Barnes & Noble supposedly offers "Free Express Shipping" to their members. This is an outright lie. As a paying member, every time I order online and choose "Free Express Shipping" which is quoted as 1-3 business days, my packages are shipped UPS GROUND. Ground shipping is NOT express, expedited, or anything resembling fast. My packages always take 4-5 business days once handed to UPS. A more accurate offering for their shipping would be "Free Ground Shipping".

When I contacted customer service about this, they simply stated that they make no guarantees, processing delays etc, however even after providing them the tracking numbers which show my products being shipped UPS GROUND and showing "5 business days" on the UPS site, they stopped responding to my e-mails. I finally called into customer service, requested my accounts be closed and as politely as possible asked the CSR to pass on the message as to why I was cancelling.

After waiting over the 4-14 day shipping window of which I think 14 days is a little extreem I am told to give it more time now. I can have a car shipped to me faster that these people move. And I guess they dont actually read the emails you send them based on I am in Texas and they tell me about prolonged shipping to military address. Below is excerpts from my email trafic with them.

THEM: Your order was accepted by the Marketplace Seller on (03/29/2011). The
shipping method selected for the order usually takes (4-14) business
days in transit. Please note: Business days are Monday through Friday,
excluding holidays observed by the Post Office. We anticipated delivery
of your order on or around (04/18/2011). We apologize for the delay in
delivering your order. Occasional delays in the receipt of these orders
can range from 1-5 additional business days. For military addresses
(APO/FPO) there can be delays in the receipt of these orders due to
additional processing time within the receiving military base.

Since you did not receive your package by the date above, kindly contact
the seller via the seller's email address provided in your order
confirmation email.

Please allow the seller 1-2 business days to respond to your inquiry.

Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience.

ME: It has now been the 14 days that you said as the max average shipping
time. You base this on business days of Monday threw Friday however the
USPS works on Saturday so it has actually been 17 days. At 14 days to
ship two small books is very unacceptable with the speed at which you
can ship any sized package across the US in much less time without
expediting the package. I will not use your services again in the future
and will not be recommending your services to anyone. As far as
contacting the marketplace seller that is your responsibility to vet and
hold accountable any sub contract sellers that you use to provide your
services. As I purchased these books off your website and the receipt
has your name (B&N) on it and states for any questions to contact you
not the sub contract seller.

THEM: Thank you for your inquiry regarding your order number xxxxxxxx.

Your order was accepted by the Marketplace Seller on 3/29/11. The
shipping method selected for the order usually takes 4-14 business days
in transit. Please note: Business days are Monday through Friday,
excluding holidays observed by the Post Office. We anticipate delivery
of your order on or around 4/18/11.

The shipper has not obtained or provided a tracking number for your
package.

If you do not receive your package by the date above, kindly contact the
Marketplace Seller via the seller's email address (provided in your
order confirmation email).

ME: I am checking with you in regards to this order as I have not received
it as of today. Can you please update me as to the status of this order?

Paid $25 for membership a year ago. Never received any discount or offers. B&N says its the fault of Internet explorer, and that their mail to me was considered SPAM.

Even the person at BN bookstore said that many were having this "problem." BARNES & NOT SO NOBLE--how about fixing this?

why then, am I able to get promotions from Amazon and Borders? why was it up to me to fix this problem?

I want a refund or ONE YEAR'S extension of my "supposed" membership.

I ordered a book online @ B&N. The payment was processed however I am still unable to download my book. I have sent emails and called (each phone call you hold for approximately one hour and then are transferred to someone who sounds like they are in Thailand). I was told the first time I could download my book within hours of course there is no record of this call. They refused to credit back my money and refused to give me a gift card for a new book. I asked for a supervisor and was put on hold for over minutes and no supervisor ever answered so I hung up. My E-Reader was a Christmas present and I am considering returning, buying a Kindle and trying Amazon. Maybe their customer service is much better it can not be any worse. HORRIBLE Customer service I was actually told that many people are complaining about not getting their books and that is why the hold time is so long. Still no resolution. We asked the rep what would you do if you paid for a product and the company refused to ship it?? It is unbelievable. I also shop at the local Barnes & Noble but after this customer service I am switching to another store for my book purchases.

