Down With the Bag Nazis
Can I take your bag, sir?”
These few words have been the bane of many of our book-buying lives during the past several weeks. Indeed, the Washington University Campus Store has taken what might be considered a bold move. And bold it is, but risky too.
By enforcing what for lack of a better term is a “book bag check system,” (known thusly as BBCS) the Campus Store has, throughout the book-buying rush of the Fall Semester, manhandled many a student. While few students have been literally “manhandled,” it’s true, the BBCS has inconvenienced to a point that is intolerable. To be sure, the BBCS has only added confusion to what is already a chaotic and sometimes deadly sprint to the check-out line.
Thousands of students pour through the Campus Store in the first weeks of each semester, and it’s understandable that the Campus Store must take certain precautions to prevent shoplifting during these periods of heavy traffic. However, these precautions should not extend to policies that are patently invasive.
For the college student, the book bag is something of a life-support system. Students carry various valuables in their bags from laptop computers to graphing calculators to four-hundred dollar hardback course books. Not to mention purses and satchels and other carry-on type bags. Just how safe is my bag behind the counter? As safe, I suspect, as the books in the bookstore.
I’ve only been into the Campus Store twice in the past week, once to buy Skittles (which I carefully explained to the attendant who politely requested my bag anyway) and another time to buy a book. Both times I’ve been caught for at least a minute or two in BBCS congestion. A friend who checked her bag, as per the policy, made a purchase and collected her bag only to set off the alarm system as she exited was all but mauled by overzealous employees. Of course she had course books in her book bag (which had been checked at the counter while she shopped, mind you), and the clerk had the gall to suggest that she leave her books at the store until she could provide proof of their purchase. Of course students are going to have books in their book bags. What kind of police state are they running?
Despite being a step in a decidedly unfriendly direction, the Campus Store’s decision to treat students so inconsiderately is considerably risky. Although in years past the Campus Store was guaranteed a certain percentage of student business simply out of sheer lack of competition, the rise of online booksellers has become a significant thorn in the collective college bookstores’ sides.
With online retailers who cater specifically to the college market like Varsitybooks and Ecampus, even Amazon and others like Borders.com offer most books available at the bookstore at significantly (10% and upward) discounted prices. New books online are frequently little more than used books at the Campus Store.
What’s so surprising about the Campus Store’s decision to enforce such a policy as the BBCS at this point in time is that, with growing competition online and elsewhere, customer service should be first and foremost on the minds of those running the show. While in previous years I enjoyed browsing in the Campus Store during free periods (and frequently purchasing a book or two), I am now not only discouraged from utilizing the Campus Store as a place to read and relax, I’m almost a little afraid of even dashing in to buy a candy bar.
While one employee informed me that the BBCS is only in effect during the rush period, we can only hope that the Campus Store returns to its semi-customer friendly former self. Or better yet, maybe the Campus Store will take an actively customer friendly approach and attempt to maintain an environment that is welcoming not only to the book-buyer, but also to the browser (as this is how mega-chains like Borders and Barnes and Noble have dominated the market). In the meantime, I bought books at my friendly neighborhood Amazon.com.
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