An Open Letter to Barnes and Noble Management -- Nook Division [ Edited ]

[LessPaul]

Dear People of Barnes and Noble,

Like many people, I have been a satisfied Barnes and Noble customer for many years. I bought a B&N "Membership" discount card. I've come to think of B&N as a company I know and trust.

I am being forced to re-evaluate that trust.

I was happy when I learned you were going to be offering an eInk-based ereader, and thrilled when I read the specifications. The Nook seemed perfect for me, and I was one of the first to order one.

Let us put the arguments that have been bandied about regarding whether or not the 1.0 or 1.1.x Nook was ready for primetime. Regardless of the argument, that is water under the bridge. 1.2 has proved that the Nook development team is working hard to make the Nook the best ereader on the market. Sure there are still bugs, but I remain confident they too will be swatted. 

Where I have lost confidence is in Customer Support. When I say "Customer Support" I am not speaking only of the folks who answer the phone after someone has been on hold for over an hour. I am speaking of the entire realm of supporting the customer after their purchase, including but not limited to people, training, and policy. If you think you are doing it well, you are sadly mistaken. Read these boards. Yes, there are some hotheads who yell and scream as there are with any product. However, the vast majority of your Nook customers are well-educated, technically savy folks. They have real and legitimate complaints, and are not receiving the service and support they deserve. 

These early-adopters are the best sales force you could possibly have, and you are needlessly turning them sour in droves. I am only one of many. 

You clearly learned many lessons from Amazon and the Kindle when designing the Nook. My sincere kudos to a truly excellent product. But you need to take another lesson from dear Mr. Main Competition:

Where Amazon continues to shine in comparison to B&N, is in how they treat their customers. In these forums you will read of people spending an hour on hold each time they call, needing to call five times to get a defective Nook repaired or replaced. Amazon isn't perfect, but most do not endure the support hell that has plagued too many Nook owners. (I have personal experience here, not just hearsay).

I am sticking with the Nook despite the MISERABLE Customer Support I and others have received, in hopes that you, B&N management, will change your policies, train your people, and let the good people who work for your provide your customers the kind of service they deserve.

Please B&N! Work with your customers, not against us. It is to our mutual benefit for the Nook to succeed. Penny-pinching, short-sighted policies are turning your army of fervent Nook supporters into a group of folks who are skittish to recommend one to a friend. 

In closing, I would not write this note if I thought B&N an uncaring monolith. I write because I do think that B&N is capable of doing the right thing; wants to do the right thing, but has entered unfamiliar territory and has made some errors in judgement. 

Speaking as a member of the Nook community, I await your decisions. 

Sincerely,

  Paul R. Harker

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Fellow Nook owners:

I can't tell anyone what to write, but I urge responders to use this thread to send your message to B&N, briefly outlining your person support story, good or bad. Please don't try to use this thread to resolve a personal issue or problem. A separate thread is more likely to get you results. 

[icebike]

I had a cracked button.

I called.

17 minutes later I said good bye.

I had an RMA#, and a new replacement nook arrived two days later.

I'm having a hard time getting worked up about that.

[MoonMystic]

17 minutes is far too long to be on the phone. It should have taken 5 minutes...

I agree with Paul. Good customer service is vital and I personally expect Barnes and Noble to set the bar for good customer relations.

Management can address this immediately and inexpensively. There's no excuse for it.

[ZombiePete]

After a total talk time of probably twenty or so minutes I had a new nook coming to me because of an apparent electrical fault in my current nook. The replacement hasn't arrived yet but I was very confident in their support staff after my dealings with them. I had to call them back three times myself (my fault; I was trying to deal with them while at work and didn't have the charger to my nook with me) and while the third time I was on-hold for nearly 40 minutes, while speaking to their reps they were courteous and (mostly) knowledgeable.

I have had MUCH worse customer support experience with other companies. I never bought a Kindle but I can imagine that two months after release their phone lines were probably busier than they are today. Such is the nature of technology. So it's a bit disingenuous to compare things with Amazon and B&N today.

[bklvr896]

I'm sorry some folks are having problems, I'm one of the lucky ones, I've only had one problem, a book that didn't download properly, which they refunded my money on as soon as I talked to them.  Yes, I had to wait a while, about 25 minutes, but the problem was fixed immediately.  And I've waited longer, I just had to wait 40 minutes on hold for my bank to get a mortgage interest statement that should have been mailed to me.(that was annoying).

I would also advise, that if you want B&N to receive your message, send it directly to them, not count on them seeing it on a message boards. 

