# Is this Barnes & Noble crazy or am I? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 17, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982 "2010-07-17T01:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/21 "2010-07-17T12:11:20Z")
I’d be inclined to contact their head office if that’s an option. That’s how customers get around us when we try to follow policy. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/22 "2010-07-17T12:27:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Read the back of your receipt. It’s fourteen days. Has been for about a year now. You may be right on that. I’ll have to check the receipt. But in either event, it’s been less than fourteen days anyway. > [@](#): > > Read up on the terms and conditions of the in-store Buy 2 Get 1 Free DVD/Blu-Ray promotion. During said promotion, and for 14 days following it, there are NO REFUNDS on DVDs purchased as part of the promotion. This has been the case for the last four or five years that the sale has taken place, and the signage states this. Not clearly, but you’re an American consumer and the concept of fine print is surely not new to you. > > If a manager agreed to give you a refund on your DVDs, they were making an exception for you. This would have been clearly communicated to you during the refund procedure, but for some reason you don’t mention it in the thread. If your dilemma really involved “three levels of managers” there is simply no way the “no refunds” aspect of the Buy 2 Get 1 Free promo would not have been (gently) pointed out to you. If this policy exists, the store employees I spoke with are apparently unaware of it. They all agreed I could get a refund if I wanted one. > [@](#): > > I’m also curious as to how you managed to work your way through three levels of managers when there are only two levels of management in a B&N retail store, assistant managers and the store manager. If for some reason there was a district manager present who was involved with your customer service issue, they would have caved instantly to all your demands and apologized profusely to you, because they have that kind of power. The guy I was speaking to said he was calling his manager and I talked to the guy who showed up. That happened three times. Maybe they were just calling in other people who had the same title. Heck, maybe they called in a clerk from another department. I assumed they were calling in somebody at the next level because that’s what they said they were doing. But I didn’t ask for ID. > [@](#): > > I’m skeptical. I think you’re not telling the whole story. 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? I don’t see why people are assuming there was some deceit involved here. I wasn’t lying to anyone in the store and, as far as I know, nobody in the store was lying to me. I didn’t claim that the DVD’s were defective or anything like that. I told them the truth that I was returning them to take advantage of the new sale. And they all said I could return them and get my money back. And I could then walk away with my money or I could buy some DVD’s. Except not those DVD’s. They would sell those DVD’s to anyone who wanted them. Except not to me. So, once again, I’m not saying their policy was _deceitful_ - I’m saying it was _irrational_. And I wasn’t trying to trick them - I was trying to make them see reason. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/23 "2010-07-17T12:58:46Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I didn’t buy it twice if that’s what you’re asking. > > I bought the product. > > I was then told that product was going on sale next week. > > The store policy is that you can return any unopened product with a receipt for any reason within thirty days. > > If the clerk had told me about the upcoming sale before I bought the DVD’s I wouldn’t have bought them. I would have waited until the sale started and bought them then. > > I considered returning them all right then. As I said, the store’s policy allows you to return them and get your money back - this is not something I made up. But I decided to wait a week. Maybe the clerk was wrong about the upcoming sale. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to get to the store next week. > > Nor did I somehow secretly trick the store into having a sale. They decided to have a sale on their own and decided when to schedule it without my input. > > So I’m not trying to “scam” anyone. I’m just trying to use the store’s own policies to pay a lower price. > > I don’t see how there’s anything bizarrely American-centric about deciding I’d rather pay eighty dollars for a product rather than ninety-five dollars. Do people in other countries intentionally pay more for what they buy? Why is that? Are they worried that the store won’t be their friend? I’d rather pay a cheaper price as well. But if I buy something one week, and then next week its on special, the last thing on my mind would be to use a company return policy to get a discount. And I can’t think of a company over here that would allow this transaction to take place. …in general, over here in NZ anyway, you can return something under the consumers guarantee act (the goods are not acceptable quality, cannot be reasonably repaired, are not as described, or do not comply with what was promised), but most stores do not have open return policies: especially for DVD’s. For example, here is the returns policy for NZ’s largest retailer, the Warehouse. [http://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/red/content/homepage/customer-services/returns](http://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/red/content/homepage/customer-services/returns) By American-centric: its like “running up the score in basketball is bad” or “its easier to pay rent by cheque than by direct deposit” or the “right to bear arms”. 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. On preview, I note that **hazel-rah** has mentioned that the deal you bought was quite specific: and the fourteen days return policy jibes with what I have googled. So yeah, it appears that by its own policy that Barnes and Noble are not crazy at all. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/24 "2010-07-17T13:33:45Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > 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. I’m American and had the same reaction. It would never have occurred to me. