Borders Web site issues?

[HDMe]

I had a bonus $10 and a 33% off coupon that was supposed to expire today...

But neither today nor yesterday have I been able to login to the Web site. Browsing is VERY slow... and often I get the same error as when I try to login... which is something like "sorry this is down for maintenance or due to high activity."

I actually wanted to buy something... and was wondering if anyone else was having problems.

[michaeljoo]

HDMe,

I've had the same situation and same problems.

I tried logging into my account on Monday, I think, when I got an email reminding me about the coupon and Borders bucks that expire on 11/23 (today). The web site gave me some kind of error message. I was never able to log in to my rewards account.

I also tried logging in today again, but though I could manage to get to the summary screen I was still having problems and there is definitely still something wrong with the site.

I am not so worried about the 33% coupon that expires today as I am thinking/hoping that before the end of the month they will finally come out with a 40% one. I'm assuming/hoping starting tomorrow there will be a 40% one that is good over the Thanksgiving-BF-weekend time frame, or, if not, at least one that will come out for Cyber Monday.

However, my bigger concern was that the email I received also indicated my Borders bucks were expiring on 11/23/10. Normally the Borders bucks are good until the end of the month that you get them in, which would be 11/30/10. I was operating under that assumption and when I got the email saying they expire on 11/23/10 I was confused.

Even more confusing is that I also received a couple emails, before and since the other one, reminding me about my Borders bucks and that they expire on 11/30/10, as I originally thought.

Plus, now that I look at my Rewards summary page it says the Borders Bucks are good through 11/30/10. Anyway, I'm trying to print off a screen shot just in case something funny happens. But, unless your bonus $10 was something different/other than $10 Bonus Bucks, I think it should be good until 11/30/10, and that they do not expire today (11/23/10).

[michaeljoo]

Well, there you go, Borders just sent me an email with a 50% off any one item coupon that is good only for today (11/24/10).

That is probably why they were trying to get people to spend their Borders Bucks by 11/23/10, so that you would have spent it before the 50% coupon came out.

They claim this is the "first time ever" for a 50% off any item, and I think it is true. They've had 40% any item, and 50% of select things (like the 50% all BD's coupon last month), but this is the first 50% off any item coupon that I can recall.

It's good in store only, not online.

[HDMe]

I haven't gotten the 50% off coupon email yet...

I too was mostly concerned about the $10 Borders Bucks possibly expiring. I saw the mixed message where I got one email that said expires 11/23 and another (in my account also) that said 11/30 for the expiration.

Of course I can't login... and you can barely browse on the Web site which is dog slow.

IF I get the 50% off coupon and my Bucks are still in my account tomorrow... then I might consider going to a store and seeing what is in stock. Of course if the Web site wasn't dog slow, I could check and reserve something from the Web site.

(Thanks, by the way) to whomever moved the thread. I really wasn't sure if I should have started it here or not.

[michaeljoo]

So, I was wrong about the expiration of the Bonus Borders Bucks.

It is a pretty confusing situation but:

-There are two different types of Borders Bucks that may be (or have been) in your account.

-(1) Borders Bucks earned from purchases. These expire at the end of the month, as usual (11/30/10).

-(2) "Bonus" Borders Bucks that they just added to (some) people's accounts to encourage people to get into the store. These expired yesterday on 11/23/10. This must be a new promo since I don't ever recall seeing these before.

-It's all very confusing because they didn't clearly describe the "Bonus" Bucks promo or distinguish the two, at least in my opinion. I thought I was receiving conflicting emails, one saying expiration was 11/23/10 and another saying 11/30/10. Since the most recent stated 11/30/10, and these usually expire at the end of the month I just thought the other email was in error and corrected by the second email. I didn't realize there was this distinct "Bonus" Borders Bucks.

-They were (and still are) having problems with their website (at least the accounts) so it was hard to even log on to your Rewards account to check what was going on.

-If you managed to get onto your Rewards account, they lumped the regular earned Borders Bucks and the "Bonus" Borders Bucks into the category "Borders Bucks available for redemption now through November 30, 2010" in the Account Summary. It did not distinguish between the two types. So if one just looked at their account summary just gave the combined Borders Bucks total (earned plus "Bonus") as good until 11/30.

