Barnes & Noble takes over 2 Days to Process Ebook Order??

Marcy · 01-20-2011, 10:54 AM

I ordered the Terra Incognita ebook from Barnes & Noble on Tuesday night. As soon as I ordered it I tried to download it and was told "This title is unavailable to download. Either your payment method was declined, a refund was issued, or charge-back was applied to this item. Contact our Customer Service..."

I immediately called American Express and was told that the charge was approved and already had come through my account.

I called B&N. Closed for the night. Waited for the next day but forgot to call until evening and again closed for the night. Called this morning and after an interminable wait (almost 10 minutes) was told their system is having a "delay" in processing payments and when it's fixed my book will be available.

This has got to be the most unbelievable bit of ecommerce I've ever encountered. How can B&N expect to compete with ebooks with this sort of thing? One of the attractions to ebooks is instant gratification—I buy the book and get it now. It boggles my mind that almost 2 days later they are still "processing" my payment even though Amex processed it instantly.

I'd expect this from some fly-by-night small website, but not from a large company.

Mind, I'm not ranting since I have tons of other books to read and am not stressed by the 99¢ I paid. I'm just amazed that in the increasingly competive ebook market that B&N could allow a problem like this go on so long. Not only don't I have the book I bought, but I've also wasted 30 minutes of my time called Amex and B&N. Not the way to build up customer loyalty.

-Marcy

abookreader · 01-20-2011, 10:57 AM

wow. That's pretty bad. I read they had major server problems around Christmas but I thought that was all worked out.

vaughnmr · 01-20-2011, 11:02 AM

Once again, I'm so glad I bought a Kindle!!!

Marcy · 01-20-2011, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

Once again, I'm so glad I bought a Kindle!!!

What does that have to do with anything? I have a Sony, but buy my books from wherever I want and strip/convert as needed.

-Marcy

gtriever · 01-20-2011, 11:44 AM

Hmmm... my last B&N downloads were Sunday, and were available in a couple of minutes. I wonder what's going on. And, to vaughn... Kindle sucks.

queentess · 01-20-2011, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

Once again, I'm so glad I bought a Kindle!!!

I have a kindle as well, but I also purchase books from B&N. I'm not sure what you mean here.

geertm · 01-20-2011, 01:19 PM

Since the server problems at Christmas, B&N has a very long delay in processing the payment of orders (it seems to take 7 to 14 days before payment is charged on my card). The same is true for the download e-mail notification.
But books are immediately available for download after you have bought them.

Caltsar · 01-20-2011, 01:37 PM

I bought a bunch of books about two weeks ago, and the charges and download emails are just showing up today. They were, however, available for me to read right away. This seems to only be a recent development during the time right after Christmas as a book I bought yesterday has already been charged and the email was sent to me within minutes.

Pomtroll · 01-20-2011, 01:41 PM

What geertm said.

I still haven't received my e-mail notification of 2 books I got yesterday morning. Bu the books are on my Nook. I do know B&N has been sluggish. It takes awhile to get to the web page (well longer than amazon

) & it does take longer to navigate the web page. But I haven't had any problems with shopping on my Nook.....

Hope I haven't jinxed myself.

Anthem · 01-20-2011, 02:54 PM

Book in hand you make your way to the cash register. You hand them your credit card, they swipe it and a receipt is ejected from the print spool. You sign their copy of the receipt and they place yours in the bag along with the book you purchased. You smile and say thank you.

You then walk out of the store and go home. You open your bag and the book is not inside. "Ah, well, maybe the charge hasn't gone through yet!"

Days go by and still the bag is empty. You call customer service and are notified that because their payment processing system is crap (at least for now) your book will not materialize for a while.

You now sit and watch your bag, hoping for the appearance of your book.

JSWolf · 01-20-2011, 03:05 PM

Call B&N and tell them you called Amex and the transaction did go through. If they say it hasn't gone through, call Amex and tell them what has happened so Amex will give you the credit back.

