Barnes & Noble is just plain stupid

I tried for 10 months to get e-mails and offers from Barnes & Nobles. Offers that were promised to me when I broke down after YEARS of making purchases there and bought a membership card. When I bought it I was promised $50 in welcome coupons and regular offers on deals at their online store, brick and mortart stores, etc. Offers on Nook books. Every month for 10 months - sometimes multiple times a month I talked to someone at a Barnes & Noble store. I told them I wasn't getting any offers and hadn't seen my $50 in welcome coupons.

Every fucking month.

Every fucking month whoever I talked to asked me if I was checking my junk mail.

Every fucking month whoever I talked to had me reveriffy my street address and e-mail address.

The first damned e-mail I received was a notification that my membership would auto-renew soon.

And you know what? It didn't go to my fucking junk mail.

I called them to cancel my card and demand my money back.

The first person told me I'd get my money back.

The supervisor said it had been too long and that I could only get my money back in the first month if I hadn't used the card.

Fuck you Barnes & Noble. Every month for 10 months - multiple times a month - I talked to someone. On almost every ocassion I made a purchase.

Fuck you.

It took a tweet and an e-mail to some fucking customer support group to get a promise that I'd get my money back (haven't seen it yet) and notification that my membership was cancelled immediately (which is what I asked for when I called after I got the renewal notice).

AND NOW YOU'RE SENDING ME FUCKING E-MAILS.

They're not going to my junk mail.

They're not being stopped by my spam filter.

AFTER you pissed me off so much I never want to go to your store again.

AFTER I've spent thousands of dollars at your stores over the last umpteen years.

AFTER all the bullshit you put me through for 10 months.

AFTER - in my opinion - you FUCKING STOLE $50 from me.

NOW you're sending me e-mails.

I WILL NEVER SET FOOT IN YOUR STORE AGAIN.

YOU ARE A BUNCH OF IDIOTS.

HOW DARE YOU THINK YOU CAN TREAT A CUSTOMER LIKE THIS AND STILL TAKE THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY.

Stop sending me your fucking e-mails.

I loved John Carter

When I saw the trailer for John Carter I had no interest. I wasn't familiar with the Edgar Rice Burroughs story and I didn't understand why I should be interested in someone who could jump down onto a bunch of weird looking bug things with a sword.

Then I started to read the reviews and they made it sound like a big hot mess. I even re-looked at the trailer on my IPad. Still didn't get the point.

And then on Saturday afternoon my partner decided we should see  a movie. You guessed it. We saw John Carter.

And I was enchanted. It seemed original and fun and fantastic. So much of the movies lately is paying a high price for stupid 3D (we saw John Carter in 2D) designed to get you to pay more, or sequels or remakes. This seemed wholly original to me. I forgot I was watching a lot of motion capture even more quickly than I did watching Avatar.

And the ending? It was magical.

I buy very few movies anymore. I rely on Netflix streaming and their DVDs in the mail. In the end, I own a ton of DVDs/BluRays, bu I've purchased very few in the last year.

John Carter is a movie I will buy and watch again and again.

Thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable movie watching experience.

It's a gay day!

Oh my goodness, so much to do today.

My work schedule is packed with meetings.

When am I ever going to find time to (deep, booming voice) DESTROY HETEROSEXUAL MARRIAGE?

Will I let my people down if I don't?

Probably.

Must get on that.

Busy. Busy.

Barnes & Noble -- idiocy run amok

Well alrighty. This is my third blog posting on Barnes & Noble and my trials and travails surrounding my ill-considered purchase of a membership card 10 months ago.

On Tuesday morning, following months of conversations with my local Barnes & Noble customer, a conversation with their customer service center a week after I got the card, two conversations at the top of my lungs when after 10 months the only e-mail I ever received was regarding the fact that they'd be automatically renewing my membership, a "tweet" to their customer service Twitter account and an e-mail, I received a notification from Barnes & Noble Member Services that they'd cancel my membership account and refund my money.

As of this morning I've received three e-mails from Barnes & Noble telling me about cool deals, specials and dollars off.

I tried to get e-mails like that for 10 months.

