Reader Kat B writes:

Hello there, Consumerist. Thought I’d pass along my horrific bn.com
experience, in the spirit of holiday outrage. Ho ho ho!

Take a look at her perfectly reasonable complaint letter after the jump. The gist? BN.com waited four days before they told her that they wouldn’t be able to fulfill her order. Sort of makes it hard to get stuff by Christmas, doesn’t it?

I am writing to express my disappointment in regards to orders [number redacted] and [ditto], both placed at bn.com on December 16, 2005.

To provide some background, I have been a Barnes and Noble Member for several years. This membership has tied my loyalty to Barnes and Noble ahead of other bookstores, as it is intended to do. Whenever I need to buy books, magazines, or DVDs, I shop at bn.com or Barnes and Noble stores, because I know that I will receive a 10% discount in addition to excellent service.

My experience today has changed that perception. In spite of the encouraging emails from Amazon, and the in-store coupons that Borders sends me regularly, I felt confident placing my Christmas orders at your web site. Numerous emails throughout the month of December have reminded me that I had until December 19 to place my order and receive Free Super Saver Shipping for my gifts to arrive by Christmas, and I looked forward to shopping with you.

I placed my two orders on December 16. Today, on December 20, which is four (4) days later, I received a notification that, “Due to an unexpected delay, we are unable to ship the merchandise listed below in the time frame indicated in our previous email. We anticipate that your merchandise will be shipped within the next 1-5 business days.” This merchandise will not reach me in time for Christmas. I now must scramble, placing last minute orders on Amazon, to guarantee that my gifts will make it to their intended destinations by the Sunday holiday.

This debacle has cost me significantly, since I now must use Amazon’s expensive 2-day shipping option (and I don’t save my 10% membership rewards there). It has also caused much hassle, as I had to duplicate this Christmas shopping at other retailers.

Unless bn.com makes a significant effort to remedy this situation, your company can rest assured that I will no longer shop on your web site or in your stores. I will also allow my Member card to expire, as I see no reason to show loyalty to a company who would be so ingenuous to me.

Ideally, I would like these items Express shipped to me in order to arrive by 12/24. Another option includes making sure that these items are held in store for me to pickup between now and Christmas.

Please notify me how you plan to remedy this situation. I look forward to your response.

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