PaperBack Exchange in Florence, Italy

So, I have to write about this in my blog because it was the 2nd bad experience I have had with the English bookstore in Florence. I will try to keep this short mostly because it’s just me being upset with the lack of courtesy from this particular store.

The first time I heard about the Paper Back Exchange in Florence I thought it was such a great idea. It’s an English bookstore where you sale used books and receive credit towards the purchase of other used and new books. I read so much here that I thought this would be great! The first time I went to the store, I was looking for a travel book of the Tuscany area. I was interested to see what the store was all about so I went in. Since it was my first time to the store I wasn’t sure of the layout. I browsed around a bit, was never greeted by the two English girls/ladies behind the register, and couldn’t find the travel book area. I noticed the girls had been in conversation the whole time and slowly approached the register to ask for the travel section. I stood by the register waiting for them to stop their conversation and hoped they would acknowledge me. Keep in mind I was literally right in front of their faces, they were blatantly ignoring me. So, after about a minute of standing there I finally said “excuse me for interrupting but I was hoping you could tell me where your travel books are” this was followed by one girl saying “can’t you see we are talking?? They are over there” she pointed in a direction. I replied with a “sorry” and immediately left the store without even looking at the books. I later found what I was looking for at the Italian bookstore for a price I am sure was cheaper. So, after this experience I had a bad taste in my mouth and never went back.

My friend Andrea had sold some books to the store and had a credit of 15euro and some change. Before she left Europe she gave me the credit to use since she wouldn’t need it. It was super nice of her. This was over a year ago. Since I haven’t been back, I still had not used it. So, the other day I decided to go through some of my books and sell them to the store and use the credit Andrea gave me. I gathered about 6 books and left for the store. When I arrived I immediately approached the register and asked if I could sell back the books. The girl behind the register (I believe American because she didn’t have an accent) was very nice and took the books. She told me to go ahead and browse around while she figured how much they were worth. So, I started looking at the cookbook area, which is directly in front of the register. While I was looking I noticed an Italian man came to the register and they talked about his break etc. (in Italian) and then she walked towards the back. I thought she was going back there to work out the price of my books. I kept browsing the books and it only took me about 5 minutes to find what I wanted. An Italian Vegan cookbook for Maurizio’s collection. I was waiting, waiting, waiting… the girl didn’t come back. In the mean time, I saw a student come in with books and she went to the register, the Italian man behind the register took her books and told her how much credit she had. After a few more minutes another girl came in with a big bag of books. She asked the man “do you buy back books?” he said, “yes, let me see them”. She then put the big bag on top of the desk and he said in a very rude manner “TAKE THEM OUT OF THE BAG! DON’T JUST THROW THEM UP HERE” the girl was embarrassed and very apologetic as she started rapidly taking the books out of the bag. I couldn’t believe how rude he was; he was such a jerk (well I really had better more vulgar names for him). So, she got credit and left. I still hadn’t seen the girl. I still didn’t know how much credit I had. My phone rang and I stepped to the entrance to talk to Maurizio for a bit asking him about the cookbook. After I got off the phone with Maurizio, I decided to ask what was going on, it had been well over 15 minutes. I went to the register and asked the man “excuse me, do you know where the other girl went that was here” he replied sharply “which girl, there are several girls that work here, not everyone is here today, some are off, one is in the back, one is on break…..” I interrupted his rudeness and said “I apologize, I am looking for the lady that was just here speaking with you” he said “like I said, one is in the back and one is on break I don’t know who you are talking about” so I said, “I don’t know her name, she had a nose ring and blonde hair” he replied “Who?? What is her name? I don’t know who you are talking about”. I decided this conversation was going nowhere so I tried a different approach.
“Okay listen, I gave some books to a girl just a few minutes ago, she was supposed to give me a price but she never did, I have been waiting”

“Well what is your name”?

“My name is Whitney but that wont matter because she didn’t write my name down, she just took them and told me to browse around”

“Well how am I supposed to know then??”

“I don’t know, that’s why I am asking where she is?”

“WHO are you talking about”?

Then I noticed my books on the shelf

“I think those are my books right there, the first one is the same title I turned in but I can’t see what’s underneath.”

“Those aren’t your books, I priced them and you didn’t give them to me”

“I already said I didn’t give them to you, I gave them to the other girl but I am pretty sure they are mine”

“Those aren’t yours!!!”

Then I just started walking to the back to find the girl myself.

“Wait, are these yours?” He pulled them from the shelf

“Yes, those are the ones I just brought in.”
“I priced them, they aren’t yours”

“Look, I don’t know who priced them but I am not leaving until I have the books or I have the credit, either way”

“Are you sure these are yours?

“YES, they are mine”

“What’s the big deal???” as he slams them down “HERE!! Here is the price”

So I gave him the cookbook and Andrea’s credit. It worked out that I didn’t have to pay any extra and that he owed me 5cents. He got the coin from the register threw it down on top of the cookbook and said, “THAT’S ALL”

So I said “Grazie” and left.

I will NEVER go back to that store. You are much better off going to the Italian bookstores; you can still buy books in English there for better prices and a more tolerant and friendly staff. Anyone who reads this, I hope you don’t waist your money in that store. I really have nothing good to say about it and have had friends with similar experiences.

here is the link to their website http://www.papex.it/