Is this Barnes & Noble crazy or am I?

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Banquet Bear said:
In other words: something quite normal for American readers, but culturally difficult for others to understand. The responses that you have had in this thread seem to indicate that what you have done is commonly done and normal: for me I'm literally shocked that someone could even contemplate this.
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I'm American and had the same reaction. It would never have occurred to me.
 
Rumor_Watkins said:
possibly; with your charisma you should be able to coax it out of me. like 5 more DVDs and a couple of paperweights.
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You are a talent. As a matter of fact, I am emailing a link to this thread to David Letterman and Jay Leno's show websites because they are both missing out on a first class joke writer. So please, keep going.
 
cosmosdan said:
That one always pissed me off. Sometimes it was just a rent for free issue. I need a wood chipper for this weekend only so rather than rent one, I'll buy one form Sears, use it all weekend , then return it and expect a full refund. And oh, when they tell me about their new restocking fee and why they had to have it, I'll throw a major hissy because my dignity isn't worth $30 bucks. Getting my way is.

It's also a great exmple of how the less than honest have a real affect on the honest. The honest customer that would never pull that shit still has to pay the restocking fee.
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See, the "rent it for free" policy of being able to return something post-use, within a certain amount of time, no-strings-attached, always seemed to me to be based on the philosophy that a certain percentage of people will decide, after getting the thing home, that their lives are so much easier/better with the wood chipper than without-- even if they came in fully intending to use it and return it. Like the magazine subscriptions where you get 3 months before they bill you. After reading something for three months, maybe you'll decide you love it, whereas, if you had to pay upfront and make a concrete commitment to cost, you'd never even consider it.
 
El Presidente said:
You are a talent. As a matter of fact, I am emailing a link to this thread to David Letterman and Jay Leno's show websites because they are both missing out on a first class joke writer. So please, keep going.
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you're not really having me leaving thinking I got the deal of a lifetime...
 
hazel-rah said:
If more than one manager was involved, both of these scenarios go right out the window. A single employee, acting alone, might do either of those things. After two or three managers get involved? Not a chance in hell.
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Yep, the whole manager thing doesn't make much sense.

I'm curious where you got your information concerning the no refunds policy on the buy 2 get 1 free sale. I checked out the web site and couldn't find it.

I find it very difficult to believe that the details of that sale would not be explained upon a return attempt. Especially when several people were involved.
 
I don't work for B&N but I'm pretty sure they don't price adjust, which is what you're asking them to do. I did work in a no adjustment store and the few customers who got angry did just what you suggested: Returned the item and came back up 2 minutes later with the sale priced item and bought that at the lower price. Obnoxious, but that's how it had to be done.

Also, we had a standard clause on all our sales that said, "does not include previous purchases" which is the no price adjustment policy. I'd check if B&N has that, too.
 
El Presidente said:
How long did you hold up the entire store over this? I imagine the now, probably 20 other people in line were getting pissed at you about this.
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Admittedly, I don't patronize B&N very often, but I've not been in one that has only a single point-of-sale, where it would truly be possible to "hold up the entire store". There have always been multiple registers with plenty of people ready to take my money. I think you're trying to make the OP out to be a jerk, where it's truly not warranted.

If you haven't already, perhaps it time for you to find a non-retail job, maybe a windowless room at the end of a long hall where you won't be forced to interact with anyone. Or them with you.
 
Chickie said:
See, the "rent it for free" policy of being able to return something post-use, within a certain amount of time, no-strings-attached, always seemed to me to be based on the philosophy that a certain percentage of people will decide, after getting the thing home, that their lives are so much easier/better with the wood chipper than without-- even if they came in fully intending to use it and return it.
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Try being a retailer who ends up with mountains of "took it for our trip to Florida" camcorders, "Junior's 1st birthday" digital cameras, "Road trip to the Grand Canyon" radar detectors, and "Superbowl party" big screen tvs.
You'd be suprised at how fast it gets real ugly.
 
