Comments on: Barnes and Noble still doesn’t get it… http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/ Morningstar's guide to what's hiding in SEC filings Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:24:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Irene http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-4373 Irene Fri, 04 Jan 2008 03:53:06 +0000 http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/#comment-4373 I, too, work for B&N. The employee who started all this ruckus was probably spelling the name Schulz with a "t" in it: Schultz. Our computers will do phonetic spelling searches for authors but not in the keyword search. There has never been a corporate explanation as to why we don't have broader internet access at our search terminals, but, yeah, it's probably because the employees would waste a lot of time. Being around 200,000 books is distracting enough. I think J has had a rough holiday season, but his, and Mary's, point that we are consistently asked to read minds and pull book titles out of thin air for people who give us information like, "It's blue," or "It was written by a woman," is valid. And if you think better technology is the answer, search Google or Amazon using either of those descriptions and see what you get. Or try looking up what one customer insisted was called "My Cough" (Mein Kampf). B&N is testing/troubleshooting the self-service kiosks, which should roll out to all stores "eventually." If a book has been marked down in one store and not another, it's probably damaged in some way. Otherwise we all get the same memos to clear out the same over-ordered books. Finally: katy s.: "Does BN structure show professional care for its employees and develop their understanding of the knowledge/ reading entertainment retail industry . . .?" Contrary to popular indie belief and awww-Meg-Ryan-is-sooo-cute movies, most bookstore chain employees work in their respective stores because they love--passionately-- books. That doesn't mean they may have read anything you'd be interested in: I like history, biography, religion, and cultural studies, but you really couldn't pay me to read most of Oprah's recommendations, so I might not know much about some book you think is the end-all of books. We read book reviews and all that but not everybody is going to pick up on every title. That said, the men at the very top, Len and Steve Riggio, and the people at the bottom (like me) are dedicated to our industry; the people in the middle (DMs, RMs, etc.) are retail people who call what we sell "product" and probably don't know enough about it to develop anybody's understanding. I cannot begin to imagine what "maximally insectified humans" might be. I, too, work for B&N.
The employee who started all this ruckus was probably spelling the name Schulz with a “t” in it: Schultz. Our computers will do phonetic spelling searches for authors but not in the keyword search. There has never been a corporate explanation as to why we don’t have broader internet access at our search terminals, but, yeah, it’s probably because the employees would waste a lot of time. Being around 200,000 books is distracting enough.
I think J has had a rough holiday season, but his, and Mary’s, point that we are consistently asked to read minds and pull book titles out of thin air for people who give us information like, “It’s blue,” or “It was written by a woman,” is valid. And if you think better technology is the answer, search Google or Amazon using either of those descriptions and see what you get. Or try looking up what one customer insisted was called “My Cough” (Mein Kampf).
B&N is testing/troubleshooting the self-service kiosks, which should roll out to all stores “eventually.”
If a book has been marked down in one store and not another, it’s probably damaged in some way. Otherwise we all get the same memos to clear out the same over-ordered books.
Finally: katy s.: “Does BN structure show professional care for its employees and develop their understanding of the knowledge/ reading entertainment retail industry . . .?”
Contrary to popular indie belief and awww-Meg-Ryan-is-sooo-cute movies, most bookstore chain employees work in their respective stores because they love–passionately– books. That doesn’t mean they may have read anything you’d be interested in: I like history, biography, religion, and cultural studies, but you really couldn’t pay me to read most of Oprah’s recommendations, so I might not know much about some book you think is the end-all of books. We read book reviews and all that but not everybody is going to pick up on every title. That said, the men at the very top, Len and Steve Riggio, and the people at the bottom (like me) are dedicated to our industry; the people in the middle (DMs, RMs, etc.) are retail people who call what we sell “product” and probably don’t know enough about it to develop anybody’s understanding.
I cannot begin to imagine what “maximally insectified humans” might be.

]]> By: katy s. http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-4357 katy s. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:44:47 +0000 http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/#comment-4357 Hello again, Okay J from BN, the book 'Destructive Emotions' by Daniel Goleman is an excellent read or Audiobook. We all go nuts during peak traffic and this is a book of helpful neuro-science in layman's terms to help us not kill off our own brain cells and calm abiding with rage and cortesol floods. Plus, we've all been a jerk at some time, so these "minuscule intellectual" clients are ourselves just at a different time. Now, more to the point, no I am not plugging Amazon: I have no shares and as a seller of about 1800 books on their site, I hardly expect my sales to surge as a result of posting here. Factually, I am just tipping you all to their excellent service. I continue to work with Biblio because they treat indy booksellers very fairly per commissions, but AMZN is great across the board (although ABE, Alibris, AntiqBook, and our excellent friends at Antipodean (class of their own), can be more efficient for finding specific editions of hard-to-find books and maps) I order books for our customers via AMZN Prime Service and I have that book within two days in mint condition. The AMZN rating system is quite accurate and so I can order from other indy sellers with a great sense of confidence based on their volume and their ratings. Questions for the BNrs: Does BN structure show professional care for its employees and develop their understanding of the knowledge/ reading entertainment retail industry or is BN like Wal-mart just moving objects through maximally insectified humans? katy Hello again,

