Barnes & Noble Reviews 1,908

ordered a book online, never recieved it, contacted customer service and I got no refund or anything. its terrible!

My daughter ordered an ebook for college and was unable to see her order on her order status page, nor was she able to see the ebook on her purchased ebook page due to an system update. When she called, she was told there was a system update happening and the rep stated did not know when she would have access. In addition, when asked to get a refund was told that the rep was unable to do so because of the system update. However, I requested to speak to a supervisor who was able to provide a refund. Highly dissapointed! The website should have indicated that there was a system update and my daughter should have been able to get a refund as soon as she requested one as she needed the book immediately for school. This is not like Barnes and Noble so we are very dissapointed. Please consider letting customers know when there is an update. Students need their books when they need them.

They never have the books I want. Even if they do, they run out of it and don't even restock. They are the WORST!!!

BUYER BEWARE.. Several years ago I used my credit card to purchase gift cards for my younger neighbors. Just recently (March 2025), while going over my credit card statement I found that Barnes and Nobles had charged over $25.00 for a membership renewal. I haven't been a member for over 10 years. I called my local B&N store and discovered they've been charging me for several years because I originally paid for that membership with my credit card. According to the manager, if I pay with a credit card, the membership is automatically renewed. I want my freaking money back, you common thieves. I NEVER authorized you to renew this membership. BUYER BEWARE

TERRIBLE Online
they sold me OUT OF STOCK ITEMS. They also sent a game that was OPEN. it was missing parts. wouldn't refund me. told me I had to send it back for a refund. I wanted the game so I didn't. they SUCK SO BAD. WORST EXPERIENCE ONLINE SHOPPING EVER!!!

A very unpleasant experience I had at B&N Palisades Mall today. When I approached a “Customer Service” person to ask a question about a book, and before I could say anything, his words were “WHAT DO YOU WANT! In a very harsh way. I decided not to ask this person any questions and left the store. One less book B&N sold because I bought it from Amazon.

Everything about this company when buying online sucks. First the ereader app. On Android every click takes 4 seconds, it's glitchy and slow. It is impossible to select more than one word of text at a time. So there is no way to make bookmarks on text that you are reading.

You can't use the brave browser to check on your account or even login, have to use Chrome.

Ebooks that I have purchased not showing up requiring a call to get help and 15 minutes later the book shows up.

I am highly incentivized to purchase ebooks anywhere but Amazon but buying from Barnes & Noble is like going to the dentist. I would estimate half of their business is from people who are just using them to get away from Amazon but who will disappear the minute there is a third viable option for buying ebooks because everything about the experience with Barnes & Noble is third rate.

EDIT: After a few more back and forth I was able to get someone that provided me an itemized bill and was able to receive finally the package.

ORIGINAL POST: I'm ordering from Barnes & Noble for a while now, domestic shipping and international one. I am also a premium member.

Recently I am disappointed by the way a request was handled on my international order.
It was a partial shipping and it seems the custom declaration was done incorrectly.

I requested for 2 weeks to have an invoice or an email that will state the tracking number (CY something) with the list of the item and the price, and the fees for international shipping, and confirmation they only charged me $82.06.

Chat sent me an email that is useless. I ended up having to call twice international number and they said I will get an itemized doc with 72 business hours. It's been over the timeframe and nothing.

My package is stuck in custom with the risk to be returned to sender...

I had partial order shipped previously and there was no issue, but here, I don't know, and no one is helpful at their service ... really disappointing and making me reconsider to renew my membership.

Reply to Barnes & Noble: I received an email from trustpilot saying that you requested more information and I supplied that information. There are no other emails from Barnes & nobles or anywhere else addressing this issue.
I did speak to a customer service agent today and he is replacing the order as lost and said it should be here by March 4th along with my second order which has been sitting for 5 days with no updated tracking. This is not a me issue, this is a Mail Innovations & Barnes & Noble issue. issue

Update 02/26/2025: Sent requested info to B & N and have heard nothing back. Still no books and the tracking still shows in Ohio with another updated delivery of today. Just like it has every day since it arrived; it has now been 13 days.
********
I want to express my disappointment with online ordering thru Barnes & Noble. I am a premium member and get free shipping. Which said 3 to 6 days - but they have used Mail Innovations for both of my orders (over $250 total) and they are now stuck in Rossford, OH they have been for over 10 days. B&N - stop using this service! It is literally cheaper to ship it UPS ground and it would have been here in 4 days. I came back after leaving Amazon, I will not be placing anymore orders until they are shipped using a different method.

