Barnes and Noble Problem

One thing I hadn't posted, in the other thread, and which I purposely didn't post, as I didn't want it to get lost in the length of that thread:

According to Ms Francoise Entelis, Barnes and Noble Director of Marketing, the other postings of "(my) blog" were not stumbled upon via search engine.

Rather, the thread (and the individual postings, if I understand Ms Francoise Entelis correctly) were forwarded to Barnes and Noble by a member of SegwayChat.

I have no idea why another member would do that, and keep quiet about it.

Eric Payne
Glendale, AZ

[KSagal]

Mostly, because all that read and post here are not necessarily supporters of segways. There are people here with other agendas, as is common in any public group...

Originally Posted by KSagal

Mostly, because all that read and post here are not necessarily supporters of segways. There are people here with other agendas, as is common in any public group...

That's true, but in most other public group(s) those people at least have enough self-respect to identify themselves, even if they do so in a childish way (i.e., "I'm telling Barnes and Noble about this!"). My first thought, upon hearing a group member forwarded the thread and the postings, according to Francoise Entelis was that a member, who was also a Barnes and Noble employee, made corporate aware of the thread.

In either case, it makes little difference. As it stands now, Barnes and Noble is in violation of the law. They plan to stay in violation of the law until such time as they see their "work-around" is not a solution, or until such time as the AZ Attorney General insists they comply.

I will continue to patronize Barnes and Noble - at least their coffee shops - and I will be on Gilligan. There are, at least, 3 "stand-alone" stores in my general vicinity; there are a few mall "mini-stores" in both local malls. There are 15 to 20 spread out across the valley, accessible through a combination of gliding and public transportation.

I've been meaning to get out of the house more, anyway.

Eric Payne
Glendale, AZ

[polo_pro]

Originally Posted by Eric Payne

That's true, but in most other public group(s) those people at least have enough self-respect to identify themselves, even if they do so in a childish way (i.e., "I'm telling Barnes and Noble about this!"). My first thought, upon hearing a group member forwarded the thread and the postings, according to Francoise Entelis, was that a member, who was also a Barnes and Noble employee, made corporate aware of the thread.

In either case, it makes little difference. As it stands now, Barnes and Noble is in violation of the law. They plan to stay in violation of the law until such time as they see their "work-around" is not a solution, or until such time as the AZ Attorney General insists they comply.

I will continue to patronize Barnes and Noble - at least their coffee shops - and I will be on Gilligan. There are, at least, 3 "stand-alone" stores in my general vicinity; there are a few mall "mini-stores" in both local malls. There are 15 to 20 spread out across the valley, accessible through a combination of gliding and public transportation.

I've been meaning to get out of the house more, anyway.

Before you do this, I think you should find other disabled gliders willing to go down to their local B&N store/coffee house (in other far away metropolis) to force the wheelchair issue at the same time as you. Perhaps you could find like minded cohorts on DRAFT (making sure to give each of them the appropriate phone numbers of B&N decision makers so the B&N employees can quickly call to confirm)? Then you could even coordinate things so all the requests for wheel chairs come in at once really making B&N feel the hit in their pocketbook (vs spreading it out across months).

I'm not trying to suggest you actually use the B&N wheel chair. You'd still be riding Gilligan during every visit to the B&N's in your area. You'd still continue to ride Gilligan through the store despite the employees thrusting the wheelchair at you. But you'd be forcing these employees to "comply with new corporate directives" by wasting money right now to buy a slew of wheel chairs. I say "waste" because in a few months B&N will be forced to change their policy, and those wheel chair won't be useful anymore.

ps - As to B&N being referred to SC, don't sweat it. First I'd take anything B&N says with a grain of salt. These corporate drones aren't your friend, and their lawyers will say anything to distract you (and get you to spend your energies elsewhere). Remember "divide and conquer" is one of the most successful counter strategies, and this supposed referral only sows the seeds of paranoia and distrust among those who'd defy B&N's corporate policies.

