Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Barnes & Noble, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

close

Find a Location

Barnes & Noble, Inc. has 180 locations, listed below.

*This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

BBB accredited

Near

Country

USUnited States

Please enter a valid location.

Filter

• 

  Barnes & Noble, Inc.

  33 E 17th St Fl 6 New York, NY 10003-2005

• 

  Barnes & Noble Stores

  PO Box 111 Lyndhurst, NJ 07071

• 

  Barnes & Noble

  2191 N Rainbow Blvd Las Vegas, NV 89108-7052

• 

  Barnes & Noble

  567 N Stephanie St Henderson, NV 89014-6613

• 

  Barnes & Noble Bookstore

  One Main St. Houston, TX 77002

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:05/22/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  The shipping is delayed to i contacted customer service to see if anything could be done. They refused to help, and when I asked to cancel another pre-ordered book they refused to do that as well. I want my money back for the delayed book and the other one to be canceled.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/19/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  I received a Barnes & Noble gift card from a friend. I have tried & tried & tried to order 5 books online, but Barnes & Noble keeps trying to force me to give an email address, join their club, give them a credit card number. The whole purpose for a gift card is so I do not have to give a credit card number, not to mention, why do they need a credit card number when I use a gift card. How many vulnerable people are giving this dishonest book store their credit card number,of which they do not need. What are you doing Barnes & Noble, stealing peoples. money? I DO NOT want to be part of their ******** do not believe there is any laws that says I have to be part of their club.Does Barnes & Noble have any brains to realize,not everyone has an email address, and if they do,its up to that person as to who they want to give the email address ******* get this, Barnes & Noble has the option to buy as a guest, but yet they are trying to force people, against their will. Its called slavery! My constitutional right protect me from Barnes & Noble trying to own me or my information. I called the Barnes & Noble Headquarters. I explained the problem, the lady tried & tried & tried to order the books online, on her computer,at the Headquarters mind you, but the system would not let her order without me giving a credit or debit card number. I told her no way! I suggested she needed to talk to someone to get this problem fixed.She swore she would.Its been about two weeks since the ************** I still can not order books with my gift card, unless I give B&N a credit card number, join their club and give an email address. The closest B&N is over 100 miles away and all I want to do is order books to read,but the stupid, control freak, slave driving book store Barnes & Noble WILL NOT LET ME. If B&N is a Country Club now,,then they are no longer a store and they need to be kicked out of the Malls, the shopping centers & anywhere else they are located. ***** needs to deport B&N!

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/14/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  At this time, I have not been contacted by Barnes & Noble, Inc. regarding complaint ID ********.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *****
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/17/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  Purchased pre-order item. Charged and paid on May 13. Confirmation order to be fulfilled on May 16. Order never received. Called company, they refuse to fix order or refund.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/12/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  At this time, I have not been contacted by Barnes & Noble, Inc. regarding complaint ID ********.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *** ******
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/17/2025

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  I ordered this book for my brother who was incarcerated at the time. The facility said they had not received the item , which the company clearly says was shipped. I have reached out to them repeatedly in an attempt to receive confirmation of a replacement or a refund. Neither of which was provided, I am now seeking the assistance of the bbb in order to mediate with this blatant disregard to my rights as a consumer. Thank you for your time and efforts in regards to resolving this dispute.Respectfully ,****** *********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/01/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  I am the owner ****************************, a small self-publishing children's book writer formally known as ****** ******. I am filing this complaint regarding Barnes & Noble Press, the self-publishing division of Barnes & Noble.On March 11th, 2025, I published a childrens book titled All Around Me: A Sensory Story for Kids through Barnes & Noble Press. Despite multiple confirmed customer ordersincluding receipts, order numbers, and photographic proof of deliverymy publisher account only reflects the book orders I personally placed, and no royalties have been issued for legitimate external sales.Over the past month, I have made numerous attempts to resolve this matter professionally through their support channels. I have been told repeatedly that the issue was being escalated and would be resolved by a specific date (April 30th), but that deadline has passed without any updates, corrections, or payments.There is no phone support or live contact available, which has made it impossible to get a clear, direct response. This has resulted in not only delayed payment, but a complete lack of transparency regarding their sales reporting and royalty system.This is a breach of contract, as Barnes & Noble Press has failed to:- Accurately report and reconcile confirmed book sales;- Pay earned royalties in a timely manner;- Provide a reasonable or professional level of communication.Desired Resolution:- Full reconciliation of my account to reflect all actual customer orders,- Immediate payment of all outstanding royalties owed to me,- A formal explanation of the reporting failure,- A direct point of contact (ideally by phone) for resolving publishing/payment issues going ********** a small self-publishing business, I am pursuing this matter as a formal B2B complaint and expect it to be treated with the urgency and professionalism it requires.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/26/2025

