Staples — Attraction in Attleboro

I recently had a frustrating experience at this Staples with an employee Lia.

I purchased several items using my debit card and returned some of them on 01/18/2025 within the 30-day return policy. When I requested a refund, I asked for either cash or a store gift card, as I no longer use the debit card I originally paid with.

However, the staff assisting me, Lia, saying I seemed suspicious, questioned my reason for the return extensively and said, "You can leave now. I'm not helping you," ultimately refusing to issue the refund in cash or as a gift card. Instead, she insisted on refunding the amount back to the original debit card, which I no longer use. If I had used a credit card, I would understand the need to refund to the original payment method since it's credit. But since I paid with a debit card-which is essentially the same as cash—I believe it was reasonable to ask for a refund in cash or store credit.

To make matters worse, after a lengthy and frustrating discussion, I left without a resolution. My son, feeling that I might have been treated unfairly due to my English accent, offered to go back on my behalf. When he returned to Staples, the same staff asked for his ID card and immediately refunded the amount as a store gift card. This inconsistent treatment was extremely upsetting.

I can't help but wonder if my accent influenced the initial refusal, which is disappointing and unacceptable.

This experience has made me question Staples' customer service policies and how they handle returns.

Staples, please train your staff to ensure all customers are treated fairly and respectfully, no matter the situation.

I created lots of the banners and awards at this store for the organizations I manage, and I truly believe I have been a loyal customer of this store. But I think I'm traumatized by something that happened to me recently at your store. If the employee, Lia, is there when I go to redeem my refunded gift card, I think I should just leave. I think the employee (Lia) should have apologized to me. She was unbelievably the rudest person I've ever met.

I just want this situation to be noted so that in the future nobody will have to deal with this...

I have never had a worse customer service experience in my life than the one I had with Lea at Staples. From the moment I approached her for help, she made it abundantly clear that she had absolutely no interest in doing her job. Instead of assisting me like any competent employee would, she acted irritated that I even dared to ask a question. She barely acknowledged me, gave me short, dismissive answers, and had the audacity to roll her eyes when I asked for clarification. It honestly felt like she was going out of her way to be mean to me. Her tone was dripping with attitude, and she acted as though helping a paying customer was some kind of massive inconvenience. I’ve dealt with unhelpful employees before, but Lea takes it to a whole new level—she might actually be the meanest person on the planet or one of them at least. The level of disrespect and unprofessionalism she displayed was unbelievable. Staples seriously needs to reevaluate who they hire because employees like Lea drive customers away. If she hates her job this much, maybe she should find another one instead of making customers feel like they’re a burden for simply needing assistance. If you go to this location, do yourself a favor and avoid her at all costs. She is, without a doubt, the worst employee I have ever encountered. I may even be calling your corporate office about this encounter. Truly...

I had an Amazon return and bought $100 worth of ink. Gave the associate the return first and then made my purchase. After the purchase they gave me the Amazon return confirmation page which included a coupon for $10 in rewards for every $50 spent. I didn't notice until I'd left so I contacted staples customer service and was told they couldn't do anything for me and I'd have to go back to the store and return the ink and re-purchase it with the coupon applied. It expires today(just one day after the return) and I cannot get back to the area right now. Frustrated first with the in store associate(they tried to get me to leave the return line to make my purchase first, I didn't because the return line was longer than the checkout line and I didn't want to start over again, and not mentioning there was a coupon I could have applied)and now with their customer service division for doing nothing to rectify this, I'm sort of surprised they even took the time to tell me to go back instead of just ghosting me.

Also, prices in store are higher than the website/app($8) but the associate did price match for me when...