It should be noted that there are different membership benefits for different stores right now because the company is running some promo tests with the membership.
No. They sure pushed me HARD this morning to buy one. I went to use a gift card from one of my students. After THREE polite “no” responses, when she tried a FOURTH time, I said, “I buy all my books at Amazon. Please don’t ask me a fifth time.” Then she got huffy. Lol
Just a quick input, stores with some kind of credit card or rewards program or anything along those lines, employees are told to push so hard for those. The store I work at, we can get it trouble or even fired if we don’t get enough. So they reallllllly try and push for them!!
Yes, so at the department store I work in, they have it online and it shows how many credit cards each employee has gotten people to sign up for. If you’re in good standing, cool. If not, managers will talk with you. It affects your yearly raise and overall progress and performance reports.
One time, our store manager said, “we need to get some more Icaps out of the part timers.” So I started a list and asked every customer, most people said no or already had one, but that doesn’t matter to them.
Ugh! Employees should not be held accountable for things outside of their control. I don’t mind if employees ask me if I am interested in whatever their card or membership scheme is, but I will feel very annoyed if they continue to ask after I say no. I don’t shop much anywhere, and those things are rarely worth it to me. If I feel I’m being hassled I will generally not go to that particular store anymore. So managers should realize that their forcing employees to hassle customers may be working against them. Recently I stopped going to a restaurant owned by a friend when I overheard her talk about how she’d fire waitresses if they didn’t maintain a certain average dollar amount spent by customers.
It’s absolutely ridiculous!! It’s nice to know others think so!! 🙂 I totally agree with the annoyance with being hassled. I ask initially then maybe ask if they’re sure and that’s it, if that. I completely get that though!
I work as a teacher but my summer job is to sell concessions at our local baseball stadium. We are supposed to upsell always, and we have certain phrases we should use like, “would that be a large?” when they order a drink instead of “what size?” or to always suggest something more when they’ve finished their order. It’s my personal, quiet, stick-it-to-the-man thing that I almost never upsell. Unless there is someone standing there with a clipboard which means they are evaluating me. (They’re not very subtle about it.) Even then I may just take the 95% evaluation instead of the 100%. 😉 Usually (if there’s no clipboard around) I’ll even tell customers which are the most cost-efficient choices! Luckily I don’t care too much if they fire me, and I think they won’t because I’m very competent in all other ways..
@Linda yep I had my hours cut back severely when I worked at a bookstore. I was interested in helping customers find the right book. All they cared about was the damn membership.
I’ve had one for several years and have tracked my savings; it’s worthwhile for me. As to the hardsell on memberships, etc., yes employees are tracked on what they do and there can be repercussions if they don’t “do their job”. This is what led to the recent bank account scandal where people opened multiple accounts without their customers agreeing to them. I renew the B&N membership at the store after one of the cashiers told me that renewing there is tracked; they need the right numbers to keep the branch open.
I’m a loyal member and shopper there. I will be very sad if the day comes that I can’t buy books at a real store and look at them first. Amazon is great but the real thing is nice too and deserves support.
I have the Barnes and Noble MasterCard and use it for everything. So I get a free B&N membership every year, plus enough gift cards from them to never have to pay for a book. If I don’t have a gift card and use the MasterCard at B&N I get a discount for using the card. LOVE IT ❤️ ?
The savings makes it worth the annual fee for me. Been a member about 8 years I think. (I still prefer a book to an ereader). But I will say that at the two stores I frequent the most, personnel usually do not “push” the membership, I would find that very obnoxious.
I’ve had a BN membership for years. When I was still buying a lot of hardcover books, it was worth it. I’m a technical writer/editor/web designer, and the 15% discount made it possible for me to keep up with new editions of style guides and other pricey technical reference books, as well as occasional hardcover fiction. Now that painful swollen joints are driving me away from large dead-tree books and toward the e-book versions, I’m finding the membership less useful (no discounts on e-books).
I do. Not sure I can answer your questions, but I’ll try.
I do too. Happy to answer if I can.
Yes and my hubby works there. Ask away
I have one and use it often.
Interested to learn the question and answers!
Yeppers
I did get my answers! I was just wondering about the discounts and things like that
It should be noted that there are different membership benefits for different stores right now because the company is running some promo tests with the membership.
