Kaitlyn T.
Yelp
I used to really like Barnes and Noble because it is a conveniently located bookstore to my house. They've run almost all other bookstores out of town, and seem to be on the verge of monopolizing Tulsa.
Unfortunately, one day I went to waste some free time and left being accused of shoplifting. When I walked into the store, I happened to have an old book given to me a few years prior in my purse. It was hardcover with the outer cover off. It had clearly been used and had earmarked pages, post-it's, and writing on the inside pages. I had been browsing the entire store and went to leave when the alarm went off. The cashier at the front counter immediately stopped me and asked to look in my purse. I did so and informed her I had an old book with me, the whole time understanding this was protocol and that she was just doing her job. She took the book out and went through the contents of my entire purse before bothering to acknowledge what I had said. She asked when I had been given the book, so I told her a few years ago. She flipped through it and then gave me my purse and the book back, but not before she gave me a dirty look that implied I was lying. She seemed mad that I hadn't been shoplifting from the tone of her voice when she told me not to put books in my purse anymore (but where else am I supposed to carry them??). I promptly left and have only been back on the rare occasion that a class requires a book from there (seeing as the other closet chain bookstore to me is Books-a-Million in Tulsa Hills and I live in Midtown Tulsa).
On top of this ordeal, the customer service is HORRIBLE. Before the whole "shoplifting" experience, I had been left numerous times searching the store for an employee because the customer service desk had been abandoned. Sometimes the employees were nowhere to be found in the store. When I could find an employee, it seemed they never had the book I needed unless it was a classic. They especially don't like to stock full series of books. There have been a multitude of times where I had finished a book and gone to get the next one, and they had only the odds or evens of the series stocked. Since the only other options are the few used bookstores littered around Tulsa or the local libraries, this is a necessary evil if you like buying your books in hand. I personally love that, but the service here is so repulsive that I often just resort to online shopping (because the books I want are stocked :P).