Nookcolor...Quality Control?

[ChipS]

Greetings all and Happy New Year,

I was seriously looking at purchasing a NookColor as a Christmas gift for myself.
I was all set. 3 places here in town had at least one or two in stock. Walmart was closest and so I went. 1 left in the cabinet, bought it and was happy as a clam, til I got it home, charged it up and half the screen was bad, did reset and it only got worse..I immediately ran to return it, no others in stock, clerk in the electronics Dept said I was 2nd one returned for screen issues. Went down to street to Best Buy. Had to hassle with the clerk over the fact I did NOT want the $312.00 package with a Targus case, just wanted the Nook color. I asked to check out the unit before purchase, glad I did. IT WAS cracked and chipped. Okay, this happens, shipping....
This clerk told me they have had a "few" that were bad and returned and go with the Kindle, I would be happier. Said that Nook's were poor on quality control prior to shipping. OKAY.
2 days ago I went to another local Walmart and 2 color units in stock and both were open boxes with fingerprints on the displays and poorly repackaged. Oh, no not going to chance it! 3 STRIKES and your OUT!!!
I guess it just ain't in the cards for me..I will let it wait...Karma ain't good with this Nook color idea and me...I will wait for the proper alignment of the stars and the planets, AND what my cats say ( they said try on 1-1-11 !)...LOL....

Was not going across town to try my luck again.

[jedifarfy]

I work at a B&N store and none of ours have come in damaged. It all depends on the store and how they maintain them when they arrive. It sounds like the stores you visited are not treating the devices well when they are delivered and then wondering why they're damaged. We take ours from the delivery guy and immediately carry them to where they are stored. They only leave that location when they need to be stocked at the nook counter.

Also, they should NEVER be sold without their wrapping. They arrive individually sealed and untouched. They have a plastic folded cover over the unit. No hands should have touched it before the owner. It's best that you DIDN'T chance it. They were probably returned damaged from poor stocking by the employees!!

Order from BN.com or visit a store. We ship them well.

[PegS]

I'd see if there's one at a local B&N. I bought mine at one and they definitely seem to baby them more than at stores that are used to tossing around tons of electronics.

[T1m0thy]

The way I figure, B&N has sold a lot of these and there are bound to be some that end up beat up or mishandled. Right after Christmas, and with limited replenishment, this is exactly what I would expect at some stores. The Quality control should be coming from the customer service department getting the product to the warehouse so they can be RMA's to the manufacturer rather than straight back to the sales floor. Don't give up! I love mine!

[roger_15]

I must admit I agree with some of the others. Before I rant a little, I should say that some stores are managed better than others and some employees are worked to death during this time of year.

That being said, I am not fond of Best Buy or Wal-mart for purchasing expensive electronics. They just don't have the time to treat them with due respect. While product knowledge is a bit light at B&N, the people I've met there are truly awed by the Nook. Hence, they treat them with gentle respect.

I would find a local B&N if possible and feel them out before taking one home. This may seem a bit extreme, but I like to do business with a person that actually "likes" the product.

Mail order: While UPS is totally void of emotion to what they deliver, in fact I doubt they even know what it is, I find that most of the people that work for them do a good job and care about customer service; rare these days.

Good luck.

Roger.
Proud owner of both the 3g and the Nook Color.

[ChipS]

Barnes & Noble were out of stock here locally when I was on the hunt, so I went where they were. I will not purchase one off the web as the shipping and waiting issue.
I will look at a much later date, Right now it is a luxury as I find having the actual book / magazine still more important to me and having to depend on another electronic device with it's glitches and temperaments and reliability issues holding my books hostage so to speak. lol. I guess I am set in the old ways, a physical hard copy of a book with it's smell, texture the illustrations and photo's just can not be beat.
It doesn't need a recharge, firmware update or a wifi connection and especially if I drop it, it won't crack. I don't need the extended protection warranty for a real book, either. LOL.
So It Goes......

[roger_15]

It sounds like you have already made up your mind but, just as an after thought,
I believe B&N offers free shipping for anything over 25 dollars. I just thought
you might want to know.

[ChipS]

I appreciate all the input. Thanks. I will eventually become a Nookster.

