Kudos to Barnes & Noble
I recently went back on my previous decision to avoid B&N. There prices on audiobooks were pretty good (compared to both Audible and eMusic). So, I bought this (note the Amazon link):
Turns out, I’ve already bought it at B&N. OK. My fault. Should’ve checked first. Initially, B&N said they wouldn’t be able to refund my purchase because audio books aren’t refundable. I wrote an email explaining that I understand that they couldn’t refund digital media because it isn’t returnable; once you buy it, there’s no way they can stop you from listening to it. However, I already own this media, so there’s no point in stopping me from getting a refund.
Guess what? They were pretty reasonable. They explained it would be a one-time deal, but they’d refund it to me. I really like when corporations listen to their customers and act reasonably. I know that it’s up to me to check whether I have media already before buying it.* Kudos to B&N for being reasonable.
* This is something many other stores do for you: maintaining a record of your digital library. My guess is that B&N will grow this feature in the future. Right now, it seems to be the trade-off you make for B&N’s cheaper prices.