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Staples - Lied- No Consolation
Nexus 7 Tablet - Complaint
Review by iadude on 2013-02-09
Rating: 
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 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.
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 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.
Comments:
Posted by jktshff1 on 2013-02-10:
Good post, thanks
Posted by ok4now on 2013-02-10:
Next time shop Amazon for fast delivery and avoid this problem.
Posted by trmn8r on 2013-02-11:
This is a good reason to give Staples the heave-ho. There is clearly conficting information, and regardless of whose story is correct, these peoples' heads are not on top of their bodies where they belong.
Posted by JR in Orlando on 2013-02-11:
On Sunday morning the clerk at Staples said the pallet "should be" unloaded by that time. That is an estimate, a guess. If the OP has been in business for 20 years, surely he has made "estimates" as to when something would occur, only to see plans change.
Despite this being only an estimate that it would be unpacked by the time he arrived, the OP chose to drive 60 miles-risking it would not be unpacked. (Technically, the OP made a false statement to the manager when he told her "I had been told that the tablet would be available at that time." He had not-he had been told the pallet probably should be unpacked. )
The pallets on the truck are unloaded, the pallets are then unloaded into the store. The manager obvously meant that the pallets would take days to unload, and cross check against the what is on the shipping invoice. The fact the invoice says it should be there, does not mean it is in fact there. A business person with 20 years experience should know that one cannot be sure the product (or that exact model) is in the shipment, regardless of the shipping invoice, until it is actually and physically seen and counted. Therefore, it is best not to tell customers it is coming in a shipment, until it is actually unloaded and put in inventory.
Despite this being only an estimate that it would be unpacked by the time he arrived, the OP chose to drive 60 miles-risking it would not be unpacked. (Technically, the OP made a false statement to the manager when he told her "I had been told that the tablet would be available at that time." He had not-he had been told the pallet probably should be unpacked. )
The pallets on the truck are unloaded, the pallets are then unloaded into the store. The manager obvously meant that the pallets would take days to unload, and cross check against the what is on the shipping invoice. The fact the invoice says it should be there, does not mean it is in fact there. A business person with 20 years experience should know that one cannot be sure the product (or that exact model) is in the shipment, regardless of the shipping invoice, until it is actually and physically seen and counted. Therefore, it is best not to tell customers it is coming in a shipment, until it is actually unloaded and put in inventory.
Posted by Nohandle on 2013-02-11:
Sir, you purchased your business in 1989 and I expect know how to do every job there having done it before yourself. I know what a pallet is and in addition a Bill of Lading. In theory everything should work by clockwork but sometimes it doesn't. You should never have been assured your purchase was contained within the shipment until there had been an actual physical check and your purchase set aide with your name attached awaiting your pickup.
You certainly cannot go by a Bill of Lading or invoice to determine with absolute accuracy that item is enclosed. Most drivers will wait a max of 1 hour (no longer) before the freight bill must be signed verifying receipt of the merchandise. A receiving clerk will sign he received x number of cases on the pallet but cannot verify the contents until he has physically checked them in. Simply checking behind the one who packed it.
You should have been called and if it was inconvenient your order shipped to you direct at no extra charge. You should not have been told your purchase was there based on a Bill of Lading of what was expected. The employees appear to need some more retraining. Not very professional.
You certainly cannot go by a Bill of Lading or invoice to determine with absolute accuracy that item is enclosed. Most drivers will wait a max of 1 hour (no longer) before the freight bill must be signed verifying receipt of the merchandise. A receiving clerk will sign he received x number of cases on the pallet but cannot verify the contents until he has physically checked them in. Simply checking behind the one who packed it.
You should have been called and if it was inconvenient your order shipped to you direct at no extra charge. You should not have been told your purchase was there based on a Bill of Lading of what was expected. The employees appear to need some more retraining. Not very professional.
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