Damaged Books

So I was looking around at my (not-so) local Barnes and Noble and headed straight towards the manga section. Browsing around I found this "Unofficial Hatsune Mix" book done by KEI. It was $20 for near 500 pages of content. I bought it on impulse and was pretty excited. Hours after the purchase, I inspected the book a bit more thoroughly and found this rip right behind it.



Mind you, because it was an impulse buy it didn't occur to me to actually check for any imperfections so I'm not entirely sure if the damage was done by me or if other people did that and was just unfortunate that the copy I grabbed had such a thing.

If you were me, would you actually go back to Barnes and Noble and ask for some sort of replacement? The place isn't far by any means but would you let something like this slide?

It doesn't hurt to ask at all, you bought it from them and expect the best quality.

I've returned books to them before but it's been too long for me to remember if they still do it or not. Just try your luck and have your receipt with you if possible.

I always compare multiple copies of a book before buying, unless there is only one left. I like to take care of my books (the ones I like) so I really hate it when I see damaged books. When I buy from ordinary bookstores like B&N, I expect the books to be in mint condition. If I wanted to buy a damaged book, I would go to a used-book bookstore or Goodwill.

If you are as anal as I am when it comes to books, then go ahead and ask B&N for an exchange or new copy. The way I see it, B&N is not a used-book kind of store so they shouldn't sell books that are damaged. It's not necessarily their fault since customers are the ones who mess up the books, but I still think it's their responsibility to sell good quality merchandise.

I honestly don't understand why people, especially those reading manga, would actually drag a copy of a book out just to read it in the store. Then after they are done, they simply put it back where they got it and act as if it was the natural thing to do. I don't think these people realize the kind of harm they are doing to potential buyers.

Normally though, I'm not anal over the quality of the books I get. If I can't find it in B&N, my next stop is usually a used-book store just like you. But ever since getting my copy of Renai Sample and reading the "horror stories" that followed, my OCD for quality shot up.

EDIT: I did get a new copy of the book though. The cashier lady was very nice and didn't even need to deal with any transaction. She simply told me that since it was the same item, I could just keep the new one and the damaged one went back to them.

Barnes and Noble being the place that it is will probably process your request if you do decide to replace the book for a new one. It's pretty rare to find them selling damaged goods and I've been satisfied with their service every time I visited.

Doesn't hurt to ask them anyway.