When we got there, we were refused entry - we didn’t have one of the precious wrist bands they had issued an hour earlier, thus, we weren’t going to be permitted into the store, nor permitted to purchase the books we had reserved.
I called my credit card company to cancel the charges, and it was handled in moments, American Express had heard from a great number of customers across the country as they too were denied books at various stores, and there wasn’t the slightest bit of hesitation as it was canceled.
Instead, we went to our local Walmart, got in line, got wrist bands from a sorting hat, posters, book marks, and the coveted books, all with the minimum of fuss and muss. Made additional purchases while there, and we were out the door with our purchases while there was still a huge line left to process across the street at the B&N.
I can not fathom why, after getting a confirmation e-mail from the store of our reservation, and double checking the day before that we were on ‘the list’, that B&N would choose to treat their customers in this manner. But it does make us realize just how stupid a company can be on what is realistically one of their most important sales days in two years.
I made a commitment to buy, they made a commitment to sell, and I tried to keep up my end of the bargain, shame they couldn’t put forward the same effort. I’ll have to think twice before going there again.
Wow B&N really screwed that one up. At Borders people that pre-ordered got wristbands, of course the earlier you showed up the better your wristband (they divided the list up into 12 lots at the store we went to). The whole motto at Borders seemed to be “come, browse, buy other stuff”. It was pretty fun.
Even more frustrating is how the media respected the “news blackout” on Harry Potter “secrets” but is quite willing to share National Security secrets.
Barnes Stupid & Nobles
I had a somewhat similar experience: I went out Saturday morning to purchase a copy. First I went to the closest Wal-Mart, but they had apparently sold out and never bothered to restock the shelves, they didn't have a single copy out. Then I went to a Borders Bookstore and found a huge line that they were forcing customers to wait in to get a copy. I decided not to wait. Left there and went to the closest Target store, found a display rack full of copies of the book right at the checkout counter, was in and out with a copy in less than five minutes.
Oh, and Target's price was less than Border's, too. :P
Began reading book about dusk ,finished around midnight?. More deaths than expected,especially Hedwig. Kreecher changes a suprise;too much told in flashbacks.If the flashbacks and hidden memories had been part of the earlier books the suspense would have been less though. All these revelations of the past of many characters reminds me of the detective stories where all is revealed in the last gathering.
Sequels are a definite posssibilty,as are prequels and gap-fillers. Could be good if the new stories are kept true to the original magical world.I note the stories are all the property of Warner Entertainment so they presumably have options.
I originally planned to go to Border’s, but checked with the local Wal-Mart Grocery on Friday afternoon to see if they would have the book. I skipped Border’s, showed up at Wal-Mart at 11:55, and was on my way home with the book by 12:05. I drove by Border’s out of pure curiosity and saw a huge line that extended onto the sidewalk. I smiled and went home.
Yeah. B&N Sucked this time. Last time it went very smoothly. They lost the recipe.
My Walmart had the book the cheapest. No line, no fuss, just good service.