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Opinion Summary
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Barnes and Noble Made Me An Amazon Customer
by Joubert | Nov 06 '02
Barnes and Noble’s online arm, bn.com, sacrificed me to Amazon for the cost of a CD.
In what was most likely the worst customer service exchange the company suffered that week, I demanded satisfaction after the company admitted having an...Return to opinion
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You are right on about their customer service (Reply to this comment)
by robpinion
Wish I would have come out here before placing my last order. Boy, I was very nice to them, and they still opened the door very wide when I said I wouldn't shop with B&N again. I'll shop their stores, but the customer service I got was nice but empty.
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Dec 29 '03
3:40 pm PST
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Good review (Reply to this comment)
by sshelle
Good job on being fair in your review! You got your point across yet still showed the good points of bn.com. I personally just switched to bn.com. Amazon.com has never caused me an iota of problems, but they carry child molesting materials that I find disgusting. I wrote them an email about it and they responded, saying it disgusted them too, but they weren't censoring anybody. Understandable, but I'm moving on over to bn.com for now.
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Dec 07 '02
9:33 am PST
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Couldn't agree with you more. (Reply to this comment)
by pambo
I've never ordered from B&N because of the bad experience I had simply trying to write reviews. Items wouldn't appear, the reviews would vanish permanently, and the tech support was nonexistent. That was a bad sign. I'm not surprised to see that sales are equally a problem. Thanks for a thorough and well written review.
Pam
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Dec 04 '02
9:08 am PST
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... (Reply to this comment)
by Joubert,  in Online Stores & Services
Man, if this isn't a focus group for B&N, I don't know what is. I haven't seen this many comments on one of my reviews in a long while!
Nate -- Consider my choosing B&N vs. Amazon as a way of your friendly Online CL screening stores for your protection. No? How about, I got sucked into their affiliate program at one time and couldn't wrest free until they really screwed up an order?
Audrey -- Thanks for the nice comments. My customer service interaction could actually have been used as a training video on how *not* to debate a customer. But I'm glad they haven't been as challenging to you as they were to me.
Amy -- 50% failure rate? Sounds like a death sentence to me. Frankly, they sell a commodity -- their own key differentiators can be price and service. If they miss on both, well....
Suzer -- I expect a letter from Jeff Bezos any day thanking me for joining their ranks. I'm waiting by email box with baited breath. In related news, investors are urged to start acquiring Amazon because I will certainly help revenues. (You know, this family reads too darn much...)
Lou -- Everyone blows an order. It's when you blow the service and resolution attempts multiple times after the order that I began to suspect that the failure is systemic and organization-wide, rather than a bad employee or even a good employee in a bad transaction.
Pat -- Thanks for your comments!
Plucky -- You are much more hot-headed than I am. I simply let it out more often. :-) I did Powell's once, but may play with them again down the road.
Beth -- Those are some good reasons to shop at B&N instead of Amazon. I have one close by too, and I don't mind wandering through the store, listening to music and drinking overpriced coffee. But I think I'm going to Amazon as the rule and the others when a compelling price or offer comes my way.
Thanks, everyone, for some great comments and interest!
George
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Nov 23 '02
7:42 am PST
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I may be one of the few... (Reply to this comment)
by Rocketgirl
but Amazon's service has generally been worse for me than B&N. That is probably because I live in Washington State, where Amazon is located. Also, I have to pay sales tax on Amazon, not so on B&N. Also have a B&N two blocks away.
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Nov 09 '02
10:28 pm PST
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Never did BN... (Reply to this comment)
by pluckyduck
... heard some negative stuff early on and decided to just stick with Amazon. Amazingly, Amazon has never done me wrong, and Lord knows, I've placed a lot of orders.
I had one order that was supposed to go overnight and didn't arrive as promised (or as my account summary said it would). Turns out they had prepared the order on the right day, but they'd missed the UPS pick up (or something like that).
Anyway, really prompt emails back and forth, and apologies, and free freight (which was about $20) for a package that did arrive the next day.
Honestly, George, I was holding my breath as this was going on because I'm just as hotheaded as you are (grin) when it comes to bad customer service. I knew that if they didn't take proper care of me, I'd have to cut them off and ....where would I be without Amazon???
Whew.
FWIW, I don't find Amazon's policies perfect, and my problem resolution aside, it's still a pretty impersonal place to shop. I get much warmer fuzzies when I buy from Powells...you should give them a try.
Thanks! I enjoyed reading your review and empathizing.
Andrea
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Nov 09 '02
6:44 pm PST
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BETTER AMAZON DAYS (Reply to this comment)
by bluebeans
GREAT REVIEW, AMAZONING YOU PULLED OUT IN THE BRINK OF BREAK DOWN.___________PAT
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Nov 09 '02
3:04 pm PST
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Barnes and Noble Learning Curve? (Reply to this comment)
by lllopez
Sorry to hear Barnes & Noble is still wiping their noses online! I have heard this before and cannot believe they would not devote their best resources to making a good showing. Perhaps they too believe the internet is a fad? Good information for the holidays.
Great Review...informative.
Lou
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Nov 09 '02
3:09 am PST
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Oh well (Reply to this comment)
by Suzer
I'm sure that Amazon appreciates B&N's mucking up of your order, request. Great review!
Suz
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Nov 08 '02
10:00 am PST
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Never email Always Call (Reply to this comment)
by amykhar
I don't deal with them any more, but in the past calling and dealing with customer service required a bit of firm tact and persistance but I was generally happy with the outcome.
Amazon has never once screwed up an order for me. Barnes and Noble screwed up more than half of the orders I placed with them.
Amy
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Nov 07 '02
3:34 pm PST
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:-) (Reply to this comment)
by bluehawq
Hi doll!
While I (personally) disagree with you on customer service and a couple other minor points, I do agree with you on the limited selection of "other than" book items. I do with they would broaden their horizons. I am sorry that you have had such bad experiences with them. Wish I could do something about it, but alas, I am but a peon. LOL!
Great review
Audrey
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Nov 06 '02
10:43 pm PST
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