Staples Consumer Reviews - Page 3

SURREY -- The following is what I sent to Staples. It'll serve nicely as my review: I have just returned from visiting the South Surrey Staples in BC for the second time in 3 days. The first time I went in to get an item shown in the Staples flyer sent to my home. The store was out of stock. I was told there could be no rain check and that I should come back in a couple of days. So I did. Again there was no stock. Again no rain check.

Now it happens that Staples carries a nearly identical item which has a regular price $1 more than the sales item's regular price. I discussed this with the store manager, asking that he make the substitution, particularly since his staff had now cost me 2 trips and that he claimed Staples has a policy against rain checks. This store manager refused, but made the preposterous offer of a much smaller discount on the nearly identical item. This is the very definition of appallingly bad customer service.

Do not send flyers to my home with false advertising. Do not make me pay for the privilege of repeated wasted trips to view your empty shelves. Do not treat me as if I should be grateful when/if you get around to stocking your shelves with advertised goods. Do not expect me to shop at your stores again. Most of all, do not expect me to keep this story to myself. I will share it with many friends and colleagues, urging them to take their business elsewhere.

I hope you are not so foolish as to believe you have somehow saved money by treating me this way. On the contrary, you have lost my future business and you can be certain that my story will influence at least some of the people I tell to shop elsewhere.

For the record, the item in question is Item Number 489650, a Nylon CD Wallet for 92 CDs, on sale for $13.96. For argument's sake, let's suppose that $13.96 is pure profit for Staples. Do you not think your treatment of this customer will cost you at least that much in future profits? I suggest that this event will cost you at least ten times that, and probably far more.

Clearly your store manager knows nothing about customer relations. You would do well to replace him with someone that does and to educate your staff as to the necessity of happy customers in the retail business. Reminders that Staples has competitors and that they are treating their customers better than Staples would not be out of place. Now I have many other choices as to where to go to buy that CD wallet. I will definitely be purchasing one or two of them in the imminent future and Staples refusal to sell me such an item means one of your competitors gets the business - if they treat me well, I will purchase more items in the future from them.

Now, I will look around for other venues in which to tell my story. Perhaps some Internet forums. Of course, the easiest place to begin is my employer's internal electronic forums, since we have a special vendor recommendations forum for just this purpose. I can easily reach 4000 people with such a posting. Good luck, Staples. The retailing business is tough enough without driving away customers.

READING, MA 01867, MASSACHUSETTS -- As you well known from the content of E-Mails recently sent to Staples CEO Ron Sargent, I had a most unpleasant (read: stressful) experience when I purchased the Altra Chadwick Collection (Desk, Hutch, Filing Cabinet) of office furniture from the Reading Staples Store. It was just one misstep after another. The phrase "a comedy of errors" best describes the action on the part of Staples personnel.

Constant dialogue between me and Staples staff along with a series of trips between my apartment in Burlington and the Reading store took the better part of a week before SANITY prevailed and I started to feel that finally we were getting somewhere and that CLOSURE was in sight.

Sanity arrived in the person of **, the Sales Manager in your Reading store, who took control of the situation. Staples is indeed lucky to have ** in its employ. He is a man who literally "goes to the wall" to ensure that the customer has a positive experience when shopping at Staples. He sensed my frustration, anger and dissatisfaction at all that had taken place. Furthermore, he was most reassuring when he said that everything would be taken care of. To with he said: "Mr. **, we are going to start all over again." TIME BEGINS NOW.

At that point he cancelled the entire order, namely Order # **, and accordingly, credited my American Express Credit Card. He then proceeded to create a NEW ORDER (# **) which included charging me for the cost of assembling the furniture once it was delivered to my apartment. He said over and over again that he would literally track the Order and would keep me informed as to its "progress".

I was given an Oct 4th delivery date. Two of the items namely the chair and the filing cabinet arrived several days prior to that date. True to his word, ** called my home to confirm the delivery of the chair and filing cabinet. Furthermore, told me that when the balance of the order (i.e. desk and hutch) arrived I should call Apollo Retail Specialists, the company that was going to assemble the items, and schedule a date and time when they could send someone to assemble my Altra Chadwick Collection.

