No Harry Potter Magic for Borders

Your friend could have hung out with you, and then gone to the 24-hour
supermarket with you. Ours had Harry Potter the day it came out.

(WE pre-ordered via Costco back in February - not for the rush, but
because they offered the best price. We slept soundly, had coffee and
fresh fruit at home and, a few hours later, our copy was delivered by
the mailman to our door. You think Barnes & Noble won, but I'd say we
did ...)

Because the store couldn't accomodate your friend because of the late
date, and her lack of foresight you brought your business elsewhere?
What did they do to you specifically?

This letter is more a tantrum than anything constructive.

I used to work at a bookstore...way back when the first Harry Potter
book came out.We were only given so many copies for pre-order and
couldn't get anymore after the deadline,so all we had were the copis
sent to us by the publisher...we had to have 500 copies overnighted
the day after the book came out.It was pretty amazing and the book
sold like hotcakes.
Igot my copy of the Deathly Hallows at Wal Mart saturday morning,they
had hundreds of copies and more on the way.I read it this weekend and
adored it.I am just sorry this wonderful series had to end.

I was number 4 in line for my book at 12:01 this morning. Had a great
time!

I posted some of my pics on ShopperCast.... come take a look!

I just got home from B&N and they had PLENTY of books. I haven't read
any of the "old" books but am planning on ordering some off amazon.com
lol

Just got back from our midnight party (yes, a little early). My book
is being shipped. It was fun. Face painting, ring toss, the ball and
cup game... some other things. The kids had fun earning little prizes
and what not. :) Can't wait for my book to arrive.

who will be celebrating the release in the middle of the night -- have
a great time tonight.

I will be asleep. :) It is probably a very good thing I don't have
kids.

You did pay for the book you pre-ordered, right? Or at least had the
courtesy to call and cancel your pre-order?

You reserved a copy knowing that there might not be a party. There
was, so you thought Borders should change their rules just for you and
allow your guest to also get a book -- in front of others who also did
not reserve their copy in advance.

Those additional 500 copies that you were told about were for the
people, like the person you invited, who did not pre-order their
books. You want special privileges, sorry, but congratulation to
Borders, they won't let you "cut in line" ahead of others who planned
ahead and reserved their books.

I applaud you for what you did....I also can see where Borders is
coming from in stopping to take the pre-orders. As I work for a book
distributor, the publisher probably printed only so many books so as
to have enough on the shelves after the initial parties and so on.
B&N was able to accommodate you possibly because they got more books
for presale or perhaps there is not as big of a hype at that
particular store as there is at Borders.

Oh yeah, might I add that in the weekly Borders Rewards email I get
theres a huge coupon for the book?

Anyway have fun on Friday night/Saturday morning as I am sure the
millions of others will!

As far as the woman not telling you about the additional copies, maybe
she didn't know that at the moment.

I have no idea what these books are about but I think it's great when
they come out and you see so many kids and teenagers buying them and
devouring them. It's great to see kids reading.

Personally, I couldn't read books that thick myself! :)

You wrote a very good complaint letter that doesn't sound like one.
It's actually pleasant!

j/k

I do not follow Harry Potter and have never read one word of the books
or watched one second of the movies....

Can we still be friends??

LOL

Do you know how many people want that stupid book? I'm fairly certain
it's at least 96% of the entire world's population. Also, if you don't
get the book, just ask me and I can give you the spoilers that I found
out yesterday :)

Per your suggestion... I pre-ordered my copy via Barnes and Noble.

OH! And B&N is having their summer clearance. I also picked up a
bunch of cheap books for the family.

Thank you Deb!

My hubby has four cases of Harry Potter books on his truck as we
speak, waiting to be delivered to all you HarryPotterites *grin*
:P

I think this a a great letter. Good, Bad, or Indiffernt, this entire
story line had taken a quantum leap in making "reading" popular.

I think this letter was meant to show how one company's decision may
cost them customers. I've been a loyal customer of both stores equally
over the years and have found Barnes and Nobel to be much more
customer friendly than Boarders.

I don't understand why people don't see that, by losing ONE order,
they are helping the competition gain TWO plus the extra profits
they'd have made with the cafe purchases. She really isn't asking for
much.

Buy an extra copy at Barnes and Noble, and donate it to your local
library/school media center.

Because not every kid out there can afford the $25 cost of the book,
or have parents willing to stand in line for hours to get them one.

BORDERS STINKS!!

But Deb, I thought you read only Harlequin romance novels. What's
with this new development?

;)

If reading really was fundamental, why do they make TV so easy to
watch?

Well you could avoid having to visit either store since some idiot
librarian made a copy available for someone to photograph, scan, and
distribute all over the internet!

The entire book - yes, I mean the entire book. Photographed and
available for download all over the place five days before release and
not one word from Scholastic or Bloomsbury about this colossal
security leak.