And now, after cancelling my membership I'm getting them. And guess what Barnes & Noble. THEY'RE NOT GOING TO MY JUNK MAIL. I told you for 10 months I watch my junk mail. they're not going there. They're coming right to my inbox.

Idiocy.

Run.

Amok.

(delete, delete, delete). Without an apology, I'm never setting foot in that store again.

Barnes & Nobles turns a fan into someone who will no longer shop at their store

I can spend hours in a bookstore. Whether it's a used book store, an independent (Brobst's in Brookings, South Dakota is amazing) or Barnes & Noble. I find wonderful treasures wherever I go. I've spent thousands at bookstores. Tens of thousands probably. I own a couple thousand books. Probably a tenth of them were purchased used, so were cheap. A small number were gifts. But most were books that I've carried with me some since I was an infant.

'Miss Grimsbee Takes a Vacation' was a gift from my godmother when I was an infant. I still own it. I have books that have been signed by authors. I own mysteries, sci fi, fantasy, math, novels, plays, history, geography, anthropolgy, science, and more. The vast majority of my books are in English. A few are in Russian, a couple in Middle English, one or two in Hebrew, a couple in Latin. I have books I purchased in England when I was there in high school and books that I found in tucked away bookstores when touristing through towns.

I was at Barnes & Noble every month except June or July 2011. I got talked into their membership card in May. I purchased books in May, in June or July, in August, twice in September, once in October and again in November and December. And EVERY SINGLE TIME I went to the store, I asked why I hadn't received any of the offers offered to me when I bought the membership card. I was told I'd get $50 in welcome coupons and weekly offers re: books. I spent 10 months trying to resolve the issue. And then, last week I got an e-mail that my membership would "auto renew". Ten months and all they want is more of my hard-earned money.

Not going to happen.

It's March 2012.

The last three times I was in the city (I live some 75 miles from the nearest Barnes & Noble, 50 miles from the nearest independent bookstore and 20+ miles from the nearest used book store). I'll continue to shop the independent store. And, I'll buy things I can't get there from Amazon. In fact, in the last month I've purchased eight (8) books from Amazon.

I love books.

I can't stand a book store lying to me.

And Barnes & Noble lied to me.

They turned someone who loves books into someone who won't set foot into their chain.

Barnes & Noble - You Lost a Customer

Here's the reason you lost a customer:

I have been shopping at Barnes & Noble for YEARS. Every time I go there the cashier asks me if I have a membership card and when I say "no" the cashier ALWAYS asks if I want one. In early May of 2011, the cashier talked me into it. He told me I'd save money on the books I was buying that day, that I'd get $50 worth of welcome coupons (he specified that the coupons could only be used in certain ways, i.e. some online, in store), and regular notices about sales/specials.

In mid-May of last year I was back at Barnes & Noble  and noted to the cashier that I hadn't received anything yet. She apologized and wrote an 800# on a sticky pad to for me to call.

I called the 800# the next business day. The person told me they couldn't help and that I'd have to go back to the store because some information was incomplete.

I live 75 miles from Barnes & Noble. I wasn't back for a couple weeks, but when I went back I went to customer service and told them what was going on. They looked up my account, noted it had an e-mail but not a street address and while I stood there, they filled it in, had me confirm the info., apologized for the mix up and said I should start getting stuff soon. The person also asked if I checked my junk folder/spam. I do. I told the individual I get lots of e-mails from other companies, too, so my spam filters aren't set very high.

In June or July (sorry, I don't remember which) I was in Sioux Falls again. I still had received nothing re: coupons or info. on sales or ANYTHING. I talked to customer service again. They looked at my account again. They asked me questions about spam/junk again. They said they couldn't see any problems.

Ditto in August.

I was in the Twin Cities twice in September and again in October. I asked cashiers there, too. Same questions. Same answers.

In November I was back in Sioux Falls again and this time the customer service person had me speak with a manager. He was very nice. He did all the stuff that was done in June or July and August and in addition got on the phone with someone at Barnes & Noble. We looked at my online account together. He wasn't sure what was going on. He asked (I was standing right there and heard him) the person on the phone if I'd get my welcome coupons. I don't know if he was certain, but he seemed pretty sure I'd get something.

