Barnes & Noble Reviews 

American Fork, UT. If you are NOT going to put a sign up indicating which way the line forms (according to the clerk "you don't want to"), then you can't expect people to know. I waited in line behind 3 others for my turn. Just as it was about my turn, they made my move to the other end cause "that's where the line forms". Then I just walked back to the other end right away for my turn. And the clerk and manager were rude and dismissive. If you won't be clear, you can't be rude and dismissive to customers who are trying to figure it out. The furniture arrangement is not enough.

Wanted to preorder a book only to find out they don't ship to the UK. Ridiculous.

UPDATED: The Customer service team got in touch with me and promptly removed the AI-generated books from their assortment. I can appreciate their swift resolution. Assumably, this will be a future issue for book stores in general and I hope that there will be more transparency and accountability on the publishers end.

ORIGINAL 1-star review: I recently ordered 2 books that had appeared in my suggestions. Once I received them, a few things seemed really odd about them and once I started reading and doing some research it became clear that they were AI generated with a FAKE author name. It was NOT transparent that these were AI generated, neither on the website, nor on the book itself.

A few things stood out to me that indicated they might be AI generated:
1. The books had both been just published in August 25 (same month as I had bought them)
2. They had no information about authors, but both had an author name
3. Under ''publisher', the author name was listed, but no other publisher was listed
4. I tried to find the authors on the web, but they clearly didn't exist.
5. As soon as I started reading, it became obvious to me. There were several inconsistencies that no real (human) author would have overlooked in a publication
6. The stories were as generic as can be.
7. The cover images looked like very generic AI generated images.
8. Lastly, after doing some research, the barcode number gave it away: 90000.

I am beyond disappointed and shocked that B&N sells AI generated books, but doesn't mark them as AI generated, and that there is no transparency whatsoever! Even worse, it seems like they are covering up by providing fake author names. I reached out to customer service and this was their response: "B&N has not made any announcement and we do not comment on rumors or speculation."
I have no words for how deceiving and dissappointing this is to me. I wanted to support B&N instead of purchasing from Amazon. I REALLY hope that B&N will be transparent going forward, or better: support HUMAN authors, HUMAN talent and creativity.

Ordered 2 CD's, email was sent to me that items shipped the following day by USPS. When I checked the tracking number it said package was not received yet from B&N. It is now 11 days later and I never received my order and no tracking is showing on USPS website. Had to call customer service to get a full refund. I will not do any more business with Barnes & Noble after this experience.

I had went into a store to buy an album that came out on 8/22. There wasn't anything out on the shelf so I asked an employee about it. In the past they have kept it behind a counter to keep them safe. The employee said they had it in the back and hadn't had a chance to put it out yet. So I'm assuming they would say they would go get me one....they didn't. They just said they could hold one for me once it got put out. I said I was from out of town and that wouldn't work and that was the end of the discussion. First off, I was annoyed that it was supposed to be out on the 22nd and it wasn't. But this had happened at Target but there, the employee went and got me the copies I wanted from the back....that is good customer service...what B & N did is NOT. Do better Barnes and Noble!!!

I have never had a positive experience with the Barnes and Noble app or website. Items are constantly mislabeled as in stock, orders arrive way later than anticipated and now their online pickup is broken. I ordered books for a local store pickup (which their website claims will be ready within 2 hours as long as the store will still be open in that timeframe) and a day later the app still says “finding item” so I went to the store and it wasn’t even in the stores system yet. Luckily the staff at the store were understanding and very kind (literally a night and day experience, store staff is always helpful) but it’s like this corporation just gave up on their website, like “we’ll never be as good as Amazon so why try”

Trash company trash everything waste of time I published a few times they took the book off sale hate them

Now they can't even deliver a CD within 3 weeks and will argue to the ends of the earth whether or not they owe me a refund! I never got my product and I had to pull teeth to get my money back.

Love this place so much great variety a little high priced but great place rewards system could be better though in my opinion

I'm not a Barnes & Noble customer but my mom sent me an audiobook as a gift from them. When I tried to access the book I was told I had to enter credit card information.

They stated that it is necessary due to copyright restrictions on the books. That makes no sense and I cannot see this as anything but a cheap trick to get your credit card information on file so they can pressure you into impulse purchases.

From what I understand, the gift is non-refundable. The website is also super buggy. I will never be shopping with Barnes & Noble after this and I will encourage any future gifts to be purchased somewhere else.

I ordered several fairly expensive books. One was badly damaged. After contacting Barnes & Noble, they responded quickly and offered to replace the book free of charge and by mail. I will always be a loyal customer of this store.

I purchased a 9" Nook as a birthday gift and paid for the extended warranty. When the gift was given, the recipient (my girlfriend) told me she actually preferred the Glowlight 4 so went to B&N store to swap them out. She also had no interest in the extended warranty. The swap went well as both items were the same price but any credit for the canceled warranty had to come from the B&N website.
The cancelation was successful, however the refund has been a nightmare. In fact, I never received it despite eventually speaking to a customer service manager named Amy who promised to get it handled.
They love to transfer calls from one department to the next. Retail, Digital, Customer Service on and on.
I'm happy to see that my 1-star review may potentially lower their 2.8 score because this organization is a scam and a fraud.