[LessPaul]

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bklvr896 wrote:

I would also advise, that if you want B&N to receive your message, send it directly to them, not count on them seeing it on a message boards. 

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I feel it better to post here and hope. A paper letter will be the voice of only one. But by posting here, if I am off-base, the replies to this thread will so-indicate. If I am right, and there are many like myself who are reaching their last straw, the thread will indicate that as well. 

[icebike]

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MoonMystic wrote:

17 minutes is far too long to be on the phone. It should have taken 5 minutes...

I agree with Paul. Good customer service is vital and I personally expect Barnes and Noble to set the bar for good customer relations.

Management can address this immediately and inexpensively. There's no excuse for it.

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Please explain how management can address this inexpensively.  

Several thousand major companies are waiting with bated breath for your formula. You could make millions of dollars consulting for Fortune 500 companies if you can solve tech support crunch inexpensively.

Do you have the foggiest idea of how many CS representatives it would take to answer every issue issue in 5 minutes?  It takes that long to enter the information in the screens.

Can you imagine how much a nook would have to cost it there were enough representatives employed such that every call could be handled in 5 minutes?

Have you ever run a business?  

[eDigest]

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icebike wrote:

I had a cracked button.

I called.

17 minutes later I said good bye.

I had an RMA#, and a new replacement nook arrived two days later.

I'm having a hard time getting worked up about that.

---

LOL ... I was going to post a tongue-in-cheek comment about how 17 minutes is just unacceptable.  Low and behold, the very next post made that very comment -- apparently serious.

Here's a reality check for those who expect CS to pick up on the first ring and solve the problem in two-minutes.  Telephone support is very expensive.  If you want immediate satisfaction, plan on book prices going up rather than down.

[GeoffreyF]

I utterly disagree with LessPaul.   Not only that, I think that LessPaul is unctious and disagreeable while defining not a single issue despite a ridiculously long screed.

To the guy who says that correction of a cracked button should have taken 5 minutes rather than 17.  What ridiculous planet are you guys from.    I think 17 minutes is pretty good and is well within industry standards.

I have used B&N service and whereas one can always hope for better, it was courteous and professional.   The wait was a bit long but it was not unusual for other new products close to launch.

I don't think that Amazon especially "Shines" in comparison to B&N.  They are fairly similar though I think that B&N is a bit better ... but not by enough to draw a comparison.

I Find the original post unpleasant, pointless and disagreeable.  It is subjective and has nothing in it that is even actionable.   It's just subjective silliness and railing against ... what exactly?

[illmunkeys]

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icebike wrote:

Please explain how management can address this inexpensively.  

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17 minutes is much too long to be on hold.  The solution is simple:  call-back queues.

I call in.  Leave my name, my number, brief description of the issue.  They give me an estimated time they'll call back.  I hang up. (many of the utilities services use this method).

or...

I fill out a form online giving them name, number, description of issue.  It pops up a window with the # of people ahead of me in the queue.  Updates every once in a while to inform me when they will be calling me back. (Amazon uses this.  It was awesome customer service.)

[icebike]

And how would the above solve your problem in 5 minutes?

How would it be inexpensive?

[T-BONECA]

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icebike wrote:

And how would the above solve your problem in 5 minutes?

How would it be inexpensive?

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17 mnutes sounds like heaven to me. I spent an hour and a half talking to another country about my HP desktop. The problem never was resolved. I am one of the fortunate ones. I have not had one problem at all.

[JohnP51]

To B&N Management: This letter does not speak for me so do not assume from what it implies that it does.

[illmunkeys]

Solving an issue in 5 minutes is ridiculous.  I will say that the majority of calls that get to me are user training issues and take less than 5 minutes to resolve (I work in IT and take calls our help desk can't resolve but not for anything related to B&Ns).  However, some interesting issues take much longer.  Never do I make them hold for longer than 3-5 minutes of silence on the phone (my user's job doesn't allow them to sit for very long while I fiddle with stuff).

I bet having customers wait for 20-60 minutes is more expensive than a call-back queue. How much time is wasted by representatives every day to complaints about long holds?  I have called B&Ns help desk and it is atrocious.  I love my nook, but waiting on that phone nearly killed me.  I was close to the 30 minute marker.

The best possible outcome is for the customer to call a number and get to someone who can answer their question instantly.  Of course, this is usually impossible and too costly even if you can find a way to accomplish it.  So, the the most efficient solution it to use a virtual queue.  You have the same # of associates answering the phone.  The customer gets intant feedback.  The customer is free to go about doing things they may need to continue doing.

[Hypatia1]

I agree with LessPaul - The fact that some people, even most are having great experiences doesnt mean others are not and doesnt mean there isnt a problem.