[Rjl2001]

I bouught a Nookcolor yesterday and realized when I got home tthat it had 3 dead pixels on the screen. Exchanged it today and so far the new one looks fiine. I bought itt from B&N just so I would have theiir suppoort, and they were happy to do the exchange and told me that they had only seen one otheer one with a problem wiith the screen. So forme it wasn't too biig an iissue.

P.s. tthe keyboard on tthis thing likes to register a lot of double taps, pretty annnnoying.

[CANS4US]

I just got a NOOK for Christmas and although I'm still learning how to use it. I like what it offers. Even the internet capabilities are a plus and super easy to use. The only problem I've had with internet capabilities is that the print on the screen is so tiny. No problem though since I usually order my books online anyway. I like my NOOK and don't forsee any problems.

[jedifarfy]

FYI They've been shipping nookcolors to the store like MAD. So if they were out of stock a few days ago they should have received a shipment or two since then. Don't worry, we won't run out.

[The Joker]

I agree with this.....Although Best Buy may have a better return policy (and I was tempted to get mine there).......I was impressed with the Nook stand they had set up at my semi-local B&N......I was in there 3 times checking out both the Nook Classic and NookColor.....the people they had at the kiosk, were very knowledeable, provided me with lots of info, and let me play with them......I brought my wife the time, when I finally bought my NC.....she thought I was very annoying......but the salespeople seemed happy with me....

Checking out numerous other Ereaders at Borders and Best Buy, was not a pleasant experiences....the sales people didn't seem to know much....and at BB there were kids playing with them, who had no business even touching them....The kindle DX was broken, the sony seemed to have issues......very discouraging......While at BB I think I may have known more about each device than the sales person.....

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by The Joker

While at BB I think I may have known more about each device than the sales person.....

The fact that you are reading this forum leads me to think you are right.

[cutterjohn42]

Originally Posted by ChipS

Greetings all and Happy New Year,

I was seriously looking at purchasing a NookColor as a Christmas gift for myself.
I was all set. 3 places here in town had at least one or two in stock. Walmart was closest and so I went. 1 left in the cabinet, bought it and was happy as a clam, til I got it home, charged it up and half the screen was bad, did reset and it only got worse..I immediately ran to return it, no others in stock, clerk in the electronics Dept said I was 2nd one returned for screen issues. Went down to street to Best Buy. Had to hassle with the clerk over the fact I did NOT want the $312.00 package with a Targus case, just wanted the Nook color. I asked to check out the unit before purchase, glad I did. IT WAS cracked and chipped. Okay, this happens, shipping....
This clerk told me they have had a "few" that were bad and returned and go with the Kindle, I would be happier. Said that Nook's were poor on quality control prior to shipping. OKAY.
2 days ago I went to another local Walmart and 2 color units in stock and both were open boxes with fingerprints on the displays and poorly repackaged. Oh, no not going to chance it! 3 STRIKES and your OUT!!!
I guess it just ain't in the cards for me..I will let it wait...Karma ain't good with this Nook color idea and me...I will wait for the proper alignment of the stars and the planets, AND what my cats say ( they said try on 1-1-11 !)...LOL....

Was not going across town to try my luck again.

My first one had a defective miniUSB port on the NC. It was VERY (unusually so) difficult to get the charger/data cable to insert into the port at all, but I managed it twice on the first day that I had it... almost took it back as soon as I had gotten home and was going to charge but had trouble inserting the cable, but I didn't since after c. 10m of fiddling I got it to insert smoothly, and I hoped that all would be well and that it would loosen up eventually...

However, the next morning no amount of fiddling could get the cable inserted, so off to B&N I went as soon as they opened. The idiot there was trying to tell me that's just the way it works (WTF?!) and that is was fine (WTF?!). I made him plug the charger into power then asked him where the LED light on the cable was and why didn't the NC turn on? (clueless look on imbecile's face) Then he has a bright idea of trying their cable, same deal as it was the port in the NC, so finally I get him to try the demo unit... oh look it side right in and out no problem, but the idiot is still insisting that mine was fine until I point out several things to the imbecile, LED light was on on demo unit, and it inserted further. Finally they cough up an exchange unit, which I promptly opened to check the cable/port which was OK on that one... didn't turn on to check the screen, etc. as they actually had people in line (9a! New Year's Eve?!), but the rest is OK.