Okay J from BN, the book ‘Destructive Emotions’ by Daniel Goleman is an excellent read or Audiobook. We all go nuts during peak traffic and this is a book of helpful neuro-science in layman’s terms to help us not kill off our own brain cells and calm abiding with rage and cortesol floods. Plus, we’ve all been a jerk at some time, so these “minuscule intellectual” clients are ourselves just at a different time.

Now, more to the point, no I am not plugging Amazon: I have no shares and as a seller of about 1800 books on their site, I hardly expect my sales to surge as a result of posting here.

Factually, I am just tipping you all to their excellent service. I continue to work with Biblio because they treat indy booksellers very fairly per commissions, but AMZN is great across the board (although ABE, Alibris, AntiqBook, and our excellent friends at Antipodean (class of their own), can be more efficient for finding specific editions of hard-to-find books and maps) I order books for our customers via AMZN Prime Service and I have that book within two days in mint condition.

The AMZN rating system is quite accurate and so I can order from other indy sellers with a great sense of confidence based on their volume and their ratings.

Questions for the BNrs: Does BN structure show professional care for its employees and develop their understanding of the knowledge/ reading entertainment retail industry or is BN like Wal-mart just moving objects through maximally insectified humans?

katy

]]> By: Michelle Leder http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-4350 Michelle Leder Mon, 31 Dec 2007 17:17:55 +0000 http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/#comment-4350 Wow, someone seems like they've had to deal with one too many surly customers during the holiday season. I've taken the liberty of editing the expletive and can only hope that this anger doesn't carry over to whatever customers are unfortunate enough to ask you a question at your kiosk. My point remains the same: expecting me to go home, look up the book online, and then drive back to the store is unrealistic, when I could simply go home and order it online, which is exactly what I did. Most of us live over-scheduled lives and anything that allows us to cut out a step and save some time is a good thing. Furthermore, stores (or their personnel) who insult customers because they're convinced they're intellectually superior or those that are unwilling to invest in technology to make their customer's experience easier will be the losers in this game. Wow, someone seems like they’ve had to deal with one too many surly customers during the holiday season. I’ve taken the liberty of editing the expletive and can only hope that this anger doesn’t carry over to whatever customers are unfortunate enough to ask you a question at your kiosk.

My point remains the same: expecting me to go home, look up the book online, and then drive back to the store is unrealistic, when I could simply go home and order it online, which is exactly what I did. Most of us live over-scheduled lives and anything that allows us to cut out a step and save some time is a good thing. Furthermore, stores (or their personnel) who insult customers because they’re convinced they’re intellectually superior or those that are unwilling to invest in technology to make their customer’s experience easier will be the losers in this game.

]]> By: J http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-4345 J Mon, 31 Dec 2007 06:12:30 +0000 http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/#comment-4345 As a Barnes & Noble employee, I can give some insight on this. The only website we have access to on our computers is our own BN.com. And although I agree we should have more access to sites like google or the NY times, we do have access to all the bestseller lists, certain TV shows and other lists that show the most popular books that week. Also, We deal with customers every day asking us for books when they have no information on the title or the author and theres only so much we can do with vague information about any random subject. Instead of complaining about it, maybe you should remember the book you're looking for and not expect us to read your mind. I had a customer yesterday who was looking for a book and the only information she had was that the book was a mystery and had a rope on the cover... and the authors name may have been Linda something. Why don't you stop being a selfish prick and take a look around the store yourself. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A BIOGRAPHY ON CHARLES SCHULZ TRY LOOKING IN BIOGRAPHY UNDER "S". Either go f--k yourself or go to Borders where you can deal with people on your own minuscule intellectual level. As a Barnes & Noble employee, I can give some insight on this. The only website we have access to on our computers is our own BN.com. And although I agree we should have more access to sites like google or the NY times, we do have access to all the bestseller lists, certain TV shows and other lists that show the most popular books that week.

Also, We deal with customers every day asking us for books when they have no information on the title or the author and theres only so much we can do with vague information about any random subject. Instead of complaining about it, maybe you should remember the book you’re looking for and not expect us to read your mind. I had a customer yesterday who was looking for a book and the only information she had was that the book was a mystery and had a rope on the cover… and the authors name may have been Linda something. Why don’t you stop being a selfish prick and take a look around the store yourself. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A BIOGRAPHY ON CHARLES SCHULZ TRY LOOKING IN BIOGRAPHY UNDER “S”.

