Staples Computer Repairs Consumer Reviews

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA -- I had a slow computer and brought it to the Staples in Columbia, SC which is about 40 miles away. It took several weeks to get the computer back. Initially they said that they had an issue with 1 program on the computer and could not figure out how to put that program back on the computer, but later said they figured it out. I was told they reinstalled the OS. When I got it back there was still a problem. This time that the system would freeze if left on for more than a day or so and there were errors with some programs.

When I called and they did not reinstall the OS because of that program but tried to fix the problem anyway. I brought back. Again they said they found and fixed the problem but that the computer would have to be turned off every 2 days. I brought it back. Now they said the only way to fix it was to reinstall the OS, which is what they told me was done the first time. The program that they could not figure out how to reinstall took me 1 email to Fujitsu to resolve. So I agreed. At one point I even told them that if it could not be fixed I would get a new computer and transfer the data to it.

When I got the computer back I found that they deleted ALL of my data. No back-up and reinstall. It was never hinted, implied, suggested that all of my data would be gone. Before they talked about backing everything up and reinstalling it. They said the data is gone that the reinstall deletes all data. Who wipes out all data? Even with cell phones the most first issue when people change phones is not losing data, i.e: phone numbers.

I called the Office of the President, ** and spoke to **. He said he would talk to upper management and get back to me. I explained that a major problem anytime I brought a computer in was poor communication from the EasyTech people. The tech guys do not even have the ability to send or receive emails. Accordingly, I asked, and he promised, that he would call me back that afternoon even if he did not have an answer. That afternoon came and went, but no call. The next day I left a message with ** and no call back.

Today I left a message and no call back, but I did get an email from **. He looked into the matter and since he was not there for the conversations and Staples' paperwork says that there is the risk of loss of some data, the case is closed. So much for discussing it with upper management. I emailed him back asking that he call me to discuss this and he replied through email that “would not be anything that Staples could address in terms of further resolution at this time.” He closed the case. No call from **.

They hide behind “risk of loss of some data” but this was the deliberate deletion of all data. When they first mentioned the restore they said they would back up the data. They had the ability of creating a back-up but chose not to. The customer service chat agent was of no help, but did give me their corporate office at 1-877-235-9088. I have left a message for **. But, for now I am left with an old computer, no programs, no data, but an apology. Beware of EasyTech, unless you are willing to have all of your data lost.

In general avoid Staples if you have any expectation of customer service, good communications and thought that they will make any effort to provide customer satisfaction or even discuss an amicable resolution. AVOID STAPLES AND EASYTECH. Remember, the only problem was a slow computer. If they were an auto repair store it's like bringing a car in for a tune-up and getting it back as a block of scrap metal. “Oops, sorry. We told you we were not responsible for providing quality work. Enjoy your car and come back and see us again.”

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA -- I can't thank ** enough. I had an issue with my All-in-One computer that I purchased at Best Buy. It was a touch screen and it became obsessed and would do things on its own. I took it to Best Buy, it was under warranty, and they couldn't figure it out and quoted "we've never seen this" and said it must be a hardware issue and it was going to cost me a lot to fix it. I wanted a second opinion, so I brought it to ** at Staples... it's where I had purchased my laptop from years ago. ** figured out the problem in 5 minutes.

The touch screen was the issue, not the hardware. He was able to disable it for me to go back to Best Buy and deal with it. I also brought my laptop into Best Buy to see if they could fix my USB port, the laptop had fallen with a thumb drive in it. Best Buy told me it was unfixable and that it would be better to just buy a new computer. Fast forward a couple months, and my laptop hadn't been used, so when I turned it on, it had over 48 updates and I couldn't do it. I called ** at your location, and he remembered me (that was a good feeling) and said he's take a look at it.

That very same day, he called to let me know the bad news... it wasn't working, but with a new hard drive it could. He fixed my laptop, upgraded it from a Vista to Windows 8 (he said it was a good enough computer to be able to do it AND fixed the USB port without a problem). Now I'm back up and running thanks to **. If I ever have any issues - I'm returning to **. He always answers my questions and gives me the solution not just the "Hard Sell"... even the little of questions.

