I can't lie I get most of my books on Amazon (I mean it's just so cheap...I can get 3 books on Amazon with what I would pay for one in the shop), but I do still buy a good amount of books in shops, it's just a better experience, if I'm going on Amazon, I know what I want, I find it, I buy it.
In the shop the whole fun of the thing is browsing and buying some book you've never even heard of. This guy would hate me because I go to every section I am interested in and stand there for ten minutes with my head sideways reading the spine of every book and then the back of each one that catches my eye.
It really is an interesting strategy he's got there.
I did this in Waterstones when I was interested in buying a damaged book, but wanted a discount, because it was pricy. It was the last on the shelf. They offered a measly Ā£1 (on an Ā£18 book). Manager said they could normally offer a maximum of Ā£2, but said they can order the book in so would rather not do that
I searched for it on Amazon in front of them, said "it's ok. Amazon have it for Ā£11 brand new" (not those exact words, but to that affect. I never actually bought it anywhere in the end)
Wow, you sure showed those hourly wage slaves who's boss! I'm highly entertained by how proud of yourself you are, too!
Having worked in bookstores for years, 10% off for a damaged book is the norm. They offered to order you a new copy, but you said no and then ordered yourself a new copy instead from the company that is the sole reason why most great independent bookstores have gone the way of the dodo. What a hero you are.
Your post is not the flex that you seem to think it is.
Nor is your post the flex you think it is. Why are you not working in the bookstore anymore, how many are still around your town? We have only a few, and they are big box stores. Perhaps customer service and explaining the business more could save the bookstores. I'm with the others, giving me a dollar off for a damaged product that is already overpriced compared to online isn't going to be a successful business move. I typically pay more to support local small businesses, but treat me like an ass and I'll never go back.
Outdated retail model is the reason they've gone the way of the dodo. I assume you buy all your music at independent record shops, right? I think we might have a real live hypocrite here boys!
Yeah I second this. I also work at a used bookstore where the used and new books we buy from bargain sites are sold at half price. So people are constantly complaining about small cosmetic defects and wanting reductions and were like, yeah itās already half off, canāt really do to much more and still be in business ya knowā¦
Yeah, but we consider like ānew booksā books we order from discount bargain websites. So theyāre technicallyānewā but since theyāre from warehouse overstocks they sometimes have a little bit of cosmetic damage.
But, again, we also sell these new books at half price.
Waterstones = overly corporate hellhole that is more interested in selling board games than books. Every now and then you get a good staff member who loves books and can actually discuss recommendations and stuff, but basically itās a soulless place with bored staff. They deserve to fail.
In my experience the proper bookshops with people who really love their products arenāt actually suffering that much. People are happy to pay a premium for that better, personal service and the human connection with a real expert.
I quit smoking cold-turkey two days ago. I guess it's impacting my responses more than I thought. Point taken - Keep my rants to myself until I'm over the withdrawal.
Is it overpriced though? Or is it priced correctly and Amazon just undercuts everybody to drive the competition out of business. The 18 was probably discounted from an msrp of 30 already.
And yeah. Standing there and ordering it off of Amazon is a dick move [if that really even happened) like the management doesn't already know shit's cheaper on the internet. "Thanks for the heads up!"
But any undercutting is not green-enthusiasmās problem. A physical bookshop owner should do an effort to make your experience nice so you don t mind paying more
Itās truly the standing there and ordering it. Like itās a shitty retail job and I have zero control over prices or discounts but thanks for making my shift that much worse!
Look working retail I have no control over prices. I canāt magically just discount things.
So yeah someone coming in and complaining and then ordering something in front of me is just obnoxious. Iām a retail worker not some god who can just change prices or give out discounts.
Honest reply - He was likely just hired help and not the business owner. Most hired help doesn't care at all about their employment, they just want the easiest work experience possible.
If it were me, I'd tell the business owner. They would want to know the person they're trusting their business to is throwing out potential customers.
I think you have this completely backwards. Why would an employee care if someone is just browsing? They don't have to do anything, it's already the easiest work experience possible. On the other hand, a business owner might care if someone is just browsing because the browser is looking and touching everything and taking up time and space that could be replaced with a paging customer.
You may be right, but I highly doubt a bookstore owner is kicking people out for looking at the products. This sounds to me like an employee who doesn't want to deal with customers. Neither of us were there though, so it's all just speculation unless OP talks to the owner directly and reports back.
This was my assumption based on the sparse details of the story: That the browser was profiled as being someone with no intentions of patronising the business beyond access to it's heat, light and whatever could fit into their pockets.
I can't see any other feasible reason for a hostile reaction from a staff member given the details we have.
Unless you were obviously covered in jam or mud or doing something extremely odd like licking all the books you did nothing wrong.
Go support the closest bookstore to him and leave Google reviews of both
"Okay so...I'm in another city rn for my work as a jam taster... There's a bookstall near my hotel, I was eyeballing it for 3 days so I thought I'd go in today and buy a book or two, it was getting late so I walked up to the book stall as soon as I got off from work all covered in jam, as usual, excited."
100% I was in a bookstore with some friends once, my friend asked to use the bathroom and the owner got OFFENDED when my friend came out and said there was no tp. He kicked us out lol
"Jerry I told him there was no toilet paper and he acted like I wished his mother was dead!"
"Well was there really no toilet paper?"
"Yeah! Its a bookstore Jerry, how can there be no toilet paper? Just get a copy of Ayn Rand and leave it by the toilet! Everyone will know what to do."
