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Barnes & Noble Paradox

mookeywrenchmookeywrench Posts: 5,870
edited June 2010 in All Encompassing Trip
Went to Barnes & Noble today and noticed that they have a counter service like a bank.

There's a line to get to the counter then only one person is allowed to approach the counter once ther cashier calls you over to them.

They even have signs asking not to approach the counter until asked by the cashier.

I'm assuming that this is for privacy reasons as books can be a sensitive purchase for some (Mein Kampf, Communist Manifesto, Glenn Beck etc. etc.)

So anyway, I make my purchase and the cashier then places my books into a redesigned B&N bag which is completely translucent plastic so I can walk around for all to see what I've purchased. Doesn't this contradict the point of the line/cashier operation?

Rant over...
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Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    the line isnt for privacy reasons but for control. a nice neat line is way better and far more efficient than a mob standing around a cashier higgedy pigeddy.

    what did you buy anyway????? :mrgreen:
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • mookeywrenchmookeywrench Posts: 5,870
    I don't know it seems like there's a lot of space between the line and where you actually get rung up. It seems it can't just be for the sake of operational efficiency

    I got Grapes of Wrath and All the Pretty Horses
    350x700px-LL-d2f49cb4_vinyl-needle-scu-e1356666258495.jpeg
  • Kilgore_TroutKilgore_Trout Posts: 7,334
    yah... as someone in the retail business i can tell ya how annoying people are when it comes to lines... they'll stand near registers that aren't open/turned on and shout like they're being ignored... they'll crowd peoples' space as they're trying to pay... line cutting,etc... believe me people need to know where to stand... like livestock ;)
    "Senza speme vivemo in disio"

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  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    mookeywrench wrote:
    I don't know it seems like there's a lot of space between the line and where you actually get rung up. It seems it can't just be for the sake of operational efficiency

    I got Grapes of Wrath and All the Pretty Horses

    nice.


    at my supermarket theres no line at the deli nor a number system and you have to rely on the courtesy of the other customers... thats not always something i like to have to do. a line shows who is to be served next.. easy.
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • SawyerSawyer Posts: 2,411
    I love Glenn Beck
  • arqarq Posts: 8,012
    mookeywrench wrote:
    ...Glenn Beck ...

    :lol:
    "The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it"
    Neil deGrasse Tyson

    Why not (V) (°,,,,°) (V) ?
  • haffajappahaffajappa Posts: 5,955
    Kilgore_Trout wrote:
    yah... as someone in the retail business i can tell ya how annoying people are when it comes to lines... they'll stand near registers that aren't open/turned on and shout like they're being ignored... they'll crowd peoples' space as they're trying to pay... line cutting,etc... believe me people need to know where to stand... like livestock ;)
    yes i love that! 2 associates, 2 line ups, 3 tills...guess which one the customer chooses?
    live pearl jam is best pearl jam
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    haffajappa wrote:
    Kilgore_Trout wrote:
    yah... as someone in the retail business i can tell ya how annoying people are when it comes to lines... they'll stand near registers that aren't open/turned on and shout like they're being ignored... they'll crowd peoples' space as they're trying to pay... line cutting,etc... believe me people need to know where to stand... like livestock ;)
    yes i love that! 2 associates, 2 line ups, 3 tills...guess which one the customer chooses?


    and then when its politely pointed out to them that, excuse me but the line starts here, they look at you like you just took a dump in their tuba.
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • chadwickchadwick Posts: 21,157
    barnes & noble stores won't deal with me and my poetry because of harry potter.
    it's true.
    that's what i was told when speaking with them.

    harry potter books take up a lot of time and space.
    we cannot handle your poetry.

    nicely done fuckers.
    for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7

    "Hear me, my chiefs!
    I am tired; my heart is
    sick and sad. From where
    the sun stands I will fight
    no more forever."
    Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
  • haffajappahaffajappa Posts: 5,955
    catefrances wrote:
    haffajappa wrote:
    Kilgore_Trout wrote:
    yah... as someone in the retail business i can tell ya how annoying people are when it comes to lines... they'll stand near registers that aren't open/turned on and shout like they're being ignored... they'll crowd peoples' space as they're trying to pay... line cutting,etc... believe me people need to know where to stand... like livestock ;)
    yes i love that! 2 associates, 2 line ups, 3 tills...guess which one the customer chooses?


    and then when its politely pointed out to them that, excuse me but the line starts here, they look at you like you just took a dump in their tuba.
    I (as the sales associate) just ignore them completely 'til they figure it out.
    and if they complain theyre not being helped, I just look surprised as if i never even noticed they were there, and politely explain "oh I'm sorry, there is nobody servicing that till"
    live pearl jam is best pearl jam
  • mickeyratmickeyrat Posts: 38,038
    catefrances wrote:
    the line isnt for privacy reasons but for control. a nice neat line is way better and far more efficient than a mob standing around a cashier higgedy pigeddy.

    what did you buy anyway????? :mrgreen:
    Ummmmm , Cate? WTF? does the bolded mean?
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