Readings Doncaster

Calm and peaceful bookstore nestled in the corner of the shopping centre. The store ambience was fantastic and felt like I had the store to myself despite there being many customers. Staff were extremely helpful and patient while I was looking for an extremely obscure book.

I visited the store on Sunday morning and a lovely employee, Georgia, was serving me. I was looking for books that related to New Zealand and I wanted something more than you’re average Lonely Planet. While there wasn’t many options in stock, Georgia asked for my details and said she’d look into some options for me. I didn’t think much of it BUT a couple of hours later, she sent through an email with a dozen or books for me to sift through and decide on.Such amazing service!!!Thank you!!

Great atmosphere and suggestions for books

Despite having shopped at David Jones at least once a week for the past three years I must admit I almost stumbled upon this bookstore today. And I have to say it was welcome surprise! The staff were lovely and super helpful. I could've stayed for hours, time slows down in a good bookstore and this one was no exception!

Great selection, bought a range of gifts and the staff were very kind and helpful

A beautiful bookstore, with lovely and knowledgeable staff

Placed an order for Lonely Planet Central Asia. Only bookstore with it and the staff were super helpful. Don’t buy online, buy locally and keep these great people in a job. Thanks to you all

Normally love this place. But today, my 3 year old son got told off by a member of staff - for sitting quietly in the corner and reading a child’s book, which happened to have one of those audio buttons that plays a tune. To be fair, he pressed the audio button maybe 8-10 times (as he loves that sort of interactive play), and evidently it was enough for a staff member to intervene and tell us that he shouldn’t be doing that. Not because it was noisy, but because it was wearing out the batteries. She then said that we should put the book back.In this day in age, one of the key advantages of shopping in store rather than online is to have a ‘hands-on’ interaction with the product. In this instance, the point of me allowing my son to interact with the book was to see if this was something he truly liked (and therefore if I should buy it for him). But this was cut short because of a staff member wanting to protect the battery life of a shelf product.I get the thinking behind it - if everybody ‘tried’ out the button, then the customer who ends up buying the book will end up with a half flat battery. But Readings - do you think the best way to deal with this kind of scenario is to tell a young child off for interacting with one of your books? Or do you think investing in some samples might leave customers happier - and therefore more inclined to buy from you (rather than your online competition). Yes, an additional cost - but perhaps a cost of remaining competitive?A bit disappointed by this whole unfortunate experience...