[KSagal]

While I like a good fight as well as the next person, and some may say more than the next person, I sometimes wonder at all this...

If Barns & Nobel has a service or book you cannot otherwize get, then by all means, go there and continue to patronize their store as much as you like...

But if their corporate policy is at odds with your values and you can get the same products and services from another retailer that is more friendly to your values, why not go there?

For me, I might come up with a plan where I go to B&N and scope out the new releases, check out what's hot and what's not, all on the segway, but then when it is time to buy, glide on over to Borders, or Mom & Pop Books, and buy.

After all, this is a retail business, and forcing this or that is nice, and makes us feel good, but buying stuff is what makes them feel good...

IF you show up to sit in their lounge, with a starbucks coffee, read their magazines, then leave it is very different than going there, having them treat you poorly, and still giving them your money...

I know I am just showing myself to be a pain in the rump, but all the corporate back room dealing and lawyers are just overhead to these people. The bottom line is the bottom line. Having them buy wheel chairs which they should own to facilitate their own policy is nice, but getting everyone you know to frequent the competition is even better, if you feel that they are not providing you with the services you want or that they are required under the law to provide....

Do not refuse to attend their store, just do not give them any money. For gifts, to convince your family and friends to frequent other places, give gift certificates to the competition...

Just my personal opinion... Oh yeah, do not be bashfull about explaining to them why you buy elsewhere. I suspect the Store manager is also compensated on the bottom line...

Originally Posted by KSagal

... IF you show up to sit in their lounge, with a starbucks coffee, read their magazines, then leave...

Who? Me? Li'l ol' me? Why, that would never be my plan! Never, ever! Why, I just can't imagine anyone who would do that! It just never, ever, ever crossed my mind. I swear! I hadn't thought of doing just exactly that....

... in the last ten minutes or so, because I was busy with other things.



Eric Payne
Glendale, AZ

I do sooo enjoy a good iced mocha. Or a blended frappuccino.

[polo_pro]

Hmmm....I'm tending not to buy toys for the younger folks in my extended family as I do my Xmas shopping. With books, you don't have to be concerned about lead poisoning! But where should I shop....I have several major chains to choose from? 8^) 8^) 8^)

ps - Too bad I can't send a more direct message to the B&N management beyond voting with my wallet. However, if we start discussing alternatives, then we'd only be contributing to the "negativity" on SC, eh? 8^) 8^) 8^)

[wwhopper]

Originally Posted by polo

Hmmm....I'm tending not to buy toys for the younger folks in my extended family as I do my Xmas shopping. With books, you don't have to be concerned about lead poisoning! But where should I shop....I have several major chains to choose from? 8^) 8^) 8^)

ps - Too bad I can't send a more direct message to the B&N management beyond voting with my wallet. However, if we start discussing alternatives, then we'd only be contributing to the "negativity" on SC, eh? 8^) 8^) 8^)

So I would say buy your books from them.

And in the manuals that came with those early Segways - it specifically said "Do Not Eat the Batteries" - so there you go, a heads up to prevent NiMh poisoning.

[Desert_Seg]

Originally Posted by polo

...ps - Too bad I can't send a more direct message to the B&N management beyond voting with my wallet. However, if we start discussing alternatives, then we'd only be contributing to the "negativity" on SC, eh? 8^) 8^) 8^)

Hmmmph, after I throw in the gratuitous polo comment on my post you have to take a dig at me. See if I give you another freebie!

Discussions good. Hate and discontent bad.

On the main reason for the thread, why are we isolating B&N? It seems a mite unfair to boycott B&N when we aren't sure the competition would have done differently.

Steven

[wwhopper]

Where you are welcome.

All you have to do is find the places, and there are plenty of them out there.

My local independant book store is a favorite place to buy books, but then I always park the Segway out front, and it gets folks to come into the store for them. But then again it is not the mega big box store that a B&N is, nor do I need to use the seg for access. But one of my neighbors does and he glides into the bookstore all the time.