Thursday, March 3, 2011

Barnes and Noble Customer Support: FAIL

I recently purchased the Groupon offering $20 worth of product from Barnes and Noble, for only $10. When I went to redeem it, I followed the instructions to redeem it at the NookStore, and went to a web page that had a link for me to activate my "gift card". That link was broken. So, I sent the following email to the company, thinking that they would be interested to know a crucial link was broken on their website. I then called customer service, had someone from India (I presume, with the account and the digitized voice (VoIP). Once he found out that I had a question about the Groupon, he immediately wanted to send me to the "Groupon" department. I halted him and told him to go to the website and click on the link in question, to see if it worked for him. It didn't. But, he showed me a back door way to apply my gift card. Then, everything worked by then. He gave me the number to call the Groupon Department, and it happened to be Groupon itself!! Excuse me, how could Groupon help me with a broken link on Barnes and Noble's website?

So the response I just received today from them is below. They don't address my concerns, only go into a cookie cutter answer on how to use a gift card. BIG FAIL for their customer service!

> Original Message Follows:
> ------------------------
>
My Message to them:
>
> This URL doesn't allow me to click to
> http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ebooksgiftcard/index.asp to manage gift
> cards link. it gives me a 404 error message:
> Server Error in '/' Application.
> The resource cannot be found.
> Description: HTTP 404. The resource you are looking for (or one of its
> dependencies) could have been removed, had its name changed, or is
> temporarily unavailable. Please review the following URL and make sure
> that it is spelled correctly.
>
> Requested URL: /account/request.aspx
>
>
> PLEASE HELP. I got the Groupon $20 certificate and want to buy some
> ebooks.
>

>
THEIR RESPONSE:::
>
>
> Thank you for writing to us about using Barnes & Noble Gift Cards to
> purchase NOOkbooks.
>
> At this time, the maximum number of gift cards that can be applied to an
> online NOOKbook purchase is three.
>
> To make your gift cards available for your future NOOKbook purchases,
> please sign on to your Account and click on the link titled Manage Gift
> Cards for NOOKbooks. You can store up to three gift cards in this
> section and they will be automatically applied to your NOOKbook
> purchase. If you do not currently have a Barnes & Noble Account, please
> visit our website and create one.
>
> Also, you will still need a default credit card for NOOKbook purchases.
> All publishers require that the eBooks they submit, including free
> eBooks, are encrypted for each customer. Currently, the ?unlock? device
> is the billing name and credit card number of the primary credit card on
> your Barnes & Noble account. However, your credit card will not be
> charged if there are sufficient funds on your gift card(s) to cover the
> order total.
>
> Please retain any gift card you have stored on your account if you wish
> to use it for non-NOOKbook purchases.
>
> We at Barnes & Noble want to say thanks for your suggestions and
> enthusiasm. We were able to accelerate this change due to your feedback.
>
>
>
>
> Visit www.bn.com and click on the options that appear in the upper
> right-hand corner to view information about your order.
>
> We look forward to your next visit.
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Felicia
>
> Customer Service Representative
> Barnes & Noble
> http://www.bn.com/
>
>
>
>
>

Posted via email from rhauptman's posterous

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