Borders used to be my favorite store. Books, music, coffee - what more could a body want? Well, last night I discovered that a little organization would be nice.
What happened was this: Upon the recommendation of forum readers at Knitter's Review, I went in search of Sensational Knitted Socks. Borders' online inventory indicated it was in stock, and I checked again when I got to the store. But, even with two of us looking, we could not find the book.
Actually, we were lucky to find the right shelves. The in-store computers used to have a map of the store on them, but if they still do, I could not find it. So we wandered a bit and found the right area, then the right shelves. That's when things got really ugly.
Borders used to shelve books in order, by author's last name. This wasn't a perfect system, because (just like at the library) people put books back in the wrong place. But generally, you had a good chance of finding what you were looking for, and all one author's books were highly likely to be grouped together.
Well, no more. I don't know if it is because the store is short of shelves or short staffed, or because the staff is overworked or lazy, or if it is store policy or company policy, but now the books are shelved willy-nilly, with many books wandering into neighboring topics. As a lover of books, I found it sad, and as a shopper, I found it frustrating, and as an anal retentive, I found it maddening.
I don't like Barnes and Noble, either, and I avoid the mall (where Walden Books and B Dalton reside) like a pustulating sore. The local library system is excellent about ordering anything I request, but frequently it is weeks before the book is available for checkout. I order from Amazon a lot, but sometimes I just want to look over a book before buying.
As my brother often says, Whaddayagonnado?
3 comments:
I agree finding a needle in a haystack is extremely frustrating. I've been ordering most of my books from Amazon for the past several years. Although, for out-of-print books try Abe Books. Good Luck.
borders computer search is crap. there is no guarantee of them having anything unless you call them up, pray the inventory is updated, and have them find it before you leave the house. it would be an employees dream to find a perfectly alphabetized unmolested shelf. doesn't happen. i can spend an hour alphabetizing a section and it'll be screwed with one customer browsing. Last night we found art reference books tucked in biography. screwed by the company, the computer system, and the customers. all for minimum wage and practically zero benefits. gawd i depressed myself. so call first and as long as you know exactly what you're looking for (title AND author!!!) save everyone time.
Too late! Our local Borders is closing.
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