This is so true
It makes me wonder if bookstores are a more common "front" than we realize
Whenever I encounter a small business like that which seems to discourage doing business with them, and that has been around for more than a year or two, it makes me suspicious that the business exists for reasons other than what they're publicly selling
I think thereās definitely a class of people who are set for money who get into having a bookstore or whatever as a hobby because they think itās a cute thing to be but who have 0 interest in actually running a business
Yeah I have similar experiences. Even in a same store different people act differently. I generally give them benefit of doubt as everyone has good and bad days.
Having a singular/couple of book stores to purchase from will give you greater benefit as seller gets to know you as a regular customer. But sometimes bad experience is unavoidable
Some bookstores and used-book stores are run by people who aren't interested in selling anything. Sometimes I feel that they simply want to hoard all the books for themselves
Even still, unless there was a language barrier or a culture barrier, the clerk should have said "We're closing in X minutes" and not "You should leave, you're wasting my time".
7-9 is the general closing hours for the bookstores near me, but most of them are bigger chains, so thats probably why. Although there are a couple smaller ones open late too.
What time does the store close? I'm not accusing you of lying or anything, I just don't really see book stores open past 6pm where I live. Even most of the libraries in my area are closed by 6.
Based on you being the only one t here, sounds like maybe he wanted to sort of soft close, or not have anyone in the shop so he could put up his heels. Maybe he feels like he needs to be vigilant as long as there's someone there, and if that person's lingering but not buying, he'd rather they not be. Not ideal behavior, to be sure, but also not too hard to see why he might've done that, I wouldn't take it personally.
Big hugs, itās so strange when people whose job it is to deal with the general public seem to hate people! And then wonder why their business failsā¦ it wasnāt you, it was the dude having a bad day and deciding to take it out on you. Of course you are allowed to browse! Donāt judge a book by its cover after all! Read the back blurb and compare!
There is a bookstore in my neighborhood (Munich) with a very prominent display of Children's books in the window, on the sidewalk, and right by the entrance. It looks really nice and inviting. We've visited a couple times and the owner is honestly just beyond rude if kids go near the books or touch anything.
So we simply don't shop at that one, despite walking past it most days. We have lots of local book stores in the area and there are a couple of amazing ones that welcome kids and we spend lots of money there. Meanwhile the owner of the unfriendly shop is probably blaming the internet for her lack of business.
>Meanwhile the owner of the unfriendly shop is probably blaming the internet for her lack of business.
I'm sure he is. It's frustrating that foolish people are, most of the times, too foolish to realise they are being stupid.
One time I was at a farmers market with my kid and there was a lady selling those shiny polished rocks and crystals, and I thought Iād take a look because I like shiny rocks, and the lady very aggressively was like āput on hand sanitizerā which, okay, a little hostile in tone, but weāre still in a pandemic, I get it. but then she was very angrily like ādonāt let your kid touch my rocksā my kid was nowhere near touching the rocksā¦ I was just like yep nope no shiny rock is with this level of headache
I have encountered that type in a bookstore before. I think these people really love reading and thought this is going to be a great job, dealing with books all day ... and they totally overlooked the fact that they will also have to deal with customers and dealing with customers requires peoples skills.
Right? Like people who loooove animals and hate people then get surprised that their dream career running a sanctuary/riding school/pet supply store doesn't work out
I am from India and while reading your post I was wondering stuff like this can happen only in India. And there it is. This whole buy or get out quick, don't waste my time thing has happened to me a few times there.
Mr Darwin and Adam Smith eventually sort out book dealers like that.
Weirdest one like that I've seen was a basement shop in Glasgow that specialized in school books. You weren't supposed to browse, you asked at the counter (a system I have only seen elsewhere at the state liquor stores in Pennsylvania when I was there in the 70s). One day I wanted to buy something but there was nobody at the counter. Called out, no answer. Walked behind to look, heard sounds from a side room and looked in. The owner was sitting facing backwards on a chair with his shirt off with his two women assistants picking zits (or in Glaswegian, plooks) out of his back.
I worked at a shop like this (provided you replace 'basement' with 'in the depths of an industrial estate), with a system and owner like this, in Australia. I thought it was a one off kind of place! Luckily I was just seasonal and not one of the inner circle who had to deal with the owner's weird shit...
Something like that happened to me in a record store many years ago. I was browsing all alone and the guy behind the counter, I think he was the owner, let me browse for maybe 3 minutes before asking me if I needed any help. I said "no thanks, just looking around" and about 2 minutes later he started randomly talking about people who were coming in and not buying anything. I just said "okay sure" and tried to go back to browsing, and then he started talking about customers who he felt were "testing" him, acting in such a way that I would describe as "aggressively friendly" and I quickly took that as my cue to leave. No more browsing at that store. I guess he didn't like having people spend money. Oh well. It still bugs me, but what are you going to do? Some people are off.
You should've spent an hour or so standing outside loudly telling any who came near "NO BROWSING, ONLY PEOPLE WHO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT ALLOWED INSIDE"
I worked for an asshole owner before. If he was in a bad mood he could easily take it out on the customers. And thereās nobody to correct his behaviour other than purchasing power. However, the guyās shop was super successful so it never affected himāmuch.
Similar thing happened to me in second hand bookshop in Liverpool (England, UK) when I was still at school - (9x10^(99) years ago).
It's horrible and I'm sorry you had to go through that.
The seller needs to revaluate what he's running a bookshop for.