BCHH said:
Admittedly, I don't patronize B&N very often, but I've not been in one that has only a single point-of-sale, where it would truly be possible to "hold up the entire store". There have always been multiple registers with plenty of people ready to take my money. I think you're trying to make the OP out to be a jerk, where it's truly not warranted.
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The OP was in the Movies & Music section, which typically only has one or two registers.
 
Little Nemo said:
Can't think of any important details I've left out. Would you like the location of the store or the names of the DVD's?
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Well, yeah. That can be important. If I were the clerk, I wouldn't accommodate you if you had bought The Best of Myron Floren and Lawrence Welk. It would be wrong. :)
 
I have done this many times at various stores. Most give a 30 day policy (or similar) where they will price adjust, however, most exclude "final discount", seasonal, or clearance prices. Was that what this was?

It does make sense for the stores to limit how people can do this. Obviously some items have more value right after they are released, and some people are willing to pay premium prices to have items right away, other people wait until they are no longer 'hot' or new releases to get discounts. Stores want to make as much as they can off the former people. As you said, when you went back the DVDs you bought were no longer there, you had the last ones, so obviously they had enough people willing to pay premium prices (or at least less discounted prices) for them. Maybe the sale was to clear out remaining stock to make room for new product? Then making deeper discounts on remaining stock makes sense. However, if it was a regular sale where the price is discounted for a while and then goes back up to regular price, and it was an item that was going to be restocked, their policy makes no sense.

It seems odd that they would have a sale right after another sale on the same items, unless it was being clearanced.

(But, if I were you, I probably would have returned them and had my husband go back and buy them again too.)
 
Chickie said:
See, the "rent it for free" policy of being able to return something post-use, within a certain amount of time, no-strings-attached, always seemed to me to be based on the philosophy that a certain percentage of people will decide, after getting the thing home, that their lives are so much easier/better with the wood chipper than without-- even if they came in fully intending to use it and return it. Like the magazine subscriptions where you get 3 months before they bill you. After reading something for three months, maybe you'll decide you love it, whereas, if you had to pay upfront and make a concrete commitment to cost, you'd never even consider it.
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I think they assume people won't buy it unless they are actually thinking about keeping it, and in that case , a smaller % will return it. We're talking about people buying it that never had any intention of keeping it but planned to use it, lessoning it's value, and then return it for a full refund. They've basically disregarded the stores profit margin so they can get somethng for free.

I think a fair arrangement is the restocking fee.
"I'm not sure I need one. I'd like to try it and see if I like it."
"Okay, there's a small restocking fee if you return it used, but then you'll know you don't really want one and you didn't spend all that money on something you don't really want."
Like say, renting one for a weekend to see if you want to own one.
The reason stores changed their return policies is because the % of people signing on to the rent for free program kept rising. It got to be socially acceptable over time instead of seen as dishonest.
 
Hampshire said:
Try being a retailer who ends up with mountains of "took it for our trip to Florida" camcorders, "Junior's 1st birthday" digital cameras, "Road trip to the Grand Canyon" radar detectors, and "Superbowl party" big screen tvs.
You'd be suprised at how fast it gets real ugly.
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People never consider that or if they do they just don't care. They think "They're a big company they can afford it, and never consider that 1000 other assholes are using the same reason. You'll see certain products get targetted at certain times.

I saw some college students get caught by the restocking fee on the laptop they had bought just to do a term paper. They were mad, we were dancing. "Take that cheap ass cocksuckers"

One clerk that was fed up told a customer that brought back a camcorder that he could only return it if he returned all the tapes he had bought as well. It wasn't true but he walked away with the camcorder.
 
Heffalump and Roo said:
Little Nemo, whatever you do, I hope that you returns those DVDs.