Earlier this week (it's March) I did. I got an e-mail notice from Barnes & Noble that my membership account would auto-renew.

So. Today, I called the 800# that was in the notice, told the person I was speaking with that I was sorry that he picked up, but that I was irate, I wanted my money back, and I wanted to cancel my auto renew.

He made me explain the whole idiotic story again. I did. At the TOP of my lungs.

He told me I'd get my money back.

He had me speak to a manager/supervisor (I said at some point that I wanted to speak to a manager) but first told me he'd put me on hold while he explained everything. I thanked him and told him to have a nice afternoon and waited on hold for a couple minutes.

I got to repeat the same thing AGAIN.

And was told that I couldn't get my money back because it had been too long.

I was then told memberships could only be refunded within 30 days if the card was unused.

You know what Barnes & Noble? Screw you. Every single time I went to the store and talked to customer service I made a purchase.

The last three times I was in Sioux Falls I did NOT stop at Barnes &Noble. I own a couple thousand books. Over the years I've purchased MANY of them at Barnes & Noble.

Last night I bought four (4) online from Amazon.

Barnes & Noble - your customer service stinks. You get people to buy into your membership based on false promises, you toy with them, and then you do not follow up with them.

I will not set foot in any of your stores again. I have too much self-respect to let you continue lying to me and using me. 

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Is a liar.

That is all.

No, it isn't. He's an incompetent fool who is wasting taxpayer money on nonsense while sex crimes against CHILDREN go uninvestigated.

He is a liar and a fraud.

On pins and needles for Sheriff Joe's BIG announcement

You know. This has gotten beyond ridiculous. President Obama is the president because he won the election. Technically, he won the Electoral College, but he won the popular vote, too. More people voted for him than voted for his competitors.

Yes. I realize he has more pigment than some of us. But some of us are taller than others. Some of us (not me drat the luck) have blue eyes. Some of us are blonde. Some come from Swedish ancestry.

Some of us are over 35 and eligible to run. Others of us are not.

Some of us are married with children. Some of us are unmarried with children. Others of us are single or are in marriages that aren't recognized by all the states. Some of us are having affairs. Others of us are true to our one and only.

Some of us worship in Churches. Others at synagogues. Some at Mosques and Temples. Some in nature. Others not at all.

My mom's family was in this country before it was one. My dad's family, not until the 1800s. Some of us immigrated last week. Others of us are refugees from war. Some of us don't know others don't care about our backgrounds.

And, yes, some of us are brown (I'm not). But being of mixed race (as is being argued right now in Alaska) doesn't make someone ineligible to be president. Being brown or green or orange or blue or any other color doesn't make us ineligible. Having a "funny" name (some think mine is funny I suppose. I don't) doesn't make someone ineligible.

And repeated claims don't make President Obama ineligible.

Don't like him? Vote in November. But don't pretend that he's not as eligible as you or me to be our leader. Lots of people didn't like Pres. Bush. But I don't remember repeated calls for his birth certficiate or repeated claims that the b.c. his home state released (yeah, right, like they did in Bush's case) was a forgery/fake/fraud/etc.

Whatever Joe says, whatever Orly Taitz says, Barack Obama is the President. And I wish the president Godspeed.

I am so tired of the Republican primary

Let's see. College education is bad. Religion in the public square is bad if it's Obama's or Romney's but good if it's Santorum's or Gingrich's. Gays should be outlawed or a constitutional amendment needs to be created to ensure lack of equal rights. Health reform has to go! The government is too involved in health care! Women! You need to have a vaginal ultrasound! Really?

Tell me about how you'll deal with conflicts cropping up all over the world. How you'll bring meaningful jobs to the masses who've lost their jobs as companies save money with overseas labor. Tell me, who the heck is going to buy what they're making when the jobs coming back pay so much less than the jobs that were lost?

