Barnes & Noble College at Northern Michigan University Bookstore — Local services in Marquette

I'm going to be blatantly honest here, the NMU bookstore wasn't great before the Barnes and Noble buy out, and it certainly hasn't gotten better. I have visited them three times this semester, and have been less than impressed every time. I preordered all of my textbooks four weeks before classes started, and when classes began, I was still waiting on 3 of my 6 books to arrive. Amazon could have had them to me within two days, for a lower cost. We'll call that strike one.

My second encounter occurred after I decided to drop a class. I dropped within the measly week that Barnes and Noble gives you for a full refund, so I figured it would be pretty simple to just return them for my $50. I was surprised to discover that I needed both a "drop notice", and a purchase receipt in order to return my books. Since I dropped the class without the assistance of a faculty member, I wasn't issued a drop notice. I did have a copy of my digital receipt, but my original was 400 miles away back at home. Turns out, they can't take the digital copy, for some stupid reason. Ended up just giving my books back and forfeiting $50, thanks Barnes and Noble. Strike two.

Strike three was just this past week. Since my life is slowly filling up with obligations and due dates, I decided to buy a nice NMU branded planner. In years past, the old bookstore had some high quality planners printed out and bound, that also had important academic dates and events, a really nice ensemble to have. That being said, it would have been really nice to have, if the bookstore bothered to keep them in stock. The one employee I was able to find who was willing to help me said that they were sold out (on week two), and that they were expecting a new stock in about 3 weeks. 3 WEEKS. In that time, my life would spiral completely out of my control, so that wouldn't work. I asked if they had any others, hoping for an even compromise. No dice. This bookstore, a self proclaimed "supply center for student success", can't stock a single goddamn plannar. Alright. I can, however, buy a cheap pair of Skullcandy headphones. Thanks, Barnes and Noble. That was strike three.

So, in summary, the bookstore has failed me three times, in only two weeks. I couldn't get my textbooks on time, which put me behind in classes. I couldn't return my textbooks for money, because of some completely foolhardy rules. I couldn't pick up a single plannar to try to get my life in order. The icing on the cake is the perpetually annoyed attitude of every staff member I encountered. I understand that it's a stressful time of the year, but can you please treat me like I'm not some Neanderthal when I'm asking you to pick up or return my textbooks, or when I'm asking you about your stock. That'd be great, but I doubt it's going to happen.

Overall, don't bother wasting your time at this place. If you need a T-shirt or some other gimmicky NMU branded thing, I suppose it's fine. Anything else though, Barnes and Noble has run into the ground like a lame horse. Take your business online, or to a more local place, not owned by a...

Stopped in the store on September 30th while visiting the school for my daughter. I bought several iitems of clothing for gifts, all were quality made and the prices were very competitive. The staff was absolutely wondeful they were helpful with all of my questions and were extremely polite. As far as the books, the store definately focused more on retail sales of gear and swag then a wide range of books themselves. So I would suggest using the web for book purchases. I don't know about the transition of sales or how long ago it happened so I can't comment on that but I feel if you are looking for clothes and gear you can't go wrong by using the store. Thanks to everyone that was at the store on Wednesday, it was a pleasure meeting all of you and helping me with questions about your thoughts of Northern Michigan...

Charged my account before I picked up my book, also never notified me that my book was ready, manager was extremely rude when I called to resolve the issue and would in no way tried to understand or help just repeatedly told me to "come get your book" and didn't acknowledge any problem with the system. I have scoured my email and there is no record of what the system supposedly sent out. That in itself is fine, computers fail, but the rudeness and innability to listen is not. Textbooks are overpriced...