I guess B&N is in their final death spiral

taustin · 03-19-2013, 05:12 PM

And now they're resorting to outright illegal spamming (and you have to work at it to spam illegally in the US).

Two years+ I've had an account with them, and nary an email except order confirmations and responses to direct queries, until very recently. They reset my communications preferences to "spam me," the way Amazon did in their early days. Annoying, slimey and unethical. OK, I changed the settings to "do not send me this crap." And they sent another one. I noticed that the only easily identifiable communications preferences page in the account say it doesn't affect newsletters. Another slimy, unethical, annoying practice, but there's a link to the page where you can unsubscribe. Which doesn't let you unsubscribe, but instead, you put in your email address, and it sends you a link to where you can (allegedly) unsubscribe. Except it doesn't work. Errors out with a 404.

I also noticed that the spam itself has no information in it about how to unsubscribe. That's two CANSPAM violations.

Of all the ways B&N could have chosen to try to be more like Amazon, spamming the shit out of loyal customers is just about the worst. I've been thinking it's time to replace my nook color anyway, but I won't be buying another B&N product after this crap.

vaughnmr · 03-19-2013, 07:58 PM

I bought a refurb Nook Tablet a couple of weeks ago, and after registering it I was hit with 2 - 3 emails a day at times. But I was able to unsubscribe, haven't had any since.

Asawi · 03-20-2013, 06:02 AM

I had to go and check my prefrences, and indeed it said there that I wanted notices. Not only that, it said I was fine with them contacting me over the phone! I've now changed both my "yes" to "no" and unchecked "phone".
I have not however had any problems with the settings I had until a few minutes ago. Only order confirmations and a very occasional promo email.
I made an order yesterday, and I have a feeling that settings get changed when orders are made, through some default settings that you actively have to click off but I could be worng here.

NickyWithNook · 03-20-2013, 08:07 AM

I've always gotten a lot of emails from them. I don't know if it's new, but it is annoying. So yeah they must have reset your preferences. I should go change mine. LOL. Sometimes though I'm glad I got the email because it'll be about something I'm interested in.

thecdn · 03-20-2013, 08:27 AM

I haven't had any unusual emails from B&N lately but this topic has brought up a question in my mind.

What happens to books, etc we have with B&N if they were to go out of business? I have a number of books that I've archived to save space. Would I be able to get access to them?

I realize this is premature but I'm kind of curious. I rarely use my Nook Color since having picked up a Nexus 7 but I continued buying books through the B&N app to support them. I might have to rethink that.....

David Munch · 03-20-2013, 08:30 AM

Could simply be a software glitch on their side - How about telling them instead of assuming the worst?

NickyWithNook · 03-20-2013, 08:30 AM

I'm worried because we switched banks so I don't have the credit card my nook is registered under, and as I understand it, if B&N went out of business and I wanted to buy a different reader to put my Nook books on, I'd have to be able to strip DRM to put them on another reader? And to do that I'd need the credit card number I no longer have? But maybe I'm wrong about what's required. I guess the point is that I'd have to learn how to do that if my Nook broke, and Nooks weren't being made anymore, and I wanted to read my books on a Kobo or something.

Sukiyaki · 03-20-2013, 09:09 AM

Quote:

I'm worried because we switched banks so I don't have the credit card my nook is registered under, and as I understand it, if B&N went out of business and I wanted to buy a different reader to put my Nook books on, I'd have to be able to strip DRM to put them on another reader? And to do that I'd need the credit card number I no longer have? But maybe I'm wrong about what's required. I guess the point is that I'd have to learn how to do that if my Nook broke, and Nooks weren't being made anymore, and I wanted to read my books on a Kobo or something.

I'm pretty sure it goes by the CURRENT credit card on the account, not the one used at the time the book was ordered. As long as you've updated your jnfo, you will be fine.

-- Sent from my TouchPad using Communities

RAH · 03-20-2013, 10:06 AM

I think that the epub file itself has the credit-card based DRM as part of it. So it would depend on when you got the actually epub file onto your device or PC. In other words, if you have the epub file on your PC and bought it say 6 months ago when your old card was in effect (and didn't archive it or remove it or anything), then the card info in the epub file would remain the old card number. So if you used say the DRM plugin to remove it, you should give it that old card number.