Then go buy it from Sony.

boswd · 01-20-2011, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcy

I ordered the Terra Incognita ebook from Barnes & Noble on Tuesday night. As soon as I ordered it I tried to download it and was told "This title is unavailable to download. Either your payment method was declined, a refund was issued, or charge-back was applied to this item. Contact our Customer Service..."

I immediately called American Express and was told that the charge was approved and already had come through my account.

I called B&N. Closed for the night. Waited for the next day but forgot to call until evening and again closed for the night. Called this morning and after an interminable wait (almost 10 minutes) was told their system is having a "delay" in processing payments and when it's fixed my book will be available.

This has got to be the most unbelievable bit of ecommerce I've ever encountered. How can B&N expect to compete with ebooks with this sort of thing? One of the attractions to ebooks is instant gratification—I buy the book and get it now. It boggles my mind that almost 2 days later they are still "processing" my payment even though Amex processed it instantly.

I'd expect this from some fly-by-night small website, but not from a large company.

Mind, I'm not ranting since I have tons of other books to read and am not stressed by the 99¢ I paid. I'm just amazed that in the increasingly competive ebook market that B&N could allow a problem like this go on so long. Not only don't I have the book I bought, but I've also wasted 30 minutes of my time called Amex and B&N. Not the way to build up customer loyalty.

-Marcy

Wow they have an issue with a system and your this up and arms? Mind you I do understand it can be a bit frustrating but to single them out?

Seriously? You or your company or anyone else you've ever dealt with has NEVER had system isuses?

well I'm glad that's not true, my wife would be out of a job

this site has gone down before. Our company's entire system has crashed before.

Heck look at this from a simple google search of "Problems with Amazon's Website"

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...ms+with+Amazon

I do understand frustration when things go down the way you want or don't work out smooth 100% of the time but in this day and age, issues with computers and their systems do have glitches . To single out Barnes and Noble like that is bit of a double standard dont you think?

boswd · 01-20-2011, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

Once again, I'm so glad I bought a Kindle!!!

did you feel the same way on June 30th?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...326186048.html

Marcy · 01-20-2011, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boswd

Wow they have an issue with a system and your this up and arms? Mind you I do understand it can be a bit frustrating but to single them out?

Seriously? You or your company or anyone else you've ever dealt with has NEVER had system isuses?

well I'm glad that's not true, my wife would be out of a job

this site has gone down before. Our company's entire system has crashed before.

Heck look at this from a simple google search of "Problems with Amazon's Website"

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...ms+with+Amazon

I do understand frustration when things go down the way you want or don't work out smooth 100% of the time but in this day and age, issues with computers and their systems do have glitches . To single out Barnes and Noble like that is bit of a double standard dont you think?

I'm not "up in arms" just amazed that a big company could let this happen. As I said, this wasn't a rant, but my amazement this could even happen. I bought this book 2 days ago, my credit card was charged successfully 2 days ago, yet I'm told the charge is still processing and can't download my book.

In today's age of the internet and instant gratification this is a huge problem for the company. People expect when they buy an electronic item that it's delivered instantly.

I really don't understand your post at all. A big company like B&N should have a 24/7 IT dep't to ensure shopping on their website is smooth at all times. Internet sales are extremely competitive—once someone surfs away you have lost that sale and potentially a lot of future ones.

-Marcy

queentess · 01-20-2011, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boswd

Wow they have an issue with a system and your this up and arms? Mind you I do understand it can be a bit frustrating but to single them out?

Seriously? You or your company or anyone else you've ever dealt with has NEVER had system isuses?

well I'm glad that's not true, my wife would be out of a job

this site has gone down before. Our company's entire system has crashed before.

If this problem hadn't been occurring for nearly a month now, I might be more understanding...

