Read in store function not working properly

[CriticalRecept…]

Device: Nook Color

Problem: Read in store function is not working properly. Books will not open for weeks at a time.

Methods tried: Customer service has suggested erasing/deregistering the device and a factory reset. Both methods have failed to resolve the problem.

Who contacted: Customer service five times. On the fourth time a customer service representative said that there was a problem with the server not resetting and that was what was causing the books to not be available. She gave a date for that problem to be fixed which has passed over a month ago. The last time I contacted customer service they have absolutely no idea what I was referencing.

Looking for: Any direct information on this problem.

[emmyk]

I wouldn't hold my breath on its getting fixed.  I encountered the problem a year ago and worked for a couple hours with the folks at my local store, who, in my presence, opened a formal problem report on my behalf.  That was 05/21/11, and there's been no apparent change since then.  It works every once in awhile at my store, but usually not.  I assume that it works OK when they, for other reasons, do a thorough reset of some server-side code, which has the effect of zeroing some relevant memory and accidentally reinitializing flags back to "false".  I compulsively check the problem, just for fun (as a software engineer who's easily amused), and here's what I've seen at my store: 

05/08/11 First RIS try
05/14/11 Next RIS try - broken
05/21/11 Next RIS try - broken -- problem report opened
06/18/11 Next RIS try - working!
06/24/11 Next RIS try - broken
06/25/11 Next RIS try - broken
07/02/11 Next RIS try - broken
07/09/11 Next RIS try - broken
07/16/11 Next RIS try - broken
07/23/11 Next RIS try - broken
07/30/11 Next RIS try - working!
08/06/11 Next RIS try - broken
08/13/11 Next RIS try - broken
08/20/11 Next RIS try - broken
08/27/11 Next RIS try - broken
09/03/11 Next RIS try - broken
09/10/11 Next RIS try - broken
09/17/11 Next RIS try - working!
09/24/11 Next RIS try - broken
10/01/11 Next RIS try - broken
10/08/11 Next RIS try - broken
10/15/11 Next RIS try - broken
10/22/11 Next RIS try - broken
10/29/11 Next RIS try - broken
11/05/11 Next RIS try - broken
11/12/11 Next RIS try - broken
11/17/11 Next RIS try - broken
11/19/11 Next RIS try - broken
11/26/11 Next RIS try - broken
12/03/11 Next RIS try - working!
12/10/11 Next RIS try - working!
12/17/11 Next RIS try - working!
12/22/11 Next RIS try - broken
12/23/11 Next RIS try - broken
12/30/11 Next RIS try - broken
01/07/12 Next RIS try - broken
01/14/12 Next RIS try - broken
01/21/12 Next RIS try - broken
01/28/12 Next RIS try - broken
02/04/12 Next RIS try - broken
02/11/12 Next RIS try - broken
02/18/12 Next RIS try - broken
02/25/12 Next RIS try - broken
03/03/12 Next RIS try - broken
03/10/12 Next RIS try - broken
03/17/12 Next RIS try - broken
03/24/12 Next RIS try - broken
03/31/12 Next RIS try - broken
04/07/12 Next RIS try - broken
04/14/12 Next RIS try - broken
04/21/12 Next RIS try - broken
04/28/12 Next RIS try - broken
05/05/12 Next RIS try - working!
05/12/12 Next RIS try - broken

[CriticalRecept…]

I am experiencing a similar situation. I called up customer service about three months ago to report a problem with the read in store function on behalf of a customer. He has a list very similar to yours, where books can not be accessed for weeks at a time. I was originally told to erase/deregister the device and the factory reset the device, both methods proved ineffectual. The third time I called I was told about a server resetting problem, the issue you referenced,  that was being fix. I was given a date that passed about three weeks ago. When I called friday, I had started back at the beginning, with customer service telling me to erase/deregister the device and factory reset. When I mentioned about the server reset issue she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about and neither did her surpervisor.

he has also tried to get information about this problem through calling customer service and emails and hasn't gotten any information. All he is asking for is an official stance on the issue from barnes and noble that specifies the problem and when or if it is going to be fixed. That doesn't sound very unreasonable to me and I am quite surprised that we are having this much trouble getting that.

The sad thing is, I originally found out about this problem and other problems through this forum and not through barnes and noble. When customer service proved ineffectual I stopped short of mentioning the server reset problem since it wasn't direct barnes and noble information I had received. I didn't want to spread false information. But not only was it correct it was months ahead of barnes and noble customer service.

If I don't hear anything else about this issue I am going to direct him to this thread. Maybe if enough people experiencing the problem unite in one place, somebody with the ability to do something about it will finally pay attention.

[BobBowles]

Bought a Nook Color on 2/22/12 and the Read In Store function (RIS) has never worked as advertised.  Since I am a regular B&N Cafe customer, this was a big selling point for me.  I can open a RIS book once only, then no more except for the three unique instances below:

1.  On 4/15/12 I responded to a B&N survey and detailed my problem.  The next time I tried, I could open all 10 of my test books.

2.  On 4/25/12 I posted a comment on LinkedIn about my Nook problems and the next day I was able to again open all 10 of my test books.

3.  On 5/7/12 I again posted a LinkedIn comment and this time it took 3 days, but all on my 10 test books opened.    Good job of monitoring social media but how about fixing the product problem.

The problem is that the books will only open the one time then not again.  I do not want to keep posting negative comments in order for the Nook to operate as advertised.  And B&N should not want this either.

I saw other comments on this community page about the RIS not working as advertised for the past year.  I'm now thinking that this is possibly false or mis-leading advertising.    I would like a reply from B&N so I will know how to proceed.

Bob Bowles

[emmyk]

I'm just guessing (no internal access to B&N--but with a few decades of experience with an actual software company), but I'm pretty confident that it's incompetence rather than deliberate deception.  It appears as if B&N, a great old bookseller, has stumbled into the computer business without having a clue about what that entails.  For example, without knowing anything about their implementation, I guessed, almost a year ago, that they probably have tracking variables in their code that are not being initialized at all or that are being initialized but never reset (except by accident when memory gets totally refreshed and accidentally sets the variables back to 0=false).  Alternately, they could have some out of control code that is overwriting memory and changing the values of flags.  The point is that, as an experienced developer, I can make a good stab at diagnosing the problem without knowing anything other than the symptoms that I've personally observed.  The fact that they haven't been able to fix this in a year tells me that they either have no experienced developers working for them, or they don't care whether the product works as advertised, or, worst case, they don't even have the *concept* of supporting their product.  The last possibility sounds silly, but it's possible that they don't actually even realize that they *are* in the computer business, and that legitimate computer companies support their software.  Unlike some people, I don't care too much about the function; I didn't even learn of it until after I bought my Nook.  However, I really sympathize with anyone who partly decided on the Nook because of this function, and then was unlucky enough to have a local store (like mine) that doesn't do frequent unwitting workarounds for this problem.

[BobBowles]

Well, a monh has passed and my Read In Store function still does not work as advertised.  I have found at least 2-3 online discussions of the topic but B&N has still not taken ownership of the issue.  Guess the plan is just to have people talk about the problem on social media and hope the problem will go away.  

I did create a NOOK Read in Store Case Study for a training class that included topics such as product quality and customer satisfaction.  The Case Study discussion was not too positive about the level of trust in the Nook or in B&N based on their lack of a positive response or lack of a solution.  Guess I will be spending my $$$ elsewhere.