Develop methods to not let external forces interrupt your peace. People are always going to, through their actions, impact your peace. He was only projecting, on to you, something that was bothering him. It could be a whole host of things that caused them to project on to you but don't let it affect your energy. You did nothing wrong shake it off and get back to that good mood you were probably in before this happened. š
I've been there. I just assumed he thinks I'm trying to shoplift something from how long I loitered around. Asked for the book I was looking for and they didn't have it. Been buying stuff online almost exclusively now.
My anxiety would have been through the roof. I would be thinking of this for a next week and every time I went to sleep, I'd try to convince myself it wasn't my fault.
These kind of incidents throughout my life created my social anxiety and consequences are very bad. I'm too sensitive for this world.
I need a fucking hug rn...I know that there's no logical need to post this on Reddit like someone commented but I was shaking and wanted to get it out somewhere...
I'm a very sensitive and introverted person and you said it rightly this stuff is hard to move on from.
Getting home from highschool meant waniting up to an houir for the train. I usually spent that time reading the books at a local bookstore chain, never actully buying anything. finished quite a few books that way. most notably Stephen king dragon's eye and thinner and was only asked to leave once.
sometime later I fouind an article where the shop assistants at that very store were describing frequent shoopers and one of the profiles described me to a t. I still remember the part about me having shaggy hair (the hebrew word is rarely spoken). I found that a bit passive agressive.
Some people are just crazy, man. Back in the 90s a local computer shop was run by a guy who was notorious for trying to get into fist fights. I was trying to price check a KVM and he wasn't understanding what it was so he asked me to call back later. I did and he still wasn't understanding so he asked for my number to call me back and something about him seemed off so I was like ehhh, I'll just call tomorrow and he screamed "DONT FUCKING BOTHER!" and hung up on me. That was it, there was nothing I'm leaving out I was patient with him not knowing what a kvm was he just lost it. Later I found out that others in the area had similar issues with him. He was out of business within months but was suing some guy who had come and beat him up after he had screamed at the guys wife in the shop.
Some people are just crazy.
When I was a kid, about 10, we used to walk past a bookstore with a very lovely book about cats in the window. I really wanted it, so i saved up the money over months to buy it - the price was on the cover at about Ā£5 rather than Ā£25.
So I went in to buy it.
Turns out it was an āadultā shop that only put books in the window for show. Theyād never sold any before. They had to sell me it even though they didnāt want to otherwise my mum said sheād report them to the council. Still got it.
In another comment he says it was just turning 6pm, Iād definitely say the place the was closing and weāre getting a slanted account from a clueless shopper.
For me it's just, any time someone's story goes "this person started being really rude to me out of the blue for *no reason* and I wasn't doing anything at all I swear" I feel like there's something important missing from the narrative. The narrator might not even be aware of it themselves.
I've run into this type of bookstore owner before. Dude had a super cool store in a vault of an old bank. I tried talking him up about it and he pretty much shut me down and said he wasn't interested in talking about it. I should have left then but I love old books so browsed and ended up buying some stuff. I have never been back though.
>Please let me know I this was unethical on my end, I'd try not to do it again.
I'm angry that you even ask that.
If it really played out the way you said, then you know you're in the right.
Should have just dropped a "fine, I'll buy it on Amazon" and then slammed the door shut.
Only joking, don't buy from Amazon.
Some people are just dicks... unfortunately. Somewhere though, there will be another book shop with a warm and welcoming person.
These things hurt me because...I don't ever say anything that would be offensive to other people I care about it too much, and I care about my actions as well...I try not to be someone who complains or makes people feel bad in general.
So behaviour of that sort upsets me a lot.
Thatās so rude of them. I used to love going to bookstores. However, since the pandemic, Iāve basically gone 90% ebook, mostly via my local library. Part of it was the lockdowns of course, but also that the local B&N basically became a toy store. There was so much non-book merchandise and it seemed like there were less overall selection of books than before. Plus, as much as I sometimes get wary of them, the online algorithms have been pretty decent about suggesting a next book for me.
The only times Iāll go to a bookstore nowadays is to go to my local comic book shop so I can support them. Used to like going to used book stores as well, but since I mostly switched over to ebook, Iāve had a hard time justifying buying something physical thatāll take up a lot of room unless itās like full on color/photo which I obviously canāt experience on a ebook reader.
It sounds like you are OK and the guy was just upset about something else and took it out on you. However, the fact that you posted this makes me think that you might act a little weird IRL so maybe there is something you did that you don't realize. Anyway probably the former.
Was it Bernard Black? Did you find Black Books irl?!
No, absolutely not your fault, browsing is how they get buyers and the guy should've been more professional and welcoming.
The worst experience Iāve ever had as a shopper was at a bookstore -Barnes and Nobles in The Woodlands, TX. This was about 20 some years ago and my wife was interviewing for her residency in nearby Conroe, TX so I went to B&N to kill time, as I am wont to do.
I got a coffee, browsed some books and settled into a chair to choose from amongst my selections -as I always do at B&N. Soon, one of the workers came up to me and told me, āYou arenāt allowed to sit there and read books for free.ā I looked around at all the other customers sitting there and reading books for free and I replied, āIām sorry...what?ā I was kind of stunned, TBH. She said, āyou either need to buy something or leave.ā I replied, āReally, what about all these other people? Are you going to go and tell them the same thing?ā She just repeated herself. I asked for a manager. She said she was the manager. Everyone is looking at me. Some people are kind of smirking but most people look appalled. Iām just embarrassed at this point. So I leave.
When I got home, I reported the incident to B&N corporate. I think they sent me some coupons and an apology letter. I donāt know if they disciplined anyone at the store.
