Do you return books that are disappointing?

[VegasAngel]

Date: 5/13/2010 2:26:06 PM
Author: kenny
If the store''s policy allows returns do not hesitate to return it.

Such a policy increases sales, so don''t feel bad.

I agree if they accept returns/exchanges why keep the book if you don''t like it? Just try to return/exchange it as soon as you realize the book is not what you expected.

 

[marcy]

I generally return most things that turn out to be broken or not well made.

However, I would not return a book or a magazine and IMO I would not take returns if I owned a book store or magazine store. Too many people would just read them and take them back.

 

[Indylady]

Date: 5/14/2010 1:03:27 AM
Author: monarch64
After that Seinfeld episode where George returns a coffee table book (if memory serves) and the SA tells him it's been flagged as a bathroom book, I have a mental block against returning books. I've never returned a book I've actually purchased, only returned books I've borrowed from the library!


Ironically, the only coffee table books I consider buying (and eventually do purchase) are those that are marked way down (to like $5.99) and those are probably the ones that other people have returned after flipping through them in their ahem, super personal space.


I find it difficult to borrow books from the library anymore. I'm really tired of food stains, fingerprints, and just knowing that I DON'T know where that book has actually been. In other news, I can smush a bug with my hands just fine. *shrugs*

I remember that episode! And it was something like a $200 book, and they tried to give it to a Goodwill, and they wouldn't take it either!

I've only once ever wanted to, but I was actually just really sorry I even bought the da*m book.

It was recent book by a very, bigoted author that I bought for a course. I had read the title before, and actually considered buying it on my own cause it did seem interesting...she basically built a terrible argument that really demeaned an entire people.

She wasn't even a scholar on her topic, though she tried to present herself as one. She pieced together this book with personal anecdotes..."I once met with a blue man; 5 minutes into our meeting he confirmed every stereotype I've had about blue men. So, the stereotypes that exist on blue men aren't unfounded, they're actually completely true, and blue need to recognize and address their problems." Ok, rant over. No, I've never returned a book, but I did sell that sucker back to the bookstore (college bookstore) as fast as I could get my feet over there.

ETA: I realize that came out as a rant. Can you tell I despised that book?

 

[movie zombie]

oh, i buy books on impulse also.....but i wouldn''t take those back either if i wasn''t satisfied. again, not the store''s fault......

mz

 

[kama_s]

Date: 5/14/2010 12:01:35 PM
Author: movie zombie
no, i would not: its not the anyone''s fault buy my own that i didn''t do more research before i made the purchase and/or didn''t flip through a chapter or two in the store to see if it was what i was looking for.

mz

That essentially sums up how I feel on this topic.

Returning a book is not the same as returning an item of clothing or electronics. Why? Because it takes approximately 2 days to get 100% use out of a book. Which you can''t say about most other items.

I donate books I didn''t finish reading. There aren''t many of them, because like a few others metioned, I have to finish reading a book if I''ve started it. But I regularly donate bag fulls of books I''ve either read and don''t want to keep, or didn''t make it through to the last page.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 5/14/2010 12:01:35 PM
Author: movie zombie
no, i would not: its not the anyone''s fault buy my own that i didn''t do more research before i made the purchase and/or didn''t flip through a chapter or two in the store to see if it was what i was looking for.

mz

This is one reason to buy online or look up books online before purchasing any book. When I went to buy a book on King VIII, I picked out specific books, all with excellent reviews, and then asked the sales gal. With that helping me out, the book I ended up buying was wonderful and worth the full-price amount.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Without any guilt whatsoever, I would absolutely return a book, particularly a reference book, that did not turn out as I had anticipated. If the store has a return policy, I would abide by it. Beyond that, I don't see how a book is different than any other consumer good.

 

[Circe]

I have to admit ... with all due respect to everyone participating in this thread, I am sort of cracking up at the combination of self-righteousness and impracticality. I *admire* it, I suppose, in the same way that I admire traditional chivalry, but I''m torn between my stance on intellectual property, and my position on consumer rights.

Here''s the thing: I don''t return books to punish the bookstore, or the author, but I don''t see it as being quite the same thing as eating a cookie out of a box before turning it in, or sullying a sweater and returning it in lieu of handing it in to the dry-cleaners. A book, once used, is not worthless, or even diminished in value. It is a delightfully renewable resource: it owes as much to the perspective of the reader as it does the writer, and it provides gainful returns each and every time it is read. I say this as someone who reads a lot, and as someone who respects authors, and as someone who has a lot of authors as friends, and as an author myself.

No, you should not spill grape jelly on a book after keeping it for a month and a half and hope that the bookstore can absorb the cost when you return it. That is disrespectful nonsense. However, if you bring a book home, and realize that you hate it violently, you can turn it in without feeling guilty about the fact that you did not research it as you would a new car. For one thing? Bookstores have return policies for basically that reason. For another thing? Your return will not actually hurt the bookstore. The author? Probably would have appreciated their share of your royalties. However, the author''s job is sort of to capture your interest sufficiently to inspire you to keep the book, and to then buy the next one that they produce. (Note: I am not one of those people who is all "The Author Has Ultimate Responsibility! And if their Kindle edition is insufficiently cheap, I shall whinge and moan online!" That, too, is nonsense, and nonsense that comes from a position that I can only assume is willfully ignorant of the realities of publishing.) I guess I am just sort of left wondering, on a practical level, how this will tie in with e-piracy vs. open-source.

I''m a Doctorow fan myself: it''s not that information "wants to be free," it''s that providing the content tends to increase, rather than diminish, the demand. The bookstores seem to understand this, with their generous return policies. It''s the oppositional social pressure (at least as it manifests in this thread) that leaves me scratching my head.

 

[Haven]

Circe, I really like your post. I agree with every word.

 

[allycat0303]

I return books all the time. There is nothing on the return policy at chapters (where I buy all my books) that says "Can only be returned if NOT read". If I am abiding by the store policy, then I REALLY don''t see how I''ve done anything wrong. Chapters gives you 7 days to return books, so that''s what I''ll generally do. And ESPECIALLy with a text book. Sometimes a book comes highly recommended, and after reading the first chapter out of 200, I realize that I haven''t retained anything because it''s not that great.

 

[dragonfly411]

I don''t return books. First I make sure to do my research. I''ll sit in the store and read part of it. If nothing captures me, then I know that it isn''t right. I generally try to make sure that I buy books that I''ll want to keep, and include in my ever growing library. Fortunately I also have a used book store nearby, and if I read something and find it not to be something I''d re-read, I go get some moolah back.