Returning books you're not happy with

Amadan · Sep 29, 2012

So, I just gave a book a two star rating on Audible.com, and got this message:

Hmm... only 2 stars for Necropolis?

Sorry to hear you didn't like this book. Did you know that Audible Members can return books they're not happy with? Click here to return Necropolis

Now, on the one hand I was tempted to take them up on their offer, because hey, free credit! Get another book with it.

On the other hand, it's never occurred to me that I should return a book for a refund because I didn't like it.

I guess it makes sense. You can return any other product you decide you are dissatisfied with. It makes sense for Audible to take the "risk" out of choosing a book one might decide was a mistake.

But I've always figured, if I read a book all the way through to the end (and I very rarely DNF a book, no matter how horrible) I got what I paid my money for: a reading experience. Books don't come with a guarantee that every reader will love them.

Dunno, I am still pondering this one.

(I doubt I will "return" the book, though; instead I shall just leave my negative review up.

)

Deleted member 42 · Sep 29, 2012

Amadan said:
But I've always figured, if I read a book all the way through to the end (and I very rarely DNF a book, no matter how horrible) I got what I paid my money for: a reading experience. Books don't come with a guarantee that every reader will love them.

I've returned books because of printing flaws—major ones, like missing chapters or repeated chapters and missing text, or garbled pages.

And I've returned digital books (text and audio) for major production flaws.

But not liking a book isn't a reason, for my part.

Little Red Barn · Sep 29, 2012

i've never returned a book. nor will i ever. imo they should never be returned because someone didn't like it--get it--whatever. it's tacky. returning/exchanging because it is damaged, is acceptable.

Susan Coffin · Sep 29, 2012

I've never returned a book for not liking it, but I have returned it if there are physical flaws to it. I once bought a book from a book club that had missing pages with a note to "insert the pages <between certain parts>, and I returned it for credit. Once my terms were fulfilled, I quit the book club.

dolores haze · Sep 29, 2012

The only time I return a book is when I return a book to the library. I pay the late fee without complaining, too.

Kerosene · Sep 29, 2012

I've never returned a book. For all the reasons, and I make sure I really want it before I buy it. Yes, I sit there and read and evaluate if I want to keep reading. I've blown through half a book before I placed it back.

But I mostly have to question the returns of audiobooks. They are expensive, so I would expect that the Audiable to be more appreciative towards returns. And, it's credit, they didn't lose your business, right?

BenPanced · Sep 29, 2012

I've returned books twice, but only because I already had them. Otherwise, I've just donated unwanted books to the United Way book drive at work.

DancingMaenid · Sep 29, 2012

I can understand returning books because of things like printing errors. In that case, it's a problem with the product and you're not getting what you paid for.

I've personally only returned books because I already own a copy, which I also think is reasonable.

But I can't imagine returning a book because I didn't like it. The way I see it, when I buy a book, I'm paying for the copy of the book (paper or digital) but also, in a less tangible sense, I'm paying for the reading experience. There's no guarantee that I'll like it.

Gen Turner · Sep 29, 2012

I would never return a book just because I didn't like it, since taste is so subjective. (And I'm picky.) But then again, I hardly ever return anything. I figure if I don't like something, it's my own fault for judging poorly.
For books, I'll just donate them to the library bookstore, so that they can profit off of my mistakes.

MJNL · Sep 29, 2012

I only return faulty products. Returning a book simply because I didn't like it is kind of like returning a board game because it wasn't as fun as I thought it'd be, or a box of crackers because the new flavor isn't to my liking--which is silly to me. Now if the book is missing chapters, the game is missing pieces, or I find a finger in the cracker box, that's another matter.

LJD · Sep 29, 2012

I, too, would not return a book because I did not like it.

jjdebenedictis · Sep 29, 2012

I would consider returning a book only if it was flamingly, horrifically bad. Like, "OMG, GIVE ME THOSE HOURS OF MY LIFE BACK!" bad.

And given I wouldn't likely finish a book that terrible--or buy it in the first place, given you can judge some things beforehand--I'm not sure this would ever realistically happen.

I'd be more likely to demand my money back for a movie I hated sufficiently, and I haven't done that thus far either.

crunchyblanket · Sep 30, 2012

Even if the book was eye-bleedingly bad, I don't see the point in returning it. I'd just give it to the local charity shop.

shaldna · Sep 30, 2012

Medievalist said:
I've returned books because of printing flaws—major ones, like missing chapters or repeated chapters and missing text, or garbles pages.

And I've returned digital books (text and audio) for major production flaws.

But not liking a book isn't a reason, for my part.

I don't know. I mean, publishing is a business like any other. Books are a product like any other. If I bought a dress and the seams weren't straight, or I got it home and found that it had a hole in it, I'd return it. I think most folk would.