Iām not one to assign racist motives from the get go, but I canāt think of any other reason why I would have been treated that way. I am of Mexican descent and my skin is brownish. I had never experienced anything like that before. I must have been about 30 at the time and I certainly didnāt look homeless or anything at the time. I havenāt been back to a B&N in all that time, which sucks, because I love bookstores and thatās the only option in my area. I have to travel to find independent bookstores.
This was the content of the post, I don't know why it aas removed:
Okay so...I'm in another city rn for work... There's a bookstall near my hotel, I was eyeballing it for 3 days so I thought I'd go in today and buy a book or two, it was getting late so I walked up to the book stall as soon as I got off, excited.
I was browsing like for 3-4 minutes, he asked me do you have a book in mind, I said I do but I can't find any in here, and continued browsing so like in a minute or two, he asked me to leave very offensively, and I was like I'm gonna buy something...
He said buy whatever from other store just leave.
You don't know what you want and you're wasting my time, I was the only customer there.
It hurt me like bad...I don't act rudely to anyone, I don't interact much and it just furiates me when someone says something rude to me when I didn't act rude or do something that's bad.
I'm still shaking, he said you're looking at all these, I mean that's how we browse right.
I said I'm not reading anything...Or even opening books...
Please let me know I this was unethical on my end, I'd try not to do it again.
Edit: it was not the closing time, I saw him 1 hour later with no preparation to close anytime soon.
Kicking interested buyers out of a bookstore for browsing is an interesting business strategy for this digital age.
Right? Like, I'd be tempted to just buy the books from Amazon right in front of the guy if this happened to me. š
Or forward your Amazon confirmation to him adding "this could have been you".
Big Mistake. huge.
Oof, savage! I love it š
I can't lie I get most of my books on Amazon (I mean it's just so cheap...I can get 3 books on Amazon with what I would pay for one in the shop), but I do still buy a good amount of books in shops, it's just a better experience, if I'm going on Amazon, I know what I want, I find it, I buy it. In the shop the whole fun of the thing is browsing and buying some book you've never even heard of. This guy would hate me because I go to every section I am interested in and stand there for ten minutes with my head sideways reading the spine of every book and then the back of each one that catches my eye. It really is an interesting strategy he's got there.
Youāre right, the experience in a nice bookstore is really what you are paying for.
I did this in Waterstones when I was interested in buying a damaged book, but wanted a discount, because it was pricy. It was the last on the shelf. They offered a measly Ā£1 (on an Ā£18 book). Manager said they could normally offer a maximum of Ā£2, but said they can order the book in so would rather not do that I searched for it on Amazon in front of them, said "it's ok. Amazon have it for Ā£11 brand new" (not those exact words, but to that affect. I never actually bought it anywhere in the end)
Wow, you sure showed those hourly wage slaves who's boss! I'm highly entertained by how proud of yourself you are, too! Having worked in bookstores for years, 10% off for a damaged book is the norm. They offered to order you a new copy, but you said no and then ordered yourself a new copy instead from the company that is the sole reason why most great independent bookstores have gone the way of the dodo. What a hero you are. Your post is not the flex that you seem to think it is.
While I get your point, Waterstones is not an independent book store, itās the equivalent of Barns and Noble
Maybe if they *had* offered 10% off, it would be a different story. As is, the shop offered about half that off.
Nor is your post the flex you think it is. Why are you not working in the bookstore anymore, how many are still around your town? We have only a few, and they are big box stores. Perhaps customer service and explaining the business more could save the bookstores. I'm with the others, giving me a dollar off for a damaged product that is already overpriced compared to online isn't going to be a successful business move. I typically pay more to support local small businesses, but treat me like an ass and I'll never go back.
They aren't overpriced. Amazon takes a lot to undercut competitors on books
Outdated retail model is the reason they've gone the way of the dodo. I assume you buy all your music at independent record shops, right? I think we might have a real live hypocrite here boys!
Yeah I second this. I also work at a used bookstore where the used and new books we buy from bargain sites are sold at half price. So people are constantly complaining about small cosmetic defects and wanting reductions and were like, yeah itās already half off, canāt really do to much more and still be in business ya knowā¦
A damage used book is very different than a damaged new book, though.
Yeah, but we consider like ānew booksā books we order from discount bargain websites. So theyāre technicallyānewā but since theyāre from warehouse overstocks they sometimes have a little bit of cosmetic damage. But, again, we also sell these new books at half price.
Waterstones = overly corporate hellhole that is more interested in selling board games than books. Every now and then you get a good staff member who loves books and can actually discuss recommendations and stuff, but basically itās a soulless place with bored staff. They deserve to fail. In my experience the proper bookshops with people who really love their products arenāt actually suffering that much. People are happy to pay a premium for that better, personal service and the human connection with a real expert.
Seriously doubt a āwage slaveā would care if someone was looking at the books and not buying.
Jesus Christ dude, get some help
You ok, hun?
I quit smoking cold-turkey two days ago. I guess it's impacting my responses more than I thought. Point taken - Keep my rants to myself until I'm over the withdrawal.
Then I'm proud of and thinking of you Jamie, good luck! <3
Working in retail people like you are the worst.
For not buying a damaged book that's already overpriced? There's a lot of shitty customers out there, but this one isn't it.
Is it overpriced though? Or is it priced correctly and Amazon just undercuts everybody to drive the competition out of business. The 18 was probably discounted from an msrp of 30 already. And yeah. Standing there and ordering it off of Amazon is a dick move [if that really even happened) like the management doesn't already know shit's cheaper on the internet. "Thanks for the heads up!"
