Initially, I was afraid to come here because of all the bad reviews. It was my first time taking…read morethe ferry from SF to Oakland, and I didn't have a Clipper card, so I had no choice but to buy an actual ticket. Before I approached, I expected to get chewed out or at least glared at. I've been here twice now with no issues. On my first visit, I got a guy who was really friendly and helpful. He got me my ticket, and even told me which direction to go to and which port I should look for, without me having to ask. The second time, I got a guy who seemed to be in training with the first guy guiding him. The trainee was able to get the job done without a problem. I usually don't give places like this a review, but I felt the need to write up a good one, so others won't be afraid to come here like I had been and give them a shot.

It's actually a negative star. Like other reviewers have said, their customer service needs…read moresignificant improvement. The staff (woman) charged my 77-year-old mother-in-law $50 instead of $5, then refused to refund the $45 and told us to contact Clipper Customer Service. We did--and Clipper acknowledged how poorly the situation was handled. They documented the issue on our behalf and advised us to return to Bay Crossings to collect the refund. When we went back, there was a different 'unhelpful' employee (man). He told me he "knows his job better than I do" and claimed there was no way to verify the card was linked to my mother-in-law's clipper card number--which is BS, since they were able to pull up an account associated with another card. Once again, they refused to issue the refund. Avoid this place. Extremely poor service and accountability. The steal, even from retired old people!

One of the neatest bookstores in the US. The Poetry room upstairs is wonderful. So much fun…read morehistory here to learn about. And this bookstores has some amazing staff book recommendations with little tags on the bookshelf telling you why they loved that book so much; found some great new finds that way. Dont forget to get your books stamped with their bookstores stamp on the way out!

An amazing bookstore and so glad I asked chatGPT to give me some ideas for a stroll around SF near…read moreUnion Square. Well, ok, this place isnt close to Union Sq, about a mile away, but it was a perfect delicious end destination for a post dinner stroll! I like bookstores and I like eclectic, unique ones. I'll go to Barnes & Noble if I had no other choice, but my favorite bookstores are independent ones and ones where they carry very unique books you can't find elsewhere. This bookstore made my inner little nerdy self so happy. I immediately got lost up front looking at very recent publication by Ai Weiwei. I then wandered onto the main floor and found an entire section of Asian works, which you will not find at B&N. I also found books from Norwegian writers too which I had never seen before, which thrilled me. I then made my way up to their attic floor which is dedicated to poetry and seems I just missed Allen Ginsberg's Howl centennial celebration. Ugh! I then came back down and then proceeded to their basement section and again I was quite pleasantly surprised by the depth and breadth of Asian themed books they had. They had plenty of the Chinese classics in English and found so many different versions of Journey to the West, I was completely overwhelmed. And then, saw an entire section on Africa and I had to fight hard to not pick up a copy of a book titled Prison Letters, which is a collection of Mandela's letters while imprisoned. I ultimately settled on two books by Ai Weiwei as he has continued to inspire me to be proud, to not conform, to be brave, to speak up, to be authentically and unapologetically me, to honor my ancestry and to push boundaries and to fight for what matters. And it just so happens too that my Chinese give name is also Weiwei. I loved coming to this bookstore and it will definitely be on rotation for me when I am in SF again.

If I could give Goodreads zero stars, I would…read more I started experiencing review-bombing on my book in February 2022. It was coming from TikTok users whom I never directly interacted with. The reviews on my works were obvious violations of guidelines, so I reported them and requested for Goodreads to remove my works, which I own under title 17 of the United States Code. They never responded nor addressed those reviews. I experienced it again with my new release, which was never submitted by me on Goodreads. This time, the reviews were even more harmful. I contacted support again and my readers attempted to help me. Their reviews (genuine and detailed) were removed but the trolls were never addressed. I just sent a cease and desist letter to their headquarters, and I will take further legal actions to protect my works but it is appalling that a company can operate with such business practices. I invite any author who was targeted to review them, stand against them and take actions to hold them accountable.

Finally a book community for avid book lovers! Goodreads is an online community composing of book…read morereviews, recommendations, plot spoilers and discussions for like minded positive intellectuals. A united conglomerate where book readers gather to share without being chastise. Readers can search by book title, author name, and ISBN. I'm old school as I love to physically touch a book and turn the pages rather than scrolling page down on a computer screen. It is here where I was able to find one of my childhood books to learn that the author has continued writing the series for a total of five books (I've only known the first two exist until learning of Goodreads. com). Books -- where a good read is an easy find! All in all, pickup a good book for good reads!

