Attitude of the students who work in there. Quit acting like that everyone who walks in knows where everything is.

We were on a campus tour when the kids wanted a snack. We dropped into the bookstore. At the back of the store is a Starbucks with some snacks lined up like a 7-11. The 2 stars is for the rude staff who asked one of the kids when "we were leaving." Seriously, these kids were all well behaved and paying customers. The comment was unwarranted and made the kids uncomfortable. If you didn't want any business, perhaps don't open a coffee shop in there. Store was huge and packed with a lot of merchandise. Due to the rude student/staff member, we're not considering this college. Admin, if you are reading this, consider giving your staff some customer service training. read more

I took two online classes at CSUS in the fall. I decided to come into the bookstore and purchase the textbooks needed for the class in person. Physical textbooks makes studying easier for me rather than reading for hours on a screen. I ended up renting the books. One you could not buy and that was the only option. The other was half the price to rent it. I completed my classes and came into the bookstore to return my books. The person who helped me struggled to check them in. I asked for a receipt or some sort of proof. He couldn't figure out how to print it. He tried to call a manager but after several minutes it became clear there was maybe two other people total working in the store. I was not the only person in there having issues. After multiple attempts to get help, I had to leave for an appointment. The cashier assured me my books were checked in. Here we are now several months later and I am dealing with a collection agency saying I did not return my books. They charged me the entire cost and told me I can keep the books. The same books I no longer have in my possession I can keep. See the issue with this? Not only am I being charged but not having the books on top of it. Nobody at the store is helpful. You call and it rings and goes to voicemail. You leave messages and nobody calls back. Nobody working for the company who owns the bookstore, Follett, is helpful. I am now working with my credit card company to dispute the charge. If you have the option to get your text books absolutely anywhere else I recommend it. Do not purchase anything from this place. Absolutely the worst customer service. Mike, who is the manager is as incompetent as they come. Do not believe a single word that comes from his mouth. read more

Please go back to organizing books by subject instead of authors. This is extremely unnecessary, confusing, and impractical. Also wasteful since you literally had to print out posters with directions on how to find your textbooks. Took over 30 minutes to find my books when normally it takes less than 10. read more

Hornet Bookstore - Gift Shops Near Me - Sacramento, California

Prices are high but they do have a great selection for when you're at school and are in need of supplies

Coffee for only 50 cents a cup! That is what really brought me in -- I'm always after a bargain. I had heard that the bookstore was something to check out. Walking in, it is almost like being in a combination of Barnes & Noble and an airport lounge. Of course, the selection of pleasure reading books (meaning non-textbooks) is not as huge as a normal bookstore, but for a campus bookstore I was pleasantly surprised. There was a little Halloween display with kid and adult books as well as treats. The coffee area is towards the back with Peerless coffee being served. Sure enough, it is 50 cents a cup. I overheard a student stating that she would like decaf, and then being told that they don't offer it. Student: But it says 'Decaf' on the menu! Worker: Oh yes it does, but we don't have it. Student: Did you ever serve decaf? Worker: Yes at one point, but we would brew it and then no one would drink it. Student: Well, can you make me a decaf Americano at 50 cents? (A girl after my own heart! It's the principle darnit!) Worker: No, I can't do that. In the end, something got worked out. But folks, if you have something on the menu but don't have it anymore, TAKE IT OFF. It reduces confusion as well as disgruntledness. The part about being an airport lounge, you can get many sundry items here: painkillers, lotion, etc. Things that you would expect to find at a hotel gift shop. There are also the requisite Sac State hoodies (can't wear them with the hood up at Arden Fair Mall though), shot glasses, mascot-y things, etc. One wall has a huge variety of magazines and some comfy chairs. I could envision myself buying my 50 cent cuppa joe, settling in an armchair and reading all the magazines. I could just totally do that! They even have Donna Hay, one of my favorite magazines from Down Under. Very impressive. I didn't venture upstairs, but I was told it is where the textbooks are. read more

