TO THE EDITOR:
I recently purchased a book for my SPAN 272 class from Student Stores’ bookstore because it was a custom edition and not available elsewhere.
Owing to the $140 price tag (which is ridiculous enough), I purchased a used copy.
I was appalled to discover that instead of having sold me a used book in good condition, they had sold me one with the cover ready to fall off and the pages written on to the point that some of them were virtually illegible.
Upon approaching the manager to ask why they had both bought back and resold a book in this condition, he informed me that it is a “used book” and that “there can be writing and highlighter in it.”
Having seen the other three or four used copies on the shelf, I can attest to the fact that they were all in equally bad or worse shape.
The condition of the book is so bad that I would not have wasted 50 cents on it in a used book sale, let alone the $105 that they charged me for it.
I request that Student Stores either change their buyback policy or change their condition options from “new” and “used” to “overpriced and new” and “way overpriced and destroyed.” Then, we the customers, the UNC students who pay for the books, the facility and the staff and who are required to buy books that are not available in more customer-friendly environments, will know what to expect in the future.
Adrienne Franz ‘14
Spanish and Anthropology