In a way, the policy makes sense for them to make it difficult to do what you're doing. Because they know that there will be some amount of people who won't want the hassle of returning it and then purchasing it again later. That's why companies do mail-back promotions. The amount of people who are willing to mail back information for a cash back is surprisingly low. I remember a statistic that I read about it (that I can't find right now).
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It true with mail in rebates and with coupons as well. Companies could never afford the coupons they send out if all of them were used. They no few will be. Companies know when they use a mail in rebate as a promo that many people will either not send it in or not read it well enough to follow directions. I suspect that some even deny legitimate rebates because they know most people won't fight very hard.
I just had a similar thing happen to me at Border's a couple weeks ago. At Border's, they send you discount coupons all the time, pretty much every week. I took a 40% off coupon and bought an item. For some reason, that I can only attribute to fatigue and hunger, I also bought an item at full price at the same time, even though I knew that I could just wait another week for another coupon. And sure enough, the next day, there was another 40% off coupon in my e-mail. So I called the store and asked if I could return the item (and I asked if I could return it when I bought it and they said yes) and then re-buy it at the 40% off price. And they said I couldn't. Of course, I could do what you're suggesting which is to return the item and come back later and bring the 40% off coupon to get the discount. I also know that Amazon has the same item at 32% off, so I could just return the regularly priced item and buy it at Amazon for 32% off. And I seem to recall that Amazon owns Border's, so I'd just effectively be doing the same thing -- returning the item to the store and buying it from another part of the store.

But alas, I did neither of these things. I just kept the book. It was just a few dollars, and at the end of the day, I couldn't be bothered. And that's how Border's made a few dollars off me and lost some good will. I'm not happy about the outcome, so I wouldn't suggest you doing the same.
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Some stores just have stupid policies that employees have to enforce. It doesn't make any sense at all. They must suspect that the policy prevents those discount return/rebuy cheaper, sales more than they alienate customers. I disagree, but it's thier store.
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BCHH said:
Admittedly, I don't patronize B&N very often, but I've not been in one that has only a single point-of-sale, where it would truly be possible to "hold up the entire store". There have always been multiple registers with plenty of people ready to take my money. I think you're trying to make the OP out to be a jerk, where it's truly not warranted.

If you haven't already, perhaps it time for you to find a non-retail job, maybe a windowless room at the end of a long hall where you won't be forced to interact with anyone. Or them with you.
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:D the best humor is often rooted in truth.
 
cckerberos said:
I'm American and had the same reaction. It would never have occurred to me.
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I've noticed a few of them even tout in in advertising, e.g. "If you see a lower price anywhere within 30 days, we'll refund the difference (only applies to brick and mortar stores, not online)". Based on my (possibly faulty) recollection, it seems like it's mostly the big box electronics stores that do this (here's Best Buy's). I definitely pay attention to the next few weeks of ads whenever I buy a >$100 piece of equipment.
 
astro said:
You two flirting so overtly with each other is getting a little squicky. Please get a room.
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I just can't help myself. It's the charisma, you know :D


(yeah, I'll stop it now for the sake of the thread :) )
 
cckerberos said:
I'm American and had the same reaction. It would never have occurred to me.
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So if, say, you bought a Kindle and the next week they reduced the price by sixty bucks you wouldn't contact them and ask for the lower price? (That's what happened to me, and they happily issued a refund for the difference.)
 
I've faced idiocy similar to what the OP experienced at Babies R Us. Their prices are generally not great, but they do have good sales. Numerous times I've brought an unopened item with the sales receipt within the full-price exchange period and asked to get the price difference back. Sometimes the returns clerk will happily do it. Sometimes they don't want to, but after explaining to them that I can simply return it for the original price and buy it again they do the adjustment.

And several times they've refuse. So I do what I said I would--I return the item for the price I bought it for. They've never stopped me from buying it again. Why would they? They have the sale because they want to move that product. I think the problem is more likely to be a lazy or ignorant employee than store policy.

Don't fight them on the price adjustment. Return the product. Make them fight you on buying it again. What kind of manager would stop a customer from buying an item? Not one who wants to keep his job.
 
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