Barnes & Noble Reviews 1,900

Seating has been removed. The less time I have for reviewing books ... the less books I purchase. Seating makes this a bit more relaxing. The coffee shop only had two customers and the wait was long and the employee did not acknowledge anyone when orders could have been taken.

I would like to echo Kathy's review. I have had a Nook for many years. When I first got it, it was capable of downloading and playing movies. I bought one for my grandchildren to be able to watch. A very short time later it stopped working. After hours on the phone I was told that B&N had decided to no longer support this function and disabled my Nook's ability to view the downloaded movie. The video took up over 4GB of memory and yet it was as if it wasn't there. B&N never helped. Thus I was eventually forced to start uploading purchased ebooks inorder to download new purchases. Over 250 books later I finish one and go to buy another and nothing works. On the phone again I am informed that they now are no longer supporting my NOOK at all and that I could buy a new one. Right. They junked my property with no notice and offer to help secure all my now cloud based books. How they hope to remain in business I don't know, but I do know it will not be with help from me!

DO NOT PURCHASE A NOOK! Effective June 2024, B&N will no longer support older NOOKs. I get that. However by disabling the new purchase option, they also disabled my ability to download and read my archived books! Books I ALREADY PAID FOR! Hundreds of dollars of books I can no longer access unless I feel like hauling a laptop around. And no text or email warning me ahead of time so I could download my books prior to the cut off! Terrible customer service. DON'T BUY A NOOK!

I placed an order for a book that was listed as available. A few hours later, I received an email stating the book was actually out of stock and would be delivered a week later than expected. Despite this, the book continued to be displayed as available on the website. Barnes & Noble did not take any action to address the delayed delivery, which is not customer-friendly.

Ordered a board game from Barnes & Noble years ago. Due to a damage card, I contacted the publisher recently and was asked about the Lot number and UPC code. I am shocked to get a reply that the product is counterfeit.

Barnes & Noble are struggling and may not be around for much longer and I discovered why as I attempted to publish my novels on their site and was rejected.

Best part is, they could not tell me why. My books are on Amazon, I wrote them, it seems B&N don't get customer service, more than that, they don't get that authors provide the product they sell.

It is a circus and they have plenty of clowns.

Update: Thank you for doing everything in your power to get this here before Father’s Day. I’m changing this to 5 stars because it was truly above and beyond. And, I won’t forget it.

Delay after delay. This company’s ridiculous.

**Edit** the company brought themselves from a 1 to a 4 by coming thru with my order ON TIME! I'm so impressed. I would've given five stars but 5/80 of the books came with printing errors. Otherwise, kudos!!

My bulk order is going to be late. I explained I need it in time for a conference. They said due to availability that's not possible...fine. I said they could send my books to my hotel instead...they said that's not possible because they can't change it in the system. Bullspit. I said they need to remedy this with a discount since it is their fault it will be delayed...surprise surprise they can't change it in the system.

I'll be going back to KDP.

On May 9th I ordered a product and it never arrived. I contacted customer service via live support and they gave me a phone number and told me to call. Today I was on the phone for 40 minutes and the lady on the phone was very polite and said they would send a new order. she created the order and the order was canceled. They connected me to someone more authorized. Again, I had a long conversation with a sweet lady and she said that she had solved the problem and that my orders would no longer be canceled and I just connected to customer service from live support and told them to send my lost order now, she gave me the same phone number again and said that she could not create the order. They must be kidding me. I wouldn't have a problem with this if I knew the phone call would be short, but when I call, I will listen to music for 10 minutes and tell the whole story from the beginning for half an hour. There can only be one explanation for this. I guess they don't want to sell the product and instead of saying that, they are trying to discourage the customer from shopping by overwhelming them. If you want to experience this terrible shopping experience, you can visit barnesandnoble.com.

DO NOT order from Barnes & Noble on line. I ordered 2 books - 1 for my mom and one for me for an upcoming long train trip. Both indicated on line 3-6 days delivery, meaning about May 31. They then emailed me to CHANGE that to June 11 & June 18, respectively. I called to cancel the order ONE HOUR after I placed it. They said oh no - too late. We've already processed it for shipment.
I call b*llsh*t. What are you doing, walking it to NJ?
Definitely lousy customer service. Stay away. Stay far far away.

FOLLOW UP: I sent a direct message via X (formerly Twitter) at the same time that I called Customer Service on the phone. 20 hours later, I've gotten a DM back and they have now CANCELLED the order as requested. I do appreciate that.

The moral of the story is that a direct message via X was more effective than talking to a real person. Weird but true.

