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G*dd*mn Follett...
This is a rant. You've been warned. I use a company name many times. I am not affiliated with this company, except that I loathe them from the blackest most foul pits of my soul.
My university leases space to Follett, a company that sells pretty much whatever it wants. Generally, though, these are college-student-necessity type things. Like textbooks.
Follett, because they know they have the sole rights to have stores on campus, then gouge students terribly, especially on things like textbooks. Especially new textbooks.
The method of their jackassery is to buy the textbooks that professors tell them students will need (books are chosen by professors before the semester begins) at wholesale prices, and then sell them to students at retail prices. This sounds eminently reasonable, and should work out fairly well. But it doesn't. Why?
Follett knows they have exclusive rights to sell on campus. They also know that most of the books they stock aren't stocked anywhere else nearby, and that online sites (B&N, Amazon, eBay) take weeks to ship, costing students valuable time while their textbooks are in transit.
In short, Follett (and their online site through the university's website, eFollett) has a near-monopoly on textbooks. Many professors don't like that their students are paying upwards of $200 for a $150 textbook (which is far from unheard of), and so have nearby retailers (there are two or three independent bookstores in town) stock their books instead, and don't even tell Follett what books they're using. However, for students without cars or with tight schedules, getting into town and waiting in line for hours (literally) to buy books is hardly convenient.
This year, all of my books were to be bought from Follett. I decided that after last semester's fiasco, I wouldn't buy anything from them that cost more than it did online from B&N (I have a membership). I compared the price, and found that two of the books, if bought used, were cheaper from Follett (though only by a few bucks, $15 or $20 at the most). I ordered all but those two from B&N, and ordered the other two from Follett to be picked up. All was well.
I picked up my books from Follett and had no problems, I was almost sorry about the horrible things I'd thought about them. Until...
Friday I got sick. Badly. Fever in the 103 range, vomiting, headaches, runny nose, cough, you name it. As such, I've spent the past few days recovering and trying to do as much homework as I can online. Part of that homework required the use of my brand-spankin'-used Organic Chem textbook. I opened up the first few chapters, and noted the crisp, clean, nobody-must-have-even-used-this-book pages. Then when I got to the assigned chapter... Disaster!
Nearly 1/3 to 1/2 of EVERY PAGE (excepting title pages and problems pages) is BRIGHT PINK HIGHLIGHTER. The highlighting doesn't bother me so much, except that it's 1) sloppy, 2) seemingly random, and 3) EVERYWHERE. This book, had it been looked at before being bought back (Follett buys books back for up to half of their original cost, and then resells them at 90% cost again for however many years the books are in use) would have been rejected immediately. In short, I spent $120 on a $136-new-from-B&N book, the value of which is precisely dick.
Of course I'm going to take the book back, point out that the book is ruined beyond any reasonably salable condition. I'm then going to ask to exchange it for an identical book, straight across, but preferably one that isn't full of stupidity. If they won't let me do that, I'll ask to pay the difference and just get a new book from them. However, I don't think they have any new copies of this particular book in stock, so I might have to just try and get my money back and order it from B&N and hope for the best. Judging by Follett's history, I'm not expecting much.
Sorry that was another of my epically long posts. I might be back later looking for advice so anyone with any ideas, have at it.
My university leases space to Follett, a company that sells pretty much whatever it wants. Generally, though, these are college-student-necessity type things. Like textbooks.
Follett, because they know they have the sole rights to have stores on campus, then gouge students terribly, especially on things like textbooks. Especially new textbooks.
The method of their jackassery is to buy the textbooks that professors tell them students will need (books are chosen by professors before the semester begins) at wholesale prices, and then sell them to students at retail prices. This sounds eminently reasonable, and should work out fairly well. But it doesn't. Why?
Follett knows they have exclusive rights to sell on campus. They also know that most of the books they stock aren't stocked anywhere else nearby, and that online sites (B&N, Amazon, eBay) take weeks to ship, costing students valuable time while their textbooks are in transit.
In short, Follett (and their online site through the university's website, eFollett) has a near-monopoly on textbooks. Many professors don't like that their students are paying upwards of $200 for a $150 textbook (which is far from unheard of), and so have nearby retailers (there are two or three independent bookstores in town) stock their books instead, and don't even tell Follett what books they're using. However, for students without cars or with tight schedules, getting into town and waiting in line for hours (literally) to buy books is hardly convenient.
This year, all of my books were to be bought from Follett. I decided that after last semester's fiasco, I wouldn't buy anything from them that cost more than it did online from B&N (I have a membership). I compared the price, and found that two of the books, if bought used, were cheaper from Follett (though only by a few bucks, $15 or $20 at the most). I ordered all but those two from B&N, and ordered the other two from Follett to be picked up. All was well.
I picked up my books from Follett and had no problems, I was almost sorry about the horrible things I'd thought about them. Until...
Friday I got sick. Badly. Fever in the 103 range, vomiting, headaches, runny nose, cough, you name it. As such, I've spent the past few days recovering and trying to do as much homework as I can online. Part of that homework required the use of my brand-spankin'-used Organic Chem textbook. I opened up the first few chapters, and noted the crisp, clean, nobody-must-have-even-used-this-book pages. Then when I got to the assigned chapter... Disaster!
Nearly 1/3 to 1/2 of EVERY PAGE (excepting title pages and problems pages) is BRIGHT PINK HIGHLIGHTER. The highlighting doesn't bother me so much, except that it's 1) sloppy, 2) seemingly random, and 3) EVERYWHERE. This book, had it been looked at before being bought back (Follett buys books back for up to half of their original cost, and then resells them at 90% cost again for however many years the books are in use) would have been rejected immediately. In short, I spent $120 on a $136-new-from-B&N book, the value of which is precisely dick.
Of course I'm going to take the book back, point out that the book is ruined beyond any reasonably salable condition. I'm then going to ask to exchange it for an identical book, straight across, but preferably one that isn't full of stupidity. If they won't let me do that, I'll ask to pay the difference and just get a new book from them. However, I don't think they have any new copies of this particular book in stock, so I might have to just try and get my money back and order it from B&N and hope for the best. Judging by Follett's history, I'm not expecting much.
Sorry that was another of my epically long posts. I might be back later looking for advice so anyone with any ideas, have at it.
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