Jay and Mary’s Bookcenter — Local services in Troy

Up until today, I've had pleasant experiences with Jay and Mary's. It's a normal thing for me to take my kids in there and choose books. My most recent experience involved a book I ordered and paid for almost a year ago. I never received a call that it came in. I forgot about ordering the book ( life gets busy, single dad). When I remembered about it, I called and asked about it. This was 6 months ago again. They had no record of it and agreed that they would order it. (Paperback book, 7.99) Unfortunately, since then, I've lost the receipt. I walked in today to find out what happened with the book. The guy looked in the system and couldn't find it. He then told me it looked like it got sent back. He then asked if I had my receipt, I said no. Then he turned around and said he couldn't order a book, then implied I was lieing. I confronted him on what he was imploring and he agreed, yes he thought I was. I felt extremely embarrassed by his accusation and how he handled it. At the end of the day, I would have paid to replace it, because I really want the book. But he basically looked at me and didnt seem to have any idea what happened nor did he have any records of it and at the end, decided to accuse me of wanting to steal a book. I've spent hundreds in that store....totally unprofessional. I'll never go...

Certainly no Barnes and Noble, much smaller. Aisles pretty close together - uncomfortably. Understandable use of spàce limits variety to well known authors. If you are looking for anything non-mainstream, you'll have to make the 25 mile drive to the closest B+N, or to Browse Awhile used books in downtown Troy, like 3 miles away or the library. Certainly targeted to the bookworm repeat customer, not those like me who occasionally needs a book. The ability of Jay & Mary's Book Center to "order any book you could want" does not help me. When I walk into a bookstore it is because I want a book THAT DAY! I can order from Amazon a get it to my door (so why would I order from you?) Positive things include: the staff is not overbearing, but polite and helpful. Also, I can say there is always an abundance of parking so it is easy to...

Terrible service. I understand it’s difficult times but I ordered John Scalzi’s book well over a month ago, it came out almost 2 weeks ago and I still haven’t gotten it. I paid double the amazon price (and the amount I paid was higher than quoted on jay and Mary’s website). In fact I ordered a second copy from amazon for my dad on release day and he got it in a few days. When I called to inquire this week about my book a woman named Mary lied to me and told me they had trouble getting the book in, that it had just come in a few days ago. I know from reading Scalzi’s twitter and blog that he went in the Friday before release and signed all the copies for them. Never again, I want to support my local stores, and was willing to pay the inflated price to help out, but I expect quality customer service which I did...