Just as ** had indicated, the desk and hutch were delivered on Oct 4th. I immediately called Apollo @ (866)770-0022 to arrange for assembly and was told, in no uncertain terms, that they had to be PAID first before they could schedule an assembly date. I informed Apollo that Staples had charged me for the assembly. I gave them the order's transaction # and said that it was my understanding that Apollo and Staples could work out the details regarding the remittance of payment to Apollo. I was then told (by Apollo) that's not how they do business. At that point I sensed that it was an exercise in futility to try to reason with the Apollo representative.

Accordingly, I ended the conversation and immediately called the Reading store and asked to speak with **. After telling him of the situation with Apollo, he said "hold on, I'll get back to you." Within a matter of a few minutes ** called me and told me to call National Assembly Service at (866)826-6622 which I did whereupon I started speaking with a very pleasant sounding woman by the name of **. I provided her with transaction # as well as the Item #s of the various pieces in the order.

She then asked me if Tuesday, Oct 8th would be a convenient date for her to send a technician to assemble the items. I checked with my "Executive Secretary" and was assured that Tuesday, Oct 8th was acceptable. The whole exchange with ** unlike that with Apollo was most cordial (and professional). I then called ** and told him that an assembly date had been set. Furthermore, I thanked him for all of his efforts in helping to bring CLOSURE to this whole affair.

Postscript: I cannot say enough about **. When all appeared to be lost, he "stepped up to the plate" and provided courteous, professional service that provided a most satisfactory remediation of what had been a very stressful, non-professional handling of a customer's request for adjudication of (for lack of a better way of saying it) LOUSY, MIXED UP, UNCERTAIN SERVICE.

BURLINGTON, IOWA -- I faxed the following to corporate - no response. On Saturday Jan. 12th while returning home I decided to stop at a Staples in Burlington Iowa to see if they might have a Nexus 7 16gb tablet in stock. I spoke with the person in the computer department and he informed me that they were sold out. He did volunteer that they had a truck "come in"™ and there might be some in that shipment. I asked him if he could check.

He went to a computer terminal and said yes they are in this shipment. I asked if it was possible that someone could retrieve a tablet from the shipment. He then called the manager and spoke with him. He explained that it is secured because of the value of the items on the pallet. And that once the seal is broken everything must be checked in which could take hours. I explained that I lived a one hour drive away and could return the following day on Sunday. He wrote down my name on a note requesting a tablet to be held for me until 3pm on Sunday.

On Sunday morning I called the store and spoke with someone else that knew of my noted request. I told him I would be driving to the store to purchase the tablet. He informed me that the pallet had not been opened yet but should be by the time I expected to arrive at 2pm on Sunday. At about 2pm I go into the store and the customer service counter expecting to purchase the tablet. I was informed by the clerk that I had spoken with on the phone previously that they had not started unpacking the pallet. He then paged the manager on duty. I explained to her that I had been told the tablet would be available at that time.

She replied that "sometimes it takes days to unload the truck"€™ and showed no sympathy that I had just driven 60 miles to get there. She said that "€˜no one should have told you that tablets are on the truck"€™ and that "€˜they do not know what is in a shipment until they unpack it"€™. I lost it! I told her it would be the last time I ever set foot in one of their stores and was sorry I had spent hundreds of dollars with them in the past.

I am a business owner. I purchased my business in 1989. I know what a bill of lading is. They know what is on that truck - every thumb tack. They would not be able to acquire insurance without knowing exactly what is on each shipment. There is no "€˜truck" €™- it is just pallets in the warehouse. They would not tie up a truck for days "˜while they unload it."€™ She insulted my intelligence. Then she insulted her staff by stating they should not have told me the item would be available. She offered no consolation and suggest I return to their store in 3 to 4 days to see if they have the item in stock.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA -- I purchased a new Dell computer (i580-1839NBC) from Staples store #357 on 1/30/12, and paid an additional $99.99 for the Premium PC Setup Package. I also at the same time purchased a Microsoft Office Home and Student package (3 PC) for $109.99 ($149.99 minus 40 dollars off w/ computer purchase) because the Easy Tech, **, informed me that I needed to purchase it to get Microsoft Office. I subsequently discovered that this computer came preloaded with Microsoft Office, and that I really only needed to purchase a product key. The difference between what I purchased and the product key is approximately 20-30 dollars.