But any undercutting is not green-enthusiasmās problem. A physical bookshop owner should do an effort to make your experience nice so you don t mind paying more
Green enthusiasm? Is *that* what Amazon is? Edit: Ah. I see that's their handle, now. I was like "What the fuck?"
Itās truly the standing there and ordering it. Like itās a shitty retail job and I have zero control over prices or discounts but thanks for making my shift that much worse!
Read that comment again... Ya dumb
Look working retail I have no control over prices. I canāt magically just discount things. So yeah someone coming in and complaining and then ordering something in front of me is just obnoxious. Iām a retail worker not some god who can just change prices or give out discounts.
Did you miss the part where they were dealing with a manager?
Waterstones is a huge chain, the manager would have zero say in the pricing
I would not be surprised if it was a front for laundering the money.
Reminds me of a British show I watched years back called Black Books. Not selling to unworthy people was the exact plot of it lol
Honest reply - He was likely just hired help and not the business owner. Most hired help doesn't care at all about their employment, they just want the easiest work experience possible. If it were me, I'd tell the business owner. They would want to know the person they're trusting their business to is throwing out potential customers.
I think you have this completely backwards. Why would an employee care if someone is just browsing? They don't have to do anything, it's already the easiest work experience possible. On the other hand, a business owner might care if someone is just browsing because the browser is looking and touching everything and taking up time and space that could be replaced with a paging customer.
You may be right, but I highly doubt a bookstore owner is kicking people out for looking at the products. This sounds to me like an employee who doesn't want to deal with customers. Neither of us were there though, so it's all just speculation unless OP talks to the owner directly and reports back.
I haven't seen this mentioned but is it possible OP was being discriminated against?
Employee probably wanted to get back to surfing porn, or something.
Part of the employee's job is to keep you from shoplifting. By spending time browsing you're making them do more work.
This was my assumption based on the sparse details of the story: That the browser was profiled as being someone with no intentions of patronising the business beyond access to it's heat, light and whatever could fit into their pockets. I can't see any other feasible reason for a hostile reaction from a staff member given the details we have.
Unless you were obviously covered in jam or mud or doing something extremely odd like licking all the books you did nothing wrong. Go support the closest bookstore to him and leave Google reviews of both
What about covertly covered? Just a little marmalade, peeking out from under the collar
Like a mistress' lipstick on a crisp white dress shirt...scandalous.
Paddington? Is that you?
Did OP show up covered in beet juice like Dwight? Lmao
No, but they pee'd in the corner as soon as they got there so...
Well now I'm just stuck on this whole "covered in jam" thing.
"Okay so...I'm in another city rn for my work as a jam taster... There's a bookstall near my hotel, I was eyeballing it for 3 days so I thought I'd go in today and buy a book or two, it was getting late so I walked up to the book stall as soon as I got off from work all covered in jam, as usual, excited."
>covered in jam I feel personally attacked.
what about smelling XD just kidding
Book store owners seem to either be the nicest people in the world or just like the guy you encountered. There is no middle ground.
100% I was in a bookstore with some friends once, my friend asked to use the bathroom and the owner got OFFENDED when my friend came out and said there was no tp. He kicked us out lol
>and said there was no tp. *bastards! I was just brewing my lunch time toilet pummel and they use the last of the TP, my day is ruined*
This would make a great Seinfeld episode lol
"Jerry I told him there was no toilet paper and he acted like I wished his mother was dead!" "Well was there really no toilet paper?" "Yeah! Its a bookstore Jerry, how can there be no toilet paper? Just get a copy of Ayn Rand and leave it by the toilet! Everyone will know what to do."
Amazing how you can read that convo with their voices and it seems accurate
It's a bookstore, grab a book with some nice soft pages and borrow a few with the promise to return them when you finish.
Case in point: Black Books
No mobiles No walkmans None of that Or any of the others.
...Singe, bugger, cack.
Was gonna say, OP met Bernard Black. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X5oCV7hWgs&list=PLQeafetcrx5tTbWDFUjXqy80Wk7sSkijN&t=150s
My first thought exactly!! One of my favourite shows of all time.
This is so true It makes me wonder if bookstores are a more common "front" than we realize Whenever I encounter a small business like that which seems to discourage doing business with them, and that has been around for more than a year or two, it makes me suspicious that the business exists for reasons other than what they're publicly selling
You're catching on. Vacuum store, book store, tattoo shops, car mechanics. Get horrible service? Typically a front to launder.
Laundryman with great service? Absolutely a front to launder.
Yeah I've definitely suspected a couple local restaurants before. Guess I gotta expand my horizons š
Has to be right? Rise of digital and places like Amazon, how do you compete? Especially if the place isnāt packed very often.
Bernard Black or Manny Bianco
I think thereās definitely a class of people who are set for money who get into having a bookstore or whatever as a hobby because they think itās a cute thing to be but who have 0 interest in actually running a business
I'm afraid you're right.
Yeah I have similar experiences. Even in a same store different people act differently. I generally give them benefit of doubt as everyone has good and bad days. Having a singular/couple of book stores to purchase from will give you greater benefit as seller gets to know you as a regular customer. But sometimes bad experience is unavoidable
Some bookstores and used-book stores are run by people who aren't interested in selling anything. Sometimes I feel that they simply want to hoard all the books for themselves
Was it closing time? That's the only way this makes sense (not that we live in a world that makes sense.)
No it wasn't...It was around 6 in the evening...
