I'm at Border's at Knox, just redeeming my gift card. Big queues of angry people. Why? Because Borders are only letting you redeem your gift if you spend the equivalent value in store. I had to find books worth $100 to redeem $50 worth of my money. I had to spend nearly $60 to get my money out. When asked staff were unable to provide the new policy in writing. Ironic that I was purchasing books on Economics. My first Bank Run. Wow!
And they wonder why people buy their books online. I buy quite a few books each month and my $200 wouldn't go far in an Australian book store.
Their web site does state you must spend twice the value of the gift card to redeem the card. I wonder if this was made clear to people purchasing cards as a gift at time of the initial sale. Seems like a con to me.
They wouldn't provide me with any written statement of policy. I asked whether it was worth hanging around until it was available, or should I just go home and come back tomorrow. I was told by the staff member in charge that I would be better off going home.
I'm sure the person who purchased the gift card for me is thrilled to know that all he/she bought was effectively a 50% off voucher with a $100 minimum purchase amount. Even with the gift card I'm probably even better ordering through Amazon.
What have I missed here? Is borders shutting down worldwide? LOL im so out of the loop of whats happening in the news.
+1. I think that is very wrong to take people's money then make someone spend just as much again for the privelege of redeeming their bit of plastic 'promise' money. Give me an independent book store any day. The problem with the smaller independent book stores is that they often don't have the books that i'm after available eg. gold/silver/economics books. If i go online and try to avoid the US book store, the choices are somewhat limited to Fishpond and the various Uni bookstores as far as i know. The prices are cheaper if i shop overseas though... dilemmas.
Borders (Australia ) and Angus & Robertson have been placed in receivership by the owning company, Red-something. This is good news for independent bookstores that offer better service anyway. Kinda like Coles and Woolworths closing and then the butchers, newsagents, health food stores, chemists, greengrocers and possibly others would rejoice. I also heard that Borders in the US - separate company, haven't made a profit since 2007. They were outsourcing their online orders through Amazon (competition!) and when they realised their mistake it was too late. They are in trouble as well but are a different company to the Australian version.
Wow, what a big scam. Its no wonder they went bust. Good luck with the purchase, keep us updated. Slam
Got to feel sorry for the staff. It's a shit job to have to do, dealing with justifiably angry customers. Especially knowing that there is a good chance you won't have your job shortly and having questions about your entitlements.
Books ? I remember those ... didn't they used to be printed on paper ? E-books I think are slowly starting to diminish sales of 'real' books ... who knows what the situation will be in 1, 2 or 5 years time. Case in point ... film SLR vs Digital SLR cameras. I think Borders are being absolute idiots enforcing this policy as I can only see it as a grab for more money to potentially prop up their business in the face of flailing sales.
Haha Borders bank run !!! i was practicing SHTF scenario 10 hrs before the Brisbane river peaked when stacking groceries ( still have most of it left ) and you were practicing BANK RUNS. oh, how i wished i was there to feel the atmosphere ( and not holding the Borders 'Gutscheins" !!! )
Haven't bought a paper book in a long time. I culled my collection a few years ago when we moved in the hope of filling my new bookshhepves but they've remained sparse. Reason: kindle and then Sony prs650 which is the best ereader I've ever had. Paper is so yesteryear.
Thing about electronic delivery of reading material. What happens when the power goes out? It would be my serious recommendation that you keep backup hard copies of important papers, how to books and maps stored away safely. Even some good reading books for passing the time. Don't get me wrong, ebooks, GPS and google are fantastic. But real paper dosn't need power.
This is exactly what I've been thinking. Power doesn't even need to go out...it just needs to become unaffordable. I'm stacking books.
