Barnes & Noble Doesn’t Get Customer Service … Or Survival

Yesterday I pointed out great service I got from a couple of companies on Twitter. Today, I share a story of lackluster online customer service.

I’m a huge fan of Barnes & Noble retail stores. As explained in the letter below, my mother used to frequently take me to the store on Fifth Avenue in NYC and, even as a child, I used to love walking the aisles – especially the textbook section in the back. These days, I still go to Barnes & Noble frequently – to work in the café or to buy books.

I’m disappointed by a recent experience I had with them. I went to buy a book and decided to look for reviews on Amazon using their Blackberry app. No reviews there but I saw the price was just about half price. Naturally, I ordered the book from Amazon. However, because I love B&N, I sent them a message asking them (practically begging them) to help me help them take my money. Their response to me was a form message telling me “we are unable to credit you for the difference in price, and will honor the original price at the time of purchase.”

Did they even read my email to them? Here’s my message in full:

Hi B&N,

I am a huge fan of Barnes & Noble. My mother used to take me to thelegendary 5th Avenue store in NYC when I was a kid and I’ve loved youall since. Naturally, I’m a B&N member and love my discount.

Here’s my problem. Your prices are no longer competitive for me. I just left your store in Edison, NJ, my favorite in the area. I sat, did some work, had some tea and then decided to check for a book on iPhone
development. The book, “The iPhone Developer’s Cookbook: Building Applications with the iPhone SDK”, was on the shelf and had information I needed, at a price of $49.99. I pulled out my Blackberry and used the Amazon app to check reviews for the book. There were no reviews but the price at Amazon was $26.39 — almost half the price at the store.

Granted in the store, I’d get my 10% member discount which would lower the price but I’d also pay 7% sales tax. By my calculation, the book would cost $48.14 at the store. I’m a member of Amazon Prime so I pay $4 for next day delivery. Even with that, my order on Amazon comes to
$30.39 – a savings of almost $20.

I ordered the book from the Blackberry app right there in the Barnes and Noble parking lot. It will be at my home tomorrow. It’s not quite the instant gratification of purchasing it in the store but it’ll do.

Listen, I want to buy from Barnes & Noble but you all have to help me. It doesn’t even make bad sense, as a friend of mine used to say, for me to spend an extra $20 on a book I don’t need immediately. If the
difference had been $5, I would have said it’s only $5. Maybe even $10 would have been okay but $20? That’s a lot of money. Please, please, please fix this. I want to give you my money so that you’ll be around for years to come but you have to get more price competitive.

Thanks,
Talib

Here’s their response in full:

Dear Talib Morgan,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding a price change for an item you saw in store.

Barnes & Noble offers very competitive pricing on many items, resulting in the best value for our customers. However, as with all retail products, prices are subject to change due to current promotions. As such, we are unable to credit you for the difference in price, and will honor the original price at the time of purchase.

We do apologize for any confusion. Thank you for your understanding.

Visit www.bn.com and click on the options that appear in the upper right-hand corner to view information about your order.

We look forward to your next visit.

Sincerely,

Wendy
Customer Service Representative
Barnes and Noble

http://www.bn.com/

Huh?

The sad reality is that without a change in business model companies like Barnes & Noble (and Best Buy) are at the risk of becoming glorified showrooms. People will enter the stores find what they like and buy it online from their phone while at the store — just like I did. I don’t want to see that happen to B&N. (It might be okay for Best Buy. Their prices are RIDICULOUS.)

Companies,please… Please listen to your customers. They want you to survive. They want to give you their money. Many, like me, want to help you help them take their money. Sometimes we write in begging you to do so. We are not complaining. We’re asking you to take our cash. Isn’t that why you’re in business? And let’s say we are complaining, maybe the complaint is something worth heeding. And maybe, just maybe, we want a response that tells us you understand that we love you and that you want want to help us allow you to ravage our wallets (but a little less than you’re doing right now).

My own thinking is that any customer who cares enough to write is a customer worth keeping…