I have tried calling customer support twice. 1st time I was on hold for about 50 minutes to be told that my nook battery would last longer if I didnt use the nook to read books - duh! 2nd time I was on hold for about 40 minutes and they then dropped my call transferring me to technical support.

Decided to try email. Got a response to my first email after 4 days that asked me to try something my email explained I had already tried. Sent another email - its now 22 days and waiting for a response to that.... Decided my email had got lost and tried again - this time got a response in 5 days asking for further information which I sent - now 9 days and counting on a response.

I too am a Barnes and Noble member and a customer who not only is buying e-books from them but who still gets physical books from them weekly. However, my plan is not to renew my BN membership when it expires.....

I like my nook, I am appreciative of the improvements, I just would like some evidence BN wants to keep me as a customer

[JohnP51]

If you ever call Sears customer service, you will appreciate B&N even more.

[Radecliffe]

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illmunkeys wrote:

17 minutes is much too long to be on hold.  The solution is simple:  call-back queues.

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He never said he was on hold for 17 minutes.  He said good-bye (meaning his issue was handled) in 17 minutes. 

There is no easy answer for the delays that occur when a company is fielding a new product and there are issues such as what happened with the Nook.  It happens everywhere.  And call back queues may work for you but there will still be plenty that will not like those either. 

[icebike]

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illmunkeys wrote:

Never do I make them hold for longer than 3-5 minutes of silence on the phone (my user's job doesn't allow them to sit for very long while I fiddle with stuff).

I bet having customers wait for 20-60 minutes is more expensive than a call-back queue. 

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Its different when you have to talk the customer thru a procedure and you can't see what they are doing.  You have to wait for the device, you have to wait for the customer.

You leave that call because of some 3 to 5 minute rule you just pissed off another customer with a "Try this" solution, forcing them to get back in line if "This" does not work.  

The customer can put the call on speaker an go about their business.  They know they are in-line.  Waiting for a call back, means someone else might call them and then they miss the callback.  There is always the (not entirely unwarranted) suspicion that a call back will never come.  

There would be JUST AS MUCH bitching on this board if call-backs were the norm.  Which is precisely why call-back are not the norm in the tech industry.  

As per your assertions about cost, all large tech companies have bean counters, and they know what costs more and what pisses off customers.  If call backs were cheaper they would be used more frequently.

[went_postal]

I love how everyone jumps all over the OP.

And IceBike... I have bit my tongue for DAYS reading your responses to different threads.  Unless your last name is Barnes or Noble you REALLY need to calm the heck down.  Your responses are quite often inflammatory and rude.  Were someone calling your mother a dirty name I would be okay with your responses but you take any post that is not inline with your thinking and attack imho.

How can they improve?  Answer the phones in LESS than 30 minutes AND stop using scripts.  Scripted tech support is useless... it's right up there with moving your support center to India... it doesn't help it hurts.  

Granted... this is a HELP forum so there are probably a lot more "my crap is broken" threads then the "my Nook flippin ROCKS" threads.  That is just the nature of the beast.  However... to "attack" someone who has had a personal bad experience getting in contact with Support is unwarranted and silly.  There are many a thread on this board that state call times are ridiculously long and that emails often go ignored.  Odds are it is more of a STAFFING problem than anything.

I am going to bet that a lot of the calls that CS is getting are RTFM calls.  The 50 year old guy that doesn't want to read the docs or the faq and calls in to ask how to turn the dang thing one.  When you get 20-30 of those calls a day... it will lengthen call queues.  I was in the B&N store the other day and saw an "older" gentleman driving the "Nook Rep" insane with questions that are EASLY answered in the documentation on the nook and online.

The short version of my post:  Just because you had an awesome experience calling CS... don't begrudge the people that had crappy experiences their chance to voice their opinion.  

[went_postal]

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icebike wrote:

As per your assertions about cost, all large tech companies have bean counters, and they know what costs more and what pisses off customers.  If call backs were cheaper they would be used more frequently.

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Being that I work as a Phone Monkey for a large tech company (and have for 15 years) I have to disagree.  The bean counters don't know what makes customer's unhappy.  They don't care.  Their concern is the bottom line.  

The way that the come to "care" about the customer is if the Phone Monkeys actually make it their business to make the company aware that current policies are not working.  It has been like that at every company I have worked for in the last 20 years.  Change and customer satisfaction is generated by the people on the "front lines" that deal with the unhappy customers day in and day out.  The only way a Bean Counter is going to give a rat's behind about the customer sat is if you tie them to a chair and make them sit in on the calls.