I don't think that's what Calamari was saying. The point is that troublemaking & abusive customers shouldn't be worth retaining. Is someone who complains about "negro cashiers" a vital part of the equation?

That's not what he's saying and you know it. Not all customers are worth courting or retaining. The customers you want are the ones that come in and buy HDTVs at full retail without blinking. The ones you don't are the ones that try to stack 6 coupons on a $10 DVD. It's not rocket science. Some customers bring in acceptable margins and some don't. You want to find the ones who do. Many of us who visit deal forums daily are not ideal customers for businesses no matter how much volume we move off their shelves. Because I know I'm not bringing in real profits when I shop for things like books and DVDs, I never expect fantastic service. When I want real customer service, I go to boutiques and pay full retail.

If a store values a customer based solely on how much he or she spends at any given time in their store, then they're missing the big picture and probably won't stay in business very long. That customer who stacks 6 coupons on a $10 DVD will be a happy customer. A happy customer is much more likely to come back and spend more money at the same store. This is why stores still use coupons. To generate new and returning customers. You want to treat a customer as less or worse than others simply because they're spending less at a given time? What if they visit more often than those big spending customers? The store is potentially making a lot more money off of bargain hunters who return to the same store every week to spend $20-$30 than on someone who only visits once a month and pays full retail for an item. And you think it's okay to treat those loyal customers with poor service? I hope you don't run your own shop.

I work at a news outlet and the AP just sent out a correction to their story.

So, if the liquidators aren't buying any assets, maybe Borders gift cards will still be able to get used. I don't know, but I figure it's at least worth noting.

I agree with you up to a point. I can see why employees get annoyed with the people who "stack 6 coupons on a $10 DVD" but that doesn't make it acceptable. A phrase a boss taught me years ago has stuck with me. She said "a customer is not always right. But they are still the customer". No matter what you think of someone you still need to treat them with care because a happy customer might share that positive experience with others. And an unhappy customer will always share that experience with others.

It's an unfair double-standard...but also just the way it is

Needless to say, the internet is a godsend for the difficult/elitist consumer

I am very sorry to see them go. I had been a Borders Rewards member since they started that program, and I upgraded to a Borders Rewards-plus membership for $20 a few months ago. With the coupon book and $10 in Borders Bucks it easily paid for itself.

The rewards coupons were sent to me twice a week. And you could usually find even more coupon codes at the various coupon websites.

So - typically - I would use a 30, 33, or even 40% off coupon, plus my Rewards additional 10% off, plus free shipping - on two or three DVDs or CDs nearly every week. The bottom line price was almost always the best I could get anywhere on the web. And I shop heavily on the web.

Yes, Amazon and Barnes & Noble often have super-special prices (e.g., the Criterion DVD sale) but for buying low volume or back catalog CD titles (mostly classical and soundtrack) I could not beat Borders.com. And if an item needed returning I could just take it to my local Borders store - much more convenient than Amazon or Buy.com returns.

Did I run into an occasional jerk employee? Yes. This can happen anywhere. Mostly they were very helpful, to the extent they could be. At checkout the clerks were taught to say, "Did you find everything you were looking for"? Sadly, that was rarely the case these past two years.

With the departure of so many stores - large and small (e.g., Olssons here in the DC area two years ago) it is virtually impossible to find 90+ percent of what I want at a brick and mortar store. I buy everything on line, and it is getting more and more difficult to find good prices, especially for the CDs I want. And I am an old dog - a dinosaur 60 years of age - so I have no interest in downloading, at least not until the quality matches the pressed DVDs and CDs.

So I guess I'll concentrate on watching and playing my collection and find the occasional ebay bargain, etc.

Yes - there was a lot that was good about the good old days. But you can't fight "progress."

The Borders brick and mortar stores began going downhill about two years ago. I reminded me of what happened with Tower Records. And the Borders.com website started going screwy last May, when I could no longer access my order history and other account details. Still, I bought a book with a 40% off coupon and my additional 10% discount just ten days ago, with no problems. Still, I have had several CDs on backorder for some time now, so it appears their fulfillment partner for CDs stopped fulfilling a few weeks ago. I wonder if I will soon get order cancellation notices, or if they will just go silent.

It will be interesting to see if someone buys the Borders.com website. There is still a Tower.com and a CircuitCity.com - but they just bought the names because their prices are not very good.

While that may be true, how many people actually stop patronizing a store that treated one of their friends badly? I know I don't, unless that store treated me badly as well.

As with most things, the reality is somewhere in the middle. I think most stores will put up with bargain-hunters to a certain extent. But someone who continually pushes the envelope and uses their own policies against them will probably not be a customer that will come in and buy that big screen TV.

My father won't shop at Best Buy because I had so many bad experiences with them in the past. Even as my experience has improved with Best Buy in the last 3 years and I have shared it with my father, he still is reluctant to consider them as an option.

My local/closest Borders store (Albany, NY) closed down years ago. I'm not even sure if they even had a liquidation sale...

The question now is what about pre-orders? If paid with "bonus backs", it has already been applied and used when the order was placed. I presuming all those orders will not be honored and the "bonus backs" lost.

Good customers are indeed a vital part of retail...the difficult, entitled douchebag customers are not a vital part of retail and should be encouraged to commit mass suicide and/or refrain from procreation.

They were just too pricey, not enough stock, unknowledgeable employees and that's what did them in, and their website was a trainwreck and their customer service had to be the worse, but not a bad as AOL is but you get what I mean. Hoping B&N can learn something from this so the same fate doesn't await them a year or so from now.

Good... bad... makes no difference if they are a "paying" customer.

2 pages and I have yet to see a bargain in this thread,perhaps you should move your comments on the demise of borders to the store forum

Spoken like a true hustler.

Don't worry. It's there, too!

I notice you didn't post one either.

I don't think they've even started liquidating yet so there aren't any liquidation bargains to report. You should know that if there are 2 pages of threads about a liquidation that hasn't begun there's probably a lot theory and speculation and no bargains.

Liquidations are supposed to start tomorrow and last until the end of September or until most, if not all stock, runs out, or so I have heard.

Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way. My best friend still buys exclusively from Dell even though they've screwed me over twice. & I still shop at best Buy which she won't do.

It's always sad when people lose their jobs. And it's also sad to see a drop in competition. If not for competition, prices would never go down!

From a Borders Rewards email:

Going out a business sales begin in stores Friday, July 22. I encourage you to take advantage of this one-time opportunity for find exceptional discounts on your favorite books and other great merchandise. Gift cards will be honored during the liquidation sales, and Borders Rewards Plus members will continue to enjoy their Borders Rewards Plus Discounts through August 5. Further, all Borders Bucks will be honored until they expire on July 31.

My local manager told me that they have to empty the distribution centers as well, so new stock will probably be coming in. The liquidators will determine the changing discount levels and some product categories that aren't moving will probably change faster than others.

"Up To":

Fuck You Technology!

Downtown Chicago store was packed! The line snaked around all the stacks to the back of the store. No way I was waiting in line for a measly 10-20% off.