-So, if you logged in again today (the 24th of Nov) you will see that you lost $10 in Borders Bucks because the "Bonus" (but not the regular earned) Borders Bucks expired yesterday.

Anyway, since all of this was very confusing and not clearly delineated, to say the least, and on top of that Borders was and still is having website troubles so that people are having problems logging onto their accounts, I called and the rep credited $10 to my Rewards account to replace the expired "Bonus" Borders Bucks that expired yesterday.

I'm happy with the way the rep resolved the issue, but thought the implementation of the whole "Bonus" Borders Bucks promo was very unclear and poorly handled to begin with.

[s00perd00per]

Originally Posted by michaeljoo

So, I was wrong about the expiration of the Bonus Borders Bucks.

It is a pretty confusing situation but:

-There are two different types of Borders Bucks that may be (or have been) in your account.

-(1) Borders Bucks earned from purchases. These expire at the end of the month, as usual (11/30/10).

-(2) "Bonus" Borders Bucks that they just added to (some) people's accounts to encourage people to get into the store. These expired yesterday on 11/23/10. This must be a new promo since I don't ever recall seeing these before.

-It's all very confusing because they didn't clearly describe the "Bonus" Bucks promo or distinguish the two, at least in my opinion. I thought I was receiving conflicting emails, one saying expiration was 11/23/10 and another saying 11/30/10. Since the most recent stated 11/30/10, and these usually expire at the end of the month I just thought the other email was in error and corrected by the second email. I didn't realize there was this distinct "Bonus" Borders Bucks.

-They were (and still are) having problems with their website (at least the accounts) so it was hard to even log on to your Rewards account to check what was going on.

-If you managed to get onto your Rewards account, they lumped the regular earned Borders Bucks and the "Bonus" Borders Bucks into the category "Borders Bucks available for redemption now through November 30, 2010" in the Account Summary. It did not distinguish between the two types. So if one just looked at their account summary just gave the combined Borders Bucks total (earned plus "Bonus") as good until 11/30.

-So, if you logged in again today (the 24th of Nov) you will see that you lost $10 in Borders Bucks because the "Bonus" (but not the regular earned) Borders Bucks expired yesterday.

Anyway, since all of this was very confusing and not clearly delineated, to say the least, and on top of that Borders was and still is having website troubles so that people are having problems logging onto their accounts, I called and the rep credited $10 to my Rewards account to replace the expired "Bonus" Borders Bucks that expired yesterday.

I'm happy with the way the rep resolved the issue, but thought the implementation of the whole "Bonus" Borders Bucks promo was very unclear and poorly handled to begin with.

I thought there was a glitch with $10 Borders Bucks. Here's what happened with me: This month, I had $5 in Borders Bucks, which I used about mid-November. Then I saw the email with the $10 Borders Bucks gift, which I used immediately with a 33% coupon. Then on the 22nd, the reminder to use the $10 gift was sent to me and when I checked my account, there was another $10 Borders Bucks, which was weird since I'd already used it and I know that I also hadn't accumulated enough points to get a new Borders Bucks. Glitch or not, it worked out pretty good for me.

[HDMe]

No credit for me... and my $10 bucks were gone this morning.

I did receive this rather unpleasant email from Borders this afternoon though...

Originally Posted by Borders CEO

Hello,

We are reaching out today to our most valued customers to inform you that we received a huge response to our recent reminder for Borders Rewards members to redeem their $10 in Bonus Bucks. Such a huge response in fact, that the Borders.com customer experience was impacted. If you were not able to redeem your $10 in Borders Bonus Bucks online, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please look for additional exclusive rewards and incentives throughout the Holiday Season.

Thank you for your patience,

Mike Edwards
CEO, Borders, Inc.

No offer of credit or coupon... just a "thanks for playing" and "better luck next time" vibe to explain how their Web site was horribly unable to handle the extra traffic.

Seems to me that if you want customers, and you make an offer that many customers cannot possibly redeem, that you would automatically extend that offer.

[larry47591]

Where did all the blurays go

[michaeljoo]

Originally Posted by larry47591

Where did all the blurays go

I'm not sure when the last time you were in Borders and what your point of reference is, but it could be that either:

-the blu's are in a case behind a counter, so you can't just browse them yourself freely anymore (you have to ask a rep to hand them to you one at a time). Not all stores do this, but apparently now some of them do.