I contacted the store on 2/12/12 and asked Easy Tech ** why he sold me the more expensive option. He informed me that "the difference is not significant." It's significant to me. I found his demeanor insulting and demeaning. I then spoke to the store manager, **, who informed me that I needed to return the whole desktop computer to the store and they would delete the software, and then refund me the difference. I don't consider that a viable option, and I suggested that I would return the CD software package, and offered to delete it myself off my computer. I said I would be willing then to accept store credit for the difference in price.

He told me that that would "mess up his inventory". I know for a fact that he could do that if he wanted. ** implied he was doing me a favor agreeing to the conditions of the refund. I told him that for me it would mean dragging a desktop computer with my files and personal information on it back to the store, leaving it, and depending on ** to delete the Office Package. I also tried to explain to him that ** was the one who had opened the Office package since he installed it, and that he should have known that Microsoft Office was preloaded before he opened it. He should know his inventory. And it's written right on the carton!

I did not see that myself because once I had agreed to the Premium Setup package, store staff placed the carton behind the counter. I have already had issues with ** previously regarding installing my wireless connection. The first night I bought the computer home, the computer would not recognize my wireless router. I called Staples, and talked to ** since he had set up the wireless card. His response, "I really don't know much about wireless". He did say that my router was obsolete. I informed him that it was two weeks old.

Finally, after 2 hours with Verizon, (never heard anything about problems with their routers) and then 3 hours with Dell, they managed to reconfigure my computer remotely. (I can't say enough about their service, it's great. But I did have to use my software support time.) They hadn't heard of software problems with any Verizon router either. They did say that the Staples store tech should have been able to help me. So I really don't want ** working on my new computer. I would be happy to simply return my unused 2 PC portion of my Microsoft Office package, and get a store credit for the difference, provided that I do not have to return my computer.

I will simply eat the $99.99 I spent on the Premium PC Setup at Staples, which was wasted money. No help with my wireless problem, ** simply installed a USB adapter for my wireless (I expected a PCI), and now I find out that Office was already loaded. If this is not resolved, I will never buy at Staples again, and will tell everyone I know about how they mislead their customers.

NORTH BABYLON, NEW YORK -- Today is 8/6/10. This is regarding the store on DPA North Babylon, NY. In June I went to Staples to buy a stapler. When I was looking at them on the wall a sales clerk asked if he could help. I said yea, I want a stapler that I won't throw away in a month. He was dumbfounded and didn't know what to say. I told him forget it. I picked out a Staples brand one touch stapler and bought two. For a month it worked great, I loved it. Then it started to get jammed up and the staples were coming out wrong (short sides going out instead of going in). I brought it back to the store and some chick was trying to tell me that it was supposed to do that.

I started to argue with her and decided, without proof I have no legs to stand on. I went to my office to bring both the good and bad staplers to them to show them the difference. I went back and got a different girl at the register. I explained that the stapler didn't work anymore and I wanted to exchange it for another. She called someone over (it was the same girl) she said "Oh I had one of these this morning," I said "no it is the same one." She said "well that's the way its supposed to be." I said: "Really? Then why is this one bending in?" (referring to the not broken one) then I stapled both and showed them the difference.

They still were arguing with me saying it's the way it supposed to be. I said "what is wrong with you people, can't you see the difference?" They said it's the way it's supposed to be (I think they were from the Stepford wives). What do they think, that I am blind and an idiot?? I was furious with them. Then the store manager came over and said they would exchange it today but in the future I would need the packaging. I said "it's a stapler, not a TV. I would not have kept the plastic "cage" that you need a razor to open." She repeated herself. I figured what the hell, I am getting a new stapler, I'll not argue any more.

The cashier started the return but because I used a Staples reward coupon to pay for it and the coupon expired on 6/30/2010 (even though I used it back on 6/1/10) their system would not return the item for the amount I paid for it, I was only going to get $3 for it. I said I don't want a refund, I only want the stapler. They said they can't do anything about it, I would just have to buy a new one. I said to her "you know you are right. There is nothing you are capable of doing, I will take it up with corporate." I get back to the office and immediately call the "President's office" where first I apologize for being rude then explained my extreme frustration.