I have purchased many books from Barnes & Noble at their local store. I had never ordered online, but I received a gift card during the holiday season and figured it would be easier to purchase items on-line and have them delivered to me. Boy was I wrong. The items I purchased were all marked as "in-stock" and "shipps withing 24 hours". Upon my check out, there was no indicator that the items were on back-order or not in stock. I paid extra for additional shipping, and upon check out the shipping stated I would receive my order within 1-3 days. I ordered this on 12/28. On 12/28 I received an email confirming that the order had been received. I then received an email later that day stating it was scheduled to ship on 12/28. As of 12/29 I had not received anything stating it had been shipped. I decided to wait. On 12/30 I received emails stating 3 of the 4 items had been delayed. I called their customer service phone number and after waiting about 20 minutes, was able to speak to someone. She explained that one of the items had already shipped and I should receive it within 1-3 business days. She then explained that one of the other three items was NOT IN STOCK (even though it appeared as in stock upon check out and in an e-mail sent by the company), and that it was holding up the other items. She was rude, and expalained to me that 'because of how fast technology moves, we cannot guarantee that an item is in stock upon check out, b/c by the time you check out ten other people could have purchased it'. IF that is the case, then I would have this experience with many other companies. I have NEVER had this experience with ANY other companies, and I do quite a bit of online shopping.
She then asked if I wanted to cancel the item that was holding up my order. I replied yes, and that I would purchase it once it was in stock again. She did so and explained the other items would ship out within a day. on 12/31 I received a notice that only one of my items was on it's way. The other two items that had been allegedly held up by the item that was cancel were STILL NOT SENT. I figured it was New Years Eve and perhaps that is why they had not been sent. SO, I patiently waitied for the item that had been shipped, and for an email regarding the others.

I did receive the item that had been shipped on Monday. Though I cannot say it had much to do with them, but rather with UPS (which I might add is wonderful at shipping items on time). On 1/3 (today) I received emails stating that my "attention was required immediately". I opened them only to find out the company was requesting that I allow them to keep my order pending "FOR UP TO 30 DAYS" WHAT?! So I called AGAIN, and was on hold for about 30-40 minutes (hmmmm...probably because there are MANY other unhappy customers calling???). A man by the name of "Jamal" helped me. He was polite but did not give me any definite answers. I asked that he cancel the remaining order, which he did. He said it will take 3 business days for the funds to return to my card and my gift card!? It is ludicrous for this to be the case when it took them a very short amount of time to charge my cards. He then stated that the item I cancelled last THURSDAY had still not been refunded to my cards! Ridiculous. I asked if the money that was charge for the item that was shipped would change (b/c I noticed it stated that cancelling the other items might result in being charged more on the movie I had received) and he said "It should not" but would not give me a guaranteed answer. He then stated that the woman who had previously helped me had not read the information right, and that the movies she stated WOULD SHIP with the CANCELLATION OF THE ITEM THAT WAS NOT IN STOCK, were actually on BACKORDER and would not ship for quite some time. RIDICULOUS! As I explained to "Jamal", why would I wait "UP TO 30 DAYS" to receive my items, when I could just walk into the store and purchase them.

Alas, what I thought would be a simple, faster, smooth transaction has turned in to a NIGHTMARE. Why do these big companies feel it's okay to falsely advertise their merchandise, lie about shipping times, have incompetent staff, and TAKE FOREVER TO CANCELL/REFUND CHARGES? I hear they are going out of business and I think 'It's sad that more people will loose their jobs' and on the other hand ' I am not surprised!'. In this economy, companies cannot afford to loose customers, and their REPUTATION. As a consumer, OUR MONEY IS VERY VALUABLE and EVERY PENNY COUNTS right now. I WILL NOT PUT MY MONEY INTO A COMPANY THAT HAS SUCH TERRIBLE BUSINESS PRACTICES.

I will make it my business to go on as many websites as I can in order to expose this company to the consumer, so that people do not waste their time and money ordering/purchasing items from BARNES & NOBLE.

I hope this desuades others from purchasing from this company and falling into this nightmare.