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Business Profile

New Books

Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Headquarters

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

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Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Barnes & Noble, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

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    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 177 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 67 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

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    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:03/26/2025

      Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I had pre-ordered a novel I was really looking forward to reading in fact, I had used a personal day to take off work when it was supposed to be delivered so that I could spend the day reading. Barnes & Noble had shipped the package out on release day, something that I understood would happen as I have pre-ordered books a number of time before. My package was delivered almost a week after the original expected date given by *** after sitting in a facility for 4 days. It was delivered today, but I still contacted B&N to voice my displeasure in having to wait so long. Not only did their customer service chastise me on supposedly "not understanding" that they couldn't send the book before the release date (which was not the issue I had brought to their attention) but they backtracked and said the original delivery date was today. Which is a blatant lie. And because I did not foresee an issue I did not take screenshots and there is no paperwork from before that says that original date. After my complaint, B&N made sure to send me another confirmation, this time with the actual delivery date on it. They then gaslit me and said that date had always been the intended delivery date. That is a flat out lie and I will never be shopping there again. It's past the standard shipping window which is 3-6 business days. It took 8.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:03/16/2025

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I went to my local Barnes and Noble store in ***********, **********. I first went to the cafe area to buy a drink and later that day while I was still inside the store. I requested to pay for a refill for the ice tea beverage. The employee behind the desk told me that is not something that is offered for regular ice tea and regular ice coffee I inform the employee that it is something that is offered as a regular menu item. The manager came over and said that she couldnt help me and I then inform the manager that refill drinks on regular tea and coffee is something that is offered to customers as part of the Cafe menu item and she then ask to me to show my receipt like Im lying when I go to every other Barnes and noble store and the employees are well informed and know how to check me out at the register for a refill on tea. Its not so much about them refusing me to charge me for refill, its how I was treated, the manager and the employees were looking at me the whole time like Im the one crazy and making this up the whole time and I mention to them if I go to another location they know how cash me out and charge me accordingly and she still disregard to what I said, I called the phone number that handles complaints and issues at the retail store and the ****** on the phone told me that the district manager in charge of that store will call me back and that never happen, I called again, the second ****** told me that the complaint wasnt filed correctly. So than you have people not doing their job right. The second ****** on the phone didnt help because the call got disconnected and he didnt call me back, so I tried to called back and couldnt get a hold of anyone because of the constant long hold times, how I was treated is disrespectful, Ive been a loyal customer and member for over twenty years, like where is the loyalty at for customers supporting their local ********************** and ********************** store? Where is your appreciation at?

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:03/10/2025

      Type:Customer Service Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      Today I visited the store to browse/purchsse. I have been here numerous times with my dog without being told by the store that it is not a pet friendly store. I was browsing and my dog got scared by an employee and he barked at him. I understand where this may be scary and the employees safety is important. I apologized and right after the incident a manager approached me. She told me they are not pet friendly and cant have dogs barking. I told her it was an accident and that I understood. She prompted to tell me to get out. Her tone was very disrespectful and I was not provided options as to whether I wanted to make a purchase. I felt very victimized by the manager. After I left I gave the employee my apologizes and the manager did not acknowledged my apology. I will not be purchasing from this store anymore due to their poor training of management. **************** is lacking here.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:02/27/2025

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      Barnes and Noble. I am an author. I have published through several venues. I first published in November 2024 through Barnes and NobleI and have not received a ***** even though I originally saw they made sales on my book. Now I am in hold status because of a discrepancy that they will not tell me. I have no way to fix this. They are keeping and getting interest where ever they are holding my money. It's not much but times my new author amount by hundreds and of thousands of other new author sales they are holding and getting interest. That is huge money that they are making a huge profit from the interest on our money don't you think? It isn't right.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:02/24/2025

      Type:Delivery Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      On 02/24/25 I used my online Barnes and Noble account to place order #**********.About 12 minutes later I received an email informing me that my order had been canceled as it did not pass our order verification process which is something Ive never seen before.I then used the online customer service chat available on their website only to be told I needed to contact their ********************** and that the *** was unable to offer me any further information.This is very unprofessional and a poorly disguised way of labeling customers, seemingly at random, as fraud but I gave them the benefit of the doubt.I have had my online account for many years but do almost all my shopping in person with my husband, spending hundreds of dollars on books and movies every year. We even have a paid membership under his name.I attempted to reach a human being at the number given to me for the sales audit department, and after being on hold for almost half an hour and getting through, I was hung up on.I thought I could instead place an order to pick up from a store locally in case they the shipping address Id used was the issue. But it appears my account has been completely locked out from any and all ordering and the second order was also canceled.This is entirely unacceptable on every front. I dont have the free time to sit around waiting to speak to a human being who might or might not hang up on me to ostensibly have to prove Im a legitimate customer. My information hasnt changed (in fact Ive successfully placed multiple orders in the last few weeks on the b&n website without issue!), I am and always have been in the **, my payment method is sound (I chatted with Amex just to be sure), and the shipping address is a physical home in the continental US.I would like my account unlocked and an actual explanation as to why my ability to place orders online was blocked randomly.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 03/21/2025

      Better Business Bureau:

      At this time, I have not been contacted by Barnes & Noble, Inc. regarding complaint ID ********.

