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“A Relaxed, Professional Environment that is a joy to...”

written by Shopaholic666 on 29/07/2014

Waterstones is definitely my favourite book shop. As soon as you walk in you are greeted by the wonderful smell of freshly printed books, a smiling face on customer services that will bend over backwards to help you and a selection of books and small gift items to die for.

As a avid reader, Waterstones has never failed me. They do their very best to stock as many books as possible offering a wide variety of choice for people of all ages and all genres sometimes with good deals on as well.

Click and Collect. You can go online and find the book you want, check the stock at your local store and reserve it to pick it up around two hours after reservation (check for confirmation email saying it is ready for you) and you may pick it up at a DISCOUNTED price to in the store and online. They will hold the book for five days after the date of reservation to give you a good chance to pick it up or you can just order them online and have them in your hands in a couple of days. The store also offers you the chance that if they do not have a book in stock you can go to one of the tills and they will order it in for you, depending on the book, usually in a couple of days, and it will be reserved for you, you pay then and there so you only have to walk in and pick it up and they charge no extra cost for it.

The staff are always friendly, happy, relaxed and eager to help you. They want you to enjoy your visit and they will bend over backwards for you no matter how busy they are. They know where everything is, they can give good recommendations and they are extremely helpful.

The environment is always pleasant. Unlike WHSmith, you are allowed to sit in the store and have a little read of your book on the chairs or take as much time as you need and the employees will not walk up and down glaring at you and pestering you to hurry up and pay or get out of the store. I never feel harassed or patronised in Waterstones as they will ask you once if you need help if you look like you can't find something, other than that they leave you in peace to find your book.

I highly recommend this store and it is the first place I will suggest to buy books from when people ask. Great prices, great service, great shop. I have never been disappointed by ANY of the stores I have visited.