University of Michigan - Flint Bookstore

We shop at the University of Michigan- Flint bookstore for my son’s books to college. The staff are always helpful and friendly. You probably need to show your student ID to get into the pavilion due to COVID-19. There is plenty of University merchandise to choose from however, I still think the merchandise is overpriced, even with the sales.

I’ve had multiple unpleasant experiences with one of the staff members at the UM-Flint bookstore. Every time I ask for help from the older lady with short purple hair, she is incredibly rude. She never gives me a chance to explain my question, interrupts me, and looks at me with obvious disgust. This has happened several times, and it’s frustrating to feel disrespected when I’m just trying to get assistance. Additionally, the bookstore’s pricing and return policy are unreasonable. I once purchased a book for $110, but I had to drop the class shortly after. When I tried to return the book—still in its original wrapper—I was told I missed the return deadline by just three days and couldn’t get a refund. They offered to buy it back for only $9 instead, which felt like a complete rip-off. The combination of poor customer service and unfair pricing policies makes the experience of shopping at this bookstore unnecessarily stressful. I hope they improve their staff’s attitude and reconsider their return policies to better support students.

If I could give 0 stars I would. In fact they deserve a negative 2 stars for how they treated me today. I walked in and was completely ignored and when one of the workers finally acknowledged me, she had the look of disgust on her face. I tried to tell the store manager Joni about what happened and how her employee treated me, and she basically said I was lying and that I’m over exaggerating. I became visibly upset because I was frustrated that she was not listening to me. She called the police over (I’m a black woman) for no good reason and yelled in front of the other patrons that I’m banned from the store. I’m just so shocked and appalled because I not only did my undergrad here, I also went here for high school and I never got treated this way. My feelings are hurt and I just don’t understand how me telling the store manager about my experience could backfire on me like this. Smh. But I am always going to speak up when I’m treated unfairly. Officer Tony helped out a great deal, but I don’t even need to be banned because I would NEVER spend my money at a place that would treat me that way.

Staff is always friendly and helpful. But their hours are terrible. For a college where so many students are non-traditional and work full time jobs, not being open on Saturdays is problematic especially when trying to get graduation attire. Being forced to choose between taking PTO or having the items shipped removes all the excitement. I suggest that at least for the month of April the store should be open on Saturday's.

This bookstore is great in that it has the books the students need. It also holds apparel for athletics and U of M support. They also have a selection of new books for people who are looking for new books. They also have bargain books for those on a budget. The staff was helpful and happy to answer any questions I had.

They sold me a book with an online code that was scratched open already. I called them and they assured it worked even though it clearly was obvious someone used it. Try to use it for class and of course it was a code already used. Pretty shifty to do to students hopefully I get my money back or some refund towards buying the online class access elsewhere. Not to mention also with the order i had ordered ceramic mugs and they shipped them in a bag. Really frustrating to deal with if you are a distant learner i dont reccomend buying any books from here

I used to rent my text books there on the rare occasions that they were cheaper than on Chegg. The last time I did, I went to return the book. Mind you, I returned it in the exact same condition that I received it, which was some water damage. It was still 100% usable, so I did not think anything of it considering it was a used rental. However, when I went to return, they told me that they could not accept it and that I owed $35. To which I refused. I explained that it was how I received it, to which I was told was impossible. Never have I ever had any problems with renting books from anywhere else. They basically treated me like a criminal and talked to me like I was a child getting in trouble. I still refused, as I know how careful I am with books, mine or anyone else's. That book was never near any fluids when in my possession. I won't pay for something that happened to a book that didn't happen when I had it. The manager ended the conversation with "Well, now we have your name in the system, and we know what you do. So you won't be able to get away with this again." I have never been back, nor will I be. I have never been treated so poorly as I was in this store.