Tried to get a e-book copy of the new novel "James." I fiddled around with the BN app and the BN website for over an hour. In my wanderings, I encountered something called a "wishlist?" What is that? I wish I had the book?

I tried to purchase the book, and thought I had. I checked my PayPal account and no purchase had been made.

Life is short. I went to Amazon and in 15 seconds the book was in my kindle library.

I have fond memories of BN, the bookstore, and how it was when the app worked, 10 years ago.

Something bad has happened to BN's computer presence. The software is incompetently written: too detailed, confusing, inoperable. I predict that unless this is changed, Amazon will have more and more book buying customers.

Terrible website, bought an audiobook several times and after an hiur of bs finally got an electronic book woth no audio.

Barnes & nobles was a good place for me to restart in my reading but to wait on delivery is terrible I ordered it on Monday took about a week and a half to get a book never do that again

I have loved Barnes & Noble for years and their customer service (when needed) had always been wonderful. This time was quite different. I pre-ordered a book that unfortunately got delayed by the publisher. That, however, was not the problem. The problem was that I ordered a hardcover copy of the book, but what arrived in the mail (when the book finally released) was a paperback. I promptly contacted Customer Service by phone, hoping to get the situation sorted, and I repeatedly received pushback. I double-checked my records and I had proof that I ordered and paid for the hardcover copy. The agents initially argued that I ordered a paperback. I did not. Then, after diving deeper into their records, they admitted that I ordered a hardcover, but said there was nothing they could do. The system recorded my order as a paperback. The only solution, they said, was for me to order the book again. This was a problem for me because my original order was with a 25% off promo and free shipping. If I had to order again, I would lose those discounts. The agents were able to give me a reference ticket that would approve me for those same discounts, but they refused to apply them until AFTER I placed a second order. They would charge me the full amount and then would retroactively apply a refund for the discount that would take several days. That meant they expected me to pay for the same book TWICE. And the cost of the book had increased, so ultimately I paid more anyway. Not only that, but they were nasty about the copy that I wanted to return. Customer Service flat out refused to issue a refund (on the wrong merchandise) until it was returned to them. I already wanted to return the book, but I can't understand why they had to be so nasty about it - as if I were trying to scam them! One agent (I talked to several) even offered to let me keep the wrong merchandise at no charge (which I didn't want) but then took the offer back! I asked to speak to a supervisor and that went even worse. I got the same story of how I would have to make a new order and they were being condescending with me because I was 'making things difficult.' All I wanted was for them to send me the hardcover I ordered and they already had the money for it! Instead, they acted as if it were all my fault and forced me to make a second order which never should have been necessary in the first place. I don't know what happened that caused my order to get mixed up in their system, but clearly Barnes & Noble is not taking responsibility and that shakes my confidence in them moving forward.

On 12/19/2023, my fiancé purchased a B&N gift card in the amount of $50 for me from store #2082. This purchase was made in cash. When the purchase was completed, the cashier- Maeve L stated that there was an issue with the register and that they needed to move to another one. She "reprocessed" the transaction and provided the gift receipt but stated that she could not provide the actual receipt. She confirmed that the card was active and had the funds on it. My fiancé went on his way. The gift card then sat wrapped under the Christmas tree until Christmas day, in no one's possession but the tree. Fast forward to 3/24/24 which is when I attempted to use the GC in store #2082. When attempted, I was told that the gift card was not activated but since I had the gift receipt, it would be no issue to have the card replaced, I was to call the customer service number. Upon calling, I was then told that the card was used 3 days after purchase though it was sitting wrapped under the Christmas tree and in no one's possession. The 4-digit pin was not revealed until I attempted use in store on that Sunday, 3/24/2024. If this is the case and the card was used while in no one's possession (but a tree that does not have the ability to make purchases), then we were sold a compromised card. When I had not heard back in over a week, I called the customer service number back. The gentleman I spoke with then had the audacity to ask me if "the person who bought me the card may have used it and not told me" Which really irritated my fiancé. After escalating to a supervisor and going back and forth with her for some minutes, she finally pulled up my email and located the notes on my account. She advised that my concern was still being investigated. On, 4/2/24 I received an email from the B&N team that nothing can be done since the card was never activated. I have been provided with different information from every single individual that has investigated this concern for me which is very troubling. This card was purchased and paid for at a brick-and-mortar location and a physical gift receipt was provided yet, I cannot use it and have been going in circles. I have communicated with B&N on multiple occasions via email now providing them with all requested information including screenshots of the GC and associated receipt. I have received nothing but radio silence. My BBB complaint remains unanswered and my concern unresolved. I will no longer be spending any of my hard-earned money at this company unless they decide to take the time to make things right.
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B&N has contacted me below asking for more information. More information had been provided. No contact since.
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5/23/24 still no contact. B&N has forever lost a customer.

