"My son needed 2 textbooks and I ordered them from BN because they had the best prices for rentals and an expected delivery date within the next few days.
On the check out page, I saw a message about trying a free 2-month membership to get free shipping so I clicked on the link. On the new pop up window, there was a checkbox to accept their terms and conditions but the checkbox was disabled and I wasn't able to sign up. There was no error message or any explanation. If you don't want customers to sign up, then don't even make this option available!
So I decided to finish the order without the free membership. But after I entered the shipping address, I noticed that they had automatically changed it. The shipping address had 2 lines, 1 for street address and 1 for mailbox number. I tried to put the mail box number in 1) the apt# box; 2) in the optional company box; 3) in the same box as the street address, separated by a comma. But no matter what I tried, after I saved it, the mailbox always disappeared. After numerous frustrating tries, I had to contact customer service in order to have the correct shipping address entered.
When I called customer service to fix the shipping address, I was told that the order would be shipped within 24 hrs. After 24 hrs had past, I checked the order status online and found out it was still being processed. So I contacted customer service again and was told that since one of the books was now out of stock (It was available when I placed the order), they had to hold the other book too because they would only ship the books together to save shipping costs even though I paid for express shipping! But I never received any email telling me that the order was put on hold! If I didn't contact customer service, I probably would wait forever.
The customer service rep told me to wait and contact them again if I don't receive the order on 9/2 even though he knew they would ship it unless both books were in stock and he didn't know when one of the books would be in stock. I told him that when I ordered the book, the expected delivery date was 9/2. If I waited until 9/2 and didn't receive the books, I had to order them from somewhere else and had to wait for more days to get them. But my son needed the books ASAP and we couldn't afford to wait. So I asked him to cancel the book that was out of stock so they could ship the other book. After he did that, I checked the order status again and found out that both books had been cancelled! When I asked him about it, he insisted that he only cancelled one book and never apologized and then disconnected me!!! His name is Jameel Albert.
Barnes and Noble's website is extremely frustrating to use and they have the worst customer service I've ever seen!"
"I love going to B&N stores but my online experience was awful.
Since I couldn't find a book I was looking for at the store I bought it online not knowing it would take 2 weeks to arrive.
Contacting customer service did not help.
Please B&N improve your online service."
"Barnes & Noble has THE WORST customer service. I have been trying to resolve an issue with a textbook rental for a month!! The customer service reps that I have talked with are not knowledgeable about how to complete requests and they don't explain anything well."
"Was looking for a good book on Napoleon, and stumbled upon Barnes with a great selection and fair prices. Ordered right away, came within less than a week. Might take it to read in the physical store :) very cozy."
"Can I give less than one star? Ordered two items for my wife's birthday and paid expedited shipping and delivery was guaranteed in time for her birthday - I would have never known the items were out of stock if I did not call to find out what was going on. I received, after holding two times for about 30 minutes, a lame apology and that's it. Very poor customer service. Guess what? The third part of the gift shipped from Amazon and arrived as promised. Guess which business will still be around in a year or two and which one will not. B&N just does not get customer service. Very disappointed. "
"I ordered a Alaska coupon book and paid for expedited shipping. When I received the book it was a 2013 book. All the coupons expired 10 months ago. When I called the lady said she would ship a new one out and ship overnight. I would get on Monday because they don't deliver on Saturday or Sunday. On Sunday I got an e-mail that said the book hasn't shipped yet. it was shipping on regular shipping. When I called Laurie was not very nice or helpful. When I got her boss Vicki she was even worse. Wouldn't do anything about it. She said she couldn't cancel it, didn't know when it would ship, didn't know why it was not on the expedited shipping I paid for. She would do nothing to help me out. She should have being doing something to help me! Very Disappointed."
"I am an old-fashioned kind of girl, and there is a certain magic to me about buying paper editions of my favourite books for my library. I have bought many books in Barnes and Noble over the last 15 years, and hope to continue doing so in the future.
Also, as a true bookworm, I have read books both on my IPad, Kindle and Nook, and have to say, that prefer Nook to all the others. I found it more elegant and easy to use, then Kindle, and easier to carry around, than IPad."
"I bought an online book using my laptop through the "Nook for PC" app. I did not see, nor did I look, that now, if you want to buy an online book you can only use it on certain devices, regardless on if you have the Nook app or not. However, when I bought it, the only device that it worked on out of all my tablets and all my computers (Which I have many) was my phone. and reading a book on a small screened phone sucks. I feel like this is a waste and a scam in order for you to purchase Barnes and Nobles latest technology. The only pc the new books work on are windows 8 as well. So if I want to save a few dollars by buying online I have to go out and upgrade my computers for a couple 100 dollars. Absolute waste of time. Buying all books from now on off Amazon and on paperback."
