Barnes and Nobles is an awful company! No surprises there, but my journey with them has been unique to say the least. If this was not happening to me I would not believe it. I received the Nook as a birthday gift in February 2010 and since that time I have exchanged over 113 emails, 84 phone calls, 28 gift cards, 19 complaints and 34 letters. It all started with my very first purchase, now keep in mind I’d been with B&N over 15 years so I knew the process well. I registered my Nook and proceeded to load my gift cards. On the very first purchase my gift card was not charged instead my visa was! So I called, spoke to a rep that told me “this shouldn’t normally happen moving forward and it was some type of feature having to do with publishing rights so my initial purchase would be charged to my Visa somehow to validate my account.” I went along with it after the rep confirmed the amount on my gift cards. Moving forward, this issue kept occurring and each time I called I was given various excuses - “it’s a software issue, the gift cards have no money, we can process the order for you.” I was instructed to call and have all my books downloaded over the phone to insure the gift card was charged instead of my Visa. I thought this was very inconvenient so I contacted my credit card company and asked if they could assist. I filled out all the necessary paperwork and completed a BBB complaint. My credit card company would disallow all charges from B&N. I thought great, now the gift cards will have to be charged-NOT! Instead I started to get emails saying my credit card was declined for purchases, some for books I’d already read-huh? I kept calling to complain and started a spreadsheet to track B&N, yep an entire spreadsheet. After various “reasons” given by the reps, ranging from no money on the gift cards to I needed a software push”. Finally, I called and was told by a rep that I didn’t even have an account there, I later found out she couldn’t spell Jamaica (which is part of my email address)- I did mention I’d been with B&N over 15 years right? I even went into the store and had them call, thinking surely the store manager wouldn’t have the same issues. Not true, the store manager had to keep explaining that I had the Nook that didn’t have the first generation software issues, then she verified that the gift cards I had all had a balance. Finally we were told that there was an issue with the green gift cards (the ones where customer sets the amount) versus the gift cards with the pre-set limits. This was news to me as well as the store manager. So we began the tedious process of attempting to put the gift cards all on one preset card. Thought the issue was solved, then the BBB contacts me with an update that B&N had informed them that my issues had indeed been resolved and they’d given me a $25.00 gift card-this was news to me. I contacted B&N again and the decision was then made to exchange my Nook. This happened, new Nook arrived and guess what several books were missing from my library. This started a complete different series of more phone calls, finally the books were replaced. I was never told why they gift cards were never charged. Right around that time the B&N website changed as well, your confirmation email no longer listed the UPC; it was replaced with “eBook.” I started to use eGift cards simply because it was a burden to carry around the Nook, the accessories, all the gift cards and keep track of the spreadsheet. This was becoming a job. So I only used eGift cards and didn’t have the previous issues. Now I don’t know if this was the issue or not, since I was never given an explanation for the problems I’d incurred. I just happened to began using the eGift cards and didn’t have the problem again. I get a follow up email for the BBB as to my issue being resolved, I told them what happened thus far. A few weeks later I received an email and an apology from a Rasheed West-Ford (who I’d spoken to a few times-he can be reached directly at 201-559-6900-Mr. Ford claims to have no immediate supervisor and reports to the VP of customer service by email only) along with a $25 eGift card. I loaded it on my account and later there was no balance. I sent an email to Mr. Ford who was out of the office and when he returned sent me an email outlining three of my orders that he claimed depleted my gift card. I didn’t see how that was possible considering the gift card was never loaded onto my account. Mr. Ford was very rude and told me he could “break it down for me because everything was in their system.” He tried, and failed not, he had no idea what he was talking about. I asked him if he knew when I made my very first purchase according to his “system” and he was adamant when giving me the wrong information! I pulled his card by giving him the correct information and he began to stammer. Case closed, I told Mr. Ford I’d wait to hear from the VP and not to call me again- go spreadsheet!