Usually OK -- But Not Always! (Barnes & Noble)

Member Name: lylly

Product:	Barnes & Noble
Date:	24/05/01 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Book Descriptions, Good Selection, Competative Pricing

Disadvantages: Poor Customer Servie Response Time, Really Slow Delivery

I have used Barnes & Noble many times and even registered for a couple of their Barnes & Noble University "classes," which I enjoyed. I always thought they were very competative with Amazon and I also liked the fact that they also have a successful retail chain.

I really did have about 7 really good experiences with B & N purcheses online, until recently -- I purchased my first "non-book" item -- a video for my daughters birthday. I made this purchase on 5/06/01 and when I had not received it by 5/11/01, I sent an email to the online customer service department. It took them more than 24 hours to respond (with something other than an automated email). When I did finally get a response, all it said was the warehouse would be contacted and they would "request" that my order be "expidited," please keep in mind that when I ordered I expected to receive in 5-7 days. No explanation or appology was offered.

So I waited...and waited...and waited...and on 5/21/01 I sent a second email -- which I still have not gotten a reply to (it is 5/23/01). The video arrived today in a crushed box, luckily the video was not damaged.

I am somewhat skeptical about ordering from them again, despite my good experience in the past, because B & N customer service department seemed less than friendly and I was never even offered an appology for the 17 day wait for my video.

Please don't think that I am an unexperienced online shopper, I have been doing this for a while, and generally do have great expereinces, but thought others might want to be aware that B & N customer serviece department (online) is less than helpful and I don't know about anyone else's experience ording non-book items -- but I would not do it again. I may go back for books -- but I will have to think about it for a while!!!!

I certainly do think B & N site is easier to navigate and I really enjoy all the information a
bout thier products and the quality of reviews that they offer, but this customer service experience has really put me off them for the time being -- perhaps in time, but for now -- I'm going back to Amazon!

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