Barnes & Mo’ Bull.com — UPDATE

On March 2, 2012, I noticed that my newest novel, CAMILEON: Beyond The Veil appeared incorrectly on the Barnes & Noble (B&N) website.

I sent an email request to BN.com requesting the following:

• Correction of the synopsis for CAMILEON: Beyond The Veil (ISBN-13: 9780985044800) since B&N somehow had the synopsis for my 1st book, Camileon (ISBN-13: 9780595486076), listed for both novels.
• Removal of the Camileon (ISBN-13: 9780595486076) NOOK link from the CAMILEON: Beyond The Veil (ISBN-13: 9780985044800) listing since there is no NOOK file created from the latter title.

B&N responded with an email stating that I should contact CreateSpace (the company through which I published my latest novel), who insisted they had the correct information on file—something I was able to verify through their database as well.

Several phone conversations ensued with various BN.com staff who repeatedly insisted that the problem was not on their end, despite the fact that it was only BN.com that had incorrect information. Clearly, these representatives were about as present in the discussion as vacant-eyed first graders at a quantum physics class.

Seeing that I was getting absolutely nowhere with BN.com, I contacted CreateSpace again, hoping they could do something from their end. Luckily, they were able to get B&N to remove the link to the file incorrectly listed under my second book and I waited patiently to see if the synopsis would be corrected thereafter. It wasn’t.

So, I contacted CreateSpace yet again and informed them of the situation. I just needed the synopsis to be corrected and everything would be fine. The representative mentioned resubmitting the information to the Ingram database in hopes that B&N would then download the information correctly. The downside, my novel would be unavailable from BN.com for up to 6 weeks while the changes took effect. Thankfully, it only took a couple weeks at most. Yesterday, I decided to take a peek to see if it was updated. I was thrilled to see the correct synopsis for my second book! My reaction:

YAY! Oh, wait… Why does my second book now have the SAME title as my first? And WHY the hell does my first book have the same synopsis as my second? WTF? They put the link to my first book’s NOOK under the second one again?! HULK ANGRY!

To say I was angry is a gross understatement. After I composed myself, I decided to send a final email to BN.com before filing a formal complaint. I even suggested that they refer to their competitor’s website to help them figure out how to correctly list my titles since they’re having such a hard time following simple instructions. I also mentioned that if the situation isn’t resolved soon, I’d have no other choice than to get the BBB involved.

Since sending the email very early this morning, I have yet to receive a response from B&N. Curious, I decided to take a look at both of my listings this afternoon to see whether or not anything had changed. I was surprised to see that the description for my first book was corrected. Unfortunately, the synopsis for my second book was changed to match and the incorrect NOOK link is still there! Needless to say, I’m in for an interesting Monday morning.

UPDATE 5/22/12 — At 10:30 AM on Monday, May 21st, I received an email from a B&N representative, in response to the message I sent on Friday (in which I stated I’d contact the BBB if the requested changes weren’t made within the following 2 business days). The representative stated that the changes had been made, but to notify her if anything had been missed. In fact, though nearly everything had been corrected, the synopsis for my 2nd book, CAMILEON: Beyond The Veil(ISBN-13: 9780985044800), had somehow been changed to match Camileon (ISBN-13: 9780595486076).

I immediately replied with this information and suggested she keep an eye out to be sure that the system wouldn’t alter anything else while making the final amendment. Since sending the email yesterday afternoon, I hadn’t received a reply as of midday today (Tuesday). So, I re-sent the response at 12:28 PM this afternoon. Great news! I took a peek at the site at 3:09 PM and was relieved to see that the listings for both titles were correct!

I’m FINALLY done with the dizzying runaround! It’s disappointing that I had to resort to threats in order to see some results, but I’m glad I didn’t have to file any formal reports and that the situation is finally resolved! The ironic part about the whole thing is, I was initially told by B&N that the problem wasn’t on their end and only the company I used to publish my work (CreateSpace) could resolve the matter; but I wound up working with B&N directly in order to get the job done—all before the deadline I proposed. Well, what do you know! Mo’ bull exposed!