SOUTHBURY, CONNECTICUT -- I brought my computer to Staples for repair because I had purchased it there. They ran diagnostics on it and told me that it had viruses and to repair it would cost $160. I paid the $160 and was told that it would be done in a couple of days. 4 days later I had not heard anything from them so I called to find out the status. I was then told that there were still issues but they could fix it, however it would entail them removing all of the program data and upgrading to the newest operating system, reloading programs then downgrading back to the original operating system (system is stating that the operating system is not a genuine copy).

I purchased the display model of this computer and when I went to restore it back to the factory settings, that is when I received this message. Back to the restore process - they were going to start this on Wednesday and said it was a lengthy process. I called on Thursday and was told that the tech that was working on it would be coming onto his shift in 15 minutes and he would have him call me. I waited 3 1/2 hours and received no call.

I again called there and was connected to the tech that was handling the repair (he happened to be the manager of the tech dept) and he was very rude. Told me he was busy and didn't have time to call me, then stated that there were people lining up and he couldn't finish the conversation but would call me back before he left his shift at 6:00. Yes, you guessed it! No call back by 5:30 so I drove there (it is only 10 minutes away) and was told he had already left for the day. I spoke with a very nice tech named Tim who I thought was very helpful and he told me that he would start the process of the restore (I had already thought it had been started).

Friday morning I get a call from yet another tech who said I had 2 options - #1 Disable the automatic updates so I could still use the computer or #2 credit the money I paid to purchase a new one (from them of course). I asked what happened to the option of the data restore and he said, "Oh, we could do that!" This was supposed to have been started twice now!

Later on Friday I received a call from yet another tech who told me because I needed the computer by Monday, they couldn't do the restore and that I would have to purchase a new one. Seriously, does ANYONE there know what's going on???? I asked about getting the refund to purchase it somewhere else, and of course that is not an option. Lesson learned - do NOT do business with Staples!!!

YUMA, ARIZONA -- I was truly hoping that we could depend on Staples to clean up our computer when it was running so slow. We travel in our RV, and I wanted to give Staples a try so we could continue using their service as we travel. We took the computer in and asked them to "clean out the unnecessary garbage and the start up folder," and diagnose what was causing the freezing and slow performance. They did nothing to clean out the unused programs, and their diagnosis came back that the computer had 2 viruses, even though Norton was installed and active on this computer.

They charged more $$ to purchase a plan giving us the privilege to bring it in to take the viruses off for the next year. Because I was out of town, my husband believed them and went ahead with their advice. A month later, when we landed in FLA, and the computer was still doing the exact same thing it had always done.... freezing and slow. I took the computer back to Staples here. This time, the service department said it is obviously a RAM issue, and needs to have at least double the RAM put in. Another $200 expense. There was NO question on my part that this computer DID NOT have viruses. I KNEW that was not the problem.

You have lost a customer now. I had been warned of the lack of knowledge and poor quality of Staples' computer service department, but wanted to give it a try. I did. NOTE: I rated this 2 Stars, rather than 1 Star, because the service person here was wonderful; but I'm not putting more $$ into this computer after paying for unsuccessful service in Yuma and paying for unnecessary Virus Protection that did not solve our original issue.

TOMS RIVER, NEW JERSEY -- I was struck with a deadly VIRUS a week ago. My internet provider is Comcast. I pay each month for computer assistance. I had called 1-800-COMCAST for assistance. I was attached to a tech in Fla. This person may have been a politician by the way she danced around my problem. She finally said she could not me. So she transferred me to a Tech in Texas. That person could not help either and transferred me to Kentucky. It gets better - I was transferred to the Philippines... no luck then to NJ - they tried but no luck - so I was transferred to Missouri, then back to the Philippines again. There I spoke to a tech that tried to help.

I had told each of the spots I was transferred to that the female in Florida had started a service ticket and told me it would cost $199 to have a Service Tech come to my home in New Jersey. Back to the Philippines, this Tech was very helpful and tried to do something. But when he checked there was no info concerning my problem. I was told it would cost an additional $99 to expedite the home visit. This all happened over the course on 1 hour and 10 minutes. A total of $298.

