Chapters BookStore - no exchange without receipt

Unfortunately I paid with cash, so no card slips/bank statements are available.

I've resolved the situation by getting the books i want second-hand from abebooks.com for a fraction of the cost of buying in Chapters (25$ incl shipping for 3 books that would have cost 30-40 euro). I do normally try to support local traders, but Chapters have given me no reason to feel any loyalty to them despite having shopped there for the last 10 years.
 
Really they will only offer refund or exchange out of their own goodwill if there is nothing wrong with the goods. Personally I have had a bad experience with Chapters as well so I suppose we can just let our consumer power do the talking at the end of the day. Maybe that will give them a good reason to change their attitude.
 
Janndoe said:
but Chapters have given me no reason to feel any loyalty to them despite having shopped there for the last 10 years.
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You're right, if they cannot see the difference between a genuine error and a scammer that is their loss. The point of power is always in the pocket.Write them a letter to the ceo/md and tell them you won't buy there any more. you might be surprised how they would react to losing a 10 year genuine customer legal rights or not
 
Janndoe said:
I've resolved the situation by getting the books i want second-hand from abebooks.com for a fraction of the cost of buying in Chapters (25$ incl shipping for 3 books that would have cost 30-40 euro). I do normally try to support local traders, but Chapters have given me no reason to feel any loyalty to them despite having shopped there for the last 10 years.
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I know having the wrong part of a set is frustrating but in fairness to Chapters when comparing them to other retailers; do you think abebooks.com would refund or replace a bought book if you had no proof of purchase with them ?

If I lost a receipt for something and couldnt prove I bought it at a particular shop, I wouldn't automatically expect a shop to take it back. However if it was faulty and I lost the receipt I would rightly be doubly annoyed at myself and would take a chance at bringing it back but I'd accept responsibility for not having the receipt...

Does anyone find Chapters any cheaper, more expensive or the same price as the other high street book stores ?
 
I think it's bad business on their part - by not allowing the exchange, they have alienated a good customer, who would on average, buy 2-4 books a month, and mostly in that shop.

I just don't see how they have decided that it is better business-wise for them to do this, since they would not incur any loss at all by allowing the exchange. As I have already said I told them I wanted to exchange it for a different edition of the same book series (a one volume edition instead of part 2 of a 2 volume one). They still get my money, they get my goodwill, to the tune of 20-40 euro in an average month and they lose precisely nothing.

It seems rather petty.

but the books I ordered online will be here tomorrow, so I'm happy :D
 
This thread reminds me of the scene in Naked Camera when the wiseguy goes into Freebird Records at O'Connell Bridge and asks the guy behind the counter can he borrow a few CDs to "bring home & tape them". His reply "if I'm gonna start doing that I might as well jump into the Liffey, mate"
 
ubiquitous said:
This thread reminds me of the scene in Naked Camera when the wiseguy goes into Freebird Records at O'Connell Bridge and asks the guy behind the counter can he borrow a few CDs to "bring home & tape them". His reply "if I'm gonna start doing that I might as well jump into the Liffey, mate"
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Perhaps I'm being dense but I'm not seeing how this is the same, unless you intend to be insulting?
 
Secondhand bookshops make their living from buying used books at a reduced price and selling them at the full market price. If they are going to offer customers a facility to "return" books to them at full price without receipt, this would be likely to undermine their business model. Anyone could walk into them with a used book, and instead of offering to sell it to them at a reduced price, they could just as easily claim they bought it there, lost their receipt, and demand a full "refund", ie get paid full price for the book. Once people cop on to this, the retailer would lose their shirt - just as Freebird Records would do if they allowed customers to "borrow" their CDs.
 
I had completely assumed (perhaps wrongly) that the OP was talking about a 'new' item.
 