Just ridiculous. They make students pay waaaaaay too much for books. I mean, come on, we're just students! I only come here when i really have to... On the bright side, employees are always greeeting me when i come in, so they're nice. :) read more

My son just go transferred to Sacramento State University. COVID put a damper on everything, even though he is taking classes online he was able to go on a tour of the campus. He wanted to buy a view items, and believe me he ended up buying more than just a few things. The store employee that helped him was friendly. read more

The bookstore has pretty much everything you need. Snacks, books, school supplies, a cafe, lounges, etc. Whenever I come in here it's to either browse the new magazines, pick up a new pack of pens/pencils, or to look around the Apple section. The staff is always helpful and can help you find anything you're looking for. The cafe is a great place to hit up for coffee since they only charge 50 cents a cup. I've been tempted to take them up on this offer but haven't gotten around to it yet so I can't tell you how good it is, but people seem to enjoy it. Plus that IS a great deal on coffee! If you're in need of something specific - batteries, pencil lead, a greeting card, a new backpack, etc., stop here! read more

The remodel is awesome, however, because I am a Public Relations major I waste my life away in Mendicino Hall. The location of the previous bookstore appealed to me more because I could go swoop a scantron with the quickness. I patronize the book store for the usual stuff, pencils, scantrons, candy, you know the stuff us Hornets need to succeed. read more

i'm glad that the bookstore moved from its original location by the River front. The bookstore is much more spacious and has more items to choose from. The textbooks are of course over-priced so your best bet is to order them off of Amazon if you want to save money. All of the textbooks are located on the second floor, as well as goggles and lab coats. The first floor has the cafe, drinks, snacks, clothing, medicine, books, and electronics. The cafe has $0.50 coffee for sale! They also have tables for studying or eating your goods from the cafe. read more

I've been a student here for about 2 years. I think my favorite part of the Bookstore is the cafe - where you can get .50 iced/hot coffee depending on the time of year, and it's GOOD coffee! The staff is always friendly and I can hang out and study between classes if I'm inclined to. They have a decent snack selection (my only real complaint is the music.) If you're up for paying more than .50 for coffee, the rest of their menu is excellent, just tell them how you want your drink and they do a good job. It's a small cafe, though, so they don't have a lot of food options. read more

50 cent coffee! Yay! My favorite is the Wonder blend!

I loved the book store so much I decided to work in it. After working at the place I came to realize they really do care about customer service and helping to the best of their ability. They have everything I needed from test taking material to computer software/hardware. This place is awesome even if book prices are often high but seriously that is the fault of the publisher not the seller. read more

50 Cent coffee! Almost there everyday!! Love it!!! Plus they have a great selection of Apple products. read more

As a transfer student, I firstly was and still am astounded at how non-student friendly the Sac State bookstore is. I'm not usually one to "yelp" if you will, but the independence from the University becomes BEYOND inconveniencing for students. There is no way for financial aid to carry over or be set in place for students with financial struggles, seeing as the University doesn't oversee the operations apparently. Point being, if you rely on financial aid and have some mix-up the week before or during the first week of a semester, and have no extra capital to purchase texts books, your SOL. I had a mix up with financial aid and can't receive the actual disbursement until the 2nd to 3rd week of school. This resulted in there being literally no way to purchases texts. "We're working on creating student-credits, but we can't help you at the moment" I was told. This is truly a shame to the students, we already have to purchase overpriced texts, and then being forced to fall behind is again, inconveniencing. Last time i checked the bookstore on campus was designed for the students, not the owner to make a profit? I'm not at all saying the sole reason for not being able to get texts is 100% the bookstore's fault (financial aid deadlines, mixups, etc,) but to offer no help or solutions to students looking to get texts is downright shameful for a UNIVERSITY. MANY if not most academic institutions offer some kind of "bookstore credit" in regards to financial aid, and withdraw it from your original disbursement amount. Oh and if you order texts online to pick up, you have to wait 2 PLUS days for them to email you saying "ok NOW you can pick them up". Again, I think how the bookstore is being run is pretty bad (capitalism rules everything), and is not a reflection of the wonderful people who helped me while I was in there. Hope this helps someone out. read more

