I don’t usually write reviews but my experience at this Barnes and Nobles had me flabbergasted and so I figured I’d share. I went to the store for some Christmas shopping and decided to bring along my official Barnes and Nobles tote bag that was given to me as a give for becoming a member since it’d be easier to carry around books that way. (I’ve done this several times over the years) The shopping experience itself was fine enough. The store atmosphere is a bit too modern and cold for my taste and the layout of the shelves is a bit odd but overall it wasn’t god awful. However when I went to checkout my items is when I had some issues. I started taking out the books I had collected from my tote bag and set them on the counter to be checked out when the cashier asked me if the bag I had was mine. I was a bit confused since I had just taken out both my phone and my wallet from said bag but replied with a polite ‘yes’ and continued the checkout process. But as the woman behind the counter gathered my change she said “for future reference don’t bring that bag because we might think it’s stolen.” I was pretty surprised to say the least. I looked at her and asked “I can’t use my Barnes and nobles bag at Barnes and nobles?” Clearly she was a bit thrown off and kept saying how people had been stealing stuff lately and so it was just a precaution. At that moment my mother, who was with me that day, and I both looked behind the woman at the large wall that was lined with tote bags. My mother asked why they sold bags if we weren’t allowed to use them in store to which the cashier said “so you can have a tote bag!” We continued to ask her questions and at that point she seemed to switch up her story a bit and said “no no, you can bring them, you just can’t use it to hold your un-purchased books” So in other words, I’m not allowed to use my complimentary Barnes and nobles tote bag at Barnes and nobles…. So overall, I’d rather make a longer trip to a different location than go to a store where the atmosphere is dull and the staff are rude.