"I recently decided to try ordering books online through Barnes and Noble. I saw an offer for a free 2 month membership with good benefits...my favorite being free express shipping (the site claims 1-3 days). With that in mind, I activated the membership and ordered my first book from the site and waited....waited....waited for it to arrive in the mail. I was bit annoyed, but seeing how it was around the weekend and knowing that Sunday isn't a business day, I figured a longer arrival could've been expected--ended up arriving in 5 days. So, on July 6th (TUESDAY) I tried ordering another book, hoping it would be here within the 1-3 days, being that it was the beginning of the week and there were no special holidays or anything. It is now SUNDAY (I know mail doesn't run, but the company should be considerate of the fact that this is now ANOTHER day I have to wait for my order) and I have yet to see my book. Thankfully, I didn't pay for the membership that is usually $25. If you ask for money from customers and tell them they will receive specific benefits...GIVE THEM THE BENEFITS. If you need something in a certain amount of time...DO NOT order from Barnes and Noble."
"It's July 9, 2015 and I had a very bad experience shopping at Barnes and Noble online today.
The softcover book I had ordered from them on June 30 was suppose to have arrived yesterday, July 8, but it did not. I had paid extra for Express shipping because I needed the book in a hurry. When I called B&N.com this morning I learned the book had never been shipped and there was no known reason.
I agreed to have the book reordered and shipped Express with a July 14 delivery date. I would not have to pay for shipping.
A while later I had not yet received email verification so I called again to make sure there was no problem with the reorder. I then found out the book was out-of-stock.
I was told the book would be sent when it became available at some undermined date. When I asked if I could get an electronic copy of the book was told I would have to go back onto the B&E website and place a new order.
The manager was apologetic that:
. I had not been notified when they realized I would not get the book I had ordered.
. I had then been told it would be reordered and delivered the following Tuesday, even though it was unavailable.
. My payment could not be released immediately (and 8 hrs later still has not been released).
. He could not take my order for the e-book.
. There was nothing they could do to make me a happy customer.
Barnes and Noble could not have conducted itself more poorly. I was misinformed every step of the way. They still have a hold on my money, I do not have the book, and 9 days after my original order I'm back to square one. I will not shop there in the future. "
"I love shopping at Barnes and Noble"
"I placed an order with Barnes and Noble on June 19th 2015 and canceled that order a short time after aasI decided to download it on my nook instead. On Friday June 26th 2015 I still had not been refunded my money. I called customer service and the lady I spoke with told me she would submit a request for my funds to be returned and I would get my refund within 24 hours. Today is Monday June 29th and I still have not gotten my refund. I made another call to customer service and the man I spoke with said he will submit another request for the release of the funds and wouldn't tell ne much more. When i asked why its taking so long to get a refund he wouldn't respond. I then asked to speak to a supervisor and was told I'd get a call back shortly. I made this call at 10:30am it's now 2:15 and no one has called me back. I've also sent an email and was sent back a link to take a survey"
"I ORDERED A BOOK ABOUT 8 DAYS AGO AND IT'S STILL ISN'T HERE!!!! This has been the worst online shopping experience
of my life. I called them yesterday and asked what was going on, and they said it was delivered. THAT'S TOTAL BULL! They said they would deliver it the next day, but it's still not here. NEVER order from Barnes and Noble or you'll get ripped off like I did. They are a bunch of crooks!"
"Oh my God, DO NOT BUY A TEXT BOOK for B and N. I ordered a book for them and found out it was from a 3rd party and when the package came there was no book in it!!! The 3rd party company said call the post office, even though the post office stamped it with a "shipped with no content" on it, then when I called B and N they said I need to forward my conformation email and the email I recieved from the 3rd party and then they may or may not refund me my money. Oh and on top of it I need to read 2 chapters of this book by Monday."
"Today I tried to order a book at Barnes Noble online - after going thru the whole process & clicking place order - it just disappeared. This is not the 1st time in 2014/15 this has happened, when previously I called to ask when their site would be up to take orders - the B&H rep said (of course!) everything was fine, it was my fault. I called a friend to try their site & they had the same exact problem. In the last 4 months I've gotten damaged books, wrong books, etc. The sad part of this is that I want to shop at B&N --- I've been ordering online for 5 years & been a customer for +15 years in their stores. I'm a book lover, buy 3/6 books a month online for myself & friends. B&N has gotten so bad that they will lose a good customer & they have lost many of my book lover friends. Their reps are either either incompetent or just plain liars. Also they are playing games with their coupons --- sometimes it doesn't work & their reps pretend to take care of it but of course they lie place your order without using coupon code. I am sorry to leave B&H - my book buddies are saying about time. "