So not only are they failing at QA, they also are severely lacking in customer service and sales. (Went to look at a NC at the B&N and the woman that they had at the kiosk was more interested in reading her NC than trying to sell me one, but all I had planned to do that day was to take a look at one, but still... and when I did finally go back to buy one the woman at the kiosk made it seem like such a chore... I was about ready to tell them to just keep it...)

(I probably should've bought it at the Worst Buy(literally across the street), but their sales staff always puts me off as in they're useless and always trying to upsell crap that I don't want or annoying the hell out of me. Also on alot of electronics Worst Buy gets a crappier version that and sells it for a price that gets you one with better specs(and warranty) through say Newegg or Amazon... e.g. notebooks... NC would be OK since it only has one version...)

[jedifarfy]

Originally Posted by The Joker

I agree with this.....Although Best Buy may have a better return policy (and I was tempted to get mine there).......I was impressed with the Nook stand they had set up at my semi-local B&N......I was in there 3 times checking out both the Nook Classic and NookColor.....the people they had at the kiosk, were very knowledeable, provided me with lots of info, and let me play with them......I brought my wife the time, when I finally bought my NC.....she thought I was very annoying......but the salespeople seemed happy with me....

I have several customers who come in a couple of times a week with new questions and ideas they need answered. It's fun to see them and always great to help. Like I told them, this isn't some little purchase. If answering questions for an hour helps you feel more comfortable dropping that much money, I'll sit there and answer questions. I don't want my customers unhappy with their purchases.

Originally Posted by cutterjohn42

My first one had a defective miniUSB port on the NC. It was VERY (unusually so) difficult to get the charger/data cable to insert into the port at all, but I managed it twice on the first day that I had it... almost took it back as soon as I had gotten home and was going to charge but had trouble inserting the cable, but I didn't since after c. 10m of fiddling I got it to insert smoothly, and I hoped that all would be well and that it would loosen up eventually...

However, the next morning no amount of fiddling could get the cable inserted, so off to B&N I went as soon as they opened. The idiot there was trying to tell me that's just the way it works (WTF?!) and that is was fine (WTF?!). I made him plug the charger into power then asked him where the LED light on the cable was and why didn't the NC turn on? (clueless look on imbecile's face) Then he has a bright idea of trying their cable, same deal as it was the port in the NC, so finally I get him to try the demo unit... oh look it side right in and out no problem, but the idiot is still insisting that mine was fine until I point out several things to the imbecile, LED light was on on demo unit, and it inserted further. Finally they cough up an exchange unit, which I promptly opened to check the cable/port which was OK on that one... didn't turn on to check the screen, etc. as they actually had people in line (9a! New Year's Eve?!), but the rest is OK.

So not only are they failing at QA, they also are severely lacking in customer service and sales. (Went to look at a NC at the B&N and the woman that they had at the kiosk was more interested in reading her NC than trying to sell me one, but all I had planned to do that day was to take a look at one, but still... and when I did finally go back to buy one the woman at the kiosk made it seem like such a chore... I was about ready to tell them to just keep it...)

(I probably should've bought it at the Worst Buy(literally across the street), but their sales staff always puts me off as in they're useless and always trying to upsell crap that I don't want or annoying the hell out of me. Also on alot of electronics Worst Buy gets a crappier version that and sells it for a price that gets you one with better specs(and warranty) through say Newegg or Amazon... e.g. notebooks... NC would be OK since it only has one version...)

Gee, thanks for calling the salesperson who's trying to help you an idiot (twice) and imbecile (twice as well). Most of the time the nook expert isn't there right at opening so anyone who's there has to try to help. We're retail workers. Not everyone can afford these units and therefore doesn't have a lot of personal experience with them. We're all given basic training, but nothing in there is about "What if some dude's charger won't plug in exactly perfect?"

Second, you don't know if that woman is researching for someone else or not. I often use the NC to look information up for another customer and help troubleshoot the issue. I also have a lot of people who pause, look, and walk on. Just because she didn't fall at your feet for getting within 2 feet of the nook counter doesn't mean she wouldn't have helped you if you had questions.