Willamette University Bookstore

Max L. _{on Yelp}

Dec 16th, 2012

Do not waste your money buying textbooks here. Books are overpriced and the woman in charge of rentals is extremely rude, patronizing, and disrespectful.It's generally a bad idea to buy books at a campus bookstore to begin with. You can buy used, or even new, textbooks on Amazon for much cheaper. The prices here for some of the textbooks are exorbitant. I spent $500 on Japanese textbooks I would only use for a semester! I realize this is not entirely the store's fault, but money is tight for college students, so it's worth a little extra effort to save.But there's another reason why I vow never to shop here again. I rented some textbooks (which I wound up not using). The day I returned the books, it was raining lightly. As I carried my (hardcover) textbooks back to the store, the covers got a little wet. There was no damage to the pages. In short, the drops of water would have dried off in about a minute. The woman who ran the rental returns wouldn't accept the books until they were dry. But wiping the books with my shirt wasn't good enough. She made me go to the bathroom and clean them.Throughout this ordeal, she was extremely rude. Her attitude was strict, she didn't say "please," but overall, she treated me like a child. After I returned, she had the nerve to lecture me about wrapping my textbooks in plastic to "protect my investments." She finally concluded by saying I was lucky that I had to deal with her, as the textbook publisher wouldn't have accepted the books in the condition I returned them in. (They were dry when I returned from the bathroom).My issue is not with the overly strict return policy. Publishers are picky. This woman needs to understand that she works in customer service. I admit, I acted a little agitated, but as an employee (who I pay for through renting the books), she needs to treat me with respect, not as a college freshman who would benefit from her words of wisdom about protecting investments. To all of the student employees working at the store, I salute you.If the rental return lady is reading this, I urge you. Please re-evaluate how you treat your customers. We may be young, but we still support your income by shopping at the store. I understand if managing textbooks is a frustrating job, but there is no excuse for the way you treated me. Until I hear word from the manager, who I'm attempting to contact, I will do my best to spread the word of my poor treatment and encourage students to take their business elsewhere. Students will save money and won't be talked down to.