Bookstores have always been an oasis and a refuge for me. There is little more soul-satisfying than shelves of brand-new books just waiting to be brought home and devoured and gradually worn down by countless loving reads and re-reads. And until tonight, I’ve never been in a bookstore I haven’t liked.
I received two books for Christmas that I’d like to return (one was a duplicate, and the other I have no desire to read even though it was written by the same author) and wanted to know what the store’s policy was. I went to the information desk at the front of the store and asked the slightly stoned-but-happy-looking woman standing there how they handled returns. She replied, “It’s printed on the back of the receipt.”
I calmly explained to her that I had received the books in question as a Christmas gift and didn’t have a receipt. A cashier looked over at me and asked, “Don’t you have a gift receipt?”
I replied to the negative. The cashier then asked, “Did you buy them yourself?” The Information Desk woman looked on in a daze.
I repeated that no, I didn’t buy them, I got them as a gift, and had no receipt of any kind. The cashier then said, “Well then…..”
As I waited for the cashier to continue whatever it was she was saying, Information Desk woman opened up the register tape compartment and pulled out a length of blank tape and handed it to me (the return policy was on the back). The cashier apparently had no intention of finishing her thought and was studiously ignoring me.
I read through the words on the back of the register tape and finally came to a bit about how they’d accept returns without a receipt and give credit in the amount of the lowest sale price of the book over the period of the last 6 months. As I tried to verify this with Information Desk woman, she just gazed at me blankly.
Boggled that not a single employee could tell me the store’s return policy, I folded the tape and put it in my purse.
I normally love bookstores. I left with such hatred for this one that I almost don’t want to return the damn books because I feel sure I’ll get pennies for them in exchange, and I don’t want to give them a cent more than they’re legally due. I almost don’t even want the store credit because I don’t want to encourage the unhelpfulness and vacuity of their staff. I left the store feeling hostile and dirty.
I’m almost dreading going back tomorrow with the books to find out what they’re willing to offer me credit-wise. Depending on their answer, if it isn’t worth the feelings of disgust I get from dealing with that store, I’ll keep the damn books and sell them through Amazon.
Gack! Bad service at bookstores always makes me so angry, angrier than bad service in other places, for some reason. I think you should insist on a conversation with the manager next time.
I think you should complain to the manager still. You aren’t the only one who considers bookstores a haven. I hate to be one of THOSE people, but my feeling on customer service is that no one has to love their job but they do have to DO their job if they want to keep it. Especially with the economy in the dumps, people who make customers want to stay away are worse than dead weight.
Definitely complain to the manager and let them know why you don’t intend to spend further money with them. They need to fix their workplace culture if they wish to retain a clientele.
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