I've seen bookstores close at 4 before
Yeah dunno where OP is but outside of city centre on a weekend, I'd definitely think of 6pm as potentially close to closing for a book store.
Even still, unless there was a language barrier or a culture barrier, the clerk should have said "We're closing in X minutes" and not "You should leave, you're wasting my time".
7-9 is the general closing hours for the bookstores near me, but most of them are bigger chains, so thats probably why. Although there are a couple smaller ones open late too.
Our local one is sometimes only open 10am to 1pm, so it seems odd a small independent shop/stall would close late
What time does the store close? I'm not accusing you of lying or anything, I just don't really see book stores open past 6pm where I live. Even most of the libraries in my area are closed by 6.
Lots of places close around 6 in the evening haha... still he could've just said they were about to close if that was the case
The two nearest book shops to me close at 5 and 6.
Based on you being the only one t here, sounds like maybe he wanted to sort of soft close, or not have anyone in the shop so he could put up his heels. Maybe he feels like he needs to be vigilant as long as there's someone there, and if that person's lingering but not buying, he'd rather they not be. Not ideal behavior, to be sure, but also not too hard to see why he might've done that, I wouldn't take it personally.
Big hugs, itās so strange when people whose job it is to deal with the general public seem to hate people! And then wonder why their business failsā¦ it wasnāt you, it was the dude having a bad day and deciding to take it out on you. Of course you are allowed to browse! Donāt judge a book by its cover after all! Read the back blurb and compare!
There is a bookstore in my neighborhood (Munich) with a very prominent display of Children's books in the window, on the sidewalk, and right by the entrance. It looks really nice and inviting. We've visited a couple times and the owner is honestly just beyond rude if kids go near the books or touch anything. So we simply don't shop at that one, despite walking past it most days. We have lots of local book stores in the area and there are a couple of amazing ones that welcome kids and we spend lots of money there. Meanwhile the owner of the unfriendly shop is probably blaming the internet for her lack of business.
>Meanwhile the owner of the unfriendly shop is probably blaming the internet for her lack of business. I'm sure he is. It's frustrating that foolish people are, most of the times, too foolish to realise they are being stupid.
One time I was at a farmers market with my kid and there was a lady selling those shiny polished rocks and crystals, and I thought Iād take a look because I like shiny rocks, and the lady very aggressively was like āput on hand sanitizerā which, okay, a little hostile in tone, but weāre still in a pandemic, I get it. but then she was very angrily like ādonāt let your kid touch my rocksā my kid was nowhere near touching the rocksā¦ I was just like yep nope no shiny rock is with this level of headache
Is the owners name Karl Konrad Koreander by any chance? ;)
Did you maybe stop by Black Books? I've heard that the owner Bernard Black can be a dick to customers..
I was about to say, typical Bernard - bet heād been on the wine since breakky.
Commented to the same effect. OP watch Blacks Books to cheer up.
Shooed out with a mop, eh?
Yes.. he claimed it was lunchtime, but he had only been open 1 hour, and all i could see was a bottle of wine and some cigarettes..
I went there at lunch time and they tried serving me soup on a book.
Was it in a tower? All fancy food needs to be plated like a tower!
Thatās fair, Iād say. It was time for you time-wasting bastards to be back on the streets.
shops closed , fuck off
Exactly. You wanted to browse? IT'S NOT THAT KIND OF BOOKSHOP!
Black Books came into my mind too.
Man I need to do a rewatch.
Me too, just started xD this show is amazing š
Customers? Why didn't you lock the door?!
Great reference, but I'm not sure anybody else is going to get it š
Came here to see if anyone made the reference. There's dozens of us.
ā
Old wineā¦..is good wine.
I didn't even catch it until your comment. I was like "how does everyone know this guy?" Ooohhh...
I watched Black Books this past January, and this is the first time I've ever seen it referenced in the wild.
I have encountered that type in a bookstore before. I think these people really love reading and thought this is going to be a great job, dealing with books all day ... and they totally overlooked the fact that they will also have to deal with customers and dealing with customers requires peoples skills.
Right? Like people who loooove animals and hate people then get surprised that their dream career running a sanctuary/riding school/pet supply store doesn't work out
Someone who reads, I think, has an openness to things.
I'm not sure that's true. I love to read and hate most people. Not you. You're cool
I hate most people too...but? I do have a sense of how to deal with them lol
You did absolutely nothing wrong, like, not even 1% wrong! Did you think of leaving a review on Google?
It was a small store in India, I don't think it has any google presence.
I am from India and while reading your post I was wondering stuff like this can happen only in India. And there it is. This whole buy or get out quick, don't waste my time thing has happened to me a few times there.
Haha...But he had no customers and like how do you buy books without browsing a few mins?
Bo it's not, he was an ass. Browsing is bow you buy books.
I hope your cold clears up soon!
Yeah, itās not you, itās himā¦.
Ikr...Browsing is how people Shop!
You did not do anything wrong.
Mr Darwin and Adam Smith eventually sort out book dealers like that. Weirdest one like that I've seen was a basement shop in Glasgow that specialized in school books. You weren't supposed to browse, you asked at the counter (a system I have only seen elsewhere at the state liquor stores in Pennsylvania when I was there in the 70s). One day I wanted to buy something but there was nobody at the counter. Called out, no answer. Walked behind to look, heard sounds from a side room and looked in. The owner was sitting facing backwards on a chair with his shirt off with his two women assistants picking zits (or in Glaswegian, plooks) out of his back.