Apparently, they decided that librarians could open their shipments
early to "catalogue" the books.

In fact, you might wish to skip the party - I know I am considering
it. I am supposed to take my daughter and her best friend, but you
just know that there will be several people more than happy to shout
out plot twists, character deaths, and revelations all night long.

The whole thing is a disaster.

UPS asked their employees to volunteer to work on Saturday to deliver
the preordered Harry Potter books LOL.

LadyMac, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm pretty sure Border's
is just gonna shrug this off and go about their way without loosing a
wink of sleep over it.

Among other things, I don't see another publishing event like Harry
Potter coming along any time soon. There are hundreds of reserves for
HP per store, while even the most eagerly awaited release of other
books gets maybe a dozen reserves. For ordering purposes, the store
will set a cut off date and in normal times, a week in advance is
plenty. Of course, Harry Potter is not a normal event.

From some of the things I've read, most booksellers will be thrilled
when the whole thing is over with. The security alone surrounding the
seventh book is unreal. Not to mention that most booksellers actually
loose money on the books, since they discount them so heavily to stay
competitive.

Mostly, though, I think they will shrug off your letter because you
have made it obvious you are going elsewheres. More power to you for
making your opinion known by spending somewhere else, but the letter
kinda has an overtone of, um, well, cutting off your nose to spite
your face. The BN is further away and you don't like it as well, but
you will still be going out of your way since Borders can't or won't
accomadate your friend.

:) Though I really shouldn't be saying that because I'm doing the
exact same thing. I hate the local bookstore with a passion, so
instead of driving 10 miles into town to get the book at midnight, I'm
going 60 miles to Fort Worth to get it. Should be entertaining, since
it will be well after midnight, I'm taking a shortcut home down a
little twisty farm-to-market road and I'm going to be just a little
bit psyched. Is 'I have the 7th book!' a good excuse for why I'm
speeding?

They may just ignore my letter. And that's fine with me. My whole
purpose in writing is to let Borders know that their inflexible policy
cost them a customer, which is my perogative as a consumer. I didn't
ask for anything; I didn't swear; I didn't threaten to tell 812 people
not to shop there anymore. I just gave them my rationale.

The BN is further away and it's not my favorite store, but I went to
it for the last Harry Potter party (because the Borders wasn't yet
open) and I know they'll do job at it. My son had a great time.

Pssst.... are you going in early on Friday to get your wrist band?
And will you be drinking butterbeer while reading? LOL. I will.

I think it's great that Barnes & Noble were able to accomodate you and
didn't dangle a "maybe" like Borders did.

Glad it all worked out for you :)

Another case of I want something other customers don't get and I'll
make them pay.
They only get so many to reserve. They reserved that amount.You and
many others I'm sure wanted to dip into the 500 they allocated to sell
outright. So if they let everyone do that they would not have any for
sale that night.
So now we have another case of "I didn't get my way" so I will spend
my money somewhere else. That is more than "feedback".

It appears you are standing on principle here, something I always
applaud. You chose to go with a retailer who promised to meet your
expectations, rather than one who said they may be able to help you
out.

Nothing wrong with that at all. You are not asking for anything,
simply informing a merchant as to why you are taking your business
elsewhere. As a former business owner, I very much appreciate when
people say, "I am going elsewhere because...." I may not be
able/willing to change my stance, but at least I have concrete info on
how my choices are impacting my customers.

So you wanted the person to break their rules and possibly lose their
job just for you? It doesn't matter that they ordered 500 extra
copies. Rules are rules.

This is a very good letter. Based on your story, I can totally see
why you would take your business elsewhere. Why wouldn't you, when
Barnes and Noble has met your needs more effectively than Borders?

You have written a very clear and factual letter, and I hope you, your
friends, and your son really enjoy your midnight magic! I know I
will!

Wow. I guess borders should bend over backwards to accommodate you.
It's not like they have HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of other people with
pre-ordered books to go around the world. People like you are sad.

You should buy your book from a local book seller not a corporate
chain.

Personally, when I get the book, I want to just take it and read it
alone. I don't want to discuss it afterwards, I just want to sit and
think about a childhood entirely defined by these books and how I knew
my childhood was gone when the books stopped being interesting to me,
and just hold the book in my hands, and hopefully say "Harry Potter is
dead. He was killed and he's not coming back because J.K. Rowling
cares more for her characters than she does for money."

I'm a depressing nerd, though, so that's just me.

Haha! You're a nerd too, just like me!

One of us! One of us! One of us!

Maybe it's just me, but I see this as a bit petty.
I mean, your friend is almost guaranteed a copy of the book what with
500 extra copies available.
If you're attending this function for the added festivities as you
say, waiting for that extra book shouldn't be such a big deal.

Am I the only one who thinks the OP's reaction is a bit much?