Barnes & Noble Discount Card

18 years ago

This comment from Cindy in the Borders thread brought up a topic that has rankled me for a long time:

> I much prefer it [Borders] to B/N, I like their reward program that I don't have to pay for

There is no Borders in my town, so I shop at Barnes & Noble frequently. I simply don't like the idea of paying $25 a year to get a 10% discount. Each time I check out and the cashier asks if I have a discount card, I tell them that since I must spend $250 just to break even on the card, I'm not willing to buy one. They usually want to tell me how I can use it in the coffee shop also. Since I make a lot of book purchases online, I don't want to be obligated to make sure I spend at least $250 at B&N. Does anyone else feel this way? Or does this card offer more advantages than I realize?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

woodnymph2_gw
18 years ago
I agree with you.
sheriz6
18 years ago
I agree, I don't have cards from B&N or Borders as I do most of my book shopping online. I figure if they're charging for a discount, it can't possibly work to your advantage.
Related Discussions
Organizing Gift Cards/Reward/Membership Cards
Q
Comments (10)
Concerning gift cards, be sure to check to see if they have an expiration date (many of them actually do!). If you have a daily-reminder wall calendar, mark the expiration dates down. I'd put a note on, say, 6 months in advance and other sporadic dates saying "You have a $50 Borders card to use up!" so that they remind you that you've got them tucked away and need to redeem them. There's nothing worse than realizing too late that you've lost out on $50 of shopping power. For all those store "preferred customer cards," here's what I do. Most of them I put on a keyring. For cards I use frequently that didn't offer a keyring version, I punch a hole in the corner (away from the bar code or swipey strip). In my purse, I also carry a small rectangular zip pouch that I carry coupons, receipts, paint chips, etc. in, and I tuck in most of the other cards I have and the Bed Bath & Beyond 20%-off coupons (I never shop there without one!). Sometimes I'm tempted to just leave that pouch in the glove compartment (as long as none of those receipts have my full credit card number on them!), so it's there if I need it. Always happens that if I leave the pouch at home, that'll be the time that I need something in it.
...See More
Senior Discounts
Q
Comments (7)
This list was posted maybe a month ago here. It has many, many, many inaccuracies and some of these businesses no longer exist.I've seen it posted on Facebook, too. In fact, it seems whenever an article says to pass it around or something like that, it's not very accurate. This is not meant to fault YOU, joann....I know you are trying to help others get a discount. It's just that the information is untrue. (Wouldn't it be nice if Alaska Airlines gave a 50% discount?)
...See More
never again will i do business with barnes and noble
Q
Comments (23)
If B&N has a history of bad customer service dating back to when it competed with Borders, I hate to see how much worse it'll become now. Keep calling, keep asking to be transferred to a supervisor. Boil it down to them, repeatedly: You had a gift certificate, you ordered something their computer showed that they had, they could not fulfill it in the end, and you expect your gift certificate to be restored in full. I had an issue with a B&N online order -- it was during a one or two week special program in which a percentage of sales would be given to a nonprofit group one of my nephew's is involved in. Ordered a book and a DVD; got the book right away. Had to try to track the DVD, but I was having problems because my computer had "auto-populated" an e-mail address I had long ago created for catalog/junk sites, and I didn't have a clue as to the password. To B&N, that seemed enough to lock me out and tell me "We can't tell you anything about the order," even tho I had the credit card number/security code it was billed to, address, phone number, etc. I escalated the situation and after a few people did their best to brush me off, finally someone listened--she realized I just wanted to know if B&N really DID have the item they advertised (I didn't care whether it'd be delayed, I just wanted to know!). In the end, 2 of the DVDs arrived, and I returned one to a store. So keep calling, keep asking for a supervisor (Here's a script for you: "I'm sorry but I am just not following your rationale about why you can't tell me whether you have the item I ordered and why you will not refund my gift certificate so I can purchase something else, and although I understand that your hands are probably tied and it's not your fault, I would appreciate it if you would transfer me to your supervisor.") I'm not sure the Better Business Bureau is helpful at all nowadays--from what I've learned, it mediates consumer complaints only against companies that have paid it to have its BBB "mark of approval," and companies that are not members don't have to answer to the BBB. Maybe years ago it got action, but today it's outdated: If someone has something negative to say about a business, there's Angie's List, there's Facebook and Twitter, there are "I hate [store name here]" blogs and websites (just Google some keywords like complaints, cheats, ripoffs + the store name). Yup, social media is what attracts attention -- there are employees whose sole job is tracking what people are saying about their employer. And it's unlikely an attorney general would give a $50 complaint much attention-- yes, it's important to you, and I wouldn't give up the fight, either! It's just not a "big fish" like tobacco lawsuits and discriminatory housing companies or predatory lenders or web scams featuring a Nigerian tribal chief.
...See More
Dispute with Pottery Barn-Am I wrong?
Q
Comments (58)
Pammyfay, that exact thing happened to me at Kohls a couple of weeks ago. I was in the store with my daughters and bought a pair of boots for one of them. They were $54 originally, on sale for $27. I bought them. While we were there, I saw a coat my older daughter liked but they didn't have her size. I decided to look for it online when we got home. First thing I noticed was that they were offering a 20% discount on all purchases (I'd had a 15% coupon I used in the store). They had the coat dd liked, so I bought that as well as a couple of other items. For some reason, I looked at the boots I had just bought not two hours earlier in the store. They were selling for $14.99 in the store plus 20% off. I purchased them again planning to return the ones I'd bought in the store which were double the price! I knew I'd be going back to the store anyway as I had another item to return so it wasn't a hassle and worth it to save $15 (actually almost $20 b/c the extra 20% off online vs the 15% off in store). It was pretty off-putting though to find the website was selling the exact same item at the same time for more than half what I'd paid in the store just hours earlier. Incidentally, I had something similar happen in the reverse at Lands End. I was exchanging some uniform shirts in the Lands End store at Sears that I'd ordered online. I'd gotten them on sale online but they didn't fit. I brought them to the store to return, explaining I wanted to exchange them for a different size, thinking they would re-order them for me. I didn't realize they carried the shirts in the store, so the salesclerk told me where they were. They only had one in stock and I needed two. When she rang me up, they came up even cheaper than what I'd paid online. She had to call lands End to order the second one, but they were advertising it online for the price I originally paid, not the in store price. However, the salesclerk told me that Lands End would price match the store price, which was 25% less. Funny how online vs brick and mortar can have such differing prices!
...See More
rosefolly
18 years ago
Between my husband and me, we have no problem at all spending enough to make the card worthwhile. We buy a lot of books, at B&N, online, at independent stores, and from used bookstores. This is another nice bonus of having a husband who also reads. In fact, he is the one who got the card.

