Thoughts from a BookSELLER not LEASOR

So this Amazon (here-by referred to as the Evil Empire) stealing back their books has me thinking... and for a few days trying wrap my brain around it... so yes I'm a day late and probably quite a few dollars short. I wasn't going to write about it and didn't think I had time or anything to add... but then I heard this NPR summary of E-readers taking back books they had sold .. and it got me thinking...

When you download a book from the Evil Empire to the device they "sold" you.. you are in fact paying to borrow said e-book on a machine you are leasing from them... think about it this way, if they were a real retailer and you a real customer (to them you are data and a source of money... they really don't give a rat's patuey) they could not have taken back the Orwells. Last winter we (Aaron's Books and indies across the country) were selling a picture book called "Angel Girl"... the publisher and the bookstores had been duped to believe it was a true story, when in fact is was loosely based on some events. The publisher pulled the book and asked us to remove it from our shelves... we did. What we did not do was go into the homes of the people that bought the book and take it away from them... we didn't even contact them and ask them to return it... they had bought a book that we rightfully sold them. Maybe the publisher should have checked facts before getting the book out there, but they thought they had a hit on their hands, so who could blame them. They understood that books had already been sold and there was nothing they could do about it. They took responsibility for the mistake and it was done. The Evil Empire could/should have done the same... pulled the Orwells from their "shelves" and be done. What they REALLY should have done was check to make sure they weren't selling illegal copies like they were, but since it is the Evil Empire and bottom line means everything to them, we couldn't expect that.

To take it out of the book realm... think back to when all those plastic toy baubles were recalled last year. You bought said necklace for your darling niece... the store announces it's a hazard and if you return it you get a refund. I don't recall hearing one story about the other evil empire of retail (wal-mart) going into grandma's home at night and taking the presents out from under her bed... nope she bought them, they were hers, and she could return them is she wanted to...

So let's face it. Evil Empire will continue to be Evil Empire and not care about customer rights... but us real stores, we understand that when you walk out that door with the product in your hand and the cash in ours, it's yours... we promise not to come after you and snatch it back... not matter the circumstances