Chamblin Bookmine

Reviews 4

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Steph Yang

ZERO stars because a Chamblins Bookmine employee STOLE MY PHONE!!! Or rather, they tried and failed. My advice: Keep your phone close and dont trust ANY of the employees. They will cover for each other including the manager. I dont live in Jax and was eager to see the store my friend had raved about. While perusing the book stacks, I noticed Id misplaced my black Samsung Note with a green protective case with black fabric credit card holder on the back (Note: It was very distinctive.). I went searching in the area I knew Id put it down. It was the Fantasy section at Robert Jordans Wheel of Time series. Thank the light there was another customer, a good Samaritan, who had taken the time to turn it in to the front desk. As I approached the desk I asked a youngish man who had dark hair if they had my phone. He indicated no one had turned in a phone. The place was busy and there were a number of employees working at the desk. I went back to the young man who turned it in and he politely agreed to show me the EXACT person he handed the phone. He pointed out at an employee with a distinctive grey cap (not a baseball cap, but the exact hat a co-worker of mine wore when we worked at Borders Bookstore. Its not a beret, but denotes the character of "I am intelligent and/or cultured just look at my hat kinda vibe." ) He wasnt any of those things. As we came to stand in front of him, the dude (not making any eye contact) literally whips out a white Note Five with a green protective case like mine, twisting it in back and forth in front of us. The grey hatted perp said something to the effect of, "Ive got the same phone and I lost it in the store," as he mumbled a Thanks to the good Samaritan. Now, I KNEW he was LYING. First, the good Samaritan described my phone exactly. Second, I never told the perp my phones DESCRIPTION. I watch Law & Order and knew in my gut, "This dude is tryn to pull a fast one and steal my phone!!!" Blood and Bloody Ashes. I was pissed. Im tenacious when it comes to someone trying to lie to me and, even worse, a liar with sticky fingers. Thankfully, intelligence was not something that the Grey perp was acquainted with, unlike my husband who was in London, England. I phoned him up and explained the situation as we left the store for a bit. My spouse proceeded to connect with our home computer in the US. Fortunately, the perp had no idea that my phone could be tracked by GPS and that my husband had the capacity to "ding" its location quite loudly for 5 minute increments. My friend and I came back into Chamblins on a search and, hopefully, discover not destroy mission as I wanted my bloody phone back!!! We both noticed a door cracked open held by a chair while searching...we opened it and saw the grey perp with the black haired dude throwing out books into a huge metal garbage dumpster. I backed out of the doorway and proceeded to text my husband...."Ding the Locator NOW." Lo and behold, a miracle happened...black hair dude, who was now an accomplice AND complicit in the crime, suddenly comes back into the store and finding me says, "Hey, werent you looking for a phone. I think Ive found it." Meanwhile the grey perp had disappeared. Black Hair accomplice dude, climbs INTO the dumpster and discovers my phone. Now, you would think that management would be concerned with an employee with sticky fingers. Either to review hiring procedures or a possible visit from the police. Alas, the exact opposite is true. My friend and I stood in front of the white haired aged manager who studiously talked on the phone, pointedly ignoring us as we loudly bespoke our grievances. He would NOT get off the phone. By this time, I was done and just thankful I had gotten my phone back. Btw, watch out for the dark haired, fairly tall chick was right beside me as we tried to talk to the manager. Yes, I knew you were texting the perp. I should have called you out, but, like I said, intelligence nor sense of right and wrong are NOT what you will find at Chamblins.

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Stewart Pierson

Good bookstores seem to be a rarity in Jacksonville. Heck, even our library situation seems to be sad at best. I was really hoping that Id immediately fall in love when I opened the doors to this massive bookstore but the love just never happened. Lets be clear about one thing: they carry just about any book you could possibly imagine! The problem is that the store itself is just so dang uncomfortable and overwhelming. Im not usually one to get anxious in tight spaces but I felt very claustrophobic here. In fact, everything is organized so tightly that it feels like books are going to tumble on you and send you to an early death. Suffocating in a book store is a terrible way to die. The store itself is very confusing to navigate. Small paper signs tell you whats immediately around you but nothing really leads you to areas you may want to go. Dont bother looking up to see signs pointing the way because the complicated labyrinth of shelves quickly traps you in a corner. This would be a great place to host a haunted maze. This is the type of bookstore that is a hoarders paradise. There is no lack of good books. In fact, theres too many. This store needs to be simplified quickly. Apparently a lot of people enjoy their bookstores like this because I appear to be a lone whiner among many fans. Take it for what its worth, I felt uncomfortable here but its definitely worth a visit if you need to find something that you might not be able to get at Books-a- million or B&N.

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Joshua McCarty

While in Chamblins today (Saturday May 27th) I witnessed 3 employees talking negatively about customers that were currently in the store. The young male with short dark hair at the front desk commented that a man had sold books to them 3 times in 2 weeks, so he must be stealing. That man was still in the store and could have easily overheard them as I did from 15 feet away. Forgive me if Im wrong, but isnt buying books how you stay in business? 10 minutes later a young female employee with long dark hair commented to the same man that a particular customer was "annoying" her asking questions about where things are. Maybe your store should have a MAP if you dont want customers "bothering" you. As I was walking to the front I heard that same young lady and another lady employee with short dark hair making jokes about ANOTHER customers choice of clothing. Unbelievable. That place is like a gossip farm. If I want to be judged while shopping then Ill ask my ex wife to come. They need a serious employee overhaul. That being said, they have a great selection, which is why they got one star (they would have gotten ZERO stars in my mind if not for the great selection of books). BTW they stamp everything, which as a collector, I dont like.

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Columbia Gg

The shop holds a major "bigger on the inside vibe" with the appearance of a tiny shop tucked by the highway with only 20 parking spots on the outside, but with about 40 some- odd aisles that are packed with books to almost the ceiling and most of the floor. The idea of being able to trade books is great, and it gives you a chance to relieve your own shelves of some weight while still getting some new books for your hoard. Youll quickly get lost in the bookmine, but in my experience, it was more because parts of genres where in odd spots. US history was nowhere near World history, western fiction stayed near gardening and art rather than be with the other forms of fiction. Newpaper comics were on the otherside of the store, away from any other type of comic. It honestly it just felt that they never had got a chance to reorganize their shelves and ended up with chopped up categories. However, it is still a fun place for a bookworm or bookwyrm to visit while in Jacksonville.

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