's now jan 15 and I have yet to receive the nook.. The tracking packaage options shows it is in nj and has not been updated in 2 days. The mailing address is just my name and the town I live in... How the hell are they supposed to deliver a package to me with just my name and town?... They have all the correct info online and yet their total incompetence is really irritating me. I will never buy another digital product from barnes and noble again and encourage everyone else to do the same. Bad bad bad and incompetent customer service.

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Barnes & Noble Booksellers shipping/service

I placed an order for an item that states it "usually ships within 24 hours. " that was on 1/5. I get an email confirming everything, saying it will ship on 1/6. When I received no confirmation of shipping or email telling me of a problem I called the company and was told that the item had already shipped. They had no excuse for why the website wouldn't update. The next morning (1/6) I receive an email telling me my order has been delayed and will not ship until 1/7. I called them again (Waiting on hold for 60 minutes (Hands free is great) no less) and they gave me a tracking number and once again told me the item shipped. Mid-afternoon on 1/7 I receive an email telling me that my item has just now shipped and I receive a tracking number. The customer service department tells people whatever they can to get them off the phone and avoid a problem. I was lied to multiple times and I will take my business elsewhere. We have a local bn store and I will patron a locally owned bookstore where items can be ordered in. I ended up having to purchase another item as this was a gift for a friend's birthday. The expected arrival is 1/12, 7 days after I purchased the item. When I tried to cancel the order I was told that it was too late, the item had shipped. Except that I was lied to because I received an email on a later date telling me the item was shipped. I am done with this company and wish bankruptcy on them for their loss of focus on who pays their bills (The consumers, in case someone from bn management is reading this).

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Michel Chevalier
Québec City, CA
Jun 09, 2012 5:22 am EDT
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IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET RIPPED OFF, PLEASE, STAY AWAY FROM BARNES AND NOBLE!

I am plagued with a similar bad experience with Barnes and Noble rotten customer service.

I use Internet a lot for shopping and this is the first time in 10 years that service is so bad. I had no previous problems with companies like Amazon.com, LLBeans, B&H Photo Video, and the like. Everything go smooth.

I'm used to receiving the stuff I order over the Internet after 2-4 business days, which is very good, considering I live in Quebec, and all of those companies are American. They all ship their packages through either UPS, FedEx, or Purolator. Service is first class. We are supplied with a tracking number, allowing us to know where is the package at any time. BARNES AND NOBLE SUPPLIES USELESS TRACKING NUMBERS!

I tought BARNES AND NOBLE was a respectable company and decided to give them a try. I was wrong.

After more than a month now, I still did not receive my book! However, you can be confident that my credit card have been charged. I was ripped off. BARNES AND NOBLE is trying to steal me 45$. I contacted customer service many times, either by email, phone, or chat, only to be told that it was not their problem, as their responsibility was limited to shipping the book, and they assured me that they did, although I don't believe them, as tracking number corresponds to nothing.

You can be sure that I won't leave a penny to those crooks. I will fight back. Fortunately, I paid by credit card, so a chargeback request is on it's way. This is a hassle, as it may take 90 days before I get my money back. Besides, this is lots of red tape. But be sure that BARNES AND NOBLE won't have the last word onto this one.

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Barnes & Noble Booksellers gift card fraud

I was given a gift card to barnes and noble for christmas. I used the card online to buy some books. I tried to use my account, but they required a credit card, so I used a guest account. The site read that I had more then double the amount I was trying to use on my gift card. Later, I get an email saying that my card was denied. I check my balance for a second time, and lo and behold, it is $0! I get on the phone with them and wait an hour and a half before hanging up. I tried the next day with the same results. I have sent them 3 emails in the week following this, and made multiple calls, all to no avail. They have the worst customer service ever. As far as i'm concerned, they are a bunch of thieves who don't care about their customers at all! I will never purchase anything from them again!

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Barnes & Noble Booksellers - customer service

It took me three employees, three lines, one manager, 45 mins on the phone with customer service, just to do one exchange!!! I did not want refund, just an exchange. Barnes and noble was still going to have my money. It took me calling the manager out of line to get anything done. I will for the rest of my life consider barnes and noble a enemy!!! I am so...