BUT, if you got that dress home, had a better look at it and then decided that you didn't really like it after all, you might return it.

Why should books be different?

On one hand books, like most entertainment, is consumed by the mere act of observation. So although you will still have the physical item, you will have consumed all of the worth that you, as an individual, can get from it. In a sense, you've used it up and returning the book means that you still retain the contents of the book, while giving up only the physical copy.

On the other hand, what if you have a particular writer that, over the course of time, has written to a certain standard, leading you, as the reader, to invest significant time and money on them. They have a new book out and because of their previous work, you have a certain level of expectation, a standard that they have created for themselves. But what if the next book is complete shite? The reader has paid money based on an expectation of quality derived from previous experiences, but has been let down significantly. Is the reader then entitled to a refund?

It's an interesting thought.

seun · Sep 30, 2012

Would it be expected (or accepted) for someone to return a CD or dvd because they didn't like it?

I wouldn't return a book. I'd put it down to just one of those things, give the book away and probably avoid the author in future.

Katrina S. Forest · Sep 30, 2012

I've returned one book on Audible. I'd enjoyed the author before, so I just grabbed it without listening to a preview or reading the reviews. An hour into the book, absolutely nothing had happened. I gave up and counted it as a wasted credit.

I had another book that I got a while ago on Audible that I would return if I could. It might be great, but it's in Spanish. I thought I'd understand enough to follow the story, but I overestimated my listening skills and again, gave up after an hour.

I guess that's my measurement -- if I didn't get very far in the book before I gave up, I don't mind returning it. Had I previewed these two books more carefully, I probably wouldn't have bought them in the first place. I think that's fair.

LindaJeanne · Sep 30, 2012

There is one book I would have returned if I had realized soon enough that Amazon allowed the return of e-books. It was a book on a medical subject, and it turned out to be pure snake-oil-salesman sensationalism (This is the one true solution for everyone that the medical industry insists on ignoring! Don't listen to your doctor, listen to me!) But that's because I felt mis-led as to what I was buying (and feared that the book could be actively harmful to others if they took it seriously)

Oh, and I returned one used book I purchased online, because I received a different edition than what was advertised (on a highly technical subject where the ten years between editions rendered the earlier one useless). This was an honest mistake on the seller's part (the publisher erroneously gave the same ISBN to both editions, and the seller didn't notice that when he entered the ISBN, Amazon filled out the information for a different edition than what he had. Which explains why the price was more in line with other copies of the 2nd edition than with used copies of the 3rd. He was very apologetic when I contacted him about the mistake.)

I've never returned a book because I didn't like it. I've just written it off as a bad purchasing decision and threw it in the donation box (or deleted it from my Kindle, depending). Maybe I should have returned the ones I gave up on early, but I'll probably stick to my current way of doing things.

Rhoda Nightingale · Sep 30, 2012

dolores haze said:
The only time I return a book is when I return a book to the library. I pay the late fee without complaining, too.

Yeah, this. Or I donate them to used book stores or rummage sales. Returning them to the retailer? Because I didn't like them? Nope. Never entered my head as a possibility.

ChaosTitan · Sep 30, 2012

shaldna said:
I don't know. I mean, publishing is a business like any other. Books are a product like any other. If I bought a dress and the seams weren't straight, or I got it home and found that it had a hole in it, I'd return it. I think most folk would.

BUT, if you got that dress home, had a better look at it and then decided that you didn't really like it after all, you might return it.

Why should books be different?

To me, reading/listening to an entire book and then returning it after the fact is equivalent to buying a dress for a party, tucking in the tag, wearing, and then returning it the next day. You've basically "rented" the item, gotten your use out of it, and then went and got your money back. As someone who works in retail, I hate this. Maybe you had a great time at the party, maybe you had a terrible time at the party--either way, you're cheating by taking back the dress you already wore.

It's no different with books. I'm all for returning a book if you already own it, if there are major internal flaws (I recall last year when a book was printed without a chapter), or if the book itself is somehow faulty. That's like buying a dress for a party, putting it on at home, and seeing a hole in the seam you didn't notice in the store. Take it back and get something else.

A few months ago, a customer came into my store to return a candle. The candle had been burned almost do the bottom, almost fully used. The complaint? She didn't like the smell. I didn't accept the return or exchange for a new product. Why? She consumed the product she paid for. She burned the whole thing, then wanted something new for free? Uh...no.

seun · Sep 30, 2012

ChaosTitan said:
A few months ago, a customer came into my store to return a candle. The candle had been burned almost do the bottom, almost fully used. The complaint? She didn't like the smell. I didn't accept the return or exchange for a new product. Why? She consumed the product she paid for. She burned the whole thing, then wanted something new for free? Uh...no.