The man on the phone didn't really sound too interested but sent me via email coupons to purchase a new stapler. OK so I got what I wanted except there was no justice done. I explained to the guy that I really didn't want this to just sit. I wanted someone to call the store and tell them it was wrong to treat a customer like that (like I was stupid) because this was not the first instance of trouble at this store. Two years ago I purchased something, brought it back two days later unopened and they refused to take it back (because some company they get approvals for returns from was closed due to wild fires in CA).

He said he understood and would forward the message on. I really doubt anyone will do anything about it so I figured I would vent here. In the future, I will either go somewhere else or shop at Staples online. I really don't want to ever go back into that store. They are morons there. I mean really, they had to argue about what a used staple to supposed to look like. And if indeed it was supposed to look like that, then why did it not look like that for the first month and 1/2? OMG.

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA -- At approximately 9:30 AM, on June 24, 2010, I stopped in Staples in Riverside, Ca. The Staples store is located on Magnolia Ave. I was completing a color copy of my birth certificate and an error in copying was brought to the store manager attention. He "stated he would take care of it and the lady in printing would take care of it." When I went to the back area, she became rude in front of the store customers. I was unable to talk to her, due to her stating "printing color copies are forbidden by law of official documents." I had made copies of my own and had no problem.

The store associate was embarrassed and did not make the copy as was directed by the store manager. I said "that is OK, I will copy at another store". The manager became unprofessional and immediately gave me $1.00 out of his wallet and said "here is the money and I had only spent 53 cent for the color copy." He was rude and I was very embarrassed by him and the customers in the store. I said "you don't want to go there" and he played it off. If the in store camera captured the incident you would see him giving me a dollar out of his wallet as to say, "get the hell out of my store."

I am a retired Probation Juvenile Supervisor. Both the sales associate were surprised of his behavior to me as a customer. He appeared to show no concern for any customer concern and was rude. I wanted to go back in the store and really give him a piece of my mind, because I felt humiliated in front of the store associates and customers in the store. I doubt that anything will be done about this complaint with Staples, in Riverside, Ca. Most stores and companies, just overlook any complaint by any customer. All we do as customers, are to just decide not to go to that particular store of where the poor treatment by sales associates and store manager.

Most complaints are usually ignored by the corporation. I drove down the street to CVS Pharmacy store to price vitamins and briefly vented to the sales associate, who appeared to be the store manager, dressed in a white shirt and tie. I would be shocked of any response, about the store manager, who was rude and to gave me a dollar out of his billfold.

He made me feel, "like some dog, to kick and for me to get the hell out of his face." I did tell him "Everyone should be treated the same and don't go there", which meant, "the race issue." He did not say a word and just looked off. I never thought that this behavior really exists. I have been to this store many times and I truly believe, that I will not return.

I am still upset of this behavior and how the two young associated, witness this behavior, by the store manager. Of course, he may deny his actions and have a different recall of what happened. Just check the in store camera and speak to the two young sale associates. Everyone is not stupid of color and ignore mistreatment, when you spend your money and ask questions to staff in this particular store. By the way, my stomach has been upset all day, because of this incident.

ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA -- Just want to tell you they are typical sales people working in there. When they are trying to sell you something, everything is no problem. But when problem exists, nobody takes care of it. I experience two problems with them within one day.

1st, I purchase a PC through their call in purchase phone number. I asked about the return policy. I was told I would have 14 days upon receipt. 9 days after I received the item, I wanted to return it. Since it's quite hassle to wait for pick up, I called the customer service line and ask them if I can return this item in store. The representative answered the phone, reviewed my order and said yes.

After I hanged up, I wanted to make sure what is the last day I can return because I couldn't make it that day. I called again and asked the representative to count which is my last day to return. I was told the coming Saturday. That was on Tuesday night. On Thursday, I drove to their store with the PC. The PC tech called Steven checked my shipping list, checked the PC top to bottom and bottom to up, and told me to wait.

After 10 minutes, he came back from their behind the scene room and told me their GM said I can't return it to them simply because it has passed 14 days - based on the shipping date. So I had to call the call center in their store and this time, the representative told me they were making an exception for me. They the other reps told me I would be able to return it by Saturday!

