One of my favorite online stores!
Written: Jan 30 '03
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Barnes & Noble online is a great source of books, DVDs, and CDs. I've been ordering from them for so many years I honestly don't remember how long it's been--ever since, well, let's just say that Amazon drove me so batty that I refused to ever order from them again, a promise I've kept!
Book Browser
It took them a while, but B&N does have a "book browser" now, to help you find things by topic. It actually does a pretty good job of this. Now I can actually find books on writing sub-topics when I look through their site! For a long time the lack of such a browsing method had been my one remaining complaint against them. The "browse books" link is right up near the top of the page, along with "what's new" "bestsellers" and "coming soon."
Features
I can pre-order items from B&N. I can order used books. I joined the Reader's Advantage club, which gives me 5% off of my purchases through the web site (and 10% in the store). My account even remembers that I'm an RA member, so I don't have to keep typing in my number. They also notify me when my membership is about to expire so that I can renew.
I can pay by credit card online, or phone in my number. Transactions are secure. You can use gift cards online, and if you have a Barnes & Noble credit card you can use your reward certificates online. I particularly like being able to keep a "wish list" of items I don't want to order right now, and easily transfer them to my cart whenever I do want to order them.
I find that the search function works well, too. They also often carry books from smaller publishers, including some roleplaying publishers, which is nice. I can easily get books gift-wrapped and shipped to friends, which comes in handy around the holidays! I can even store addresses with them, so that I can simply check off the person I want them to send to.
They provide plenty of information on each book, including how long it should take to ship. Many book listings include detailed information about the books. You can write and read reviews of books. (They don't tend to have as many reviews on books as Amazon does, however.)
Shipping Details
I've ordered books, DVDs, CDs, and used books from them and everything has arrived in very good shape--I've never received a damaged item. They ship in sturdy cardboard mailers, which is nice. I can check my order status online. Several times I've emailed or called customer service to cancel an order that had already been processed, and it was taken care of without a hitch. Most items ship within the predicted window of time, but a few take longer; they do a good job of notifying me when this happens.
Also, for quite a while now they've had a deal where if you order two or more items at a time, and ask to have them shipped together the slow way, you get free shipping. Nice! I almost always use this. If there's going to be an unexpected delay with one of your items, then they often go ahead and ship the others first without charging you for the separate shipping.
If you don't need your shipping for free, then you can get things sent to you by faster means. If you want things in any kind of speed this can be handy, as the "slow route" these days is done through the US postal service via Dropship Express, instead of UPS ground (which used to be their preferred slow route).
The disadvantage of Dropship Express is that it's disproportionately slow; judging by their own tracking info, it can sometimes take Dropship several days just to get around to handing the package off to the postal service. Thus, I find it takes over a week to get my books by this means. As long as I'm expecting this it doesn't bother me--the first time or two it was really annoying, as I was accustomed to getting my books in three days by UPS Ground! I expect it was the only way B&N could continue to offer the free shipping, though.
Any Negatives?
Well, they did send me someone else's book once! But they also immediately sent me a return address label when I notified them, and it's the only time it ever happened.
Also, there was a period of time when I was pre-ordering some roleplaying books, and B&N would cancel the order without explaining why. As it turns out it was because the RPG company was causing them problems by giving them a publication date, then not bothering to tell them that the book wasn't actually out yet after pre-orders had been made, and things like that. But it still would have been nice if they'd communicated the problem better--it took me a while to figure out what was going on.
They may not be a perfect online service, but they're one of my most-frequented online stores. I've been very satisfied with them, and am happy to recommend them to others. Now, if I could just stop spending so much money there!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
owling
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 in Books |
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Member: Heather Grove
Location: Maryland, USA
Reviews written: 604
Trusted by: 262 members
About Me:
Too many boxes to unpack, too few shelves...
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