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  On April 7, 2025 I placed a 19 book order totaling $357.44 the order number is **********. That order had not arrived shipping tracking **********************. I finally sent a chat to Barnes and Noble on April 21, ************************************************************************************* The replacement order was ********** and tracking **********************. The package arrived on April 26, 2025 and it only had 11 out of the 19 books in it. The box it came in was in no way big enough to put 8 missing books in it as well. I immediately contacted support again and they said that they would send a request to a sales audit team and wait 1-5 business days for a response. I didnt get a resolution I wanted, I just want the 8 books sent to the Florence KY store so I can pick them up with a sales associate. Books Missing: Cruel King:Special Edition by **** **** Twisted Kingdom: Special Edition by **** **** Blood of my Monster: Special Edition by **** **** Vicious Prince: Special Edition by **** **** All The Lies: Special Edition by **** **** Reign of a King: Special Edition by **** **** Throne of power: Special Edition by **** **** All the truths: Special edition by **** ****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/04/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  I was going through old orders. Order ********** was never shipped and I received a credit for the shipping but not the actual refund for the product!!!!!!

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/29/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  At this time, I have not been contacted by Barnes & Noble, Inc. regarding complaint ID ********.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/26/2025

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  I had pre-ordered a novel I was really looking forward to reading in fact, I had used a personal day to take off work when it was supposed to be delivered so that I could spend the day reading. Barnes & Noble had shipped the package out on release day, something that I understood would happen as I have pre-ordered books a number of time before. My package was delivered almost a week after the original expected date given by *** after sitting in a facility for 4 days. It was delivered today, but I still contacted B&N to voice my displeasure in having to wait so long. Not only did their customer service chastise me on supposedly "not understanding" that they couldn't send the book before the release date (which was not the issue I had brought to their attention) but they backtracked and said the original delivery date was today. Which is a blatant lie. And because I did not foresee an issue I did not take screenshots and there is no paperwork from before that says that original date. After my complaint, B&N made sure to send me another confirmation, this time with the actual delivery date on it. They then gaslit me and said that date had always been the intended delivery date. That is a flat out lie and I will never be shopping there again. It's past the standard shipping window which is 3-6 business days. It took 8.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/16/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  I went to my local Barnes and Noble store in ***********, **********. I first went to the cafe area to buy a drink and later that day while I was still inside the store. I requested to pay for a refill for the ice tea beverage. The employee behind the desk told me that is not something that is offered for regular ice tea and regular ice coffee I inform the employee that it is something that is offered as a regular menu item. The manager came over and said that she couldnt help me and I then inform the manager that refill drinks on regular tea and coffee is something that is offered to customers as part of the Cafe menu item and she then ask to me to show my receipt like Im lying when I go to every other Barnes and noble store and the employees are well informed and know how to check me out at the register for a refill on tea. Its not so much about them refusing me to charge me for refill, its how I was treated, the manager and the employees were looking at me the whole time like Im the one crazy and making this up the whole time and I mention to them if I go to another location they know how cash me out and charge me accordingly and she still disregard to what I said, I called the phone number that handles complaints and issues at the retail store and the ****** on the phone told me that the district manager in charge of that store will call me back and that never happen, I called again, the second ****** told me that the complaint wasnt filed correctly. So than you have people not doing their job right. The second ****** on the phone didnt help because the call got disconnected and he didnt call me back, so I tried to called back and couldnt get a hold of anyone because of the constant long hold times, how I was treated is disrespectful, Ive been a loyal customer and member for over twenty years, like where is the loyalty at for customers supporting their local ********************** and ********************** store? Where is your appreciation at?

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/10/2025

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  Today I visited the store to browse/purchsse. I have been here numerous times with my dog without being told by the store that it is not a pet friendly store. I was browsing and my dog got scared by an employee and he barked at him. I understand where this may be scary and the employees safety is important. I apologized and right after the incident a manager approached me. She told me they are not pet friendly and cant have dogs barking. I told her it was an accident and that I understood. She prompted to tell me to get out. Her tone was very disrespectful and I was not provided options as to whether I wanted to make a purchase. I felt very victimized by the manager. After I left I gave the employee my apologizes and the manager did not acknowledged my apology. I will not be purchasing from this store anymore due to their poor training of management. **************** is lacking here.