Bookstore experiences register problems
Jan. 23, 2007
University Bookstore clerk Marjorie McKenzie assists junior Jenna Mahler with her purchases on Monday afternoon at the University Bookstore. The bookstore registers were unable to access the student charge database on Jan. 17 until the connection was repaired later that day.
During one of its busiest times of the year, the University Bookstore experienced problems ringing student charge transactions on Wednesday.
"According to our point-of-sale software system provider, our registers were experiencing sporadic problems with accessing the student charge database," store manager Karen Jefferies said. "We wanted to do it right so student account information would remain secure and accurate."
While the software team worked to reboot the system, bookstore staff members set up temporary areas throughout the store to help write up receipts for students. In addition to the 30 cash registers, more than 20 additional staff members rushed to assist students.
"It was certainly a challenge, but our staff knows how important it is for students to have the textbooks and other materials they need for class," operations manager Fonda Gross said. "We didn't want to inconvenience students by making them come back."
Student Auxiliary Services spokeswoman Michelle Froese said one of the concerns some students had was that they weren't sure what price they would be charged since many products didn't have prices on them.
"Just like in grocery stores and big box retailers like Target and Best Buy, our point-of-sale system allows us to place a price near the merchandise on the sales floor and not have to place a price sticker on each individual product," Froese said. "This naturally would cause students to ask what price they are paying, so we have set up a service in the Brady walkway where students can request a reprint of their receipt."
At approximately 3:30 p.m., the software team determined it was safe to bring a few registers back up to ring up anyone paying with cash, check or credit card. Froese said this helped speed up the process immediately.
The student account database was accessible again later that afternoon and allowed the employees to begin the process of ringing the transactions into the system.
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