What I’m about to do is completely unlike me, but I’ve reached a point of being so ticked off that, I just don’t care: I’m going to call out LOCAL bookstore by name.

Annie’s Used Bookstore on River St in Waltham, MA. is a used bookstore and paperback swap location. You bring your books in (probably about 80% romance) and get credit for them to use toward your purchases.

This Bookstore used to be great. They were kind, courteous, fair. They had great customer service. There was one woman who was always rude, but I just never went in on her days and everything was good in the world.

Then the rude person bought the store. It’s been a slow decent into bookstore hell.

Issue one: I went in, found 7 books to buy and remembered I had a $4 credit in the car which would cover about 1 of the 7 books. I put my books on the counter (no one else was in the store, so I wasn’t holding anyone up) and said, I just need to run out to my car and grab my credit. The woman told me there would be a $1.50 (I believe that was the amount) book-hold fee.

I was sure I had to have misunderstood her. I pointed at my car that was literally in the first spot from her door and said, No. I’m not leaving. I’m just grabbing my credit from the car.

Her response: Yes. You’re leaving the store.

And I did leave the store…and didn’t go back in. There was no way I was losing more than 25% of  my credit just to use my credit.

It took me months to walk into her store again.And when I finally did, I’d wished I hadn’t.

Issue Two: When I went back, I brought a big bag of books to exchange. I was going on vacation and was planning to blow through my $4 credit (which I wisely did not leave in the car this time) and all the credit I got from the books I’d brought in, and probably another $20 worth of books in cash. I figured that would get me enough reading material for the trip. I love buying used for trips because it gives me the chance to leave some of my favorite authors in hotels and coffee shops for other people to use instead of packing the books home.

So, I give Rude Owner the bag of books and wander around the store picking out about 14 books for my trip (don’t judge…oh, wait. You’re readers, you won’t.) I get back with this huge stack and the woman shows me 6 books I’d brought in and tells me those are the only books she was able to credit me for. (Now, remember. This is the owner. The only person who makes calls on what she can and can’t take is her.)

I’m disappointed that she didn’t take some awesome books (For example: Kristan Higgins brand new release in perfect condition. I’d noticed that she didn’t have one on the shelf yet and figured that was a home run, right?), but I’d take what I could get and write off the rest as the cost of vacation.

She rings me up. I pay. She hands me my books and I’m a bit confused. Where are the rest of my books? Where are the books she was unable to buy from me? So I ask.

Her response: OH, you don’t want to donate those to the store?

WHAT? No. Why would I want to donate those to the store? You’re either buying my books or you’re not. This is a business transaction. And, if you wanted a donation, you should have asked. But, suddenly, it made sense that books I was shocked she hadn’t accepted (the new ones with the highest price and therefore the highest credits when I looked) weren’t accepted.

I demanded my books and drove to Belmont where there was a lovely woman running another Annies.

I continued dealing with the Belmont Annies only until family issues forced her to close it.

Issue Three: This past year, I finally started going back to the Rude Owner’s Annies because the next closest Annies (although there are other great stores around) is in Sharon (about 45 minutes away, more on this location in a bit) – My first time back was this past February where I was given a credit of $8.60.

Every time I go in now, I’m not allowed to use that credit because I have newer credits. But, if you don’t use it in a year, she rips it up. A friend of mine had this happen. Her credit was less than a week past due and she took it away and ripped it up.

So, here I am with this credit that I can never use because I’m constantly bringing in other books and buying new ones.

TRANSLATION: I’m being punished for being a good customer.

I finally left, went across the street, bought toothpaste, came back and used my old credit instead of the one she’d just given me.

I honestly doubt the legality of not allowing someone to choose which credit they would like to use. By pushing out my oldest credit every time I came in, she would have eventually just ripped it up when it expired if I hadn’t gamed the system.

Now, we’ve hit the three-strikes your out.

You’d think (from my example of how many books and how much money I drop there) she’d realize you don’t want to lose customers by not allowing them to use certain credits, charging them fees to walk to their car, and/or attempting to steal their books — Apparently, you would be wrong.

From now own, I’ll just keep a box ready for when I want to make that drive down to Sharon where the owners are knowledgable, kind, friendly, helpful, pleasant, know a ton about romance and also do a lot to give back not only to their local reading community but to writers as well!

Mass readers: GO TO SHARON.

I will also now donate my books to the Waltham, Newton & Watertown libraries. They give me far more reading pleasure and customer service. I’d rather get no credit and have my books do some good at these lovely locations.

I will also drop books off at the Book Warehouse in Woburn where money goes to charity.

I will not be going back to that bookstore. Ever.

In a world where bookstores are struggling to stay alive, I can not fathom treating your customers like this.

It’s a shame, A SHAME, that readers, those who keep us all in business and are the inspiration for writers in the first place, should be treated so shabbily.

So there it is, the death of a bookstore in my heart. I’m lucky I live somewhere where I have 9 libraries within 15 mins of my house, 3 used bookstores within 20 mins & 3 BNs within 25 as well as 5 indie bookstores within 30 mins…. But, if she keeps treating her customers that way, she isn’t at all lucky they’re there. She’ll be the opposite of lucky.