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Barnes & Noble Booksellers false advertising, late shippment, no shippment, incompetent staff

I have purchased many books from barnes & noble at their local store. I had never ordered online, but I received a gift card during the holiday season and figured it would be easier to purchase items on-line and have them delivered to me. Boy was I wrong. The items I purchased were all marked as "in-stock" and "shipps withing 24 hours". Upon my check out, there was no indicator that the items were on back-order or not in stock. I paid extra for additional shipping, and upon check out the shipping stated I would receive my order within 1-3 days. I ordered this on 12/28. On 12/28 I received an email confirming that the order had been received. I then received an email later that day stating it was scheduled to ship on 12/28. As of 12/29 I had not received anything stating it had been shipped. I decided to wait. On 12/30 I received emails stating 3 of the 4 items had been delayed. I called their customer service phone number and after waiting about 20 minutes, was able to speak to someone. She explained that one of the items had already shipped and I should receive it within 1-3 business days. She then explained that one of the other three items was not in stock (Even though it appeared as in stock upon check out and in an e-mail sent by the company) , and that it was holding up the other items. She was rude, and expalained to me that 'because of how fast technology moves, we cannot guarantee that an item is in stock upon check out, b/c by the time you check out ten other people could have purchased it'. If that is the case, then I would have this experience with many other companies. I have never had this experience with any other companies, and I do quite a bit of online shopping.
She then asked if I wanted to cancel the item that was holding up my order. I replied yes, and that I would purchase it once it was in stock again. She did so and explained the other items would ship out within a day. On 12/31 I received a notice that only one of my items was on it's way. The other two items that had been allegedly held up by the item that was cancel were still not sent. I figured it was new years eve and perhaps that is why they had not been sent. So, I patiently waitied for the item that had been shipped, and for an email regarding the others.

I did receive the item that had been shipped on monday. Though I cannot say it had much to do with them, but rather with ups (Which I might add is wonderful at shipping items on time). On 1/3 (Today) I received emails stating that my "attention was required immediately". I opened them only to find out the company was requesting that I allow them to keep my order pending "for up to 30 days" what?! So I called again, and was on hold for about 30-40 minutes (Hmmmm... Probably because there are many other unhappy customers calling?). A man by the name of "jamal" helped me. He was polite but did not give me any definite answers. I asked that he cancel the remaining order, which he did. He said it will take 3 business days for the funds to return to my card and my gift card!? It is ludicrous for this to be the case when it took them a very short amount of time to charge my cards. He then stated that the item I cancelled last thursday had still not been refunded to my cards! Ridiculous. I asked if the money that was charge for the item that was shipped would change (B/c I noticed it stated that cancelling the other items might result in being charged more on the movie I had received) and he said "it should not" but would not give me a guaranteed answer. He then stated that the woman who had previously helped me had not read the information right, and that the movies she stated would ship with the cancellation of the item that was not in stock, were actually on backorder and would not ship for quite some time. Ridiculous! As I explained to "jamal", why would I wait "up to 30 days" to receive my items, when I could just walk into the store and purchase them.

Alas, what I thought would be a simple, faster, smooth transaction has turned in to a nightmare. Why do these big companies feel it's okay to falsely advertise their merchandise, lie about shipping times, have incompetent staff, and take forever to cancell/refund charges? I hear they are going out of business and I think 'it's sad that more people will loose their jobs' and on the other hand ' I am not surprised!'.In this economy, companies cannot afford to loose customers, and their reputation. As a consumer, our money is very valuable and every penny counts right now. I will not put my money into a company that has such terrible business practices.

I will make it my business to go on as many websites as I can in order to expose this company to the consumer, so that people do not waste their time and money ordering/purchasing items from barnes & noble.

I hope this desuades others from purchasing from this company and falling into this nightmare.

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tifmoneyluv
, US
Jul 12, 2011 2:15 am EDT

I"m just curious why the name Jamal needed to be put into quotations...

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rkfla
Miami, US
Jun 21, 2011 2:37 am EDT

Stealth Pilot is talking nonsense. I have a great friend that works for one of the LARGEST and most diverse catalog companies on earth, and they have a large staff that manages a little something called INVENTORY. I had a similar problem to "consumerlg" when trying to buy an MP3 player from Bestbuy.com, and I have never bought anything from them or even visited their website since then.

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Jackers2722
, US
Jan 04, 2011 5:57 am EST

Ordering on 12/28 is the worst time to order anything from anywhere! I bet the other companies you talk highly of have never gotten an order from you 3 days after Christmas huh? You expect your books to show up overnight all bundled up nicely waiting for you to read them after ordering it right after the Christmas holiday craziness of everyone in the world shipping at the same time to get their presents to loved ones? Your ridiculous!

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Jackers2722
, US
Jan 04, 2011 5:50 am EST

What books did you order?