I did, but didn’t find it beneficial enough to renew after the year was up
Good to know, thank you! I’ve always wondered!!
No. They sure pushed me HARD this morning to buy one. I went to use a gift card from one of my students. After THREE polite “no” responses, when she tried a FOURTH time, I said, “I buy all my books at Amazon. Please don’t ask me a fifth time.” Then she got huffy. Lol
Just a quick input, stores with some kind of credit card or rewards program or anything along those lines, employees are told to push so hard for those. The store I work at, we can get it trouble or even fired if we don’t get enough. So they reallllllly try and push for them!!
Employees get in trouble or fired if not enough customers choose to get membership?? That bothers me SOOO much!!
Yes, so at the department store I work in, they have it online and it shows how many credit cards each employee has gotten people to sign up for. If you’re in good standing, cool. If not, managers will talk with you. It affects your yearly raise and overall progress and performance reports.
One time, our store manager said, “we need to get some more Icaps out of the part timers.” So I started a list and asked every customer, most people said no or already had one, but that doesn’t matter to them.
Ugh! Employees should not be held accountable for things outside of their control. I don’t mind if employees ask me if I am interested in whatever their card or membership scheme is, but I will feel very annoyed if they continue to ask after I say no. I don’t shop much anywhere, and those things are rarely worth it to me. If I feel I’m being hassled I will generally not go to that particular store anymore. So managers should realize that their forcing employees to hassle customers may be working against them. Recently I stopped going to a restaurant owned by a friend when I overheard her talk about how she’d fire waitresses if they didn’t maintain a certain average dollar amount spent by customers.
It’s absolutely ridiculous!! It’s nice to know others think so!! 🙂 I totally agree with the annoyance with being hassled. I ask initially then maybe ask if they’re sure and that’s it, if that. I completely get that though!
I work as a teacher but my summer job is to sell concessions at our local baseball stadium. We are supposed to upsell always, and we have certain phrases we should use like, “would that be a large?” when they order a drink instead of “what size?” or to always suggest something more when they’ve finished their order. It’s my personal, quiet, stick-it-to-the-man thing that I almost never upsell. Unless there is someone standing there with a clipboard which means they are evaluating me. (They’re not very subtle about it.) Even then I may just take the 95% evaluation instead of the 100%. 😉 Usually (if there’s no clipboard around) I’ll even tell customers which are the most cost-efficient choices! Luckily I don’t care too much if they fire me, and I think they won’t because I’m very competent in all other ways..
@Linda yep I had my hours cut back severely when I worked at a bookstore. I was interested in helping customers find the right book. All they cared about was the damn membership.
I have had one since they began offering and I save soooooooo much money I love it
Same with me.
Me too
Yes
I’ve had one for several years and have tracked my savings; it’s worthwhile for me. As to the hardsell on memberships, etc., yes employees are tracked on what they do and there can be repercussions if they don’t “do their job”. This is what led to the recent bank account scandal where people opened multiple accounts without their customers agreeing to them. I renew the B&N membership at the store after one of the cashiers told me that renewing there is tracked; they need the right numbers to keep the branch open.
Yes I have one and I’m also a B&N employee. I can answer any membership questions you have.
yes, every year
I’m a loyal member and shopper there. I will be very sad if the day comes that I can’t buy books at a real store and look at them first. Amazon is great but the real thing is nice too and deserves support.
I’ve had one for years. It saves me a ton of $$.
I’ve had a membership since 2001 or 2002. Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers got me started on reading good literary fiction and nonfiction.
I have the Barnes and Noble MasterCard and use it for everything. So I get a free B&N membership every year, plus enough gift cards from them to never have to pay for a book. If I don’t have a gift card and use the MasterCard at B&N I get a discount for using the card. LOVE IT ❤️ ?
The savings makes it worth the annual fee for me. Been a member about 8 years I think. (I still prefer a book to an ereader). But I will say that at the two stores I frequent the most, personnel usually do not “push” the membership, I would find that very obnoxious.
I’ve had a BN membership for years. When I was still buying a lot of hardcover books, it was worth it. I’m a technical writer/editor/web designer, and the 15% discount made it possible for me to keep up with new editions of style guides and other pricey technical reference books, as well as occasional hardcover fiction. Now that painful swollen joints are driving me away from large dead-tree books and toward the e-book versions, I’m finding the membership less useful (no discounts on e-books).
Yes