The fact remains: secondhand book purchases/sales are a major element of Chapters' business. They would cannibalise this trade were they to freely offer full "no questions asked" refunds on books retuned without receipt.
 
ubiquitous said:
The fact remains: secondhand book purchases/sales are a major element of Chapters' business. They would cannibalise this trade were they to freely offer full "no questions asked" refunds on books retuned without receipt.
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Ubi why are you straying from the issue in this thread to make a different argument? The OP is neither talking about a second hand book, nor looking for a refund never mind a "full no questions asked refund". I think she made a valid point but as most posters stated, legally Chapters are perfectly within their rights, but I still think it was a poor call on their part as it sounds like they have lost a customer because of it.
 
I don't see what the problem is, there is nothing to say you didn't steal the book (obviously you didn't) but the receipt is your proof that you didn't just take it out of the store and try to pull a fast one.
 
wheels said:
I don't see what the problem is, there is nothing to say you didn't steal the book (obviously you didn't) but the receipt is your proof that you didn't just take it out of the store and try to pull a fast one.
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Regardless of proof of purchase issue the store is simply not obliged to issue a refund unless there is something wrong with the purchased item.
 
Ceist Beag said:
Ubi why are you straying from the issue in this thread to make a different argument? The OP is neither talking about a second hand book, nor looking for a refund never mind a "full no questions asked refund". I think she made a valid point but as most posters stated, legally Chapters are perfectly within their rights, but I still think it was a poor call on their part as it sounds like they have lost a customer because of it.
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Okay then
ubiquitous said:
The fact remains: secondhand book purchases/sales are a major element of Chapters' business. They would cannibalise this trade were they to freely offer full "no questions asked" refunds or exchanges on books retuned without receipt.
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I still fail to see the relevance of your point Ubi. As I said, the OP was not looking for a full no questions asked exchange either. In fact the OP asked to speak to the manager to point out what she/he thought was a fair argument. As I also said, I agree the store was under no obligation whatsoever to accept her argument and offer an exchange - they were perfectly entitled to say no. I also think the person at the customer service desk was right to say no - it is the manager I think who made a bad call in this instance.
However, put yourself in the managers shoes. You run a bookshop. A customer has asked to speak to you (or have you consulted) regarding a request he/she has to exchange a book they mistakingly bought for another book of equal value. They don't have a receipt for the book but the book does have the security tag from the store on the back of it. Here are your choices:
A) Say no, our policy is our policy and we will not exchange the book. This results in you losing a customer.
B) Make a judgement call that the policy is worth ignoring in the interest of keeping a good relationship with the customer in this instance as you trust what they are saying is true. This results in a happy customer and you don't lose out financially - in fact you win in the long run as you have enhanced the customer's relationship with your store.

Obviously if you have doubts about the truth of the customer's story then you don't opt for B but in this instance the OP sounds like an honest person so I don't see any reason why the manager should not believe her.

Now which option would you choose if you were the manager ubi or wheels (or anyone else who thinks the store was right)?
 
I don't run a bookshop so I'm not in a position to pronounce with any level of wisdom that the manager in this case either acted correctly or didn't do so. All I am saying is that I can see why this bookshop has a policy of not allowing exchanges or full refunds on books purchased, unless verified by a receipt. It is up to Chapters to decide whether to have such a policy and if so, how best to implement it. They are big enough and in business long enough to make these decisions.

There is little doubt that such a policy will aggrieve at least some customers, however anyone who works in business will know that "you can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time". Many of the most successful companies in the world have made their fortunes by following this message. McDonalds & Ryanair are two that spring immediately to mind.
 
Well, having worked for Chapters in another life this doesn't surprise me..and not all of their books are second-hand either, they're returns to publishing houses that are bought cheap in bulk, mangled a bit by staff (under instructions I did it myself) and then doled out on the second hand shelves.

This may just get me banned but they were awful to work for and I just had to say something. Needless to say I'm not a fan.
 
Sophia57 said:
Well, having worked for Chapters in another life this doesn't surprise me..and not all of their books are second-hand either, they're returns to publishing houses that are bought cheap in bulk, mangled a bit by staff (under instructions I did it myself) and then doled out on the second hand shelves.
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What's the problem? They sell returns allegedly "mangled a bit" presumably at lower prices than the new/pristine item. Who cares? In fact even if they charged more who cares? If the punter is willing to pay then that's his/her prerogative.
 
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