According to a post on Park Slope Parents, a customer service supervisor at Barnes and Noble told the woman who was kicked out of the store because her son was making a ruckus that the store manager’s actions were justified.
What ever happened to “the customer is always right?”
The woman who was kicked out of the store posted about it on Park Slope Parents. She then received an email ostensibly from someone at Barnes and Noble suggesting that she speak to a customer service supervisor at their 800 number. Here’s what happened.
I just had the oddest phone conversation with a supervisor from B&N
customer service. Apparently B&N customer service not only read the
email I sent them but read the posts and responses on Park Slope
Parents. I received an email asking me to call a customer service
supervisor at their 800 number. I called and was surprised to find out
that the she wasn’t interested in apologizing or explaining the store
manager’s actions but rather in pointing out that I had disrupted
their business (i.e. because my questions held up the line although
there were, I think, two people in line and at least three cashiers
working at the time) and that this was, according to B&N policy,
grounds for throwing me and my son out of the store.Although her lack of concern for the poor customer service isn’t
really all that surprising, I am disturbed by the idea that B&N
customer service representatives read Park Slope Parents. I know PSP
isn’t an exclusive club but, up until now, I thought the participants
were parents and members of the community. I’ve posted some fairly
personal concerns about myself and my family on this list–I’ll be
much more wary of doing so in the future.I guess you never know who’s reading your posts…
sorry to hear about your tough time at Barnes and Noble, but as a 20+ year Park Slope resident, originally skeptical about the big box retailer in PS, I have to say I’ve brought my son there since he was a baby with nothing but welcoming helpfulness from its personnel. I’ve seen many a child behave quite obnoxiously, yet get only the most polite treatment from the staff and security there. hopefully your incident was an aberration on someone’s part, because while I support and hope to maintain the smaller bookstores and street sellers, B & N is too much an integral part of our daily life in the Slope and greatly accessible for a 10 year old bookworm,to lose sight of it’s usefulness and warmth. give them another chance, and don’t be too surprised if your local bookseller is also a Park Slope Parent.
There are plenty of well behaved kids in Barnes and Nobles… Some of them are kids that I bring in there that are genetically linked but some of the kids I have seen running wild in there are just beyond belief. This business is not a playground. I agree with poster above. If this mom and child were asked to leave I can’t imagine how outrageous the behavior must have been seeing the limit of what is acceptable behavior in this store seems to have no limit!!
I don’t know the particulars of this case however I’ve been in B & N when kids are running wild. For them to ask someone to leave this woman/kid must have exhibited some pretty egregious behavior.
Good for BN.
People in our neighborhood all too often forget that not EVERY public space is a playground.
Hey, free speech begets free speech. I’ve seen a number of gripes such as this about businesses on blogs and listservs. Why should these media be one way arguments about an individual’s experiences in the hood?
Robert T.