Why Powerbooks Sucks!

Powerbooks used to be my favorite bookstore but not anymore... 10 reasons why:

1. Their PowerCard constantly has problems and they fail to address them promptly. I already have 700+ in my e-purse and I suddenly "lost" it in my succeeding purchases. I have been following up on them and they haven't resolved it after more than 1 month. It would've been quite okay if this were the first time, but it has happened to me before and it also took a very long time for them to rectify their error. They get a lot of complaints regarding their PowerCard but they don't seem to be doing anything to improve their system. Whatmore, I see them continuing to get PowerCard enlistments but admittedly they always encounter a lot of problems with it. The card is supposed to encourage loyalty to their store, but you can't really remain loyal to them since you can't trust them to keep and maintain a proper record.

2. They are ususally out of stock of bestsellers and it takes them quite a while to re-stock and make these available. If you can't find yourself a copy of a bestseller in Powerbooks, go to National and chances are you'll be able to get yourself a copy. I personally noted this to be true. I also noticed that Powerbooks seems to make poor choices in what books that they get a lot of copies of. They even stock up on Reader's Digest and other magazines quite late into the month.

3. They used to have hard-to-find books and people used to go to Powerbooks if they were looking for a book that they could'nt find anywhere else. Today that is not the case anymore, because they have almost exactly the variety that is in stock at National. They also usually do not have the complete line of books of a series or a particular author, unlike Fully Booked.

4. Their online book checker/directory is not helpful since it is not up-to-date.

5. It used to be that Powerbooks had that homely ambiance that is conducive to reading. Nowadays, their stores are springing up everywhere and they have less reading nooks or areas. The new stores have limited overall space. At Robinson's Ermita there are even two stores there at present, one in the ground floor and one at the 4th floor!

6. When they are on sale, other bookstores like National are also usually on sale too. This offsets the advantage of buying at Powerbooks instead, along with the fact that their PowerCard system is flawed like I've already mentioned (and you're not quite sure that the points you earn won't get lost in the future).

7. Book launches are only done at their Greenbelt store, but their choice of books to launch are not wise. Case in point: They recently launched Kapihan, a book about coffee in the Philippines, but the book costs a whopping P1800+. I've seen the book and I think the content is not worth that much (and it does not even have a beneficiary).

8. The Java Man coffee shop is now only available at Greenbelt. The one in Megamall is already closed (they are renovating there).

9. The pretty store assistant that I had a crush on no longer works there. Lousy reason, I know, but I have to come up with at least 10 reasons!

10. Their customer service is not as helpful as I once thought. They just log complaints in a log book and I don't think it reaches the proper departments. It is all for show. They also are not that helpful/knowledgable with book queries.