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/25 "2010-07-17T13:44:41Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/26 "2010-07-17T15:38:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > 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? 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. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/27 "2010-07-17T16:35:51Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > I’m American and had the same reaction. It would never have occurred to me. 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](http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=page&contentId=1118843518460&id=cat12098)). I definitely pay attention to the next few weeks of ads whenever I buy a \>$100 piece of equipment. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/28 "2010-07-17T16:36:27Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > I’m American and had the same reaction. It would never have occurred to me. 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.) ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/29 "2010-07-17T16:52:57Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > 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.) As I said, the idea that (in the absence of a specific store policy saying otherwise) such a request would ever be granted would never have even entered my mind. Now that I’ve learned that this is apparently a common practice I guess I would ask, but it would feel strange and I wouldn’t be upset if they refused. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Presidente](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@El\_Presidente](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Presidente)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/30 "2010-07-17T17:08:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And those customers have to put up with you. It appears they’re getting the worst of the deal. > > Maybe you should consider a new career which doesn’t involve contact with human beings. Quite the opposite. If you tried pulling this on me at Barnes & Noble, I’d not only tell you no, but using my charisma I’d charm you into buying 5 more DVDs and a couple of paperweights and have you leaving thinking you got the deal of a lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Presidente](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@El\_Presidente](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Presidente)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/31 "2010-07-17T17:16:45Z")
I also raised my eyebrows over the “three levels of management” deal but let it go, Now I’m curious: > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The guy I was speaking to said he was calling his manager and I talked to the guy who showed up. That happened three times. Maybe they were just calling in other people who had the same title. Heck, maybe they called in a clerk from another department. I assumed they were calling in somebody at the next level because that’s what they said they were doing. So, you really didn’t talk to “three levels” of management. If I have this story straight, you spoke to: 1. The clerk (probably with several people in line behind you patiently waiting to make their legitimate purchases) 2. The “guy who showed up” after the clerk made a call 3. The “guy who showed up” after the clerk (or the first “manager”) made a second call 4. The “guy who showed up” after the clerk (or Manager 1 or 2) made a call (there’s no female managers at Barnes & Noble, apparently) So, in other words, after the first manager said “no”, you made these poor bastards call for three other managers at the same level? Or your just assuming that Manager #2 outranked 1 and 3 outranked 2? How many levels of management can there possibly be at one Barnes and Noble? I need more details, this sounds obtuse. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/32 "2010-07-17T17:36:23Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > I’d rather pay a cheaper price as well. But if I buy something one week, and then next week its on special, the last thing on my mind would be to use a company return policy to get a discount. And I can’t think of a company over here that would allow this transaction to take place. > > …in general, over here in NZ anyway, you can return something under the consumers guarantee act (the goods are not acceptable quality, cannot be reasonably repaired, are not as described, or do not comply with what was promised), but most stores do not have open return policies: especially for DVD’s. > . Typically, you don’t get refunds on opened “copyable” media (although if you know what you’re doing with software, you can) here, either. The OP didn’t open them up, though. Why is it so odd to you that the transaction would take place? And, of course they would in NZ, even though you may not think about it in those terms. There’s nothing that prevents you from returning the item “because you didn’t like it” and then immediately walking back into the store and buying it anew (I mean obv’s you have to be a bit discreet about it in some cases). Which is why most stores won’t parse that out and will just do the price difference. As for the opened items receiving a price discount, think of that as customer service. I would hazard a guess that the US retail market is far, far more competitive than the NZ market, so they are almost forced into doing this stuff to keep customers happy (and it’s not like they lose on the deal, anyway, I’m sure sales prices still give them profit) ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/33 "2010-07-17T17:40:31Z")
