Comments on: Entitlement

By: Morag

Morag — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:57:04 +0000

It’s interesting seeing things from the other side of the fence.

I go to bookshops all the time, and I guess I buy a book once in every ten visits. I guess I’m just picky, but I seldom come across something which is so interesting that I just buy it. I always need to check online reviews before I purchase.

One thing I REALLY REALLY hate is being approached by staff in bookshops, asking me if I need help, or trying to give me recommendations. I’m probably just a snob, but I always figured the bookseller’s job is to take my cash and stick the book in a paper bag!

By: Becky

Becky — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:35:09 +0000

Aw Nick, I’m sorry – it really wasn’t aimed at people who buy things, even very occasionally. I hope you haven’t taken offence, because I was just having a slightly tongue-in-cheek rant after a few days with frustrating customers. As long as you don’t head it with “Amazon List”, we won’t hate you, I promise. Next time, introduce yourself: it’s always nice to chat to blog readers!

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:53:28 +0000

I was in the shop the other day and purposely didn’t take out my notebook (in which I note down books to buy from your shop) as I thought I’d look like one of your deviants, even though I’m not. Rather, I just have too many books to read right now, the majority of which were purchased chez vous.

The perils of casual browsing!

By: Katherine

Katherine — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:09:27 +0000

Just realised that makes me sound like I buy all my books online, I don’t!

By: Katherine

Katherine — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:08:38 +0000

Although I do buy books online, I wouldn’t dream of going into a bookshop for advice for this, it’s just bad manners. At least go to a library and help them put their enquiry stats up!

Maybe the more relaxed nature of Borders and people reading whole books in there and letting their kids treat it like home was why their stock was in such a state and put me off buying it.

By: Dark Puss

Dark Puss — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:49:12 +0000

Becky, please don’t stop railing against the hypocrites! One of the things that irritates about literary weblogs, well the comments posted mainly, is the number of people who say something like “I’ve just ordered it from [insert name of online retailer here]” or “I have just added it to [insert name of online retailer] list.” I almost never see anyone saying something like “Next week when I am in London, Edinburgh, Geneva (places where Dark Puss can be found) I will visit [insert name of independent bookseller staffed by real human beings]”

Miaow!

By: Lynn Price

Lynn Price — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:04:23 +0000

Long live the indies! Whenever I need a bookstore for a private event, I always call on an indie because they know more and have this lovely thing called “customer service,” something the box chains tend to forget.

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:01:02 +0000

As one of my reps reminded me earlier, someone was quoted in one of the papers at the weekend saying that she’d miss Borders because it was such a good place for her children to play with books while she had a coffee.

Not to buy books for her children note; she probably bought them on Amazon and probably never realised that the high level of damaged stock caused by her little darlings and other like them won’t have done the business any good.

By: Literary Citizen

Literary Citizen — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:42:59 +0000

It almost annoys me more when they try and pretend they’re not going straight to amazon. As in, you help them find the perfect title for their set of bizarre criteria, they express delight and incredulity that the book seems tailor made for them and how happy they are… And then hastily backtrack and say ‘Right, well I’ll just go away and think about it…thanks, er, yeah I’ll be back…’ as they scuttle off to try and find it cheaper.

By: Becky

Becky — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:29:14 +0000

Oh, I know there are some non-Amazon-related reasons to write stuff down. But not when they are headed “Amazon list”, for example. And obviously, people should do their shopping where they want to. But it just galls that these same people will gush about how great it is to have an indie with staff who know things, without joining the dots.

Vanessa had a customer classic the other day. Toddler: “Mummy, are we picking here then ordering online?”. Cue red-faced mum leaving…

Again, these are a minority of our customers; I’m not as crabby as I sound above! It’s just that when you have a few of these people in a row, Patience Wears Thin.