Source: Flickr (zebramaedchen)

In an attempt to solve the problem I deleted the app and reinstalled it, which allowed me to open the app, but it refused to download any of the books I previously purchased. At the advice of an iPhone guru, I connected my iPhone to my computer and synced it with iTunes. This additional step worked and all my books downloaded and I was able to read the e-book again…or so I thought.

Following one successful launch/quit/launch cycle, the next time I tried to open the application it crashed immediately upon opening it. A quick look at the reviews in the app store shows that an update released mid-December was the start of this problem, and nothing has been fixed yet. It wasn’t just me — it was seemingly everyone who used the app. I learned from many reviews that the one way to get the app to open more than once is to exit out of the book when you’re done reading, so that when you close the app you’re on the main screen of the e-reader. I completed the steps above, but this time before exiting the application I returned to the main screen. This worked…one time. Unfortunately following one successful launch/quit/launch cycle, the next time I opened the app, it crashed again, every time. Each solution to the crashing problem seems to “solve” the problem for one application launch.

Obviously it’s not convenient to uninstall/reinstall the app everytime I want to read nor is it even possible for me to sync with iTunes every time I uninstall/reinstall the app. After exhausting all options to resolve the problem I e-mailed B&N customer service and requested a a refund for my recent e-book purchase.

I received a canned response three days later to inform me that e-books are non-refundable, which I knew, but was hoping they would make an exception because it was their own faulty software that prevented me from reading the book I purchased.

Some reviews in the app store say they have called B&N customer service and were told they were weeks away from fixing the app. Other reviews claim that the problem only exists with paid books and not with free books. I would check to confirm this but I can’t even open the app. The one thing that is certain is that the problem is widespread and prevents consumers from reading their purchased books. Wouldn’t it be reasonable to amend the rules for refund until the problem is resolved? Although I’m not a fan of app censorship, perhaps Apple should pull the application from the app store, something they have done to “protect” consumers in the past?