-or, more generally, it seems they have been shrinking their media selection over the past year or so (BD's, DVD's, CD's). At my store, they used to have a bigger selection of classical CD's, but it keeps shrinking and shrinking so that now I can practically encompass the entire classical music section in my two outstretched arms. If I recall, about this time last year they had this huge sale on classical music which I thought was just another sale. It turns out they were using the sale to clear out much of their classical inventory and never restocked afterwards. I never even made it to the sale because I was too busy at the time (and didn't realize it was an inventory clearance sale)!

[robertee]

Originally Posted by michaeljoo

I'm not sure when the last time you were in Borders and what your point of reference is, but it could be that either:

-the blu's are in a case behind a counter, so you can't just browse them yourself freely anymore (you have to ask a rep to hand them to you one at a time). Not all stores do this, but apparently now some of them do.

-or, more generally, it seems they have been shrinking their media selection over the past year or so (BD's, DVD's, CD's). At my store, they used to have a bigger selection of classical CD's, but it keeps shrinking and shrinking so that now I can practically encompass the entire classical music section in my two outstretched arms. If I recall, about this time last year they had this huge sale on classical music which I thought was just another sale. It turns out they were using the sale to clear out much of their classical inventory and never restocked afterwards. I never even made it to the sale because I was too busy at the time (and didn't realize it was an inventory clearance sale)!

He's talking about their website (the topic of this thread)...

[larry47591]

yeah i was talking about the website that is pretty much junk at this point

[HDMe]

Some belated kudos to Borders...

I emailed them about the lost Borders Bucks due to their Web site issues... and received an email yesterday apologizing for the problem and giving me back $10 bonus bucks in my account to use this month.

So they made it right for me now too... plus I just earned another $5 from recent purchases... so I'm good to go with enough to buy a movie with the next coupon OR make a dent in a TV show purchase or something.

[michaeljoo]

Originally Posted by HDMe

Some belated kudos to Borders...

I emailed them about the lost Borders Bucks due to their Web site issues... and received an email yesterday apologizing for the problem and giving me back $10 bonus bucks in my account to use this month.

So they made it right for me now too... plus I just earned another $5 from recent purchases... so I'm good to go with enough to buy a movie with the next coupon OR make a dent in a TV show purchase or something.

Great, glad to hear that they gave you the lost Borders Bucks back too.

The whole Bonus Bucks promo was a great idea, but I'm afraid it didn't seem to be well implemented. It wasn't very clear to me at first the distinction between the "Bonus Bucks" and the "Borders Bucks."

On top of that, I also got another email on 12/1 with the subject "33% coupon plus free $10 Bonus Card at Borders.com". I thought, great, they're doing another Bonus Bucks deal. But after searching all around in the email and not finding any info, I think I realized that it is existing promo of getting a $10 "Bonus Card" for "free" when you purchase a $50 gift card.

They really need to make these things clearer.

[michaeljoo]

P.S. I hope they do more of these free $10 Bonus Bucks offers.

From my memory, I think this was the first time they just gave out $10 Bonus Buck for free. I don't remember there being such a promo before, but now that I know what they are, I'm keeping an eye out for emails mentioning "Bonus Bucks."

Maybe they will do another closer to Christmas or right after?

[HDMe]

For the last couple of years, around this time, they have given $5 bonus bucks... but I believe you are correct that this is the first time they have offered $10 bonus bucks.

It seems like the new management is trying to change some things... like instituting a start at price-matching their competitors. I don't care for the paid membership deal (that's why I don't shop at Barnes & Noble)... but if Borders would get their prices more in line with competitors they really could have been a good place to buy.

They don't have to sell at the bargain basement and compete at that level... Many of us would pay a couple of dollars "premium" for them keeping the slipcases/packaging in better condition and for stocking items that other stores don't stock, so that we have the convenience of being able to walk into a local store for pickup.

Their problem has always been the insanely high prices that just don't come anywhere near to competing, sometimes still too high even with coupons!

Maybe it isn't too late for them to turn things around a bit... I know I have bought things there when the price is right... and I do still buy books there for the same reason. Often with a coupon I can still save money, BUT even if I pay a few bucks more... I can get a mint condition book rather than ordering online and worrying about if it will get damaged in shipping.