Bookstores Around the World (rec.arts.books) (FAQ)

[Individual lists are constantly being updated.]

These lists are available on the Web at:

http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/bookshop.htm INDEX
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-can-e.htm Eastern &
Central Canada
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-can-o.htm Ontario
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-can-w.htm Western Canada &
Alaska
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-ne.htm New England
(other than Massachusetts)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-bost.htm Boston
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-capco.htm Cape Cod
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-wmass.htm Western
Massachusetts
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-nyc-m.htm New York City
(NYC) (Manhattan)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-ny.htm New York State
(other than Manhattan)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-east.htm Eastern US
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-dc.htm Washington DC
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-south.htm Southern US
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-chi.htm Chicago
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-midwe.htm Midwestern US
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-cent.htm Central US
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-west.htm Western US
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-sw.htm Southwestern US
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-la.htm Los Angeles Area
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-diego.htm San Diego Area
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-bay-s.htm San Francisco
Bay Area (SF and north)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-bay-b.htm San Francisco
Bay Area (Berkeley and east)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-bay-p.htm San Francisco
Bay Area (Peninsula and south)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/na-nw.htm Northwest US
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/uk-nire.htm UK (Northern
Ireland)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/uk-scot.htm UK (Scotland)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/uk-engl.htm UK (England,
not London)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/uk-lond.htm UK (London)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/uk-wales.htm UK (Wales)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/eu-benl.htm Benelux
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/eu-fr.htm France
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/eu-de.htm Germany
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/eu-nord.htm Nordic Countries
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/eu-misc.htm Europe (various)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/africa.htm Africa
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/asia.htm Asia
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/jp-north.htm Northern Japan
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/jp-tskba.htm Tsukuba/Eastern
Tokyo Suburbs
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/jp-tokyo.htm Central Tokyo
(excluding Jimbocho/Hongo)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/jp-kanda.htm Central Tokyo
(Jimbocho/Hongo)
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/jp-hama.htm Western Tokyo
Suburbs/Kawasaki/Yokohama
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/jp-hama.htm Tokyo Suburbs/
Kawasaki/Yokohama
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/jp-cent.htm Central Japan
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/jp-kyoto.htm Kyoto
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/jp-osaka.htm Osaka/Kobe
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/jp-west.htm Western Japan
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/jp-misc.htm Japan
(miscellaneous information)

http://danny.oz.au/books/shops/ Australia
and New Zealand
(maintained by Danny Au)
--
Evelyn C. Leeper
He who knows only his own side of the case
knows little of that. -John Stuart Mill

Actually, I found this post because I was looking for user comments
about Amazon Books. By this reply, I'm partly intending to endorse
other bookstores. I was thinking about sending Amazon the following
rather critical message--but there doesn't seem to be any way to talk
to Amazon unless you are a current customer, and (as explained below),
I do not expect to ever buy another book from Amazon.

All of the following second person references are to Amazon, since
this was originally written for to them. After a long search of their
website, mostly in the "help" sections, I was able to find only one
feedback path, a webform that rejected any comment since I am not a
current customer.

Here is what Amazon evidently doesn't want to hear (and the
explanation of why I don't want to be their customer):

Privacy isn't enough of an issue to you to make the selectable list
for your webform, eh? Well, it's an issue to me--someone who could be
one of your best customers for books.

I read at least 50 books in an average year, though this year I'm
already over 100--and not one of them was purchased from Amazon Books.
Long ago I did buy a few books from you. The prices and service were
both okay--but your respect for my privacy was not, and I do not plan
to ever again deal with you.

There's an out, but you'll never offer that option. What I want is
that you do not store *ANY* personal information about me on your
computers. The only thing you need to know about me is my name and
password--but the actual data should be stored on my machine. You can
sign it so that I can't tamper with it, and I'll probably be willing
to let you look at it from time to time for your aggregate statistics,
but it's *MY* personal data and you are *NOT* welcome to it.

It's not just that I don't trust you. The deeper problem is that I
like freedom and competition. In this specific case I want the freedom
to choose among bookstores. Actually, if that is part of getting the
best price for a book, I might be willing to briefly share some of my
personal information with several bookstores--but I'm not willing to
let Amazon alone collect arbitrary and unknown amounts of my personal
data and use it against me and against Amazon's competitors.

Shannon Jacobs wrote:

Actually, I found this post because I was looking for user comments
about Amazon Books. By this reply, I'm partly intending to endorse
other bookstores. I was thinking about sending Amazon the following
rather critical message--but there doesn't seem to be any way to talk
to Amazon unless you are a current customer, and (as explained below),
I do not expect to ever buy another book from Amazon.

Send them a letter -- on paper, through the postal system.

In my experience, when you have a problem with a company, you're likely
to get the best response by NOT contacting them in whatever medium
they're set up to deal with customers in. I figured this out when I
mailed a complain to UPS after dealing with their national phone center
-- and got results, plus a call from their local headquarters giving me
a number and some names to call if I had problems again. And a
supermarket chain which (at that time) had lovely forms to mail in --
when I got no results, I made a phone call.