I then hung up and went to STAPLES!!! What a good move. There is where I met **. He saw that I was extremely upset. He spoke to me and not at me. He explained the policy of the store for repairs. He suggested the best plan and after his explaining what it covered, I choose that plan. ** had found almost 200 affected items on my computer.

In my estimation, ** is a Doctor of Computers. The expertise that he showed was nothing less than spectacular. Knowing exactly what to say to the customer, calming the customer and reassuring the customer that "All will be OK". Boy, what a representative for your organization. I would put ** in the Outstanding Employee of the Month status.

KEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- We purchased a Canon printer at Staples and a SquareTrade protection agreement. We had problems with the printer and went through the steps required to make a claim, all within the covered period. It was very stressful working with SquareTrade -- I was not able to make any progress.

I went to Staples in person with my receipt and SquareTrade information. Mobile Tech Supervisor Jay listened to my situation and looked at the paperwork. He called SquareTrade -- was on hold for a while and then explained that I was eligible for the claim I filed. Jay succeeded in getting SquareTrade to reimburse me in accordance with the claim. Jay went above and beyond to help resolve this matter, and he was patient and professional through the entire transaction.

LINCOLNTON, NORTH CAROLINA -- On July 6, 2015 I took my Toshiba Satellite L75 laptop to get it fixed. When I turned it on, I just got a box that said "hard drive recovery in process" and nothing I tried would get it to boot to Windows (8.1). I took it to Staples in Lincolnton, NC to get it looked at. The man at the service desk ran a scan on it and discovered all that was wrong was registry errors. They kept it overnight and next morning called me to tell me it was fixed! It only cost me $29. I had been told by another service I called that it would be close to $200! I don't know about anyone else, but the people in Lincolnton know what they are doing. I will be using them for all my computer services from now on!

HAMILTON, NEW JERSEY -- Although I did not meet ** in person until I picked up my repaired HP computer, I had a number of phone calls during the time my computer was in the repair section of Staples store #1590. He kept me posted on the problems that arose with repair of the 2 1/2 month old computer that had evidently been exposed to a virus. ** was very polite and kept me posted about the problems that occurred.

When it had finally been repaired, I went to the store and met **. He turned out to be even more personable and helpful than his calls provided. He went over a number of things that could prevent further problems with the computer and suggested a purchase of a problem solver program that would be a good purchase for the future. He enrolled me in the program and explained the usage. ** is a very effective member of the Staples organization.

SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA -- These people will promise you everything until it's time to produce results. My laptop has been sitting on the counter in a UPS box all day. They have lied and been deceptive since I took it in. Now they say my programs will not be on the drive even though a backup was performed prior to the repair. To make it short and avoid the sordid details... Staples is very friendly and "can do" when you first come in the door but once they have your hardware, you cease to be of interest to them. User beware... These people couldn't care less about customer service or following through on their promises.

Update: I just got off the phone with Staples. They wiped my drive and say it's my fault the programs are all gone and cannot be restored even though they did a backup before doing repairs. Nothing was ever said that they could not restore programs, only data. These people are very bad at what they do. Avoid Staples at all cost.

TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN -- My complaint is simply not having decent customer service in our local store. In the past, it was a pleasant retailer to do biz with. However, over the past year or so it has been sorely lacking. The only thing I can think of is the previous manager is no longer there (he was always extremely friendly and helpful and the store was staffed well and seemed to run smoothly).

Yesterday I was in the store and there was some definite drama. The manager even had tears in her eyes. The guy at the counter said there were huge turnover problems because of the manager, which was a little shocking to hear from an employee, but I had to agree with him as I had noticed a lot of people quitting including a very nice asst. mgr and a very qualified computer tech among others.

I stood in a line of over 10 people waiting to check out with a single printer cartridge. I saw only 4 employees in the store -- only 1 at the register. The print counter was not staffed and there were people waiting there as well. Then I saw the new manager come up front with a huge SIGH and she opened another register, but I noticed how annoyed she seemed to be. Anyway, I'm probably going to be going somewhere else for my supplies as this store doesn't seem to be getting any better. Too bad corporate can't do a better job in managing their individual stores.