      Sincerely,

      ******** ******

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:02/23/2025

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      Brought a *********** Tablet with B&N Android Nook App on it. Experienced all kinds of problems with the app where I would load personal epubs and organize them in shelves. Had to restart the tablet several times due to issues with the tablet and everytime my epubs and shelves would disappear. Was never able to get the shelves back. I called B&N **************** which was not helpful at all. They knew nothing - obviously located overseas probably in *****. They promised they would elevate the issue and email me. Nothing ever happened. I discovered after the fact that the problem I had with the Nook App has existed for several years at least. This was never disclosed to me when I brought the Tablet and the Cover. Wish to discuss these problems with someone higher up. I had the same problem when I brought a Nook Glowlight 4 four weeks earlier - no resolution to the problem and no help from **************** on this one either. The Company obviously doesn't care about its customers. I want someone to call me so I can discuss the issues with their Nook Android App. They also don't disclose that the Nook Glowlight 4 which has 32 GB of storage on it only allows 5 GB of storage for sideloaded personal documents. I feel they are totally misleading their customers when it comes to their Nook Devices and their Nook Android App. Spent over $300 between the two devices I brought from them at local *********.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:02/15/2025

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I entered the Barnes and Noble store on *************************** this morning. I found the book I wanted to buy. I went to the registers and was the only person waiting in line. There was only one associate at the register, and she was working with a customer. I stood there for 6 minutes as the one associate was trying to do refunds and a new purchase, and realizing that no other associate was going to ring me out, I went to the back customer service kiosk and asked to be rung out there. An employee told me they could only ring out one customer at a time at the front registers, and that they couldn't help me. It's stupid that on a weekend morning, there's only one person available to handle customers, and at only one location. I was in a hurry, so I had to put the book back on the shelf and leave. Annoying.Then I placed the order online to pick up the same book in-store. An hour later, my order was cancelled because "we can't find the book". So then I had to go *ACK to the store, I found the book, took it to the register, and when I showed the "cancelled order" email to the cashier, he said "yeah, that's what they do; when they can't find it, they cancel it.". Um, what? It's right on the shelf with other copies, right there it's been placed. So if I'd just left it at that when I received the cancellation email, I would have had to have ordered it to be shipped, which said 5-7 days to arrive. Too long! And what kind of answer was that that the cashier gave me? "That's what they do"? Here's a suggestion for them: open your eyes, spend a few minutes, and you'll find the book right where it's supposed to ***** then I go to the * and N site to do a complaint, but alas, they don't provide that option. How convenient. So that's why I'm here.I expect to hear from the manager of that store so we can discuss why I joined * and N Premier instead of using ****** or other local book stores? *ad experience all around.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 02/17/2025

      Better Business Bureau:

      I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

      Sincerely,

      ****** *******



       

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:02/12/2025

      Type:Delivery Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I have been trying to contact Barnes & Noble press about my book so I can fix the files but they are not been getting back to me through email I have been emailing them since February 7th 2025 maybe email a little longer then that there's no other way to contact them except for email and when I call customer support they tell me there's nothing they can do about it this has to be one of the worst customer service I ever had. And if they ever do get back to me which I doubt I will be deleting my book in my account. I placed the order for proofs but cancel the order but it keeps saying I can't edit my files because the orders processing which is not.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 02/12/2025

      Better Business Bureau:

      I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

      Sincerely,

      ******* ******



       

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:02/04/2025

      Type:Billing Issues
      Status:
      Unanswered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I have been requesting for this company to delete my online account and they refuse to do so. They keep telling me to click on a link and I have already reiterated numerous times back and forth that the link and also the same one on the website does not work, but the company still refuses to delete my account on my behalf. I don't want my information floating around where it does not need to and I don't want to disclose further information just so they can close the account. This is a violation of privacy issues. It's such a simple request, and I don't know why they keep stalling in granting this request.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:02/01/2025

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I'm an author for the book The Eye of Destiny, I am using Barnes & Noble Press to publish the ebook. However, my "Vendor Account" is on hold and the revenue I'm due is being with held due to "Changes to the information on taxpayer's page". I checked and even sent my W9 to show that the information is not only correct but current. I sent numerous messages and have not gotten any reply from them. My first message was on January 15th I believe. I need help and, if the person reading would be so inclined, read my book! I appreciate your assistance and support!

      Customer Answer

      Date: 02/26/2025

      Better Business Bureau:

      At this time, my complaint, ID ******** regarding Barnes & Noble, **** has been resolved.

      (By clicking "OK", your complaint will be closed as Resolved.)


      Sincerely,

      ***** *****

    Barnes & Noble, Inc. is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

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