A letter to Barnes and Nobel

Dear Barnes and Nobel,

I'm already boycotting Borders due to a shipping fee of $5 they refused to refund me. Now it seems like you too are heading towards my list of boycotted retailers. This list is small and I'd like to keep it that way. I'd love to have somewhere that I can buy books and sit and drink my coffee and eat my cupcakes in peace. Barnes and Nobel has been that place for several months.

The problem with this, is that every time I go to the Washington University School of Medicine Barnes and Noble bookstore I receive poor customer service from the cafe employees. Normally I just brush it off as tolorably rude behavior, but today I reached my tipping point.

All I wanted was a venti ginger peach tea and two small red velvet cupcakes. Following is a brief description of what happened.

Me: "Please don't smash the cupcakes. Actually, could you put them in a box rather than a bag? I'd like them to look pretty since I'm giving them to my employees."

Cashier: "We don't have any boxes."

Me: "Well, could you maybe just put them in that styrofoam soup bowl?" *point to the soup bowl* "That one would be big enough."

Cashier: *Heavy sigh* "Let me see if we have a box."

The cashier proceeded to look through the cupboards for a box, slamming each one until she found a box that was approximately two inches deep.

Me: "I don't think those cupcakes will fit in that. I just want to make sure they aren't smashed."

Cashier: "They won't be."

She put them in the box and closed the lid. When she handed them to me they were obviously smashed. Chocolate icing was smeared on the top of the clear container. I sighed and walked over to a table. However, when I got to the table, I thought to myself, "I specifically asked her not to smash the cupcakes. I'm going to ask for some new ones." So, I walked back to the counter.

Me: "Excuse me. I asked you not to smash these cupcakes since they are gifts. Would you please give me new ones?"

Cashier: "What?"

Me: "I'd like new cupcakes since you smashed these. Could you make sure not to smash the new ones?"

Cashier: *Eye roll* "Fine."

The cashier grabbed two more cupcakes and put them on a plate.

Me: "I actually need them in a container so I can take them back to work. Could you just put them in a soup bowl?"

Cashier: "What soup bowl?"

Me: *Pointing again* "That soup bowl I just asked you to put them in a minute ago."

Cashier: *Deep sigh combined with an eyeroll*

The cashier put the cupcakes in the soup bowl and handed them to me. They were smashed again. At that point I gave up on trying to get unsmashed cupcakes and went back to my table.

That's when the cashier started talking about me to a woman sitting at the table across from the cafe counter. She was talking about how unreasonable I was about not having smashed cupcakes. The lady at the table laughed and another woman chimed in, "Well, you know we deal with all kinds here." They continued to talk about me until I left my table.

By this time I was very angry, and decided that I should speak with the manager about the cafe staff. I walked over to the book section and asked to speak with someone. When the manager arrived, it was the woman who had been sitting at the table across from the cafe counter, gossiping about me with the other workers.

When I told her I didn't appreciate the way she was speaking about me, when I was sitting right there, she didn't even apologize. So, I asked to speak with her manager. That manager didn't arrive for nearly 10 minutes, but when she did, she at least apologized.

Hopefully the attitude of your employees changes. Perhaps I will rejoin your customer base when this happens.

Thank you,
Rae Regenbogen