<p>Havent had an issue with the bookstore staff so far either…in fact they’ve helped me to find stuff quite cheerfully i think.</p>
<p>I agree that my experiences, at best, have been pleasant. At worst, my bookstore visits have been forgettable. </p>
<p>Also, I’d like to shake off the lingering notion that students would somehow provide better customer service. Students working on campus - swipers, library staff - are often distracted and trying to do a lot at once (like their homework and their job). At least the bookstore staff is just going through the motions of their one gig.</p>
<p>i haven’t had any problems at all with the bookstore. i have to wonder if wifey is just stirring up some trouble out of boredom</p>
<p>Seriously? You’re asking whether or not it’s ETHICAL that students at one of the top universities in the world have to put up with poor customer service? Why not ask whether it’s ethical that Columbia can use its wealth, influence, and reputation to re-locate neighborhood residents and businesses at will? Don’t get me wrong; Columbia is usually a pretty good landlord and brings a lot of business, money, and security to the neighborhood. But the idea that Columbia students are being oppressed by working-class residents of Morningside Heights sounds like the premise for a Fed article, not a real argument. You can pity the students when the government demands that EC residents be relocated so that Manhattanville residents can move in.</p>
<p>I recently ordered stuff online at their website, it took them 10 days to process an order, and when they finally shipped the order, they forgot to include the discount and shipped one fewer items than what I ordered. And there is still another order yet to be fulfilled after 15 days. </p>
<p>I tried to call them, and the dude who handles online order was never in his office (he seems to have a really short working hours), and his voice message is always full. I guess he hates listening to the complaints from customers… LOL. This is what I would call “outstanding customer service.”</p>
<p>The bookstore employees made fun of what I was wearing (laughing to each other, not intended for my ears but certainly loud enough that I heard everything they said) the last time I was there. Haven’t been back since. Not that I’ll boycott the store or anything but I’m certainly not as inclined to wandering around looking for more overpriced Columbia gear.</p>
<p>what exactly did they say?</p>
<p>@mdeziz</p>
<p>Are you sure they were laughing at you? You might just be paranoid. (Don’t feel bad; I worry about the same things whenever I go out!)</p>
<p>No, I’m pretty sure they were talking about me. It was me sort of browsing around and the two employees restocking stuff and that was the extent of people in the area. </p>
<p>I hear one of the employees say to the other one “Look what’s going on in the fashion industry” and laugh, and the other employee laughs as well. I could tell they were looking at me out of the corner of my eye. It doesn’t bother me though, no worries. To be honest, that day I had just thrown my outfit on based on whatever was laying around my room, so it wasn’t like well-matched or whatever. It’s just that has changed my opinion on the environment of the store, so I don’t go there on a whim anymore.</p>
<p>And my orders still are sitting there unfulfilled…</p>
<p>Get your books from Amazon. Free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime membership (which you can get for 1 year for free if you have a .edu email address from a U.S. college). Problem solved.</p>
<p>Or just get them from Book Culture and support a local independent business! Most professors will order books at Book Culture, so that you can go there, tell them what class you’re taking, and they’ll give you a bundle of all the required books.</p>
<p>Certainly not all professors. I’ve had two who have taken up lecture time with short diatribes on the awful smugness of the Book Culture staff.</p>
<p>I have graduated from Columbia, so I can no longer go to CU bookstore in person as I am no longer in NYC. I had terrible experience buying Columbia stuff online. I ordered stuff from CU bookstore’s website, and I called the store to ask about the status after 5 days, and the person told me it takes 6-10 days to process order (OK, I understand packing and mailing stuff is such a difficult job, so I told her I’ll wait). Then I called again 4 days later, and the same idiot told me it takes 10-14 days to process order. I was like, ***. Then she sounded like she’s doing me a favor by telling me she’ll check my order now. Then she finally processed the order, and a few days later, I received the stuff, and she actually mailed wrong stuff that looks different from the picture on the website. </p>
<p>I have no idea why CU bookstore hires an idiot to do the job.</p>