This however is false advertising, as they do not honor the "Five Free classic eBooks" offer, nor do they honor the free Merriam-Webster offer. What you do get is Three free books and two samples, which they then ask you to pay $9.99 for. Not only did they lie, when I called them up they refused to compensate me for my time in both calling them and downloading their eReader app. As I noted in the last paragraph here the B&N app is horrible in comparison to the Kindle or the iBooks app.
Below are screen shots of their unethical false advertising, and a video I took of the phone conversation.
This is a classic case of "bait and switch." They offered the 5 books just long enough to get passed by Apple's approval team for apps. Then they changed it to only 3 books but didn't change the description. Which seems like their intent from the start. They found a way to trick Apple into thinking their description was the truth (because one of the reasons Apple rejects apps is because the description is different from what the app actually does).
Barnes & Nobel cheated me, they cheated Apple, and they cheated you!
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Barnes & Noble circulated a pre-Black Friday sales circular via e-mail advertising 50% off ANY (italicized in B&N's ad) educational toy or game, in stores or online, on November 25th. When I attempted to purchase the item I wanted from B&N on the 25th, they refused to honor the 50% discount.
Prior to the sale, I contacted B&N Customer Service to ask if the item I wanted would be available at the discount they advertised. There was no disclaimer on the ad, but the product information page stated that the product was not eligible for discounts, except in certain circumstances. However, B&N's ad used the work "any" in italics, presumably taking precedence over the product information page. The advertisement just below the 50% off ad for educational toys and games offered 30% off an extra item, but had a disclaimer stating clearly that B&N's Nook(R) products were excepted. The B&N's customer service representative who answered my e-mail stated that she was not sure whether the discount would apply, but that I should try to order the item on the 25th to see for myself. From this correspondence, clearly there was some confusion about how the advertised discount would apply.
In spite of numerous e-mails since the 25th, none of the customer service representatives will address the meaning of "50% off ANY educational toy or game" in their advertisement. An ad with a disclaimer is one thing. An ad without a disclaimer is quite another and B&N is playing fast and loose with the manner in which they honor, or fail to honor their advertised sales.
Same old, same old from Barnes & Noble
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