Come on! I have never asked for exception! I asked the same question since I placed the original order! The representative told me she can email me the return policy which is 14 days from the time of shipping. I didn't have Internet access when I was in the store. What can I do?! Had to drive all the way back home with the heavy box again. When I got online, guess what, their return policy on technology on website is 14 days from receipt!

2nd, I dropped off the old pc I have for their tune up service since it slows down lately. The technician called after a week and told me my computer got virus. I told him I have McAFee, but he told me sometimes some virus is hiding from this kind of software. It made sense to me. So I paid the $129.99 and have the virus removal service.

But after that, the computer doesn't run any faster. When I called them again, another technician answered the phone, and asked me to take it back again. Don't know what they are trying to sell me this time. Luckily I was able to get hold of their contracted PC engineer who performed the removal for me. He told me this is an old computer, the virus removal doesn't necessarily help to fix the problem. I should just get a new computer or buy more RAM! So they sold me something useless to my case.

I made an online purchase on Staples.com -- when going through their site I came across what I thought was a good deal. They were offering HammerMill Copy paper if you purchased at least a qty of 2 for $35.00 a case. This is still higher than Sam's and Costco, but for 1 week they were offering a $15.00 rebate per case (up to 2 cases). This brought it down to $23.00 per case. This made it a good deal. Once I received my statement I went back in online to complete my rebate for which needed my invoice number to complete it.

After 3 days I received a standard email from Staples stating I was not eligible for the rebate offer. I emailed them back to find out why, because I had done everything as instructed online. Another 2 days and I received an email stating because I made my purchases on their website (which I might remind you is where I found the offer in the first place) that I was not eligible for the rebate. So, I immediately called staples.com to find out what was going on.

I told the lady what the email stated and what the ad came up and stated on the website when I purchased. She said "Hang on and let me check on this for you." She came back after less than a minute and said "The email is correct, you are not eligible because you purchased on Staples.com and not from the actual store." I told her it did not say this anywhere on the website that it was not eligible for the rebates. She said it is there it is just in fine print and you probably just did not see it. I told her if it was in fine print, it was so small it would not even blow up to be visible because I had looked for any clauses before making the purchase.

She said "Well I am glad we got that cleared up, is there anything else I can help you with?" Of course they were no help and I felt like they were happy that another sucker fell for their rebate scams. I told her that was not right, to advertise one thing and then not back it up. I told her I wanted the courier who had made the delivery to my home (free delivery with over $50.00 purchase) to come and pick up my paper because I did not want it. It is higher than Walmart, Sams and Costco. She was baffled that I would expect them to come and pick it up.

I told her it was not right and I was shocked that a store as big as Staples would stoop so low as to use rebate SCAMS to draw in consumers. I told her they were not getting my business. She very reluctantly said she would send a courier to pick it up within 5 business days and a credit would appear on my account. I am currently waiting on the courier -- he had better pick it up or I will file a chargeback for items not being as advertised.

FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS -- I do a lot of business with Staples especially the Copy and Print Center and have all of my printing needs, office supplies, technology purchases through them. I had placed an order with StaplesCustomPrinting.com. I am very upset and wanted to send my complaint to upper management.

I had made a purchase of 200 business cards back on July 3 which wasn't received by me until July 15. The online upload system is not helpful and useful when lining up a finished design to be uploaded and fitted on the card size. I carefully placed it, liking the way the proof looked and placed my order.

When I received the order, the logo was small and the text was too as well as the text was spaced out too much, not the way I had seen it. There were also lines through the text which was a printing error, so I had them re-printed and received my new business card order of only 100 since the promotion was not running, he would not offer me the same deal but would refund 100 cards. I received my order (quicker than the last one) to find the text at the top of the card was cut off. Everything else on the business card was fine.

I would like your attention to this matter because this is my 6th order and the order has still not been resolved. I called Friday, July 31 after receiving my 4th order to complain that the text was too close to the cut which I was told it would be fine as someone placed the design for me.

