I was charges $25 for a renewal of my Barnes and Noble membership over a month prior to when the account should have expired. Not only does this short me a month of membership it also is not a valid renewal as I never pre-approved the renewal. I have had a membership for over 5 years and each year I allow my membership to lapse for a couple of months because I know it will be inactive for that time. I was not made aware of this auto-renewal at any time during my purchase of the membership nor during the time of my membership. I did not even know that I had a renewed membership until my bank called me with a $35 overdraft fee because they charged an account that I was in the process of closing. If B&N even allows the reversal of the $25 membership fee my bank will not allow the $35 fee to be eliminated so either way I am stuck with a $35 bank fee! I feel that B&N should pay this fee with no questions asked.

I have been a long time loyal customer of B&N spending many thousands of dollars there and at their gift/coffee shops. I find this auto-renewal to be very presumptuous and it is a new addition to their contract, which I had read the first few times I applied. Having read the contracts before, upon purchase of the new membership the clerk should have informed me that their new policy was to automatically withdraw money from my account a month prior to the expiration of the membership.

I found all this out through the over-draft and protection division of my bank. They told me they would close my account if I didn't win the dispute or pay the amount owed. I feel this is a little nasty on the banks side as well.

I feel that I should be refunded the $25 membership fee and the $35 overdraft charge that the bank is insisting upon collecting. I also feel that I should be given a fair sized gift card to B&N for the 3 hours I have spent trying to clear this mess up. I am self employed and I have had to put off a lot of work to take care of something that should not have been an issue.

My final note is that NO company should assume auto-renewal unless the customer specifically asks for it and puts a SIGNATURE and date behind it to make it official.

At this point I am so mad that I will never shop at B&N again nor will I ever accept gifts purchased there or recommend them as a business.

I have no photos as proof as I received nothing from B&N and the overdraft card does not show anything of value. It is up to you whether you want to beleive this or not but I wouldn't waste my time reporting this had it been anything else but true.

Good luck and keep an eye on your bank statements!