On the other hand, if you have a bunch of old books you bought say 2 years ago but they are no longer on your device (archived or whatever), and in the meantime have changed your credit card with B&N, if you then pull those books down onto your PC anew, I think they would have the latest card number inside them and you would use the new number in the plugin. If I'm wrong and they still retain the old number (seems doubtful), you could just use that instead.

Basically, I think people who are worried about B&N stopping support of their ebooks should get all of their books now and FOR BACKUP ONLY remove the DRM and save them to an external harddrive.

GlenBarrington · 03-20-2013, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Munch

Could simply be a software glitch on their side - How about telling them instead of assuming the worst?

Sorry, but when it comes to internet communications, it is always safest to assume the worst. Certainly less disappointing. . .

GlenBarrington · 03-20-2013, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickyWithNook

I'm worried because we switched banks so I don't have the credit card my nook is registered under, and as I understand it, if B&N went out of business and I wanted to buy a different reader to put my Nook books on, I'd have to be able to strip DRM to put them on another reader? And to do that I'd need the credit card number I no longer have? But maybe I'm wrong about what's required. I guess the point is that I'd have to learn how to do that if my Nook broke, and Nooks weren't being made anymore, and I wanted to read my books on a Kobo or something.

It's been a LONG time since I used my B&N account, but isn't there a place on the Account management page that allows you to enter a new credit card number? I have NEVER encountered any web site that doesn't allow you to update that information. (and any that don't should be avoided at ALL costs)

But unless things have changed, B&N ebooks, have a special DRM protection on them even if they are EPUB files so that they can only be read on B&N readers. You are likely to be forced into manually removing the DRM protection to read them on different devices anyway. (The primary reason why I don't use B&N for anything anymore)

NickyWithNook · 03-20-2013, 10:11 AM

You can enter new information for your account, but I thought I'd read that the DRM is related to the credit card used to register the Nook in the first place? I haven't tried to strip DRM so I am not speaking from experience.

Poodlemom1 · 03-20-2013, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickyWithNook

You can enter new information for your account, but I thought I'd read that the DRM is related to the credit card used to register the Nook in the first place? I haven't tried to strip DRM so I am not speaking from experience.

I was 99% sure that when you changed your credit card it would change it for all books purchased. I just decided to check as I had to change mine a couple of years ago. I was able to download and open a book on my iphone that I purchased with the old credit card. (I bet this book was purchased 2 credit cards ago.) I know this worked at eReader and Fictionwise when they were around.

taustin · 03-20-2013, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Munch

Could simply be a software glitch on their side - How about telling them instead of assuming the worst?

If it were just a resetting of some preferences, I might buy that. If changing the only obvious applicable setting on my account fixed it, I might still buy that. If the real unsubscribe page weren't hidden behind multiple steps involving both web forms and email, I might buy that. If the unsubscribe worked, I might buy that. All of that together? No, I don't buy that. If this isn't intentional, they're so inept they need to be put out of the misery because they're a public nuisance. You might feel sorry for the rabid dog, but you still put it down.

taustin · 03-20-2013, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAH

Basically, I think people who are worried about B&N stopping support of their ebooks should get all of their books now and FOR BACKUP ONLY remove the DRM and save them to an external harddrive.

I'll second that. Otherwise, you're asking for trouble.