01-20-2011, 10:54 AM	#1
Marcy Guru Posts: 893 Karma: 950683 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kobo Libra2	Barnes & Noble takes over 2 Days to Process Ebook Order?? I ordered the Terra Incognita ebook from Barnes & Noble on Tuesday night. As soon as I ordered it I tried to download it and was told "This title is unavailable to download. Either your payment method was declined, a refund was issued, or charge-back was applied to this item. Contact our Customer Service..." I immediately called American Express and was told that the charge was approved and already had come through my account. I called B&N. Closed for the night. Waited for the next day but forgot to call until evening and again closed for the night. Called this morning and after an interminable wait (almost 10 minutes) was told their system is having a "delay" in processing payments and when it's fixed my book will be available. This has got to be the most unbelievable bit of ecommerce I've ever encountered. How can B&N expect to compete with ebooks with this sort of thing? One of the attractions to ebooks is instant gratification—I buy the book and get it now. It boggles my mind that almost 2 days later they are still "processing" my payment even though Amex processed it instantly. I'd expect this from some fly-by-night small website, but not from a large company. Mind, I'm not ranting since I have tons of other books to read and am not stressed by the 99¢ I paid. I'm just amazed that in the increasingly competive ebook market that B&N could allow a problem like this go on so long. Not only don't I have the book I bought, but I've also wasted 30 minutes of my time called Amex and B&N. Not the way to build up customer loyalty. -Marcy

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01-20-2011, 10:57 AM	#2
abookreader Wizard Posts: 1,516 Karma: 2567610 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kindles - Keyboard, Fire, 2-US, iPhone, iPAD	wow. That's pretty bad. I read they had major server problems around Christmas but I thought that was all worked out.

01-20-2011, 11:02 AM	#3
vaughnmr Ebook Reader Posts: 605 Karma: 3205128 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Texas Device: Kindle 3, HTC Evo, HTC View	Once again, I'm so glad I bought a Kindle!!!

01-20-2011, 11:44 AM	#5
gtriever Addict Posts: 281 Karma: 2125576 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kobo Forma	Hmmm... my last B&N downloads were Sunday, and were available in a couple of minutes. I wonder what's going on. And, to vaughn... Kindle sucks.

01-20-2011, 01:19 PM	#7
geertm Guru Posts: 822 Karma: 2000000 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: The Netherlands Device: Kobo Aura One	Since the server problems at Christmas, B&N has a very long delay in processing the payment of orders (it seems to take 7 to 14 days before payment is charged on my card). The same is true for the download e-mail notification. But books are immediately available for download after you have bought them.

01-20-2011, 01:37 PM	#8
Caltsar Zealot Posts: 135 Karma: 86951 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Minnesota Device: nook Touch, iPad, iPhone	I bought a bunch of books about two weeks ago, and the charges and download emails are just showing up today. They were, however, available for me to read right away. This seems to only be a recent development during the time right after Christmas as a book I bought yesterday has already been charged and the email was sent to me within minutes.

01-20-2011, 01:41 PM	#9
Pomtroll Guru Posts: 822 Karma: 1341819 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Minnesota USA Device: Sony 350, Sony T1, Kindle Touch, Kindle PW1	What geertm said. I still haven't received my e-mail notification of 2 books I got yesterday morning. Bu the books are on my Nook. I do know B&N has been sluggish. It takes awhile to get to the web page (well longer than amazon ) & it does take longer to navigate the web page. But I haven't had any problems with shopping on my Nook..... Hope I haven't jinxed myself.

01-20-2011, 02:54 PM	#10
Anthem Guru Posts: 704 Karma: 1622328 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle Oasis, OnePlus Nord	Book in hand you make your way to the cash register. You hand them your credit card, they swipe it and a receipt is ejected from the print spool. You sign their copy of the receipt and they place yours in the bag along with the book you purchased. You smile and say thank you. You then walk out of the store and go home. You open your bag and the book is not inside. "Ah, well, maybe the charge hasn't gone through yet!" Days go by and still the bag is empty. You call customer service and are notified that because their payment processing system is crap (at least for now) your book will not materialize for a while. You now sit and watch your bag, hoping for the appearance of your book.

01-20-2011, 03:05 PM	#11
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,966 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Call B&N and tell them you called Amex and the transaction did go through. If they say it hasn't gone through, call Amex and tell them what has happened so Amex will give you the credit back. Then go buy it from Sony.

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