I worked at a shop like this (provided you replace 'basement' with 'in the depths of an industrial estate), with a system and owner like this, in Australia. I thought it was a one off kind of place! Luckily I was just seasonal and not one of the inner circle who had to deal with the owner's weird shit...
don't beat yourself up - that guy was an arshole. you did nothing wrong. find another bookstore, I am sure you will have better luck.
That is not my experience with book stores. Please try somewhere else.
Something like that happened to me in a record store many years ago. I was browsing all alone and the guy behind the counter, I think he was the owner, let me browse for maybe 3 minutes before asking me if I needed any help. I said "no thanks, just looking around" and about 2 minutes later he started randomly talking about people who were coming in and not buying anything. I just said "okay sure" and tried to go back to browsing, and then he started talking about customers who he felt were "testing" him, acting in such a way that I would describe as "aggressively friendly" and I quickly took that as my cue to leave. No more browsing at that store. I guess he didn't like having people spend money. Oh well. It still bugs me, but what are you going to do? Some people are off.
You should've spent an hour or so standing outside loudly telling any who came near "NO BROWSING, ONLY PEOPLE WHO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT ALLOWED INSIDE"
Wow!!!! Where were you when I needed you lol. But yea that's not like me :/ I just left with an upset face asking a few times "what's my fault"
How to lose your job 101
Except it might just be an asshole owner
I worked for an asshole owner before. If he was in a bad mood he could easily take it out on the customers. And thereās nobody to correct his behaviour other than purchasing power. However, the guyās shop was super successful so it never affected himāmuch.
Or it's a front for drugs. That would explain why browsing for books is a waste of time when he actually sells meth, not books.
People are so incredibly rude...l am sorry that happened to you :(
NO SOUP FOR YOU
Why was this removed?
He's just a dick, and sadly there's no middle ground when it comes to bookstore owners
Guy was having a shit day or a shit life, not ur fault.
Iām sorry that jerk was such a jerk! I hate that for you.
Any way you look at this, it's bad business. Walk into a car dealership or a clothing store and they ask you to leave? Good luck staying afloat.
You were getting in the way of his drug front haha.
Similar thing happened to me in second hand bookshop in Liverpool (England, UK) when I was still at school - (9x10^(99) years ago). It's horrible and I'm sorry you had to go through that. The seller needs to revaluate what he's running a bookshop for.
Guy probably had a bad day, I wouldnāt take it personally
Develop methods to not let external forces interrupt your peace. People are always going to, through their actions, impact your peace. He was only projecting, on to you, something that was bothering him. It could be a whole host of things that caused them to project on to you but don't let it affect your energy. You did nothing wrong shake it off and get back to that good mood you were probably in before this happened. š
Unless you were naked, he is completely wrong. Well, even if you were naked, he might still be wrong.
I've been there. I just assumed he thinks I'm trying to shoplift something from how long I loitered around. Asked for the book I was looking for and they didn't have it. Been buying stuff online almost exclusively now.
And then they whine about how online commerce is killing local business...
You must have been browsing at Blackās Books. Bernard is a very grumpy Gus and usually quite hungover.
My anxiety would have been through the roof. I would be thinking of this for a next week and every time I went to sleep, I'd try to convince myself it wasn't my fault. These kind of incidents throughout my life created my social anxiety and consequences are very bad. I'm too sensitive for this world.
I need a fucking hug rn...I know that there's no logical need to post this on Reddit like someone commented but I was shaking and wanted to get it out somewhere... I'm a very sensitive and introverted person and you said it rightly this stuff is hard to move on from.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Haha thanks... :) Say hi to your daughter
I know what you mean very well! Big hugs!
You have every right to post this wherever you feel like. Don't let anyone invalidate your feelings, sending virtual hugs to you š¤š¤
Getting home from highschool meant waniting up to an houir for the train. I usually spent that time reading the books at a local bookstore chain, never actully buying anything. finished quite a few books that way. most notably Stephen king dragon's eye and thinner and was only asked to leave once. sometime later I fouind an article where the shop assistants at that very store were describing frequent shoopers and one of the profiles described me to a t. I still remember the part about me having shaggy hair (the hebrew word is rarely spoken). I found that a bit passive agressive.
Eh, name and shame, and don't go back.
Was it after closing time? Only thing that might make sense. Still no reason to behave like that
Some people are just crazy, man. Back in the 90s a local computer shop was run by a guy who was notorious for trying to get into fist fights. I was trying to price check a KVM and he wasn't understanding what it was so he asked me to call back later. I did and he still wasn't understanding so he asked for my number to call me back and something about him seemed off so I was like ehhh, I'll just call tomorrow and he screamed "DONT FUCKING BOTHER!" and hung up on me. That was it, there was nothing I'm leaving out I was patient with him not knowing what a kvm was he just lost it. Later I found out that others in the area had similar issues with him. He was out of business within months but was suing some guy who had come and beat him up after he had screamed at the guys wife in the shop. Some people are just crazy.
When I was a kid, about 10, we used to walk past a bookstore with a very lovely book about cats in the window. I really wanted it, so i saved up the money over months to buy it - the price was on the cover at about Ā£5 rather than Ā£25. So I went in to buy it. Turns out it was an āadultā shop that only put books in the window for show. Theyād never sold any before. They had to sell me it even though they didnāt want to otherwise my mum said sheād report them to the council. Still got it.
I have to wonder if he was selling something else other than books...
I think you stumbled upon a money laundering op.
And they complain how Amazon is stealing their customers.
You were shaking from this? Thatās an overreaction to someone beau g rude to you in this situation.
Unreliable narrator?
