Octopus Books

I’ve been going to this store since it was on Sparks St. ‘way back in the ‘70s, and it is a grand place. Great variety of books and a great resource for the community. Highly recommended!

I think this quaint little shop is quite lovely! They have a great little selection of books. If you can’t find what you are looking for, let them know and they have been more than happy to put in a special order for a book that I have been looking for. Customer service is nothing to write home about, but no complaints either. I am glad to support this striving store. Shopping local is important and unlike the poster below, I would hope Octopus Books does not get streamrolled by Amazon – ick.
It’s tucked in on Third Street, just off Bank, so be sure you don’t miss it!

So, I received a groupon here a year or two ago as a gift from my mother – I think it was for about $ 40. I don’t use groupon, it was the first time I’d ever received one of these things. Anyway, I peruse the shop, find a novel I like, but nothing else jumped out. I asked the salesperson, who was perfectly friendly, if I needed to spend all the money then, but she happily told me she would make a note on my account that I still had $ 20 on my groupon that could be redeemed at any time, so off I went, looking forward to a return visit.
Anyone who has used groupon probably knows that in the fine print it says all the money has to be spent in one shot; I didn’t know that, and obviously neither did the salesperson, but I feel the onus is on the business owner to be aware of this and inform the customer.
A couple of weeks later, I returned, looked around, found two books I liked (total $ 50, so $ 30 more than what I had on credit). I tell the salesperson my name and that I have a credit, to which he brusquely replies that that was an error and my credit is no longer valid. Of course, I explain the situation and he effectively says «too bad for you.» I say I want to speak with the owner, and I’m told the owner put the «do not redeem» note on my file and won’t care. The salesperson is being extremely rude at this point – not a hint of understanding, compassion, or service, just complete icy disdain for me. Utterly aghast, I explain that I’m quite happily about to spend $ 50 at the store provided they give me my credit, but that if they do not honour the original agreement – as any sane business would – they will lose me as a customer for life. Then the finale: this anarcho-​paleo-​whatever sales guy goes «well, we don’t want someone like you as a customer.» It was so stunning – it was literally the worst customer service experience I have ever encountered, my blood boils just recalling it. I wish I could recall more of the particulars because it was actually worse than I’m recounting right now.
I agree that I should have read the Groupon terms, but the point is it was primarily the business’ mistake and they should have stood by their commitment, or at the very least come up with some sort of arrangement to meet me halfway (especially since I was willing to spend a bunch of money THAT DAY!). And then beyond that to be treated so unimaginably rudely – it was just surreal. As I vowed, I have never set foot in the store to this day and I warn everyone I can about this place.
With regard to the selection of books, it’s pretty minimal but they have some nice cutting edge fiction selections and of course a lot of Marxist, anarchist, extremely left-​wing stuff if that’s your bag. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that an anarchist doesn’t know how to run a business.
This is one local business I can’t wait for Amazon to steamroll into oblivion.
UPDATE 2013÷04÷16: The owner wrote me to apologize for the groupon mixup and «substandard customer service,» and assures me they have educated the staff on Groupon regulations. I appreciate the gesture, but my review still stands.