This is why I no longer work in retail. Customers are bastards.

AbielleRose · Sep 30, 2012

As a former bookstore manager, I'm very happy to see just how many people wouldn't return a book just because they didn't like it. There's a lot more that goes into returning a book from the resale end. I've had to wipe potato salad off books for sale in the store because people don't seem to understand that those books still want to go home with someone at some point.

A great deal of people treat bookstores as libraries. Reading a book within the 14 day return period and returning it to get a new one and then doing the same thing. When I was working there I actually had to ban a few people from the store for that sort of thing.

If people want a gently used book they go to Amazon, not Barnes and Noble or Boarders.

crunchyblanket · Sep 30, 2012

AbielleRose said:
I've had to wipe potato salad off books for sale in the store because people don't seem to understand that those books still want to go home with someone at some point.

When I used to work in a bookshop, we had a real dick of a customer we used to call Breadstick Man who would come in every day with a box of breadsticks (hence the name,) set up in the New Releases aisle and proceed to read the hardbacks cover to cover. He'd even mark his place in the books with a page-fold so he knew where to pick up again the next day. He had absolutely no regard for the book; he'd bend back the spine, fold over the pages and get breadcrumbs everywhere. In the end, I got pissed off and told him that if he ever came in again, I'd call security and tell them he was stealing.

AbielleRose · Sep 30, 2012

crunchyblanket said:
When I used to work in a bookshop, we had a real dick of a customer we used to call Breadstick Man who would come in every day with a box of breadsticks (hence the name,) set up in the New Releases aisle and proceed to read the hardbacks cover to cover. He'd even mark his place in the books with a page-fold so he knew where to pick up again the next day. He had absolutely no regard for the book; he'd bend back the spine, fold over the pages and get breadcrumbs everywhere. In the end, I got pissed off and told him that if he ever came in again, I'd call security and tell them he was stealing.

Ugh! I truly don't understand how some people can be such *bleep*s! The town I live in is a big college town and students would come and pile up books 2 feet high on the floor next to the tables they'd work at. I have NO problem with students coming into the store to study. There's coffee, there are tables... but these kids would not only pile the books up, they'd rip pages out to take with them instead of buying the book. If they found one that would help with whatever it was they were working on (non-fiction books, in particular), they would RIP out pages!

As much as I love and adore books, working at that store was harder for me than almost any other job I've worked. When you see people behave with such disrespect to something you love, it sort of disillusions the greatness of working with something you love. It becomes a product and you have to force yourself to see it as a product.

That being said, as a product you're not allowed to buy a movie, take it home and watch it, decide you don't like it and return it. Why are books any different?

(ending my rant now, sorry!)

crunchyblanket · Sep 30, 2012

but these kids would not only pile the books up, they'd rip pages out to take with them instead of buying the book. If they found one that would help with whatever it was they were working on (non-fiction books, in particular), they would RIP out pages!

Ugh. That's astonishing. It's like trying on a dress, realising that you hate it but you really like the buttons and pulling those buttons off. It's bloody stealing.

I could never work in a bookshop again. Between rude customers (a handful of whom were downright nasty...remind me to tell the story of Trevor the Racist sometime) morons like Breadstick Man (or the mothers who'd buy their kids revision books and attempt to return them once the exams were over) and the fact that we got rid of Historical Fiction/reduced the SF/F section to make way for "tragic life stories" (aka misery porn) ....I think I'd rather dance a naked samba on top of a moving train than do that ever again.

LJD · Sep 30, 2012

ChaosTitan said:
To me, reading/listening to an entire book and then returning it after the fact is equivalent to buying a dress for a party, tucking in the tag, wearing, and then returning it the next day. You've basically "rented" the item, gotten your use out of it, and then went and got your money back. As someone who works in retail, I hate this. Maybe you had a great time at the party, maybe you had a terrible time at the party--either way, you're cheating by taking back the dress you already wore.

It's no different with books. I'm all for returning a book if you already own it, if there are major internal flaws (I recall last year when a book was printed without a chapter), or if the book itself is somehow faulty. That's like buying a dress for a party, putting it on at home, and seeing a hole in the seam you didn't notice in the store. Take it back and get something else.

That's how I see it too.

Interestingly, I notice that Chapters/Indigo has "guaranteed" reads:

Every Heather's Pick item is a guaranteed great read, so you may return any Heather’s Pick item at any time after purchase, in any condition, for a full refund. This guarantee is good for both Store and Online purchases. Proof of purchase is still required for the return. Returns more than 30 days after purchase will need to be returned to a Chapters, Indigo, or Coles store for processing.
(from the website)

Returning books you're not happy with

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