The Books Are Used, Not The People

At the bookstore where I work, we offer store credit to customers who bring in used books to donate. They get 25% of the cover price if the book is in good condition and is relatively new (published within the last fifteen years). It’s popular with our regular customers and gives us an ample supply of used books to resell.

One day, a young woman brought in three plastic bins. There were probably a hundred books in them.

Me: “It’s going to take me quite a while to look at them.”

Woman: “I’m fine with that.”

As I started pulling the books out of the first bin, looking at the date of publication, the condition, etc., she and I chatted. And then, she dropped a bomb.

Woman: “After I’m done here, I’m going to take them home and put them on Facebook.”

I stepped back and put the book in my hands on the counter.

Me: “What? You want me to do all this work, and you’re not going to leave them with us?”

Woman: “No, I just want to know what they were worth.”

I told her I would not be doing any more work for her. She yelled at me, screamed, called me an a-hole, but loaded the bins on her baby’s stroller and left.

Later, in a local Facebook group where people complain about customer service (and a lot of other things), she posted a photo of me, said I was the worst person she had ever dealt with, and said that no one should ever shop at the store ever again.

Luckily, some of the people in that Facebook group are customers, some of them know me personally, and they defended me. The owner learned of this, looked at the exchange in the security video, and told me I did the right thing.