Dear Mom and Dad,

I really hated to see the prices jump so much for my books this semester.

I decided to call the parent company Barnes and Noble about my plight and the problems that I saw at the bookstore as a customer who spent over $1100 there last year.

Well, first of all, their college division doesn’t have a toll free number and they are in another location from the main office.

When I asked for the CEO’s office, one of his executive assistants told me that one of two women would contact me very soon. I explained that I commuted to and from school, worked, and could be reached after 6:30 p.m. CST.

After repeated calls, neither woman called me.

I finally got a call back from some guy named “Doug”, who identified himself as a top exec for Barnes and Noble College Division.

I expressed my concerns and he brought up the fact that they (B&N) liked used books and that they made a lot of profit on them.

He also stated that they would send in some shoppers if they had to in order to check prices. (I was thinking that if a shopper was already calling to complain, why not address the problems?)

I also talked to the local store manager who is a really nice person who seems to care about her operation.

So I figured, well, why not give them another chance and I took my books back from summer session two.

I went to the store and what do you think happened?

They wanted to give me wholesale price back for books that I had just bought there!

Yep, they sure are making a great profit on my books. Since Bradley’s is a couple of hundred yards away, I walked there and got back the fairer price for them.

I also called “Doug” back and left a message. It’s now several weeks later and he still hasn’t returned my call.

I know he’s a busy guy counting all that money they are raking in off us students.

Well, I hope that you and dad won’t have to work so many extra hours to make up for these college price increases.

Maybe you could put Junior to work to make up part of the difference???

Love and send more money!

Your Son,

Don Sims Senior Education