I was one of the many who tried to snag a HP TouchPad during last weekend’s fire-sale frenzy. And I was disappointed, but can’t say surprised, when both OnSale (via Amazon) and Barnes & Noble sent me little love notes yesterday telling me that I wouldn’t be getting one of the $99 tablets.
I was caught off guard, though, when I received an email from B&N President John Foley this morning that contained not just another apology, but a $20 B&N gift card for my trouble.
Kudos (and thanks!) to B&N for a very welcome gesture. Now I have a little something extra to spend on the new Nook that I bought and am very much enjoying.
Yo, OnSale, what you got for us?
Here’s the letter.
Dear Tim,
This past weekend, BN.com experienced a technical inventory error for the HP TouchPad combined with an unprecedented customer demand for its newly discounted price. Unfortunately, this generated more customer orders than we had inventory, resulting in our cancelling some customer orders, including yours, as we notified you earlier this week. If there was a pending authorization against your debit or credit card for the order, we have worked to quickly reverse that no later than today. You will not be charged for this order.
I want to take this opportunity to offer our sincere apology to you as a valued customer of BN.com. We care deeply about serving our customers, and in an expression of our commitment to you please accept the $20 Barnes & Noble eGift Card below for any inconvenience this may have caused.
The card can be used for any merchandise available at BN.com or in any of our bookstores.
We look forward to serving you again in the future.
Sincerely,
John Foley
President, BN.com