--
Dan Goodman
"You, each of you, have some special wild cards. Play with them.
Find out what makes you different and better. Because it is there,
if only you can find it." Vernor Vinge, _Rainbows End_
Journal http://dsgood.livejournal.com
Futures http://dangoodman.livejournal.com
mirror: http://dsgood.insanejournal.com
Links http://del.icio.us/dsgood

"Dan Goodman" wrote in message
ouse.com...
Shannon Jacobs wrote:

Actually, I found this post because I was looking for user comments
about Amazon Books. By this reply, I'm partly intending to endorse
other bookstores. I was thinking about sending Amazon the following
rather critical message--but there doesn't seem to be any way to talk
to Amazon unless you are a current customer, and (as explained below),
I do not expect to ever buy another book from Amazon.

Send them a letter -- on paper, through the postal system.

In my experience, when you have a problem with a company, you're likely
to get the best response by NOT contacting them in whatever medium
they're set up to deal with customers in. I figured this out when I
mailed a complain to UPS after dealing with their national phone center
-- and got results, plus a call from their local headquarters giving me
a number and some names to call if I had problems again. And a
supermarket chain which (at that time) had lovely forms to mail in --
when I got no results, I made a phone call.

--
Dan Goodman

Absolutely. A WELL-crafted letter (not too long, not too many
details) gets wonderful results. I've had company representatives
on my doorstep, apologizing, after I've mailed some of my
complaint letters.

It's HOW you do it.

If you're so mad/angry that you write 3 pages full of details, your
complaint gets ****-canned as coming from a mental case.
(Think of the long, rambling Usenet posts from the conspiracy
buffs, for instance.)

But if you put an attachment of bullet points, each one short
sentence, listing the chair of events, it'll be read.

Kris

On Oct 11, 5:24 pm, Shannon Jacobs
wrote:
Actually, I found this post because I was looking for user comments
about Amazon Books. By this reply, I'm partly intending to endorse
other bookstores. I was thinking about sending Amazon the following
rather critical message--but there doesn't seem to be any way to talk
to Amazon unless you are a current customer, and (as explained below),
I do not expect to ever buy another book from Amazon.

All of the following second person references are to Amazon, since
this was originally written for to them. After a long search of their
website, mostly in the "help" sections, I was able to find only one
feedback path, a webform that rejected any comment since I am not a
current customer.

Here is what Amazon evidently doesn't want to hear (and the
explanation of why I don't want to be their customer):

Privacy isn't enough of an issue to you to make the selectable list
for your webform, eh? Well, it's an issue to me--someone who could be
one of your best customers for books.

I read at least 50 books in an average year, though this year I'm
already over 100--and not one of them was purchased from Amazon Books.
Long ago I did buy a few books from you. The prices and service were
both okay--but your respect for my privacy was not, and I do not plan
to ever again deal with you.

There's an out, but you'll never offer that option. What I want is
that you do not store *ANY* personal information about me on your
computers. The only thing you need to know about me is my name and
password--but the actual data should be stored on my machine. You can
sign it so that I can't tamper with it, and I'll probably be willing
to let you look at it from time to time for your aggregate statistics,
but it's *MY* personal data and you are *NOT* welcome to it.

It's not just that I don't trust you. The deeper problem is that I
like freedom and competition. In this specific case I want the freedom
to choose among bookstores. Actually, if that is part of getting the
best price for a book, I might be willing to briefly share some of my
personal information with several bookstores--but I'm not willing to
let Amazon alone collect arbitrary and unknown amounts of my personal
data and use it against me and against Amazon's competitors.

Sit back, take your meds and call your shrink and demand an immediate
appontment, because lady you have problems.
If you don't want Amazon or anyone else to have your personal data,
don't do business with them, you dumb bitch!

Actually, RF, you're the one with a problem. Even when your basic point is
correct, you still come off sounding like a jerk. Perhaps you should take
your meds and then find another hobby.

"RF" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 11, 5:24 pm, Shannon Jacobs
wrote:
Actually, I found this post because I was looking for user comments
about Amazon Books. By this reply, I'm partly intending to endorse
other bookstores. I was thinking about sending Amazon the following
rather critical message--but there doesn't seem to be any way to talk
to Amazon unless you are a current customer, and (as explained below),
I do not expect to ever buy another book from Amazon.

All of the following second person references are to Amazon, since
this was originally written for to them. After a long search of their
website, mostly in the "help" sections, I was able to find only one
feedback path, a webform that rejected any comment since I am not a
current customer.

Here is what Amazon evidently doesn't want to hear (and the
explanation of why I don't want to be their customer):

Privacy isn't enough of an issue to you to make the selectable list
for your webform, eh? Well, it's an issue to me--someone who could be
one of your best customers for books.