Absolutely horrible, I had called Barnes & Noble about their new item, The Noble hotdog that I have been told about. They had given my Sisters boyfriends aunties cousin a hotdog when she had called and ordered but when I ordered I had gotten through and asked for one large noble hotdog please and was rudely rejected and threatened with the police! 😱 Over your new noble hotdog! More like the Noble Scam!

Beginning of March 2024 I ordered five gift cards to be shipped to my address. I received a shipment through UPS of three gift cards. After calling Barnes & Noble immediately and reporting the problem, I was told a replacement for the missing two cards would be shipped from their warehouse. The Barnes & Noble employee requested the gift card numbers off the back of the three gift cards I did received. I requested a tracking number for the replacement cards but was told that he could not give me that information. I thought that was odd since the first shipment had UPS tracking information. The replacement cards never arrived. I contacted Barnes & Noble again and was told that the two missing gift cards were showing as used. I figured this was due to the original customer service representative who asked for the numbers off the cards I did receive. Perhaps he cancelled the other two cards so they couldn't be used? I was given a contact number for the Sales and Audit Team. When I called to speak with the Sales Audit Team I was told that the original cards were spent in a physical store on the day I originally received them; the same day I called about the missing cards. Because of this they stated they could not issue me a replacement. I responded that I live nowhere near the store on record for the usage, not even in the same state. Again, I was told they would review the situation and contact me by email. Over three weeks and still no reply from Barnes & Noble. I called again and was told that it is marked for no replacement or credit. When I asked to speak with the person(s) of the Sales and Audit Team I was told they do not take calls but a request for a callback could be left. I'm doubtful I will receive a callback since they never bothered to follow through by email either. My original three gift cards arrived in a sealed UPS envelope directly from Barnes & Noble. I fear that my missing gift cards were somehow stolen and spent or sold before ever being put in that UPS envelope. Somehow Barnes & Noble seems okay with penalizing their customers for this.

I placed an order on 3/9/2024 for a bag and 2 books. The bag came just as promised. The two books never came. The message kept saying "awaiting pickup" with UPS. I inquired twice, before finding out that they couldn't tell me anything and cancelled the order, issued a refund and resent the books. One book came as promised. The second book came 3/26/2024. The cover of the book is what I ordered, but the inside of the book is a completely different book altogether! I have never had such issues with a vendor before.

Edit: I finally received the correct book today, 4/2/2024. I will say I filled out the form as requested by Barnes and Noble below, and I never heard a word from anyone.

This is a website experience review. A big banner appears announcing a BOGO 50% off deal, but the deal did not appear at checkout. One of the books I wanted was not even listed (not out of stock, simply not listed, major author). Prices are higher than Amazon. Shipping is extra if you want it in a timely manner. After entering my gift card it still wanted me to enter a credit card. After many clicks and refreshes this eventually processed my order without a credit card. I contacted customer service but ended up placing the order without their assistance. Never did get the Bogo. If I didn't have a gift card I would have given up. Highly recommend any other gift - do not give B&N gift card.

This review is for my online and gift card experience with Barnes & Noble. I'd give zero stars if I could. I'd say to avoid ordering online if you can help it - especially if you are using a gift card. It's also best to not give people B&N gift cards period (unless you 100% know that they'll use it in the store and love this particular store for some reason).

I placed an online order only for it to be cancelled soon after. I was told I needed to call first in order for them to remove an authorization hold so I could use it. After waiting a couple days I could place the order. Then the largest part of my order did not get delivered. I understand that this is the carrier's fault, but the handling of this situation to get a resolution has been terrible.

After multiple communications (lotsa time wasted and mostly incompetent and/or ineffective assistance), a replacement order was processed, and the delivery failed again. So I requested a refund to the gift card in order to place the order for pick-up in store. It was processed and I was assured that I could immediately use the gift card. But no. The order was cancelled soon after placing. Once again on the phone, I was informed there's nothing wrong with the giftcard and that it was a random cancellation. This is my worst consumer experience trying to have an order fulfilled. It's been a month from the initial order date and I still do not have the item I ordered. Regardless of payment method, money has been paid and the funds should be usable.
I've refused to give up on being satisfied as a matter of principle. It seems that their gift cards and online ordering process is flawed and maybe the gift cards are meant to be a scam. If it's this difficult to use them, maybe customers will give up on using the gift cards and B&N can just get paid money for nothing.