Either go f–k yourself or go to Borders where you can deal with people on your own minuscule intellectual level.

]]> By: BN Tex http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3959 BN Tex Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:16:53 +0000 http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/#comment-3959 As an employee, yes, we are in the dark ages when it comes to internet access, however... I can honestly say that as an employee it's difficult to keep tabs on all the titles. I can check books that have RECENTLY been on some TV shows, etc (Oprah, Today Show, etc)... but we can't please everyone. However, I have heard rumours of BN putting in a kiosk for customers to look up their own books. Man that'll be nice... As an employee, yes, we are in the dark ages when it comes to internet access, however… I can honestly say that as an employee it’s difficult to keep tabs on all the titles. I can check books that have RECENTLY been on some TV shows, etc (Oprah, Today Show, etc)… but we can’t please everyone.

However, I have heard rumours of BN putting in a kiosk for customers to look up their own books. Man that’ll be nice…

]]> By: Kim Calder http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3867 Kim Calder Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:42:51 +0000 http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/#comment-3867 As a BN employee my initial reaction was the same as "mary". (I am sure you can understand how frustrating it can be to find a needle in a haystack...thousands of times per day....because customers can't be bothered to bring in a title or author). However, the title you mentioned should have been rather easy to find with a simple keyword search. I guess we do struggle in our large bookstores to keep everyone informed, a result of our vast selection of titles. The customers benefit because we will likely be "in stock"....we just need them to take on the responsibility of knowing exactly what they need. As your comments illustrated, many customers don't "get it" either. I just wanted to share another perspective. As a BN employee my initial reaction was the same as “mary”. (I am sure you can understand how frustrating it can be to find a needle in a haystack…thousands of times per day….because customers can’t be bothered to bring in a title or author). However, the title you mentioned should have been rather easy to find with a simple keyword search. I guess we do struggle in our large bookstores to keep everyone informed, a result of our vast selection of titles. The customers benefit because we will likely be “in stock”….we just need them to take on the responsibility of knowing exactly what they need. As your comments illustrated, many customers don’t “get it” either. I just wanted to share another perspective.

]]> By: Michelle Leder http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3812 Michelle Leder Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:33:29 +0000 http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/#comment-3812 My point was that this wasn't some obscure book, but a major new title that had been featured just the day before on the front of the NY Times Book Review. The person at the kiosk should have had a way to access that information. And if B&N is worried about employees wasting time online, they can limit access to a defined set of sites. But telling me to go home, look it up online and then drive back to the store to placed my order seemed pretty unreasonable and I doubt that anyone would be willing to do that. My point was that this wasn’t some obscure book, but a major new title that had been featured just the day before on the front of the NY Times Book Review. The person at the kiosk should have had a way to access that information. And if B&N is worried about employees wasting time online, they can limit access to a defined set of sites. But telling me to go home, look it up online and then drive back to the store to placed my order seemed pretty unreasonable and I doubt that anyone would be willing to do that.

]]> By: mary http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3809 mary Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:46:51 +0000 http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/#comment-3809 Ok, B&N should have internet access for its employees. But as an employee who has worked at the help desk - we are not miracle workers! You don't know the title, you don't know the author - and then are upset when we can't find the book???? Give me a break. Ok, B&N should have internet access for its employees. But as an employee who has worked at the help desk – we are not miracle workers! You don’t know the title, you don’t know the author – and then are upset when we can’t find the book???? Give me a break.

]]> By: Michelle Leder http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3715 Michelle Leder Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:27:24 +0000 http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/#comment-3715 Nope -- not viral marketing. Just a simple statement of facts. Footnoted.org has never been part of that pay-for-post BS that some bloggers and a growing number of companies engage in. If I mention something on the site, it's based on something in a filing, or, in a few rare instances, a personal experience. But thanks for the question -- it reminds me that I may need to make this clearer to new readers. Nope — not viral marketing. Just a simple statement of facts. Footnoted.org has never been part of that pay-for-post BS that some bloggers and a growing number of companies engage in. If I mention something on the site, it’s based on something in a filing, or, in a few rare instances, a personal experience. But thanks for the question — it reminds me that I may need to make this clearer to new readers.

]]> By: Wen Maeda http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3711 Wen Maeda Fri, 02 Nov 2007 02:19:58 +0000 http://www.footnoted.com/odds-and-ends/barnes-and-noble-still-doesnt-get-it/#comment-3711 I take it that this is a bit of viral marketing on behalf of Amazon I take it that this is a bit of viral marketing on behalf of Amazon

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