I read at least 50 books in an average year, though this year I'm
already over 100--and not one of them was purchased from Amazon Books.
Long ago I did buy a few books from you. The prices and service were
both okay--but your respect for my privacy was not, and I do not plan
to ever again deal with you.

There's an out, but you'll never offer that option. What I want is
that you do not store *ANY* personal information about me on your
computers. The only thing you need to know about me is my name and
password--but the actual data should be stored on my machine. You can
sign it so that I can't tamper with it, and I'll probably be willing
to let you look at it from time to time for your aggregate statistics,
but it's *MY* personal data and you are *NOT* welcome to it.

It's not just that I don't trust you. The deeper problem is that I
like freedom and competition. In this specific case I want the freedom
to choose among bookstores. Actually, if that is part of getting the
best price for a book, I might be willing to briefly share some of my
personal information with several bookstores--but I'm not willing to
let Amazon alone collect arbitrary and unknown amounts of my personal
data and use it against me and against Amazon's competitors.

Sit back, take your meds and call your shrink and demand an immediate
appontment, because lady you have problems.
If you don't want Amazon or anyone else to have your personal data,
don't do business with them, you dumb bitch!

I feel like I should begin by pasting my original comment here. Your
reply mostly illustrates the lack of dialog resulting from cut-and-
paste snippets.

In my original post, I said very clearly that I do not have any
specific grievance against Amazon. Your suggestion of writing them a
paper letter to complain about a grievance I don't even have seems
remarkably out-of-phase with their supposedly strong and distinctive
business model of Web-based convenience. I actually think it was
reasonable for me to attempt to send them feedback via their website.

Let me attempt to refocus on my primary points. In some ways I value
my privacy. In other ways I am a very public person. For example, the
list of books which I have read is *NOT* a secret. It is actually
available and searchable on the Web, basically for my convenience, but
it is not hidden. The list currently includes over 2,000 books. I can
check it from a bookstore or library to make sure I am not buying or
borrowing a book which I have already read. I can use it to look for
gaps where I have read some of the books of a set. At work I sometimes
check it for reference tracing, though Google is mostly replacing that
function.

Perhaps I value my privacy too much, but I do not like Amazon's
aggressive sales approach based on collecting lots of my personal
information and then using that personal information to try to
encourage me to buy additional books. For that reason I have stopped
doing business with Amazon.

I regard my personal information as a kind of personal property that I
should retain control over, and in the best case, that includes
physical control. Let's try it in the form of a continuum of possible
privacy policies:

Bookstore 0: We do not collect your personal information. We only use
aggregate sales information to decide what books to stock.

Bookstore 1: We collect your personal information, and we will do
anything we want with it.

Bookstore 2: We collect your personal information, and by shopping
here you agreed to let us do anything that is permitted in 20 pages of
legalese.

Bookstore 3: We will let you see the personal information we have
about you.

Bookstore 4: We will let you see the personal information we have
about you, and we will ask your permission before using it.

Bookstore 5: We will collect personal information, but we will store
your personal information on your computer. When we want to use your
personal information, we will explain why and ask for your permission
to copy the required information for a limited time.

Amazon is currently like Bookstore 2. I normally shop at one like
Bookstore 0, but I would be willing or perhaps even eager to shop at
Bookstore 5.

In terms of a business model, I would actually be willing to let other
bookstores look at the same kind of personal information collected by
Amazon. Maybe they could make me a better offer based on the same
data? Rational competition is a good thing. However, I still wouldn't
want them to have permanent copies or ownership of my personal
information.

On Oct 12, 12:56 pm, "Dan Goodman" wrote:
Shannon Jacobs wrote:
Actually, I found this post because I was looking for user comments
about Amazon Books. By this reply, I'm partly intending to endorse
other bookstores. I was thinking about sending Amazon the following
rather critical message--but there doesn't seem to be any way to talk
to Amazon unless you are a current customer, and (as explained below),
I do not expect to ever buy another book from Amazon.

Send them a letter -- on paper, through the postal system.

In my experience, when you have a problem with a company, you're likely
to get the best response by NOT contacting them in whatever medium
they're set up to deal with customers in. I figured this out when I
mailed a complain to UPS after dealing with their national phone center
-- and got results, plus a call from their local headquarters giving me
a number and some names to call if I had problems again. And a
supermarket chain which (at that time) had lovely forms to mail in --
when I got no results, I made a phone call.

--
Dan Goodman
"You, each of you, have some special wild cards. Play with them.
Find out what makes you different and better. Because it is there,
if only you can find it." Vernor Vinge, _Rainbows End_
Journalhttp://dsgood.livejournal.com
Futureshttp://dangoodman.livejournal.com
mirror: http://dsgood.insanejournal.com
Linkshttp://del.icio.us/dsgood

On Oct 12, 7:52 pm, "andycat" wrote:
Actually, RF, you're the one with a problem. Even when your basic point is
correct, you still come off sounding like a jerk. Perhaps you should take
your meds and then find another hobby.

My hobby is baiting jerks, thanks for responding!