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Does anyone else hate Borders?

I

ILoveBonzo

New Member
I do. I can't stand that place. I normally shop at Walden's, but I was close to a Borders last week so I thought I would go in and check it out.

I was looking for two books: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, and Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga by Stephen Davis. Fairly popular books, should be a easy. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Right when I stepped in, and I was blasted with an immediate wave of confusion. They don't organize their books by author at all. Just different book types! Maybe I'm just generalizing, but the employee's don't seem too friendly either. They also don't ask you if you're finding everything ok. (which they should do since their "uniforms" are all different colors and look like regular clothes so it's hard to seek them out)

I found the music section (I use the term "section" very, very loosely) and began looking for Hammer of the Gods. No luck. So I went to ask at the desk and here's how the conversation went:

Me: Hey, I'm looking for a book titled Hammer of the Gods, could you help me?
Lady: I dunno.
Me: Well, it's about Led Zeppelin.
Lady: Yeah, well it's probably in the music section then.(She then gave me kind of a "You're an idiot" look.
Me: Checked there.
Lady: Then we don't have it.
Me: Well, hmm, are you sure that it's not-
Lady: We don't have it.

I had enough of that so started to look for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but this time I went to a more of a “less human” source: the computer. They had book! I looked closer at the text. In small red letters it said: "OUT OF PRINT." What? They're kidding me right? This book is very much in print. They even just made a movie about it! But nope, according to Borders, if they don't have it, it must be out of print.

I drove to Walden's after that and found Hammer of the Gods, and ordered Fear and Loathing.
 
ILoveBonzo said:
Right when I stepped in, and I was blasted with an immediate wave of confusion. They don't organize their books by author at all. Just different book types!
Click to expand...

I have never uncounted a book shop that doesn't organize their books by type. Although they do have fiction section that you can browse and find the author you are looking for. Even the library works this way. So i'm very confused by this objection.

I think it would be a lot more confusing if you just had a huge shop that just had a-z. How would you find anything? You want to find a music book? Tough, you better know the author name or you are gonna have to hunt through the entire shop.

On a personal note: I have never had any problems with borders :)
 
The Borders near my mom's house orders by category and then alphabetical by author. I hate that they put price stickers with a barcode and the ISBN on the back of their books. I think it's such crap as all the other book stores just use the existing barcode rather than putting a sticker on the book.

They are, by the way, owned by Borders Group Inc., the same company the owns Waldenbooks.
 

I LOVE BORDERS
Of course I can only speak for the Borders I use, but they are Fantastic!
Have almost always found what I'm looking for, and very pleased how its laid out. esp where the coffee bar is, can sit up there and look out over all the Rows and rows of Lovely books :D
If I can't find something the Staff are wonderful,and seem to enjoy helping :)

I use the Essex (UK) one (Go there quite a lot as its near where my Sister lives)

Like most places I guess it depends on the Manager & the Staff
 
ILoveBonzo said:
I do. I can't stand that place. I normally shop at Walden's, but I was close to a Borders last week so I thought I would go in and check it out.

I was looking for two books: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, and Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga by Stephen Davis. Fairly popular books, should be a easy. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Right when I stepped in, and I was blasted with an immediate wave of confusion. They don't organize their books by author at all. Just different book types! Maybe I'm just generalizing, but the employee's don't seem too friendly either. They also don't ask you if you're finding everything ok. (which they should do since their "uniforms" are all different colors and look like regular clothes so it's hard to seek them out)

I found the music section (I use the term "section" very, very loosely) and began looking for Hammer of the Gods. No luck. So I went to ask at the desk and here's how the conversation went:

Me: Hey, I'm looking for a book titled Hammer of the Gods, could you help me?
Lady: I dunno.
Me: Well, it's about Led Zeppelin.
Lady: Yeah, well it's probably in the music section then.(She then gave me kind of a "You're an idiot" look.
Me: Checked there.
Lady: Then we don't have it.
Me: Well, hmm, are you sure that it's not-
Lady: We don't have it.

I had enough of that so started to look for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but this time I went to a more of a “less human” source: the computer. They had book! I looked closer at the text. In small red letters it said: "OUT OF PRINT." What? They're kidding me right? This book is very much in print. They even just made a movie about it! But nope, according to Borders, if they don't have it, it must be out of print.

I drove to Walden's after that and found Hammer of the Gods, and ordered Fear and Loathing.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear you had difficulties. I shop at Borders a lot, and I have never had a bad experience.
 
Hmm, maybe it was just my local Borders that's screwed up.

What I meant by the organization is that in my experience, it was catigorized by book type then author name, which was not the case at my local Borders.
 
Just read the subject line, kind of busy, but...


I think we need borders. what else will delineate where one country stops and another starts.

I just want to know who has the job to paint the lines around the countries?

:D
 
Borders? I'd never heard of this place until I started posting here. I've never seen one, let alone been into one. Maybe they don't have them in the north of England? :confused: We have Waterstone's near where I live and that's about it.
 
Halo said:
Borders? I'd never heard of this place until I started posting here. I've never seen one, let alone been into one. Maybe they don't have them in the north of England? :confused: We have Waterstone's near where I live and that's about it.
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Have a look here for your nearest. :) (This is the list of stores outside the US.)

I like Borders. My nearest is in Glasgow, so I don't get to go there that often. The Glasgow Borders can get a little confusing, but not with the actual organisation of the books, rather actually trying to find your way around. :rolleyes:

This might be a better location link...
 
Thanks, tartan_skirt! My nearest turns out to be in York, but much as I love books, I'm not travelling that far just to buy one! :)
 
I definitely like Border's. It's a lot of fun to browse and Wabbit is right, even libraries are organized by type and THEN by author. In terms of staff, I've had minimal contact at my local store but I've never had a bad experience there.
 
Halo said:
Borders? I'd never heard of this place until I started posting here. I've never seen one, let alone been into one. Maybe they don't have them in the north of England? :confused: We have Waterstone's near where I live and that's about it.
Click to expand...

You aren't missing much. It's just the standard massive bookstore turned book/DVD/CD/coffee store with employees who only work there to get the discount on DVDs. It's pretty much the same as Barnes & Noble.
 
I liked Borders when they first came on the scene - the idea of being able to sit in a comfy chair and read the books without necessarily buying one was wonderful (and still is). However. Now that they've been around for a while I don't like them anymore.

I don't have an issue with how they arrange the books, but what I don't like is the generic strip-mall feel of the place. If you are looking for anything off the beaten track they will not have it. The staff is usually pretty young and does not know much about anything other than the most a la mode books and authors. I am generalizing here of course, but that's been my experience. I like natural history, and their science section is woefully meager. There are usually a couple of shelves with just very standard titles. I realize that they have to stock what the public will buy, and that the common denominator is pretty low, but overall it just makes it a frustrating place to go sometimes.

My solution is the library. They will order just about anything in print if they don't have it in stock, and if you end up really liking it you can order it from Amazon. Less stess, no headaches, and you can sit in the comfy chair all you want in your very own living room.
 
borders

We dont have a borders in liverpool only wh smiths and waterstones but they do have one in manchester i found it great i brought my last 3 books there cost me £12 a bargain! :)
 
ja9 said:
I liked Borders when they first came on the scene - the idea of being able to sit in a comfy chair and read the books without necessarily buying one was wonderful (and still is).
Click to expand...

So, after people have sat around reading a book, cracking the spine, bending the corners and spilling coffee all over it, it is then put back on the shelf and sold at full price? I find this idea rather strange. I think you should buy the book before sitting around reading it and drinking coffee! If you don't want to buy, there's always the library. But it's probably just me who thinks this. :)
 
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