Whitcoulls Commercial Bay

Quite a small store but the man who works in here was very helpful and spent time trying to find the maths books I was after.

Went there for some last minute Christmas shopping and enjoyed the selection of books and friendly service.

Fairly limited fare, shop is small and book range limited. Has the main stationery that you may need. Few magazines, but I suppose that paper mags are fast fading with the rise of digital.

New assistant served me overall very good

Retail staff Richard & Galza at Whitcoulls Commercial Bay are absolutely amazing. Superstars with a vibrant attitude - very focused, friendly and onto it. I came at almost end of day 5:30pm near close 6pm. Not just spot on, but legit above & beyond customer service from these two

In this day and age where Māori literature by Māori authors is so abundant I was shocked to see that this stores collection was so lacklustre. I was also very surprised to see that there wasn’t even a dedicated Māori section, which should be the bare minimum and seems to be for most stores across New Zealand.For the small amount of “Māori” literature that is available they are clearly not meant for Māori or those interested in hearing a Māori perspective. But rather a colonial point of view that validates the benefits of colonisation and racial prejudice against Māori. We are in 2023 and the fact that a common chain store holds books that uplift the terrible stigma that colonial states have used historically to diminish indigenous peoples and their human rights. Harmful stories like these have caused and continue to cause mass murder, community displacement, loss of identity etc. etc.The fact that a bookstore owner has chosen to spread; because store owners choose what books they stock, harmful narratives makes it clear that although they are capitalising on the whenua, they do not respect it.Choosing to stock shelves of fantasy books, celebration cards and books on countries far away, yet you can’t even show the well bellow bar of ONE line in a shelf dedicated to the indigenous peoples of the country?Although I would be shocked to hearthat the store cannot source a better selection, here are some recommended readings:- The History of Ngāti Whātua, by Ani Pihema- The River In Our Backyard - Te Awa E Pātata Rawa Ana, by Malcolm Paterson- Imagining Decolonisation (BWB Texts)- Māori made easy by Scotty Morrison- Kurangaituku by Whiti Hereaka- Te Tiriti o Waitangi- He WhakaputangaIf you need anymore advice, I’m sure Mcleod’s booksellers can help you out.Glad I had already bought two great Māori books from Unity bookstore, which is about a 5-10min walk from here. Please go there if you’re looking for books, it’s generally a way better range anyways.

They have literally no soultion for customers. They are selling bablades without launchers that cost you $35, my kids were so excited for that and it was all in vain, i asked for launcher in the store they said it is in the queue and take 4 days to arrive and again i have to pay $24.99. No sense, such a big shop and they can't make a customer happy. I asked team member that is this good for two kids he said yes and he even didn't mention that it has no launcher like this is the common sense to educate your customer what they are buying.It is unacceptable to sell incomplete products and then charge a high price for the missing parts. As a customer, I expect a timely and satisfactory resolution to my issues, without having to incur additional expenses. I hope the management takes note of these concerns and takes steps to improve their services and products. You should understand, Every penny is hard earned.

28/06/2023. The staff who were working on that day around their closing time are the worst people for customer service. We bought $150 bookset, they acted and treated us like thieves from the moment we entered the premises. One of the WORST experiences EVER!!!!! WILL NEVER GO BACK!!! And also wanted to mention, for the white skin customer they smiled with their whole teeth set like a laughing giraffe on helium gas and frowned at us the whole time.