The cafe is clean, coffee is great and some of the people are nice, but there is one rude girl who they all call Sabrina. She does not have very good manners on the the walkie-talkie and was very rude to the woman she was talking too She was harassing her over and over, and talking down to her. I found out from others who work there her name is Sabrina. She never smiles to customer's and not very nice to the students who go in there. Her attitude and mannerism is horrible!! I was there doing a mystery shoppers report. Some of my friends who are ex-employees of Hornet have complained how she speaks down to people like they're second class citizens. One girl almost had a nervous breakdown and the other one cried everyday from her berating, forcing her to quit. These former employees should make an EEO complaint against her and the hourly staff thinks she very unprofessional. No one ever speaks up at Hornet, they feel they will be written up if they do and lose their job. Her superiors should have a discussion with her concerning her harassing tone and verbal abuse. She was out of line to speak to an employee like she did in front of students, guests or customers. People call the EEO Hotline, there is no reason to take verbal harassing abuse from anyone. It is not professional behavior and total unacceptable. The worse thing is I was told she was a Text Book Manager, so she should be setting an better example to her subordinates. Creating a hostile environment just ruins work morale. Here is the number to make an Hornet anonymous report 1-800-243-9930. And, if that does not work call the Federal EEO hotline and they will investigate the situation. http://www1.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/fedprocess.cfm http://www.eeoc.gov/employees/timeliness.cfm http://www.eeoc.gov/ read more

This is my first yelp review. The Hornet Bookstore (and all campus bookstores in general) are the root of evil corporation invading and affecting our education. This store boasts - A huge profit margin on already expensive textbooks - Despite the high book prices, they still run out and have poor customer service - Ridiculously overpriced school apparel - Incredibly long lines that make you late for class Only reason to visit is to grab your 50 cent coffee. Today I called becasue I live 5 miles away and have a textbook in perfect condtion I want to sell. They said they couldn't guarantee me a price since they need to see the book. I proceeded to ask for a quote and they said there was nobody high up enough available to take a call and that I would have to drive in. I'll take my business elsewhere. I have never purchased a textbook from the store. I would rather miss my first couple assignments and purchase from an individual on Amazon than patronize the evil University enterprises. They take the students already so broke in half, and they break them down even further. Advice: Stop spending millions of dollars on renovations and making it feel like a Starbucks/ Barnes and Nobel. Put that money back into making textbooks affordable for Students! read more

This review is for the coffee only. 50 cent coffee, and the best part? The decaf is Americano....happy happy joy joy!

I bought a sweater there that i loved but i was in a rush so i bought a medium thinking it would fit. When I got home and tried it on It looked like it fit so i ripped the tag off but then my mom pointed out that the sleeves were too short and that a large would look better on me. So i kept the tags and the receipt and put the sweater in the same bag they gave me. I went two days later to exchange the same sweater for a large and they said I could not because the tags were ripped off!!! That's ridiculous i still had the tags and the receipt says to do exchanges you only need an id and the receipt!! I took off the tags on accident and they refused to do anything about it. All I wanted was my right size and now i wasted 60 dollars on a sweater I will never wear They could have just simply attach the tags with the gun again. I was really bummed read more

Since my wife and I were around the area, we decided to check out the Hornet Bookstore. We haven't been there in a long time and saw a picture in a magazine. We were surprise of the new look. The computer guy was nice and friendly and so was the text book girl who went to look for a manager for us. This place has changed and looks a whole lot better. read more