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Barnes & Noble Booksellers gift card issues

Got a gift card for Christmas to B&N.com, and I wanted to download some ebooks. I was little uncomfortable that, in order to register for an online account, I had to submit a credit card. I only intended to use the amount on the gift card, and I didn't want my credit card to be 'accidentally' charged. But I got over my misgivings because, hey, Barnes & Noble is a reputable company, right? Except when I purchased my books, two of the five I ordered were billed to the credit card instead of being deducted from the gift card. This despite the fact that there was more than enough on the card to make the other two purchases.

So I emailed customer service. Got a 'hey, sorry, we're really busy but check out our FAQs!' reply. Gee, thanks. So I emailed them again. This time, not even a 'hey, sorry' email. So now I guess I'll have to call them. I hope they have nice hold music, since I'll probably be spending a while listening to it tonight.

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lsweeks
, US
Nov 30, 2011 6:03 pm EST
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We had a similar situation just last week. My mother-in-law purchased four Nooks, one for each of her four grandsons. My son received it for his 14th birthday in August. He also received a $20 gift card from his Aunt so that he could download nookbooks. I uploaded the card into our account a few days later. It was there as of mid-October. In the meantime, my son downloaded a number of free titles and had not tried to use the card. Last week he was going to use it. Similar to your experience, the balance showed zero! I contacted Customer Service and they were of no help. They had a record of every free download but no record of the gift card registration. We did not keep the original card either so we too made a $20 donation to B&N. They are total thieves. I even asked Customer Service if anyone else ever called w/a similar problem and they said no. I was the first to ever have this happen. Found that extremely hard to believe.

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wthehunter
, US
Jan 29, 2011 11:47 pm EST

I also received a gift card for Christmas and had no problem creating an account because I have an e-reader and intended on purchasing books in the future. So I loaded the gift card on my account and the $20 balance showed. In the meantime I had purchased books, expecting the price to deduct from the balance of my card. All of them have been charged to my checking account and on my B&N account I am showing a $0 balance on my gift card. In fact I called customer service and they have no record of the gift card ever being loaded onto my account. Since I saw the $20 balance showing on my account after loading it up, I naturally discarded the gift card. So I have no information "proving" that I actually had one to begin with. I am very disappointed that I made a charitable $20 donation to a multi-million dollar mega corporation while I struggle everyday with my young family of 5. At least I can rest easy at night knowing that their bank accounts are exploding at our expense with nothing in return aside from and ever increasing distrust in the deceptive business markets of the world. Thank you. Justice is always and inevitably served.

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Shannon Hauck
Hamburg, US
Jan 13, 2011 6:49 pm EST

Same problem here. Bought 2 books, both went on my debit card. Just bought a $.99 book a few days ago to check out the issue. Downloaded instantly no problem, but money not deducted from gift card yet OR showing up on bank statement. I also emailed them and got the laim instant reply back. I refuse to sit on hold for customer service who most likely will not be able to help. I guess since I can't return the gift card I will have to use it for something there which I'm really not happy about. In the future I will buy my ebooks from Sony's website, since you are able to put them on your nook.

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MJmom
Santee, US
Jan 10, 2011 9:53 pm EST

My teenager wanted to buy eBooks with her B&N gift card, but we too were not comfortable having to give our credit card info for her to buy books with her gift card. After reading multiple complaints like this I'm glad we didn't. We spent hour + on the phone with B&N to get a work around and the best solution we have come up is to return the gift cards (which we have to have receipt to do) and use the $$ to buy her Amazon gift cards.

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Barnes & Noble Booksellers return policy/lack of customer service

Horrible customer service!Not bad enough that they won't do anything about a brand new textbook ($92.00-still in shrink wrap) , because it has been more than 14 days, but promoted a used book by a "barnes and noble authorized dealer" as being in good condition only
To have pages missing, etc. When I called and discussed these issues with their wonderful customer service, I was told that it was the customer's responsibility to look at "every single page" to make sure that it is okay. Hence, put the blame on the customer! Yea, I am to blame for making the stupid decision of spending my hard earned money at a useless company like barnes and noble. Never again!

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Update by sla88
Mar 02, 2011 2:06 am EST

apparently Brenda and Dawniette missed the whole jist of the complaint. Perhaps you losers work for Barnes and Noble, wouldn't be surprised...

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annette nunnally
, US
Apr 06, 2011 1:35 am EDT

bought a Nook in November and finally got around to securing a library book. To my dismay, I discovered that I cannot get library books on my computer because it is too old and will have to spend lots of money to have it updated.

