Bye bye!
K and I are both prolific readers. I tend to read more magazines, K more books. My magazines, however, are mostly published in the UK and cost upwards of $10 each. They're affordable because I'm a member of Barnes & Noble (the bookstore chain) and get 10% off everything. Plus, several times a month they email special 15-20% off coupons, which makes my total discount 25-30%.
On most Friday's we drift into B&N for our weekly literary replenishment. I was unpleasantly surprised yesterday when they refused to honor their 20% off coupon on my pricey magazine, saying they were no longer honoring that promotion on in-store print magazine purchases.
Here's the deal Barnes & Noble: If your new policy stands, I will NOT be renewing my membership, ALL our book purchases will come from Amazon, and I WILL subscribe directly with the publishers of my UK/European magazines.
B&N is already on shaky financial ground, and my boycott will only hasten their demise by maybe 2 minutes, but damn it felt good when I sent them my heated email last night. Strike one for the little guy. :)
S
I also posted it all over my Twitter feed.
ReplyDeletek
Sell Short!
ReplyDeleteI refused to shop @ B&N years ago. I went into one of their stores to place an order for 3 books - about $150 total cost. Their "customer service" guy says - here's the computer where you can place the order then he walked off. I walked out without placing the order. Went to a Borders store. Customer service there helped with the order & after a bit of searching found a good quality used copy of one of the books saving me around $30. After that I always went to Borders. I really miss those stores. Now all my books are from Amazon.
ReplyDeleteKathy
The good thing is that store probably won't be there much longer. B&N announced they'll be closing hundreds of stores each year. Which will die first, them or the post office? It is kind of sad because soon you'll have to order books online or buy them from Wal-Mart or something. Oh well, that's what the Kindle is there for.
ReplyDeleteOf course the next time you're on B&N's website you can always buy my book for the Nook. (shameless plug)
This reminds me of the time Mrs. C. and I subscribed to Connoisseur Magazine. One day I went to work and a coworker told me I looked tired. I said, "Me and the missus were up late last night because of an article we read called 'The Ten Most Sublime Paintings in New York City.'"
ReplyDeleteThe coworker said,"Oh you were up late because you couldn't agree on the ten most sublime paintings in New York?"
"No," I said, "we couldn't agree on what the word sublime meant!"
I do find it sad that all the bookstores are going away. Fortunately, we have the largest bookstore in America here in Portland, Powell Books. It covers an entire city block downtown.
Good on ya, Scott.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Stephen - I'm sad that all the bookstores are disappearing. I do realize that I'm part of the cause, ordering e-books from Amazon and iTunes. From what I understand, used bookstores are doing fairly well, though.
ReplyDeleteNot that this fact would help you with your magazine problem. Shame on them!
I work in the publishing industry, and the arrogance and stupidity of B & N corporate management is profound beyond belief. I too have pretty much stopped shopping there.
ReplyDeleteThere is some evidence that independent bookstores are beginning to see a resurgence, which will be a very good thing for book lovers.
Excellent news!
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