Kenobi wants me to read to him...no can do.

If there is one thing that I am very passionate about these days it’s customer service and my nook. Interestingly enough, this morning I experienced a combination of those two things that left a bad taste in my mouth. Allow me to precede this anecdote with this disclaimer: I tell this story not as a retaliation against Barnes and Noble, but as a warning to their current and future customers. I also write in hopes that a Barnes and Noble employee who cares about the company’s reputation and quality of service might read this and be a catalyst in the re-vamping of their customer service procedures.

Customer service is a big deal. Especially for women. A woman is likely to not buy a product or not shop with a certain company based on customer service experiences. Seeing as how women hold most of the (consumer) purchasing power in the world (As we learned from Bridget Brennan’s book Why She Buys), it’s in a company’s best interest to give this girl what she wants.

Remember how excited I was last week when I wrote this post and this post singing the praises of my new nook? Well this morning I woke up to find that my new nook was unresponsive. Not even 30 days old and the little guy is already defective– not off to a good start Barnes and Noble! I am a smart girl and rather than drive to the nearest Barnes and Noble, I did a little research and a little troubleshooting and then some more troubleshooting. I had no luck. Yet I refrained from driving to the nearest Barnes and Noble. I already knew due to a recent encounter with a store manager that you have a grand total of 14 days to return or exchange your Barnes and Noble products and that manufacturer’s warranties are not honored in the store. With that said, I called nook tech support.

While on the phone with tech support I heard the following nonsense

• You already returned this product (Oh really?)
• We’ll send you a new battery (After troubleshooting proved that the battery was not the problem!)
• Best Buy’s policies are different (After I asked why another company was more willing to stand behind the nook–Barnes and Noble’s own product!–than they are. Great defense of your policies, buddy.)

Three strikes.

I waited 18 minutes to speak with a supervisor. I explained to him why it couldn’t be the battery. (Side note: he was not friendly at all AND he had the audacity to treat me like I was some pesky child, rather than a customer who just spent $300 on their product.) Said supervisor agreed to send me a new nook– that’s right 28 days after purchase they have to mail me a new product rather than exchange it in store!  I put down my weapons (this is definitely a metaphor, as I was very patient and polite throughout this entire debacle) and agreed to follow their exchange procedure.

Unfortunately, it was not that easy. I mentioned earlier that according to Barnes and Noble’s records I had returned the product. (Hm…seems like their return/exchange people in the stores aren’t doing a very good job, if I returned my nook, but still have it here in my hands!) Fortunately for me, my years as a customer service rep came in handy and I recognized that the confusion was due to the fact that I had been given the difference in price, when the price of the nook came down and it had been keyed as a return. (You would think that with as much market share as a company like Barnes and Noble has, they would have a more efficient “system” and I wouldn’t be the one telling them why it was showing up as a return.) Because of this “price match” my exchange required some kind of authorization that cannot be completed for a day or two.

Decompression.

I understand that stores have return policies (though the average return policy, even for consumer electronics, is 30 days and the standard is set by big box retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy).

I understand that electronics are produced in bulk and it’s inevitable that they won’t all function as they are supposed to.

I don’t understand why a company would want to send me a battery, if the battery is clearly not the problem. (Even if it prolongs the exchange of the product–the exchange is inevitable, the prolongation only frustrates the customer.)

I don’t understand why a company with as much market share as Barnes and Noble would not invest in a better “system” (oh the infamous “system”!). It would increase the quality of their customer service ten fold.

I don’t understand why Barnes and Noble would not train their employees (and supervisors!) to be friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.

And maybe I’m a bit biased due to my 4-year career as a customer service rep, but if I had purchased it at Best Buy, I would have been able to exchange my nook for a brand new one on the 28th day (Even if it was working!)

I’m still singing the praises of the nook, but Barnes and Noble’s customer service leaves something to be desired. Unfortunately for Barnes and Noble, you can make as many great products as you’d like, but if you’re not willing or able to resolve a woman’s problem quickly, efficiently and with a great attitude, you may find that she is going to share her negative experience with 500 of her closest friends.