back to article Barnes & Noble chief walks as Nook ereader stumbles

Barnes & Noble chief exec William Lynch is resigning his post as sales at the firm's bookstores continue to plunge and the Nook ebook reader fails to revive B&N's fortunes. In a flurry of shuffling, the bookstore chain announced that Lynch was leaving the chief's chair after three years. At the same time the firm said that …

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  1. Jim Bobble

    Not at all surprising, if their US division is anything like the clusterfuck that is the UK/ EU division. They wiped out any goodwill with their brand with the awful customer service offered to recent Simple Touch customers.

    1. h3

      I wouldn't expect any customer service for a £29 device unless it was faulty.

      1. SuperTim

        Customer Service

        "I wouldn't expect any customer service for a £29 device unless it was faulty."

        If their customer service is that bad for the device you are attempting to buy, what is the likelihood of getting any customer service at all when trying to buy books a quarter of the price? Customer service is seemingly underrated by many companies these days.

        My experience with the Nook website was pretty dire but they did eventually sort it out and I have to say that for £29, the simpletouch is a great e-reader. I don't use the nook store though.

      2. Intractable Potsherd

        @h3

        At what price *do* you expect customer service to be included? I'm old-fashioned enough to consider that any customer deserves service, regardless of what is being bought - a 50p tap washer customer is the same as a £100 tap customer.

        Your attitude makes you part of the increasingly poor delivery of service, since you think that price is directly proportional to deserving of service.

    2. smudge
      Happy

      Worked for me

      If you mean the fact that they sold out quickly and some folk had to wait two or three weeks - well that's only have a problem if you really, really need things instantly.

      I was quite happy because I was away for a week after I'd ordered a couple, and the delay meant that they didn't arrive until I was back.

    3. Number6

      Expectations

      I just worked on the principle that they were going to have a surge of interest and wasn't disappointed. Mine turned up OK in the end and their in-between emails kept me informed so I didn't perceive anything as bad. Reading comments from others, it appears that this wasn't true of everyone. Possibly it depends on how many microseconds after the price-drop announcement elapsed before placing your order.

  2. Eddy Ito

    "The company said that it plans to try to sort out the Nook business by outsourcing the actual manufacture of the tablet line."

    Really, they waited until now to decide to ring up Foxconn, Quanta, et al. like everyone else does. I'm surprised it took so long for them to get with the plot.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nook

    I bought a nook recently (because it was cheap) just to see if I would like an ereader or tablet, I know they are not the same thing, but I'm too cheap to buy either at full price.

    I had very low expectations of the nook simple touch - I mean how much can you get for £29, well having read the instructions and put a couple of books on it, I'm very impressed seemed much nicer than my mum's kindle, good features and really easy to use. oh and not a bad screen, good battey life.

    If I get bored with it, I can root it and use it as a slow refresh tablet.

    It would be a pity to lose such a nice device and foil to the amazon train.

  4. Charles 9

    Disturbing...

    This raises a few questions for people still fond of dead trees. I admit to being a ebook lover, but I tend to find other ways to put material in them, keeping the dead tree versions as backup.

    The thing is that we're talking Barnes & Noble, the #1 bookstore comapny in America. If the #1 bookstore company in America is struggling (after seeing former #2 Borders just up and vanish a few years ago), one has to wonder about the overall health of the book business in general, though I haven't heard a peep as of yet from current #2 Books-A-Million.

    1. Tom 13

      Re: This raises a few questions for people still fond of dead trees.

      No, it emphasizes them. If you didn't start asking them several years ago you are late to the party. Maybe this is the horse and buggy shops going out of business now that the horseless carriages are here. Maybe it's Amazon becoming the Standard Oil of present day. The difference is important.

      I'd also note there was a time when Borders was the #1 bookstore company in America if for no other reason than they were the first with the big block, browse, and lounge format. It was the first time I saw a copy of Black's Commentaries on the Law for sale in a retail outlet.

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