> [@El\_Presidente](#): > > Quite the opposite. If you tried pulling this on me at Barnes & Noble, I’d not only tell you no, but using my charisma I’d charm you into buying 5 more DVDs and a couple of paperweights and have you leaving thinking you got the deal of a lifetime. If you tried doing this to me as a customer, you would be threatened with a lawsuit for violating the terms of the sales contract you had with me, a call to the State Attorney General’s office, and a letter to your corporate office detailing the above which would probably yield me a coupon or trinket gift card (no comment on these special provisions that apparently no one knew of in this particular transaction, and that were apparently verbally modified by the clerk in the first transaction when he said that they could be returned) > [@El\_Presidente](#): > > That’s because they realized you were scamming them. what exactly is a “scam” about a customer utilizing the return policy to their maximal benefit? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/34 "2010-07-17T17:45:47Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …is this another one of those bizarre American-centric things? Let me get something straight: you bought something on special, found out that it would be cheaper next week, bought it anyway, then went back the week after to get a bigger discount? There is no guarantee that the item will be available then the sale hits as people tend to swoop in when an item goes on sale. Buying it in anticipation of a sale then going back and getting the difference credited back to your credit card if it goes on sale within the return period is something millions of Americans do, including myself WRT non-food retail items, if the amount is worthwhile. To me anything over 10 - 20 is worth doing this. Virtually all retailers have their cash registers set up to handle these transactions as a matter of course. Let me understand that retail is different where you are. If an item goes on sale within the return period and you can save (say) 20 euros by getting the difference back, that people where you live will _not_ do that? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/35 "2010-07-17T17:46:57Z")
> [@](#): > > If you tried pulling this on me at Barnes & Noble, I’d not only tell you no, but using my charisma I’d charm you into buying 5 more DVDs and a couple of paperweights and have you leaving thinking you got the deal of a lifetime. Really? Because I was under the impression charisma was your dump stat. As for your other questions, the people I was talking to asked me if I wanted them to call their manger. I didn’t make the suggestion. And I didn’t hold anyone up, much less the whole store. This was the CD/DVD department and there were no other customers waiting. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/36 "2010-07-17T17:47:49Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Let me understand that retail is different where you are. If an item goes on sale within the return period and you can save (say) 20 euros by getting the difference back, that people where you live will _not_ do that? yeah, I raised the eybrow at this too, but just chalked it up to the morally superior puffery that I note goes on ad nauseum from Oceania. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Presidente](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@El\_Presidente](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Presidente)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/37 "2010-07-17T17:48:12Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > If you tried doing this to me as a customer, you would be threatened with a lawsuit for violating the terms of the sales contract you had with me, a call to the State Attorney General’s office, and a letter to your corporate office detailing the above which would probably yield me a coupon or trinket gift card (no comment on these special provisions that apparently no one knew of in this particular transaction, and that were apparently verbally modified by the clerk in the first transaction when he said that they could be returned) SUUUUUUUURE you would, tough guy. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/38 "2010-07-17T17:48:17Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > I’d rather pay a cheaper price as well. But if I buy something one week, and then next week its on special, the last thing on my mind would be to use a company return policy to get a discount. This practice has indeed become more common here. I too find it strange. We see it often in ads for travel booking services (plane tickets, hotel rooms), where people are assured by various means that _somebody else_ won’t be able to get a better price–if the price drops, the difference will be refunded, sometimes automatically without further action on the first customer’s part. It is as if we saw shopping as a competitive sport between ourselves and other shoppers. The important thing is not the actual price paid (we _were_ happy with that, to make the purchase in the first place) but where we stand _relative_ to other buyers. If somebody else gets a better deal, by god we want it too. Even retroactively. I wonder how far out this feeling is now expected to extend. Suppose the product goes on “sale” six weeks later rather than one. Should we still feel like losers (or whatever it is), that other people are now getting a better price? Where is the line? How does it make sense to draw this line of expectations at any arbitrary point, other than the moment of the transaction that _we chose to make_ in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/39 "2010-07-17T17:49:01Z")
> [@El\_Presidente](#): > > SUUUUUUUURE you would, tough guy. much charisma, yes. care to take a stab at the substance of the post? p.s. the amount of free stuff I have received from writing letters to companies that acted less-than-properly is decently high. Free cell phones, refunds on tickets, new pairs of shoes. To people that have bona fide griefs with asshat in-store personnel, I highly recommend writing letters to corporate. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982/40 "2010-07-17T17:51:35Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You may be right on that. I’ll have to check the receipt. But in either event, it’s been less than fourteen days anyway.If this policy exists, the store employees I spoke with are apparently unaware of it. They all agreed I could get a refund if I wanted one.The guy I was speaking to said he was calling his manager and I talked to the guy who showed up. That happened three times. Maybe they were just calling in other people who had the same title. Heck, maybe they called in a clerk from another department. I assumed they were calling in somebody at the next level because that’s what they said they were doing. But I didn’t ask for ID.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? > . I’m starting to think you were played by a pack of bored clerks amusing themselves at your expense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-barnes-noble-crazy-or-am-i/546982.md?page=3)