-
Welcome
to BookAndReader! We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!
Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.
Can working in a bookstore make you hate books?
- Thread starter ions
- Start date
Leolioness4200
New Member
In may of this year I got a job at Books A Million which I don't know if you have one where you are but here they are huge book stores...anyways I only lasted at that job for a month....why well it wasn't because of the books...I still love books as much as I did before I worked there...I quit because at that place the company has a percentage of discount cards each associate has to sell everyday and if you don't reach that percent then you get ur head chewed off...I told them they needed to change the name of the store to Discount cards a million when I quit....I also quit because the guy that was my manager was on a power trip because he was above the associates....I pretty sure you know how that goes....but no books are still my passion now I just shop at books a millions competition which is Barnes & Nobles and when they lost me as a customer they lost some money 
mehastings
Active Member
I worked at a Waldenbooks. They are smaller stores often found inside malls. They really cater to genre fiction more than Barnes & Noble does because their floor space is small and more of their clients read romance and sci-fi than anything else. I still managed to find a million books that I wanted to read there. Thankfully it was just a second job to get the discount, so it was OK that I spent all the money I made. I enjoyed working there because it was summer reading list season. I am very into children's literature and I was able to refine my suggesting skills by helping kids find the perfect summer book. There are a lot of things major chains do wrong, discount cards is certainly one of them. We weren't given a quota, but we were praised for pushing a lot of them. I also feel that stores like that hire people who don't like books to begin with. So, perhaps this is the problem if you've met a bookstore employee who doesn't want to make a suggestion and seems to hate books. I'd be surprised to find a person who hated books because of a job. It's not like we're talking about coffee, which you have to smell all day.
Leolioness4200
New Member
At least you were praised when you sold discount cards...the manager at the Books a Million store I worked at didn't even do that....there were plenty of times that I would go way over the 3% quota for the day and I wouldn't even get so much as a good job...he would just look at me and say let's hope you do this well tomorrow...it was because of that atitude that I eventually quit but before that I would make it a point to go in to work and not sell any cards just so that way I could push his buttons.
mehastings
Active Member
Yes, it is truely unfortunate when the management's priority isn't serving their customers as well as possible, but rather selling discount cards.
abecedarian
Well-Known Member
Its not like those cards save the customer that much. We bought a card at Barnes and Noble last Christmas,and saved a lot right up front because we bought a lot right then for gifts, but since then we've not been back to the store more than a couple of times. I did use the card when I bought books for school online. But frankly, there are better deals to be had from other places online without a card. I don't know that the cards generate that much extra business, the measly 10 percent discount doesn't give me the incentive to add just one more title to my shopping cart.
Libra6Poe
New Member
I work at Barnes and Noble (have been working seasonally for going on 5 years)... I love it! It doesn't make me hate books (although it kind of makes me not like people as much ). I get to see what people are reading/buying and it gives me great ideas. I'm also on top of new fiction and come across great finds when (re)shelving books.
As far as the discount cards... I absolutely hate feeling like a pusher. I feel that I must be absolutely annoying. I was told by many mangers to offer the discount card. I never did it though, at first. The only time I'd mention the card to customers is when a manager was around. It's not our fault! We're told by the higher-ups to do it!
Since I've been there for so long, I've learned to work it into my greeting without sounding like a telemarketer. I say, "hello!" they say hello back.. I ask how they are, they tell me... then when it's a little quiet as I'm still ringing things up, I quickly say, "do you happen to have a discount card with us?" they say no, I say okay and that's it. (it's best to ask too by the way 'coz sometimes I'll finish a transaction, then later the customer will remember that they had a card, but forgot to giv it to me. So I have to a call a supervisor or a manager to cancel the transaction, do it all over then use the card <whew>)
There's this new guy at my store... and he's obviously trying too hard (he's probably sucking up to the man).. and he gives a hard sale. He talks to them about the card throughout the whole transaction! ugh. I feel bad for the customers.. I could never do that. But you know, it works for him. He ends up selling a lot! I think some customers just give in to shut him up.
. So if you spend over $200 at one place a year, why not? It makes a nice gift to a big reader too ('coz as a gift, it'll be nothing but savings for the person using it). 
). I get to see what people are reading/buying and it gives me great ideas. I'm also on top of new fiction and come across great finds when (re)shelving books. As far as the discount cards... I absolutely hate feeling like a pusher. I feel that I must be absolutely annoying. I was told by many mangers to offer the discount card. I never did it though, at first. The only time I'd mention the card to customers is when a manager was around. It's not our fault! We're told by the higher-ups to do it!
