Barnes & Noble Sucks! The Rogue Online Bookstore.

A very close friend of mine was ordering books online and I asked him to order 2 books (a business book and a windows security book) with him since I couldnt find them in the bookstores in my region. He noticed that the shipping options at Barnes & Noble were very attractive compared to other major online stores. In addition we had a discount coupon. So he decided to try it out and little we did know that the experience we were about to get was extremely horrible.

During the order the discount coupon was accepted and clearly indicated that $xx was successfully deducted from our total purchase. Everything seems great and placed our order. A day later we received a notification that our order is being shipped. The next day, my friend received an unexpected email from B&N and that's where several problems started to appear.

He received a no-reply email that one books in the order has been canceled without any justification:

We apologize, but despite our efforts, we weren't able to fulfill some or all of the items in your order, as noted below. These items have been canceled from your order.

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and look forward to your next visit to Come back and visit anytime at http://www.bn.com.

I am not sure why they canceled the shipment of one of the books. I doubt it is availability issues, since all the books we ordered clearly indicated on their website that they are in stock. Anyhow, when my friend reviewed his paypal account, he found that the new B&N transaction charged far more than the total order details on B&N site. There was a clear inconsistency between what they charged for and what they display in thier total purchase details.
We decided to do some calculations and found that the price difference equals to all the discounts that he was entitled to including the members discount. Nevertheless, my friend contacted them to clarify with them why an item was canceled and why they charged more than the B&N account indicates. Four business days has passed and they have not responded. My friend will call them tomorrow morning to straighten things with them. At worst case, we will likely cancel all purchases with them.

In summary, B&N sucks because:
1. They cancel items in the order without justification or warning
2. They charge more than the total shipment price that they display to you on their website and via email without notification or consent
3. They show that your discount coupons are in use, but once they cancel one of the items without your consent, all your discounts will go as well without your notice.
4. They do not respond to 'customer care' emails.

Personally, I will stick to Amazon as I have been always been doing, despite their pricy international shipment options. I have purchased over a $1000 worth of books from Amazon, and I am completely satisfied with their excellent and transparent service.