David Sedaris is one of my favorite authors/writers to ever grace this Earth. I have read all of his books and listen to him on NPR. I tried to get tickets to see him at UCLA's Royce Hall, but they sold out so I was estatic when I saw that he was going to be appearing at a local Barnes & Noble this month.
I should have known it wasn't that easy. Nothing is that easy. Behold my complaint letter to the evil corporate monster that is Barnes & Noble @ the Grove:
Barnes & Noble – Farmers Market
189 Grove Drive
Suite K 30Los Angeles, CA 90036
June 18, 2009
To Whom It May Concern:
On Wednesday, June 17 I planned to attend the David Sedaris author event and signing at your store. After hearing about the event a few months prior, I checked your website for more information and the following information was all that was given:
David SedarisWhen You Are Engulfed in Flames
Author Event
Wednesday June 17, 2009 7:00 PMThe Grove at Farmers Market189 Grove Drive Suite K 30, Los Angeles, CA 90036, 323-525-0270
Wanting to make sure additional information had not been posted to the event, I checked back repeatedly, but no information was added.
The day of the event I left my office in Fullerton and drove two hours in rush-hour traffic to make the event and arrived at 6:30pm. Upon my entrance into the store, I was handed a flyer and told I had to buy a copy When You are Engulfed in Flames if I wanted to receive an event wristband.
I bought a copy of the book, even though I already had a copy, and was then told Mr. Sedaris would not sign the books I had brought with me unless I had proof of purchase, which I did not. I then proceeded to the second floor where I waited in line for over 1 ½ hours without moving. While waiting line, several patrons took the escalator to the third floor, where the reading was set to take place, without anyone stopping them.
Finally at 8pm, a Barnes & Noble employee came down to inform us that the reading would be over in less than five minutes, which surprised those of us in line as we did not know the reading had already started. We were told the line we were waiting in was the line for the reading. The employee, who stated he is charge of event relations, then told us that we could have gone up to the third floor for the reading and that the line we were standing in was in fact the line for the book signing and had we gone to the third floor, we would have lost our place in line for the signing. You can only imagine our frustration when we learned that we missed out on the reading due to a total and complete lack of communication on the store’s part.
After waiting in line another 30 minutes – after being told it would be five – we were allowed make our way up to the third floor. We expected to be first in line for the signing, which helped ease our frustration a bit – only to be greeted by a long, Disneyland-style queue filled with patrons who had just finished listening to Mr. Sedaris’ reading.
Nearing the end of my patience, I waited in line for 30 minutes, only to move three spots. A nearby employee told me it would most likely take another two hours to reach the front of the line. After a long day at work, a two-hour drive, and nearly three hours at your store, I rode the escalators down to the first floor and returned my book.
As a nearly 10-year event planning and media relations veteran, the planning and communication associated with this event is deplorable. No information was included on your website regarding the early availability of wristbands, the reading start time, specific book purchasing requirements, or prior proof of purchase. I am an extremely loyal David Sedaris reader/listener and a frequent Barnes & Noble customer so to be treated like this without even the slightest of an apology is distressing.
While I will not hold this against Mr. Sedaris, I will most likely frequent other bookstores, who communicate proactively with potential customers and author event participants. I hope you can learn from this situation so that others do not have to experience the frustration I did.
Sincerely,
Andrea M. Hanstein
Cc: Steven Barclay Agency
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