Barnes & Noble.com

Full review
Barnes & Noble had the book that I was looking for online, and were offering it at a reasonable price. Additionally, they were offering free shipping on book purchases, so I thought that I could save a few dollars rather than going with some other sites that charge shipping for the same purchase. The Barnes & Noble site also offers a discount for people that are in their membership program, so it was a double bonus to go with a purchase on their web-site. They of course specialize in media products, primarily having a very good selection of books to go with their film and music sales. The search engine worked quite well, and I found the textbook with very little effort.

Submitting all of the shipping and billing information, I was notified that I qualified for their 3 business days or less shipping policy, meaning that I would receive the book in a maximum of three business days after the purchase was made. Thinking I could get that book so quickly without having to pay any extra fees, I passed on the message to the person I was buying the book for, that I would have the book in 3 business days. A pretty good offer I must say, and I was glad to be able to pass on the message that I was saving a few dollars by going with Barnes & Noble, and that I would be getting the book very quickly. The site soon turned me into a liar.

Ordering the book on a Thursday, I was given the information by e-mail that I could expect the book at the latest on the following Tuesday. Not bad, and seeing that there was a Saturday in between where most shipping companies are still delivering products, I knew that even if B&N wasn't promising anything, that the Saturday could even shorten the delivery time by another day. So, in the back of my mind I was secretly hoping that I could receive the book on Monday rather than Tuesday. As I said, the purchase was quite easy to complete, my credit card was charged without any problems, and the book was easy to find on the site; but this wasn't where my problems were created.

Tuesday came and went, with no book delivery, and I became a little perturbed. Wednesday came and went as well, and the only thing keeping me from calling up the company was the tracking that they provided for their shipment. I could see it slowly moving across the country to the west coast day by day, and it seemed like the book was coming by bird rather than truck or plane. The book finally arrived on that Friday, eight days after the purchase was made, and far beyond the promised deliver time or date. This has put a fear in me about ever dealing with them in a busy holiday season, and of course the presence of mind to use other more reliable book-selling web-sites. I can recommend them only so much as they provide free shipping, but not being able to get the singular book there on time is a big problem in my opinion.