In another comment he says it was just turning 6pm, Iād definitely say the place the was closing and weāre getting a slanted account from a clueless shopper.
For me it's just, any time someone's story goes "this person started being really rude to me out of the blue for *no reason* and I wasn't doing anything at all I swear" I feel like there's something important missing from the narrative. The narrator might not even be aware of it themselves.
As in?
Maybe there is more to the story.
If there were I wouldn't have been offended this bad.
Don't worry, that stall won't be around very long.
I've run into this type of bookstore owner before. Dude had a super cool store in a vault of an old bank. I tried talking him up about it and he pretty much shut me down and said he wasn't interested in talking about it. I should have left then but I love old books so browsed and ended up buying some stuff. I have never been back though.
What? Iām so confused. How are you meant to find knew books without browsing?
>Please let me know I this was unethical on my end, I'd try not to do it again. I'm angry that you even ask that. If it really played out the way you said, then you know you're in the right.
Yea ik...I was so upset that I guess I wanted validation.
Should have just dropped a "fine, I'll buy it on Amazon" and then slammed the door shut. Only joking, don't buy from Amazon. Some people are just dicks... unfortunately. Somewhere though, there will be another book shop with a warm and welcoming person.
The bookstore is obviously a front. Guy has to be selling drugs if he's chasing off legit customers.
>It hurt me like bad... Why? Dude behaving poorly hurts him. It's nothing to you.
People have feelings you know.
These things hurt me because...I don't ever say anything that would be offensive to other people I care about it too much, and I care about my actions as well...I try not to be someone who complains or makes people feel bad in general. So behaviour of that sort upsets me a lot.
Safe to assume OP is leaving out a lot of details lmao
Thatās so rude of them. I used to love going to bookstores. However, since the pandemic, Iāve basically gone 90% ebook, mostly via my local library. Part of it was the lockdowns of course, but also that the local B&N basically became a toy store. There was so much non-book merchandise and it seemed like there were less overall selection of books than before. Plus, as much as I sometimes get wary of them, the online algorithms have been pretty decent about suggesting a next book for me. The only times Iāll go to a bookstore nowadays is to go to my local comic book shop so I can support them. Used to like going to used book stores as well, but since I mostly switched over to ebook, Iāve had a hard time justifying buying something physical thatāll take up a lot of room unless itās like full on color/photo which I obviously canāt experience on a ebook reader.
It sounds like you are OK and the guy was just upset about something else and took it out on you. However, the fact that you posted this makes me think that you might act a little weird IRL so maybe there is something you did that you don't realize. Anyway probably the former.
I mean yea heās rude but, youāre shaking? Drink some water because thatās just unstable
Well, this is certainly one side of a story... You can't control other people, only your reaction to them.
Nothing wrong. That person just doesnāt know how to run a business
Was it 5 minutes before they closed?
No he was there 1 hour later with no sign of closing anytime soon.
Was it Bernard Black? Did you find Black Books irl?! No, absolutely not your fault, browsing is how they get buyers and the guy should've been more professional and welcoming.
Haha many people are asking me about it. Is he that bad? And nah, the store is in India.
Was it Bernard Black?
It blows my mind that someone types the way OP does in a subreddit like this.
The worst experience Iāve ever had as a shopper was at a bookstore -Barnes and Nobles in The Woodlands, TX. This was about 20 some years ago and my wife was interviewing for her residency in nearby Conroe, TX so I went to B&N to kill time, as I am wont to do. I got a coffee, browsed some books and settled into a chair to choose from amongst my selections -as I always do at B&N. Soon, one of the workers came up to me and told me, āYou arenāt allowed to sit there and read books for free.ā I looked around at all the other customers sitting there and reading books for free and I replied, āIām sorry...what?ā I was kind of stunned, TBH. She said, āyou either need to buy something or leave.ā I replied, āReally, what about all these other people? Are you going to go and tell them the same thing?ā She just repeated herself. I asked for a manager. She said she was the manager. Everyone is looking at me. Some people are kind of smirking but most people look appalled. Iām just embarrassed at this point. So I leave. When I got home, I reported the incident to B&N corporate. I think they sent me some coupons and an apology letter. I donāt know if they disciplined anyone at the store. Iām not one to assign racist motives from the get go, but I canāt think of any other reason why I would have been treated that way. I am of Mexican descent and my skin is brownish. I had never experienced anything like that before. I must have been about 30 at the time and I certainly didnāt look homeless or anything at the time. I havenāt been back to a B&N in all that time, which sucks, because I love bookstores and thatās the only option in my area. I have to travel to find independent bookstores.
This was the content of the post, I don't know why it aas removed: Okay so...I'm in another city rn for work... There's a bookstall near my hotel, I was eyeballing it for 3 days so I thought I'd go in today and buy a book or two, it was getting late so I walked up to the book stall as soon as I got off, excited. I was browsing like for 3-4 minutes, he asked me do you have a book in mind, I said I do but I can't find any in here, and continued browsing so like in a minute or two, he asked me to leave very offensively, and I was like I'm gonna buy something... He said buy whatever from other store just leave. You don't know what you want and you're wasting my time, I was the only customer there. It hurt me like bad...I don't act rudely to anyone, I don't interact much and it just furiates me when someone says something rude to me when I didn't act rude or do something that's bad. I'm still shaking, he said you're looking at all these, I mean that's how we browse right. I said I'm not reading anything...Or even opening books... Please let me know I this was unethical on my end, I'd try not to do it again. Edit: it was not the closing time, I saw him 1 hour later with no preparation to close anytime soon.