I spoke with ** (redacted) and he assisted me. Kerry in C. S. did a reorder of 200 business cards for me but she promised I would receive it by Tuesday, August 4th, no later than Wednesday. ** (redacted) assured me of having it by then too as notes were put on the order to ship it out next day air with UPS. But, no the shipping department shipped it ground and I will not have it until August 7th.

I was told one thing but a different thing happened. I am upset with the amount of trouble and time I have spent on this to get 200 business cards. I did not get these cards until Friday the 7th and wanted to know if anything can be done about my order. I received the order, still disappointed with the quality, it was refunded - the paper stock was not what I had experienced from the samples.

I placed another order for a different business card design, this one arrived with a white hairline, grainy image, looked sharpened, pixelated and lines running through the card. It was not my fault, I had done a proof and it looked fine so I went ahead and placed the order. I was told by ** (redacted) that nothing could be done but only if I wanted to upgrade to the heavy stock which would prevent the lines.

Also, I got a sample portfolio and compared the business cards, the one I received and the one that was claimed to be the same standard weight online, the paper quality, thickness, paper type is much different. The business card I ordered was a little thicker but only had a semi-gloss, the sample business card had a very smooth, gloss other than the card I ordered and they are both the same paper type I selected online.

Here is a part of my e-mail to ** (redacted): "It is much easier to go through the in-store copy and print center but I would like to have this process be much simpler and easy. I don't understand why there would be streaking in the card because of the paper stock. I should not have to upgrade to a higher priced paper stock to get good business cards. Also the standard paper stock is much different in the sample and then the one I received from my order. I should be able to expect the same quality from the sample vs the order. The sample standard card was a nice glossy UV coating and the one from my order was a very bland dull matte. Why is that?"

I sent both of the card types in the mail to let them compare and show the difference. It is disappointing how much time and waste has been put into this. Staples' slogan is "that was easy". The orders from Staples Custom Printing certainly was not.

Staples.com is a very unreliable website when it comes to in-stock or out-of-stock products. I went online to their website yesterday and found this HP laptop that I really liked and I checked their in-store availability because they were out of stock on the website. I remember seeing that the product was still available at some of the locations around me, so I went to one of the stores to buy it.

After I got to the store, I spoke with an employee there and asked for the product. He looked up the product in their system and told me that this store is actually low on stock. That employee then went to check if they have the laptop in the back and returned to me with a "no". He also suggested that I try a different location that was nearby (about a 25 minute drive from where I was). But before I drove there, I decided to call to make sure they have something there, which was a very wise choice because as expected, they were out of stock too.

Apparently I double checked this time online and saw the check store availability list and both stores were still listed as they were in stock for the laptop. Fortunately I didn'€™t give up that easily, so I continued refreshing the webpage that I was on for another couple of times. After refreshing the page, I noticed that the Staples website was updated and I could actually place an order online. This time I placed an order and was a little confused as to why the delivery date changed from 1 day to 4 business days in between the time I added the item to my shopping cart and the time I was about checked out.

But that was not a big deal for me so I placed the order as it is. The problem came when I was called by a customer representative today. I did not know my order was put on hold from yesterday until I made a second order today for another item. The representative told me that my order for today did not go through because the phone number I gave them on my card was my personal contact number not the primary cardholder'™s number. I wasn't aware that the number I provided was a different number but I was able to give them the correct number within seconds to fix it and allow them to put through the orders.

Now the second problem came. I asked them "If my order from today was put on hold, how did the order from yesterday go through?" The lady looked at all my orders and answered me that the order from yesterday was actually on hold as well. She then said the laptop I wanted is no longer in stock so my order from yesterday for that laptop cannot be fulfilled. How great is that? To find how all my time spent trying to buy this laptop has gone to waste? It wasn'€™t a great feeling for me and I probably would never have found out that my laptop order wasn'€™t put through had I not asked about it.

After this experience, I can only say that I'€™m very disappointed about the unreliability of the quantities listed as in-stock on the website and even in the stores. I'm also extremely unhappy that after spending all this time, I still don't have a laptop and that customer support is very inefficient. They could'€™ve called me earlier and I would've supplied them with the correct number. Then I wouldn'€™t lose the chance of getting the laptop I really wanted while they were still available. I probably will never place another order online with staples ever again with this kind of bad experience and service.