I've been at CSUS for four years and honestly I always hate going here. To buy books, lines are always crazy long, prices are crazy overpriced, found a book for one of my classes at Barnes and Noble for $45 and at the bookstore for $165. Pretty big price jump. I bought a sweater and needed a bigger size, I walked in today and asked to exchange the same sweater, and "Stephanie the customer service lead" told me it wasn't resell-able because they was a little makeup on the hood where I had tried it on to see if it fit. She told me I also needed my receipt which of course I threw out hoping it would fit, she said she didn't know if I purchased the sweater there, I laughed out loud because the same sweater was hanging on a rack right in the front of the store. Also in big writing it said SAC STATE. She told me to wipe off the tiny bit of makeup on the hood and she would see she could do, (only because I was pissed that she initially told me no) I wiped it off and she exchanged it, (easy right?) but no she began talking about me to her coworkers, making rude comments. I literally brought the sweater, I tried on once to see if it would fit, brought it back with tags and she made it this huge deal. I'm happy with done with CSUS and this bookstore. I can't believe she was giving the title of customer service leader when she doesn't know how to handle herself professionally. read more

The 4 stars is for the coffee shop inside. They sell vegan desserts and their coffee and drinks are cheaper then Java on campus. They use Gediva chocolate. I love this place for their decent price and great customer service! read more

The store itself is beautiful and well organized. However, if you are a shopper or the casual student then make sure to avoid one of the supervisor's there named HEATHER. She has blonde hair and was working in the computer area. She is a very rude person who lacks empathy. She is very inconsiderate and carries a discourteous demeanor. Unfortunately she makes snide comments to the very same students who shop at the store and support Sacramento State. The rest of the staff are generally friendly and the atmosphere at the Hornet Bookstore is fine. Just make sure to avoid Heather at all costs. read more

This place has a clean and appealing environment, like most college bookstores. I've been here several times and I've purchased several things. I have not purchased textbooks from here but I'd assume they charge retail price (like most bookstores do) so it's not fair to hold that against them. People at the computer department are usually super helpful and friendly, and even when they cannot answer a question they have a nice demeanor and are willing to help. The rest of the staff are just ok, with one or two people who acknowledge customers on a regular basis and smile when they deal with you. Unfortunately, there is lady, who wears the "Customer Service Manager" badge, and who cannot be more rude. She is extremely condescending and I have witnessed some ugly interactions between her and customers. The first time it happened I was surprised and honestly embarrassed for the other person, but I was there very recently and it happened again! She has no regard for who is around and for the fact that those are paying customers. I that second day pretended to keep shopping so I didn't have to deal with her at the register. read more

The front desk manager, Heather, went above and beyond to assist me with a complex issue. Needless to say, due to her exceptional customer service and great attitude I am leaving a satisfied customer / student and am looking forward to doing business with the bookstore and not amazon or bookrenter.com going forward. Let me stress the benefit of local service here! read more

I placed an order online for a Used Text /w CD, and I had only ordered it through the bookstore because it stated w/ CD, and I needed it asap. Once I came in to pickup my order, it came with no CD. Had I been given some sort of warning stating "used packages may not be complete" I would have merely bought it new. Well I needed that book asap, so I asked if I could just upgrade my used book to a new book with the card info on my order, as I didn't have my card on me and I live 50 minutes out. The person didn't know if this was doable, but said to head to customer service and ask. Customer service said that the system they used was too outdated to do that, and all they could do is give me a refund. Now I've worked at a bookstore for years and I was able to edit orders. Now the rep might not have had clearance to edit the order, or maybe their system really is just too outdated to edit, but either way it strikes me as unprepared by either lack of training or an inadequate program so help customers in these situations. I asked the online order pickup desk if I could put the book on hold and they said customer service could. I got down to customer service and they said that was upstairs at the textbook information desk. They had plenty of new ones so I said nevermind. At this point I had already waited a week for my order to be fulfilled, had gotten the wrong book, and I now have to reorder the textbook I need, only to have another waiting period and be further behind in my studies. Now the book was expensive as hell, but my review has nothing to do with the price, as aside from markup I know it's the publishers who set that nonsense. Now I can't give a one star, as I've been in there twice before and had good customer service, either at the coffee stand or the textbook information desk. However this was the one time I ordered a textbook, and the experience is less than satisfactory. read more