And stop, just stop, not acknowledging ANYTHING the president has done. The Dow was at 6,000 (ish) in the final months of George Bush's term. It hit 13,000 yesterday. But Obama is a socialist or a fascist or a Muslim (and who the hell cares if he is. There's nothing in the Constitution that says only a Quaker or a Catholic or a pick something can be president), or some kind of Manchurian candidate.

Look. I'm not happy with a ton of what's happened under Obama's watch. But very little of it is about him. Republicans idea of compromise seems to be "my way or the highway". Letting people talk about "death panels" unchallenged ... letting people talk about his birth certificate UNCHALLENGED ... and so on says all I need to know about whether I'll vote for a Republican in the fall.

I was as junior delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1984. And today, I will no longer vote Republican.

Who changed? Me? or the Republican Party I knew and loved?

Why should I care about the Oscars anymore?

I used to watch the Oscars. I used to really care. I made a point of seeing every single picture up for Best Picture BEFORE the ceremony and ponder the odds any one picture would win.

I haven't watched the Oscars now in a few years.

Why you ask? There's no freakin point.

Most of the movies up for Best Picture didn't play anywhere near me. To wit: In order to even see Hugo (which I loved by the way) I had to make a 75 mile drive EACH WAY. Moneyball? Loved it, but had to wait for it to come out on DVD in order to see it. There are several local theaters much closer to me. None of them played The Artist or Tree of Life or Moneyball or several other top contenders. The theater 75 miles away didn't either.

How the heck am I supposed to care about anything other than the few movies I could see? And when I have no idea if they had a chance, there's no point caring about how they do because I have nothing with which to compare them. I've read that The Artist is very good. As soon as it's out on DVD/BluRay I'll see it - and I would have even if it hadn't won.

But when I can't see the "best" pictures of the year until months after awards season you've lost my loyalty Oscar.

Today in today's gay agenda

Watching the football combine. That us all. Don't feel like destroying heterosexual marriage today. Who knows maybe tomorrow.

Wow. I feel sorry for Orly Taitz.

Um. Wait. No I don't. She was totally and completely unprepared for today's ballot challenge in Indiana. Wow.

http://bleachandlight.blogspot.com/2012/02/orly-does-indiana.html

I know we live in a free country because people like Orly keeping saying we do, but at what point do we say "enough, you've lost 100 cases, you've been fined thousands of dollars, enough" Court and commission time costs taxpayers money.

If you don't like an elected official you have a really cool option. VOTE. But, remember, other people are voting, too, and, if more people vote for a candidate that you didn't vote for than the one you did, that candidate (the one you didn't vote for or don't like or think looks funny or whatever) wins. And, not liking a candidate's policies or philosophies or whatever doesn't make that candidate a usurper or socialist or communist or fascist or whatever. If the candidate does something ILLEGAl (illegal mind you, not just something you don't like/don't approve of/wouldn't do if you held that office) then, there are remedies. But making up stuff about birth certificates and SSN and so on doesn't cut it.

Today's gay agenda

Buy milk
Pay bills
Overthrow heterosexual marriage and require all heterosexuals to "gay" marry.

Wait.

I might not have time for that last one.

Maybe tomorrow.

Thinkin' bout Republicans and smaller govt. Sigh.

For years now I've totally and completely misunderstood the Republican call for smaller government. Silly me, I thought they were talking about individual liberties and responsibilities and the fact that Democrats wanted a big cumbersome government that would intrude into all corners of our lives.

As it turns out, they meant "small enough to fit up a woman's vaginal canal.

Really?

Republican governors, senators legislators, congresspeople railed against HPV vaccinations that prevent cancer because it represented big, bad government intruding on parental choice. More than a couple of Republicans have complianed bitterly and publicly about TSA screenings at airports.

And yet.

They think women need more - and more intrusive - tests before undergoing a legal abortion. Well, heck, she already agreed to be penetrated when she got pregnant. Does that really fucking mean what it implies? Because a woman has had sex once (or twice or 100 times) it can now be concluded that she's agreed to have sex anytime anywhere by anyone? Including the government?

Smaller government ought not mean government that intrudes into my private life. When smaller government means less regulation on business, fewer protections for the working poor, a smaller safety net (hey! it should be harder to get food stamps!) there's no way it should mean making a woman spread her legs for the government.

