Quote:
Originally Posted by desertgrandma
I think its just another way for BN to not stock paper books. It will be so easy to say......."well, we don't have that book it stock, but you can sure browse thru it on your device!", much like they love to tell you they don't have the book in stock but will be happy to order it for you.
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Although I think you are correct, I do want to give kudos to my local B&N. I subscribe to the
New York Review of Books, among other magazines with book reviews and advertisements, and often find a few books that seem interesting to me but are not on anyone's bestseller list (well, maybe on that bestseller list that only lists books whose titles begin with X and whose author's last name begins Tu
). And every couple of weeks, I go to my local B&N and ask them to order the books for me.
I probably purchase 90% of what I order this way, but there is never any hassle about placing the order and declining the book once I get a look at it. In addition, the customer service folk already know my preferences (such as no security sticker) and always make sure to note them on my orders. In addition, I always get the quoted price (or a new lower price) at time of order, even if the price rises between time of order and receipt (which is what happened with
Abraham Lincoln: A Life by Michael Burlingame. B&N honored the original preorder price of $55 even though by the time the book shipped, nearly 4 months later, the discounted price had risen to near $100 [the book was a 2-volume set with a MSRP of $125]).
There are things I dislike about how B&N is handling ebooks and the nook, but at least my local B&N does provide me with good customer service and does cater to my ordering whims with a smile.
Will this change with the advent of the nook? I wouldn't think so as regards pbooks. But then again, B&N has shown it isn't the savviest of marketers and could make yet another mistake in customer relations.