Office Depot — Attraction in Bethel Park

I went here for a last minute printing job as I hadn’t had any luck at fedex or anywhere else. Everyone was nice and I didn’t catch the name of the one manager seeming guy. But the associate who went above and beyond was named Christian. I’d saved a document to my phone to print but couldn’t find it and was also not able to find anything like it online. Christian searched for it himself and found the exact kind of document I needed and then proceeded to print it up for me. It was perfect and exactly what I needed. Since that went so smoothly, I decided maybe I should print up some labels for a freebie I would be handing out at an event. The manager type guy took me over and showed me the label section and then I handed them to Christian. I edited a really quick advertisement type thing to put on the label and then emailed it to the address Christian gave me, and boom he printed out 100 labels. Then I thought why not print a sign? So he did that for me too. When I’m telling you that, God bless them, the people at FedEx acted like I had 3 heads, I really just wanted to freaking cry and give up. But I was running out of time and needed this done for a community event. I was actually picking up an online order my mom had placed and I thought okay I guess I can ask Office Depot if there’s any way they can help. There were zero blank stares or any attitude of annoyance or “oh god one more customer,” just a genuine interest in helping me. He was chipper and personable the whole time, very chill, and knew exactly what he was doing without any hesitation. I did not need to guide him, I felt like I was in good hands. And when I say he found the correct document for me, it was a map that I’d also almost given up on finding. But somehow he put in the right search terms and kept going through results until he found what I was looking for. That was a gift and a blessing. I felt so lucky. I have more things that need printed and I will absolutely go back there, and hopefully catch Christian again! The manager type guy again was also very friendly but our interactions were shorter compared to my interactions with Christian’s because Christian was at that device desk. The manager guy did say that Christian was like this all day every day. And I also saw him helping multiple customers while I stepped away and was working on editing. Every single one of them was like oh my gosh thank you so much you are the best! So it wasn’t a fluke. People like Christian are meant to help people. I imagine that whatever kind of work he does, he will excel, but Office Depot is so so very fortunate to have him, I hope that they do their best to keep him happy, pay him well, and retain him. And I hope that he feels appreciated and respected, and that the world (and retail) does not dull his shine, as is so often the case with really amazing customer/client facing individuals like him. This was the bethel park pa location on Oxford Dr by the way. And I’ve never utilized their printing services and usually just get nerdy fun stuff for projects, or buy school and office supplies. I didn’t even know they could do all this and do it so swiftly and easily....

I’ve often walked into Office Depot stores and felt an overwhelming sense of dread. The workers are kind, but I always somehow feel they wish they were elsewhere. Well, this store is no different. There is one worker—whose name I will withhold—who has the most sarcastic, helpless form of regret for working at a place, that I actively avoid this particular store if I can so I do not possibly encounter his saltiness.

Every time I interact with him (and sometimes I do not have a choice) it’s like he can’t be bothered to answer a question outright or he plays the ‘the system is bigger than me’ card. I would really enjoy pulling a Karen and ask for the manager, but I doubt his attitude would change with a stern talking-to. I’m sure he’s kind at heart, maybe he has something going on, but the customer service therein is severely lacking. (Perhaps he’s already moved on by the time I post this review.)

Otherwise, the store is pretty dark—and by that I mean low lights. It’s usually pretty sparse of customers and even when there’s a line, it seems to move at a snail’s pace. I would go elsewhere, but the wide selection and membership benefits prevent such doings. Not to mention, Staples is way out of the way for me.

On the positives—yes, there are positives—the rest of the staff is quite kind and knowledgeable about all things office supplies. They genuinely want to help and seem to get along with each other.

That aside, this store is one of those ‘I can’t let you go because I don’t have much of a choice’ stores. Avoid if you can, but it’ll be here for...

If you are thinking about spending money on office furniture at Office Depot, I suggest you think again. I was the lucky purchaser of a defective office chair that was repackaged. Considering how the parts were packaged and how the top of the box was sloppily taped, it had evidently been returned as a defective product but put on the floor for sale, even though a cashier said it's not their policy to resell defective products. So the store violated its own policy of selling a defective product (now twice returned), but the store held fast to its policy to charge a customer a second time to replace a defective product that shouldn't have been for sale. They don't do simple exchanges; instead, they make customers wait 1-3 business days to be reimbursed for a defective product. So I'm on the hook for two office chairs until the reimbursement goes through (it doesn't take nearly as long to process payment, does it?). I would give zero stars if it...