03-19-2013, 05:12 PM	#1
taustin Wizard Posts: 1,358 Karma: 5766642 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Nook	I guess B&N is in their final death spiral And now they're resorting to outright illegal spamming (and you have to work at it to spam illegally in the US). Two years+ I've had an account with them, and nary an email except order confirmations and responses to direct queries, until very recently. They reset my communications preferences to "spam me," the way Amazon did in their early days. Annoying, slimey and unethical. OK, I changed the settings to "do not send me this crap." And they sent another one. I noticed that the only easily identifiable communications preferences page in the account say it doesn't affect newsletters. Another slimy, unethical, annoying practice, but there's a link to the page where you can unsubscribe. Which doesn't let you unsubscribe, but instead, you put in your email address, and it sends you a link to where you can (allegedly) unsubscribe. Except it doesn't work. Errors out with a 404. I also noticed that the spam itself has no information in it about how to unsubscribe. That's two CANSPAM violations. Of all the ways B&N could have chosen to try to be more like Amazon, spamming the shit out of loyal customers is just about the worst. I've been thinking it's time to replace my nook color anyway, but I won't be buying another B&N product after this crap.

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03-19-2013, 07:58 PM	#2
vaughnmr Ebook Reader Posts: 605 Karma: 3205128 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Texas Device: Kindle 3, HTC Evo, HTC View	I bought a refurb Nook Tablet a couple of weeks ago, and after registering it I was hit with 2 - 3 emails a day at times. But I was able to unsubscribe, haven't had any since.

03-20-2013, 06:02 AM	#3
Asawi Gadgetoholic Posts: 1,462 Karma: 2731820 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Sweden Device: Kobo Libra2, Tolino Vision 6	I had to go and check my prefrences, and indeed it said there that I wanted notices. Not only that, it said I was fine with them contacting me over the phone! I've now changed both my "yes" to "no" and unchecked "phone". I have not however had any problems with the settings I had until a few minutes ago. Only order confirmations and a very occasional promo email. I made an order yesterday, and I have a feeling that settings get changed when orders are made, through some default settings that you actively have to click off but I could be worng here.

03-20-2013, 08:07 AM	#4
NickyWithNook Guru Posts: 748 Karma: 3942770 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Michigan, USA Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite (Don't use Nook anymore)	I've always gotten a lot of emails from them. I don't know if it's new, but it is annoying. So yeah they must have reset your preferences. I should go change mine. LOL. Sometimes though I'm glad I got the email because it'll be about something I'm interested in.

03-20-2013, 08:27 AM	#5
thecdn Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: North Lauderdale, FL Device: Nook Color, Nexus 7	I haven't had any unusual emails from B&N lately but this topic has brought up a question in my mind. What happens to books, etc we have with B&N if they were to go out of business? I have a number of books that I've archived to save space. Would I be able to get access to them? I realize this is premature but I'm kind of curious. I rarely use my Nook Color since having picked up a Nexus 7 but I continued buying books through the B&N app to support them. I might have to rethink that.....

03-20-2013, 08:30 AM	#6
David Munch Scholar Posts: 1,008 Karma: 3999312 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kobo Libra H2O + iPad Air 4	Could simply be a software glitch on their side - How about telling them instead of assuming the worst?

03-20-2013, 10:06 AM	#9
RAH Guru Posts: 611 Karma: 575652 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Hampton, NH Device: Color Nook; Nook Touch	I think that the epub file itself has the credit-card based DRM as part of it. So it would depend on when you got the actually epub file onto your device or PC. In other words, if you have the epub file on your PC and bought it say 6 months ago when your old card was in effect (and didn't archive it or remove it or anything), then the card info in the epub file would remain the old card number. So if you used say the DRM plugin to remove it, you should give it that old card number. On the other hand, if you have a bunch of old books you bought say 2 years ago but they are no longer on your device (archived or whatever), and in the meantime have changed your credit card with B&N, if you then pull those books down onto your PC anew, I think they would have the latest card number inside them and you would use the new number in the plugin. If I'm wrong and they still retain the old number (seems doubtful), you could just use that instead. Basically, I think people who are worried about B&N stopping support of their ebooks should get all of their books now and FOR BACKUP ONLY remove the DRM and save them to an external harddrive.

03-20-2013, 10:11 AM	#12
NickyWithNook Guru Posts: 748 Karma: 3942770 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Michigan, USA Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite (Don't use Nook anymore)	You can enter new information for your account, but I thought I'd read that the DRM is related to the credit card used to register the Nook in the first place? I haven't tried to strip DRM so I am not speaking from experience.

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