My BIG gay agenda for Wed. February 22, 2012

Go to work to earn money to pay taxes
Have lunch
Walk the dogs

Thinkin' 'bout birth control and the 2012 presidential election

Um. What? I'm doing what!?!

What part of "it's the economy, stupid" don't the Republicans get?

And how on earth can the Catholic Church claim that it's rights are being infringed unless it can infringe on the rights of others (hey! gays! go away. No marriage for you 'cause we don't believe in it! Hey! women! no birth control for you! 'cause we celibate men don't believe in it!). Um. are they railing against Viagra for men? Thought not. Are they making men go through humiliating tests before they impregnate a woman? No? Those tests are just for "slutty" women? Got it. Who the hell do they think the women are being impregnated by? Pomegranates? If I remember health class it takes a sperm and an egg and I can only think of one place to get the sperm.

Come to think of it, why are Republicans so consumed with private lives when they want government out of everything (except of course wars)? They want fewer regulations on business but they want to be able to do tansvaginal ultrasounds on women? What the hell century is this?

I decided the Bishops are right

Every religious person should get to impose their beliefs on everyone who works for them. So, if you work for a Catholics no freakin birth control. If you are a woman and work for a Muslim, I suppose you should wear traditional clothing and pray multiple times a day. If you work for a Muslim or a Jewish person, no pork. If you work for a Jewish person, no shellfish and make sure you keep Kosher. If you work for a Seventh Day Adventist I think you should be vegetarian but I'm really not sure. If you work for that one religion, I can't remember what they're called, but if you do, no medicine or surgery, you should pray when you get sick. If you work for a Mormon, I'm not sure if this is true but I've read that you have to wear some sort of special under garments.

Now that's freedom of religion. I'm gonna go buy me a business tomorrow and make all my employees observe my religious beliefs around the Flying Spagetti Monster on Tuesdays, Santa Claus every other Thursday and something random the other days of the week. Also, random Mondays are holy days and if my employees don't properly observe those days ... they're fired for violating my religious rights!

Awesome!

My big gay day!

Working on the Facebook pages of a couple local non-profits. Then, off to a committee meeting for another local non-profit. Then, on to work at a for-profit company. Then, lunch while I read U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton. I've read all her books to this point. This is my favorite so far.

Will probably spend some time on the Internet looking at stories about the Republican primary race. Michigan just got interesting. According to a PPP poll, Santorum is leading Romney. That's weird to me given that Romney's father was governor there and Romney has good name recognition.

Might check out my stock portfolio, too.

And, given that it's Valentine's, who knows, maybe flowers or something for my sweetie.

So, that last one was kind of gay. But, really, most of my day is taken up with stuff that straight folks do, too. Wait. Maybe straight folks get their sweeties flowers and such on Valentine's too. You think? No, that can't be. That would imply that I really am just like straight people. And that might make people like me less scary to folks when they step into a voting booth this fall.

Nah.

Oh this is rich. Hypocrites running the Church

So. Catholic bishops demand a compromise. And, in their minds, compromise is "my way or the highway." Um. Last I checked I didn't live in a Catholic country. Its ridiculous that what was first an issue for Catholic institutions like hospitals and schools is now an issue for any person of faith who has any kind of a business.

But is it really? Or is it really about any Catholic who wants not to pay for birth control in a health policy?

If a Muslim business owner wanted to require all female employees Muslim and not to wear Muslim religious garb, would that be o.k.? I thought not.

It is beyond hypocritical to demand that all women who happen to work for a Catholic be denied birth control.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2012/02/obama-catholic-bishops-contaception-abortion/1

"My way or the highway" the new compromise.

Another day in the life of a gay

Great. My cat caught a baby shrew (like a mouse only weirder and smaller). Sigh.

Then workout, checking out the news on the internet (Santorum won Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado. Want to learn more? Google him. hee hee). Then, off to a board meeting. We're arguing with a grantee, so it won't be fun. Then work. Then a board committee meeting for a second board. Then more work. Then, if the weather is nice, a walk with the dogs after work.

It's gonna be a gay day!