My Big Bad Wolf books sale experience
So last week, the much awaited book sale happened in Amcorp Mall. I was thinking of going in the morning of the first day but I got a SMS from a friend who said that it was packed. I then decided to go later that night.
IT WAS HORRIBLE!!!!!
When its maiden sale happened in May, I wrote a review here which favoured this sale. After all, reading is an expensive hobby and any great sale like this would have been great to book worms like me.
Due to that great experience I had, I was really looking forward to this year end sale. However, this was what I found.
The whole venue was extremely small. I do not see how it can accomodate 200,000 titles and all those people in it comfortably.
The entrance was jammed with people who were queuing to pay. The queues were zig zagging and my friend said she had to wait for a whole hour to pay! OMG! I had half a mind to leave the second I stepped into the place.
Then I found that the aisles were too small to fit all the bookworms there who had baskets, bags and boxes in their hands. I had to elbow my way around since that is the only way I could move forward. People who brought their babies in strollers were in for a surprise.
Although I saw some great titles on self-help, I could not really reach it cause it was just too many people around it. Business selection seems to be more limited this time round as well.
One thing which topped my annoyance was how the sales people behaved. One guy who was rearranging some of the books was practically ripping away a book which my little boy was looking at. When I asked why he did it, he simply said that my little Ryan was going to tear it apart and so, he should take it away! When I insisted that Ryan will not do that, he pointed his finger to Ryan and said that if it is torn, then I will have to pay for it! Did he have to be so rude??
Then there was this girl at the customer service table in the children’s section who gave me a non-committed look when I left my bag of unpaid books with her. Ryan wanted to poop and I was not going to hold it off while I zig zag my way through the payment queue. And so, she simply shrugged and said she cannot guarantee that my books (together with my bag) will be there when I return. I really felt like slapping her!
But, as with all things, 2 good things were the fact that the children’s books were separated from the madness and it was pretty easy to shop. But I think the choices last time were better.
The other plus point was that the prices were indeed low. The most expensive one I got was a pirate set which was RM15. The other self-help and biz books I got were RM8. Ryan’s books were mostly RM5.
I did not even bother going back the second and subsequent days. Don’t think it was worth the effort. I hope that the organizer will pick a bigger venue the next time. And for goodness sake, get more polite temps!
Did you go to this sale? What do you think about it?
This post has 3 comments
December 1st, 2009
I went on Sunday afternoon and didn’t like it. There were hardly anything left. I only spent like RM50 cause I told myself I cant leave the place empty handed.. haha.
My main intention was to get books for Hayley (read your comments and Penny’s comments on the previous sale and loved those books you posted) but didn’t find a single one suitable for her age. How disappointing. The only up side was there were no queue at the check out and I even manage to ask the cashier if they ever replenish the books and she said I should go early in the morning as they normally replenish late at night or early in the morning. Darn.
December 4th, 2009
I was there on the first day among the earliest to arrive. Since this is my first BBW experience it’s a bit surprising seeing lots of people even before the sales start. Agree with you that the space is small (was told that the previous one is better).
Since i’m a biography type of reader, i just concentrate on the non-fiction area. And yup the price is unbelievable. Most of the books that will be over RM 100 @ Kino or MPH is just RM 8 at BBW.
December 9th, 2009
Amy – I totally agree with you that we should not leave empty handed, however, this time round, I found that it was difficult to find kiddie books which cut across age groups. Found very little for baby Megan, just some for Ryan.
Rizal – Thanks for dropping by. Good for you in getting all the books you wanted for such a great price. Think BBW should really get a bigger space to accomodate next time!