Nook :(

Remember how much I said that I loved my new nook e-reader? I still do. What I do not love, however, is the crack that developed on the left page forward button after 45 days. This is a known "defect". And by defect I mean short-sightedness on behalf of the design team. The issue is that the plastic compound used for the bezel is too brittle. I read 6-7 books in 45 days. That's not really great. Check here to see some stories related to this.

The most frustrating part of this whole experience has been dealing with B&N's "trusted partner", Best Buy. I went to exchange the device and was told by several different managers at Best Buy that they would not accept the return, even though it was a known manufacturers defect. How this information was not communicated to Best Buy is beyond me. After dealing with horrible managers at the Best Buy stores in Far Rockaway (Jason), Baldwin (forgot name), 3 reps at B&N, and 4 reps at Best Buy corporate, my wife finally reached Dave at B&N. Dave is a supervisor in the Digital Support area.

I think I'm going to give Dave his own paragraph. he deserves it. Whereas every other conversation with B&N had yielded no results, Dave actually offered to call the Best Buy branch where my nook was purchased. He told us that he was surprised that they were unaware of the issue and that he would do what he could to straighten out the issue (way to go Dave..). After calling the Best Buy where my nook was purchased, Dave told us we were all set to go and return the nook for a replacement. We then spoke with Leon at Best Buy in Baldwin, who assured us that we would be taken care of. After confirming who the manager the following day would be, Leon called us back and told us that if we had any problems whatsoever, to come back to see him directly.

Dave at B&N and Leon at the Best Buy Baldwin, are in my customer service hall of fame. The issue is resolved and my wife is exchanging my nook.

Pretty much everyone else at both Best Buy and B&N that we dealt with are in the hall of shame.

I should give an honorable mention to Shaddell in Far Rockaway. He was a ghetto Queen, but his customer service skills definitely warrant an honorable mention in the customer service hall of fame.

Epilogue:

The folks at B&N assured me that the issue has been resolved with the cracking. I'm guessing that a different compound is being used for the bezel. Maybe nook 2.0 will have actual buttons a la Kindle. The easiest way to avoid potential issue would be to use the swipe gesture for page turns.

Really, I'm just glad this was resolved. Overall, I love my nook, and next time will likely purchase the coverage plan for anything I get at Best Buy. One thing that I should note is that customers who purchased their nook directly through B&N have noted a much easier time getting this issue resolved.