I was stationed in Sacramento for four years in the late 70s, during which time, almost every…read moremorning, I read the San Francisco Chronicle. The Sacramento Bee was my local paper, and I read that too, but I'd grown up in the Washington, DC area, and the Chronicle, the de facto "newspaper of record" in Northern California, was analogous to the Washington Post, the "real" paper that we'd read at home. So digging into the Chronicle over breakfast, for national and international news, was familiar to me. The Chronicle informed, educated, and entertained me. Also, those being my later formative years, I was, to some extent, taught to read and write by Chronicle reporters and columnists, including: Carl Nolte, Art Hoppe, Bruce Jenkins, and one of my lifelong favorites, humorist and journalist Herb Caen. Times have changed, as have we all. The internet offers access to news and information that would have been unimaginable when I read The Chronicle, and anyway, I moved away, so the paper isn't as necessary to me as it once was. More to the point, I subscribed to the Washington Post for years, but I cancelled my subscription this year, as the paper deeply integrated AI into its content creation; and I still read the New York Times, but if they go too far down that road, I'll drop them, as well. Notwithstanding these things, the Chronicle is an important part of who I am, of how I think and say what I think, and when think about that, I'm grateful.

Updated review. Last month I received my credit card statement that the San Francisco Chronicle…read morecharged me $39 for a newspaper subscription. I had to call the credit card company to dispute the charge. Why? I have canceled the subscription several years ago. I haven't received their newspaper after that cancelation. To this date, no newspaper has been delivered to my home. The credit card company sent me a letter, notifying me that the $39 has been credited to my account. Yesterday I received an invoice from the San Francisco Chronicle wanting to charge me $76 with a new paid through date of June 28, 2026. Okay, I don't know why they want to sweat on me for $76 since I did not ask for a renewal subscription and there is no newspaper delivered to my home. I don't want the damn newspaper even if it were free. I will have to call their number (415 777-7000) to pick a bone with them. It looks like they are trying to prey on a senior citizen with their nonsense. Enough said!

While the Economist is a great source of news, they have increased their subscription rate far in…read moreexcess of inflation and have now decided to have their print subscription customers pay for the Economist to advertise itself (they substituted extracts from their 1873 magazine in the July 27th double edition in place of mailing out the August 3rd edition).

If anyone is considering purchasing a multi-year digital subscription for $445, be aware the…read moreadvertisement for this misrepresents the offer. Two times, separated by weeks, they were told this thru Chat. They agreed it misstates facts and twice said "IT" would fix it. Yesterday I received another email containing the same apparently deceptive "bargain". Whatever is the motive, the offer makes the price seem far better than it is. Given the effort to ask them to correct this, and their refusal to do so, the obvious conclusion is they choose to intentionally mislead the buyer with a known falsehood to add subscribers. If I am a math idiot, they've had two live opportunities to point that out. A sad commentary on what I believed to be a reputable enterprise.

Subscribe to their print newspaper delivery at your own risk. They will offer a very attractively…read morelow intro rate. Then after a year they'll jack up the rate to more than double. There is no one that answers the phone should you encounter any issues. Years ago there was at least somebody picking up the phone albeit with hit or miss 'customer service' given. But now it's just via chat and not by a human just AI which is equal to zero help whatsoever. If there is a delivery problem you have to go online and select from a few reasons. If you choose a credit it will not be accurate (it'll be less than you should be given). The delivery person didn't deliver your newspaper? Too bad if you request redelivery as it never happens.

Great newspaper, but subpar website because it constantly pops asking ads to use its app which…read moresupposedly is better. Problem with the app is it which allow the user to open multiple story windows while keeping your place within the main/top window. In addition, ads constantly pop up asking if the user wants to upgrade to a family membership, kind of meaningless to a single person.

I used to pick up this mag-rag to look at all the pretty shiny people in their happy gowns and…read morecostumes and think - gosh, they really live for this stuff. Then one day I get a call, and someone I know points out the fact that I'm in there! HA! Imagine that!? Guess this means I'm now legit. :) Either that or it's just great to be yourself.

I really enjoy reading this paper. Copies are put in my mail room every month and I enjoy reading…read moreabout local news, updates, and functions going on around town. People should be a little nicer about it, as they don't put anyone down, just show how much fun and exciting life is. With so many problems in the world, it is nice just to read about local attributes. They also have a cute office.

To echo the sentiments of Nish, I feel a tad biased as well since Hyphen has kindly allowed me to…read morehelp volunteer for them, but I enjoyed their content way before I plucked up the courage to ask to help out. It's nice to see a magazine run by a group of volunteers that is focused on covering interesting facts, news, and events - and not so hung up on beating the "We're ASIAN AMERICAN, feel our PAIN" issue to death. They sponsor cool events, encourage writers, and provide fun tidbits. Ever wonder what an ear picker is? Read Hyphen and find out. :)

i knew people involved with hyphen since it's inception in 2003, and have volunteered* with them…read moreoff an on since 2005, and five stars do they deserve! hyphen is all about the culture of asian america, grassroots-style. while they focus on the magazine, they also host awesome events like mr. hyphen! i think the best description of it is one they wrote themselves: "Like its readers, Hyphen is many things--cool librarian, shy musician, dorky hipster, cute techie. Like Asian America, its interests are varied--politics, art, health, music. Much like the hyphen connects words and concepts, Hyphen magazine connects readers with Asian America as it happens." word y'all! * hyphen is COMPLETELY volunteer run!