I ordered 7 books from Barnes and noble. The books were sent separately which is weird since it’s international delivery. Delivery date is overdue and the tracking status of all orders haven’t been updated in a while. I can’t even reach out to the delivery partner cos I don’t know which. Also, I reached to their customer service and their response was your package seems lost in transit and there’s nothing they can do about it. Just like that, they also said they can’t help contact the delivery partner. I need to know where my books are, this is not good at all and it’s frustrating

I ordered 3 books from B&N and had them sent to my airport hotel. I chose the standard delivery that said 3-6 days. It turns out all the books were out of stock and B&N had to delay the delivery for half a month. I will not be at that hotel or even at the same country by that time.

I emailed their customer service, they asked me for my order # and billing address and I immediately replied. No word from them at all after that and now I received a shipping confirmation saying my books are being sent to the hotel even if I told them I won't be there anymore.

I am a longtime customer of B&N and I want to support actual bookstores but I really can't shop with them after this. They can't list their books as out of stock, they can't be transparent with their delivery dates and their customer service is not helpful at all.

I purchased a signed copy of a hardback book online.

When the book was delivered, it was packaged only in a thin, lightly padded envelope. When I opened the package, I could clearly see that one corner had been crushed during transit - so much so that it exposed the brown cardboard between the book binding.

Feeling that this was unacceptable for a $40 book, I reached out to customer service, and chatted with “Ian”. Ian immediately offered a 20% refund if I would keep the damaged book, but I explained what I wanted was a new copy, with more responsible packaging. He replied that they did not have any, but I could travel to a local store to “pick out a fresh copy”. Since the closest store to me is over 40 minutes away, I asked that he pull that copy, and mail it to me. He then replied that there were no copies available(?) He did offer a return mailing label as my only option, and advised that I would get my refund when they got their book back. I am now left without a book that I was so looking forward to to adding to my collection, no money to purchase another copy - if I can find one (definitely somewhere else), and feeling most upset at the lack of concern or compassion on the part of “Ian” - he really demonstrated that he couldn’t care less.

If you are looking for a nice, signed copy of a book that you can proudly feature in your collection - look elsewhere… all you will get here is heartache.

Im not sure how to even explain this. First I ordered an ebook on Barnes and noble online. The order would not go through for unknown reasons. So I then bought it as a gift and sent to my other email address. I got an email with the gift message but when I clicked on it I was sent back to login and it seemed no matter what I did I couldn't log in. I changed my password several times ect.. finally for no good reason I got in and thought I had it. Then when I went to digital library it said I had to download an app! I was exasperated but figured hey I came this far so I did that too! When I got on the app and signed in the ebook was of course you guessed it not there. L9ng story short I spent another hour now 3hrs in total trying all I could to retrieve it. As of right now I spent a few dollars and a few hours and have nothing to show for it!

The failure to protect the children who frequent your stores from the cultural ideology of trans and LBGTQ by purposely displaying their literature ALL over the store is abhorrent. Worse than Target. Gender Queer is pornography and is displayed for and looked at by anyone walking by it's filthy cover.

I been a purchase for over 20yrs . I had the original nook and have purchased at least two after. I have the nook glow plus now. I received 3 gift cards for my children for Mother’s Day total of $90.00 . I know how to use the physical gift cards. I added the three cards. I saw them enter with pin. I went to check my balance after purchasing a book for $10.99. No balance on my nook showed. I called several times and they said no cards on the card. They were checking into my account. I happened to get rid off the cards after a few weeks after posting them. So I’m out of h the gifts.

physical card and added to my account.

arrived in good condition, and earlier than i expected!

Update: Barnes and Noble customer service contacted me, emailed me a coupon for 15% off and refunded the price of the DVD that had no digital copy included. I probably won't ever use the coupon but I appreciate the refund.

I used to shop at Barnes and Noble all the time when I lived in California for books and music mostly. I lived in Palm Springs and there was a B & N close by so we went often. I now live in another state and there is a Barnes and Noble close by, but after I retired and my income decreased, shopping for books and music CD's became a luxury I could no longer afford. (Plus I can download MP3's from Amazon in seconds.) I recently got a $25 gift card for the store, and was kinda stoked that they sold DVDs and Blu-rays. I ordered 7 movies - all DVDs - and 3 of the 4 of them are HORRIBLE copies that are fuzzy and blurry and the sound doesn't quite match up to the lips. I read online that Barnes and Noble is considered reputable and they would not sell Chinese bootleg movies, but I don't believe that now. Also, I ordered a DVD that stated on the website that a digital copy was included. The email confirmation and the shipping confirmation also stated that particular DVD had a digital copy. I emailed B & N and told them I did not get a digital copy code with the movie, and the first customer service person issued a re-order for the same movie, but before I could email back to say WTF? another customer service rep emailed me to say there was no digital copy because the movie was too old and that they cancelled the order recently issued by the rep. I was also told that a "coupon" would be emailed to me for a future purchase - but of course, I never received any coupon. I don't care about the latter because I'm sure any coupon would require me to spend MORE money to use it. I kinda think Barnes and Noble sucks now. This was my only online experience with them and it sucked.