Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/11/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Dear Greenlight Bookstore Sorry I had to resort to this, and I don't even know if you can get in touch with them, but I need Greenlight ***** *** to give me the status of my new novel "Speakeasy" by ****** ***** ***** which has been delayed over a month in the ** evaluation process which I was told only takes 3 days max on Amazon KDP. *** submitted my novel in late September, and it has yet to go live on ******. I've tried calling *** ******** from Greenlight ***** *** every day, but he hasn't contacted be back in over three weeks. I don't want to tarnish the reputation of ******* by doing this. I just need to be treated as a top priority like *** said they would treat my work as an author. I need my novel to be published on ****** with no further delay.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/20/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *****
  
  
  
   
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/05/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Greenlight Book Store has a policy of asking for payment up front when ordering a book over the phone and then requesting the customer to pick it up from the store.I ordered a book and paid $9.71 for it over the phone. At no time when I made the ordered was I told that if I don't pick up the items within a certain timeframe, that the book that I purchased with my money will be given away.Nor is there any indication in the store of this policy. When I went to the bookstore to get my book, I took a picture of their policy and again there was nothing indicated on the receipt or the policy on the wall of giving away books that had been purchased by customers.I say all this to say that I expected my money to be refunded for the book that I purchased, for I did not authorize Greenlight Bookstore to give it away, nor was I made aware at the time of purchase of their policy nor was it written on the receipt or on the wall of their establishment, which by law it should have been.I also question the legality of policy and bring to the point, that if this had been a book that the store had purchased, would they have been so willing to donate it, if I did not pick it up or would they have just restocked on their floor in an attempt to sell it.It seems easy for this company to give away someone's property.I also want to add that I spoke with the general manager, ***************** who stated that she was not going to refund me my money because she claimed that they had sent three emails and did not get a bounce back. I found this hard to believe as my email account has a spam protection that provides a response to anyone who is not on my email address. And Greenlight Bookstore is not one of my contacts. I also told *** ******* that I had not gotten any emails thus, it is very well possible that they did not send the notices to my email. *** ****** also informed me that they did not try to call me, despite having my phone number before they decided to "donate" my book.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/20/2023

  Because we are a small business with limited space, we cannot hold customer special orders on our shelves more than 30 days. This has been our policy since 2020. Because we are not able to return special orders to the vendor for credit, we instead choose to donate uncollected books to the Brooklyn Public Library.  However, we will never do so without contacting the customer with at least 3 reminders to pick up their special order book.  I have attached the three emails we sent to *********************, at the same email address listed in this complaint; I am sorry if she did not see them, but the date and time will clearly indicate we did our best to inform her that her items was ready for pickup and that it would be donated after 30 days.  However, since it is possible that the bookseller she initially spoke with did not inform her about this policy, and since it has clearly caused her a great deal of grief, I am willing to refund the $9.71 she paid for this special order, which will simply be a loss on our part.  I will mention that ************ was aggressive and confrontational with our staff, which violates our code of conduct, and that we would prefer that she not shop in our store in future after we make this transaction right. Please let me know if I should reach out to ************ directly or what the next steps should be.

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