I absolutely love their coffee shop - ’ the Cha Bar’. Never mind the perpetually malfunctioning air-conditioner, or the early shutdown (they stop serving at 8.00 pm); it’s a great feeling, to be sipping coffee or tea; biting into very nicely priced snacks; watching the traffic & pedestrian, on Park Street, go by.
However , their book shop is a disappointment (which is surprising , because they’re predominantly a book shop ! Or are they? ). They just don’t seem to have the wealth of collection, which we may expect from a book shop of their stature.
Moreover, they resort to unfair trade practice, as I found out recently. Oxford, is apparently offering, up to 80 % discount on books, with discounts ranging from 10% to 80%. The discount is supposedly on the marked price , as indicated on the back cover of the books.
However, as I checked out, I found that : they actually priced the books above the printed price & then discounted on the increased price. They’re justifying it saying that the prices printed on the back cover are approximates, & are subject , to the vagaries of the dollar price. Hence if the price is $ 4.5 & the corresponding printed Indian price is Rs. 430, they will increase the price to Rs. 450 (based on the day’s dollar price) , & provide you a discount on t Rs 450. This is insane!!
Even worse, is the fact that when I pointed out that: one of the books was an Indian edition ( not having anything to do with dollars or pounds): they were gracious enough, to refund the extra charges! So please beware! The most disappointing attribute of this shop is the service staff. Some of them are downright rude. Well, Oxford book store , is very much an integral part of my life (as of my friends). We surely hope that: this paradise is not lost , to the crude commercial demands.