Since I've been there for so long, I've learned to work it into my greeting without sounding like a telemarketer. I say, "hello!" they say hello back.. I ask how they are, they tell me... then when it's a little quiet as I'm still ringing things up, I quickly say, "do you happen to have a discount card with us?" they say no, I say okay and that's it. (it's best to ask too by the way 'coz sometimes I'll finish a transaction, then later the customer will remember that they had a card, but forgot to giv it to me. So I have to a call a supervisor or a manager to cancel the transaction, do it all over then use the card <whew>)
There's this new guy at my store... and he's obviously trying too hard (he's probably sucking up to the man).. and he gives a hard sale. He talks to them about the card throughout the whole transaction! ugh. I feel bad for the customers.. I could never do that. But you know, it works for him. He ends up selling a lot! I think some customers just give in to shut him up.
Well... it isn't if you don't buy books often. Because I've seen a lot of customers save a ton of cash 'coz they buy often and they buy a lot. These frequent shoppers tend to save more than a hundred a year. And hey, that's not bad! Personally, I don't think there are any bad discounts... 10% is something. I'm not so spoiled that I don't understand the value of a dollar-I'm young, every little bit helps
. So if you spend over $200 at one place a year, why not? It makes a nice gift to a big reader too ('coz as a gift, it'll be nothing but savings for the person using it).
Leolioness4200
New Member
SFG75 said:Did anyone bother to tell management that not every customer wants a frickin' card?
Yeah I told my manager that and he said well get them to want one...I would then tell him if they say no I'm not gonna hassle them about the card!! I'm so glad I quit that job...Every night that I got off of work I would feel low because I didn't reach my quota and that's not how your suppose to feel when you get off of work.
lenny nero
New Member
Is it true that some of the major chain stores don't like to hire people who read a lot because they don't want their workers shopping while they work? Do they ask you during the job interview if you read? I forget where I read that.
abecedarian
Well-Known Member
My brother-in-law used to work for Amazon, and their policy is, no reading on the job, not even in the breakroom, with the employee's own books. They'll fire a body for that. Of course, there its more a matter of dealing with employee theft, but it still seems a bit extreme.
I would hope a retail store would welcome a reading employee. Their knowledge and interests in books should be an asset, I would think.
I would hope a retail store would welcome a reading employee. Their knowledge and interests in books should be an asset, I would think.
Kookamoor
New Member
Wa?!?! Bizaare. I can understand that they don't want employees bringing in their own material because it would be risky given that theft would be harder to monitor. But you think they could provide some books in there for them to read. It sounds like a lack of security in the first place if theft is that much of a concern! But I guess you can't have 'paper detectors' for employees to pass through, can you! Still, this doesn't seem like a very friendly workplace atmosphere.abecedarian said:
abecedarian
Well-Known Member
Kookamoor said:
That's what my bil told us. I've since found out that there's the truth and then his story, so he may have been pulling our chains. Hard to say
mehastings
Active Member
abecedarian said:
That's a horrible policy. I always have a book with me at work. I can't guess what I would do in downtime otherwise. Even more shocking is the fact that people actually work for Amazon! I thought for sure it was a bunch of huge wearhouses run by robots similar to those in the third Matrix movie...
mehastings
Active Member
ions said:
So does Waldenbooks, or at least they used to. That is a great policy and probably does something to curb theft. Why chance getting in trouble when you can take the book home for free anyway?
abecedarian
Well-Known Member
mehastings said:
LOL, well the only employee of amazon I KNOW was him, and he might have been lying about what his did all day..he likes to tell my sil its none of HER bizness what he does with his time
Leolioness4200
New Member
abecedarian said:
Same policy goes for Books A Million they told me when I was hired that there was to be NO reading while on the job...I couldn't even flip through a magazine just to look at the photo's...but the plus side was that I could take home any book I wanted until I finished with it.
abecedarian
Well-Known Member
Leolioness4200 said:
See, If I ran a bookstore, I'd make sure that I had multicopies of several book-related magazines in the breakroom each month. I would even try to have a time for employees to discuss the articles and latest books. Seems like this would cut down on morale problems and help the employees do a better job taking care of customers. I would also think it might help cut down on employee theft because in a short time, it would feel like stealing from a cousin or uncle..