And they just send him a bonus card to get 25% on a single item within a certain time limit. He passed it along to me and I used it on a reference book.

Rosefolly
carolyn_ky
18 years ago
I don't have the discount card for similar reasons, but I do prefer shopping at B&N to Borders. Our Borders has too much stuff that is not books; and, besides, they bought out our wonderful independent bookstore. They did keep the workers on who wanted to stay, but one of them told me the new people didn't know anything about books, just selling, and I don't see any familiar faces anymore. Before Christmas, after searching for a clerk, I asked for a copy of Pinocchio. All they had was a video.
cindydavid4
18 years ago
Thats funny carolyn - where I live its the B&N that has more non book stuff! I prefer the Borders, where I am always getting 30% off coupons and reward points for every dollar spent.

That being said I make an effort to support my local indie. It helps that they have a frequent reader card, so once you fill up a card, you get 10 off your next purchase. Helps a bit.
veronicae
18 years ago
I get a coupon at least once a month from B&N that allows me to add another 40% off on books, and coupons on specific books. With three grandchildren, 8 kids and kids-in-law, a mother who reads heavy (in all meanings) history books, my husband and myself, I spend well over $250/yr in B&N alone. I can spend that much on one day of Christmas shopping!
colormeconfused
18 years ago
I have a B&N discount card, a Borders reward card, and a Books-A-Million. Unfortunately, the Books-A-Million store closed unexpectedly and unannounced a few weeks ago, but out of the three stores, it was my least favorite. I also buy many books online from Amazon because they're usually cheaper that way.

However, I purchase items from B&N frequently, in store and online. Often, if you purchase books from B&N online, they're cheaper than in the store, and you also are able to use your member card for additional discounts. Orders over $25 qualify for free shipping, too. I also buy several cd's a year (I have somewhere between 600-650 stuffed in my entertainment cabinet and storage chest), so that helps justify the member card for me as well. I get discounts via e-mail and through snail mail.

I like Borders, too, but not as well as B&N. Of course, I was just at Borders today and came home with a big bag of goodies, right after I swore I wouldn't buy any books for a while.
georgia_peach
18 years ago
The only bookstore convenient to where I live is B&N, and in my office park there is a little B. Dalton (part of the B&N family now). I use both stores, but don't use their discount membership program. I used to refuse the program because I purchased most of my books from Amazon, but in the last few years I probably have spent enough (between purchases for myself and for my kids) to make it worthwhile. But still I stubbornly refuse. I hate the thought that stores are using this information to build profiles on me and track everything I spend money on to market more stuff to me. Maybe I should be a character in a Philip K. Dick book (paranoid!), but I still prefer to pay more money than relinquish my privacy. The guy at the coffee store is baffled why I don't join, because I buy lattes there a lot. I do, however, use the discount program offered by my grocery store, because it just doesn't make economic sense not to.
ccrdmrbks
18 years ago
We all use my B&N card-DD for grad school books, DH for books and magazines, and DS for whatever. In fact once when my DS was shopping and had forgotten to grab the number, he told them his mother had one and they looked it up for him and applied the discount. If you buy with a credit card they track you whether you have a discount card or not-the only way to be completely anonymous is to only use "folding money" and never give them a chance.
I also buy much online and always manage to qualify for free shipping!
The Borders program is free but I often find that the coupons don't fit with my schedule-two days to buy DVDs, etc.

Barnes & Noble Discount Card

Comments (9)

woodnymph2_gw

sheriz6

Related Discussions

rosefolly

carolyn_ky

cindydavid4

veronicae

colormeconfused

georgia_peach

ccrdmrbks

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US