The online site is a nightmare! It is antiquated, at best. Tried ordering through the phone, which took forever. Barnes and Noble lost $70.00 worth of products because i got so frustrated that I gave up on the order.
I have done my research and found the same items on other sites, without all the hassle. The problems make the Barnes and Noble membership virtually useless.

terrible and way to confusing to use for college online book access. My university changed how to access your textbook through barnes and noble. It is impossible to login and find my purchase terrible 0/10.

Terrible shipping times ordered on Jan 1 and didn't ship until Jan 8 for a one item order. Called to cancel on Jan 5 and said it was canceled but still put in shipment notification on Jan 7. Called today after its been shipped to ask why it wasn't canceled and they said it was too late. Now I have to return it to the store. First and last time ordering from B&N.

I was elated to see BN bought out by Waterstones in Great Britain. Finally, I thought the good British Authors will be available. Not so. The stores have been stripped of hardback books except for limited copies of recently published, and only the bestsellers among them. Basically, it’s a paperback store now with school titles and smut heavy, romance novels. The online is worse. I used a gift certificate I received at Christmas as they were having an online sale only.
I ordered 19 books. I’m a Premium Member and shipping is free, but I think I’d rather pay. First, between Dec 26th, and today, Jan 5th, I’ve received 36 emails and I’m still waiting for one book. I usually go through the store and order, but as I said online sale only.
Customer service is hit or miss according to what store you go to. They ditched the music and videos. But they are still packed to the rafters, with overpriced toys of which I have 0 need. I’m still buying British authors off of Amazon, So excited, and so disappointed, the only changes have been for the worse.

First time ordering from Barnes & Noble as I received a gift card for Christmas. I was disappointed when I received one of the items, a Ree Drummond cookbook, the cover in one corner was damaged as was all the pages inside in the same place. I paid full price for this book (could have gotten it for a fraction of the price from Amazon BTW). Is this what you do to online customers? Ship damaged books to them? This will be my first and last order. Shame on you.

For clarification:

I am not a typical American-

I do not believe that obscene wealth immunizes you from poor decision-making that leads to bad behavior (Hi Dad!).

I tip service people very generously, bring them gifts, offer them free legal advice (no joke), the list goes on.

But I call out heinous service when I experience it as well.

The B&N in Exton, PA's customer service is *so* gut-wrenching that I stopped going and now check my books out of the LIBRARY instead.

The best service you get there is at their quasi-Starbucks: the women and man who work there treat you like *you* owe *them;* they tell each other private jokes as they ring you up (you are inconveniencing them, don't forget), they demonstrate their anger if you don't tip them for a $7 coffee....

Most heinous to experience here is the employee Rashaan. If he rings you up for books you are paying your hard-earned $ for, he lets you know that he has rage that you are in his line. He doesn't ask "are you a B&N member?" (I am.) He doesn't give you Member discounts. He doesn't speak--just gives you a rage-filled cold, silent stare. Forget "hello" or "thank you."

What's more, he stands, on his break, in the afore-mentioned Starbucks area, screaming complaints about customers. He swears during these episodes as well. I've heard him yelling about "She was so f'n dumb! She asked me where the readers were. They were right f'n there in front of her!" I was so upset, I left, but watched him complain animatedly for an entire 20 minutes.

That's your dedication to customer service, B&N. Never will you get my money again.

Toodles.

I sent an email and got my answer same day, amazing.

Don't have new releases sent to you. They will be out of print by the time they arrive.

Won't ever use BN again.
My friend gave me a gift card. I don't travel out of town often, so I used their site to purchase a game for my grandchild as a gift. After several delays, it finally arrived 2 weeks later than expected, and the game is damaged (but the outside box is not). I can send it back, by paying postage which is not refundable, and wait 60 days to get a refund on my gift card. No thanks. She'll have outgrown the game by the time I can order and wait for it again.
Won't ever use BN again.

You only get a true feel for a company when you see how they react to a problem. B&N get a 10/10 on this front. Some items in my order were damaged, within minutes of contacting them they'd apologised profusely, offered me three options for a solution and sent me the requested refund. I've knocked off 1 star for it being damaged in the first place but otherwise couldn't ask for more.

B&N made a mistake by delivering the wrong item. I contacted them via email, and they agreed to refund me (I can also keep the incorrect item since I had the package delivered to France). However, it has been two weeks, and there’s still no sign of my refund in my PayPal account. I opened a PayPal case, but the seller isn't responding to keep my money. This is my first and last order on this website. These people are dishonest. They promise a refund but know very well that they will do nothing despite my numerous follow-ups and those from PayPal's customer service.