I think it is a disservice and failure to disclose this to customers to sell their product. If I had known there would be limitations on the use of the Nook, I would not buy it. It seems as though you are SOL and have to buy books from them rather than download them from the library. The underlying strategy is to sell the Nook to everyone and if you cannot download library books, the more sales for Barnes and Noble. My daughter wanted to get one also, but at this point I don't think it is wise to do so. How can a person who is not tech savvy know whether or not this would be the right product for them -- especially the elderly who are not as up to date technically.

I think this is lying by omission. they refuse to give me my money back because I didn't get some kind of insurance. But if they advertise a certain feature they must let people know who can use it and who cannot. So, now i am stuck with a piece of garbage where I can only buy books from them and not borrow. I can't even lend books in that case so what good is their product.

False advertisement must be the going thing, but they'll never get another penny from me.

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Dec 30, 2010 3:52 am EST

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Barnes & Noble Booksellers rude & abusive management

B&n cares more about the bottom line than it does about its employees and customers.

I copied this above sentence from an ealier blog, and I find it to be very true. This comment above was from a former b&n employee, interesting! My sad experience is below.
I have been a regular customer of this b&n for over 10-years, but I am seriously re-thinking this loyalty.In an age where companies are struggling, what is wrong with b&n? Their arrogance reminds me of blockbuster about 8-years ago, with its' rewind, late fees, etc. , I was angry about all of their 'hidden fees' of which smacked in the face of their arrogance and disregard for their customer and we know what happened with this story, netflix! Well, b&n seems to have this very same arrogant attitude!
There is a bible verse that comes to mind here, " pride goes before a fall. "
Here is my experience:
In a recent visit to my local barnes and noble, I was 'called out' by 3-managers in front of other customers in the cafe. I had brought christmas cupcakes to give out to people that had recently offered me food treats. The food that they shared was not bought at the cafe, and neither was mine. Mine was home-made. I was screamed at by one manager as two others stood there also, but said nothing! I explained later that I was just reciprocating what had been so generously offered and accepted by me. And so I extended this gesture the day-after christmas.
Then it was as if I had done something really horrible! And all I did was to pass out a few cupcakes to a select few.
I really felt that my actions did not warrant the absolute over reaction on their part. Their screaming at me in the cafe in front of other customers was really very embarrassing and humiliating! The one manager screamed that I was not to pass out any more cupcakes and not to bring any outside food to the cafe, and that if I did that I would be forever banned from the store, and all of this was said in front of all the other customers that were in the cafe.
The handling of this situation was appalable! Store managers at this location have a very strong attitude of arrogance and indifference. No one there in a management position could see their fault in this situation, only other customers thought it was handled rather poorly. And one last thought, no where in the store, on any door, or wall is there any post that outside food is prohibited!
I will be spending my dollars elsewhere, b&n has gooten too big for its own britches!

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michinese
Kansas City, US
Jan 07, 2011 2:53 pm EST

I recently worked at a B&N cafe... it's just like any other restaurant; there may not be signs that say it but it's pretty common knowledge that you're not supposed to bring outside food or beverage in. Now, my cafe, and a lot of restaurants, aren't too strict on this policy. The only time I ever called anyone out on it was if they were either rude or making a mess that I'd have to clean up. On that note... Barnes and Noble management tend to be t0tal ###s. Not all, but most. I can see why a manager would tell you to stop, though SCREAMING, not so much. To be honest, I feel like you are probably one of those people that were really dirty and just freaking everyone in the cafe out.

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guijackb
Brooklyn, US
Dec 28, 2010 10:43 pm EST

Manager(s) acted reasonably.
+ Customer was clueless.
= B&N win!

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Barnes & Noble Booksellers egift card never delivered - b & n not resolving it

I ordered an egift card from barnes and noble, I found out that it was never received by the person to whom it was sent - it was very embarrassing. Barnes and noble took my money but never delivered the card. Trying to get it resolved is a headache with barnes and noble as they are not responding to the problem, all I receive is a we're too busy right now. Call us some other time. I'll have to cancel the charge with my credit card company. The reason I ordered the egift card was because it was quick and easy - ha, what a headache it turned out to be.

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jasonph
, US
Jan 25, 2011 6:57 pm EST

Barnes and Noble egift card is a joke. I order over aday and still not receive it. I call serveral time and wait for like over an hour to talk to someone and their response is wait. WTF. I don't understand why they still in good bussiness.

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