Staples — Local services in Regina

One of the worst experiences I have ever had in a retail establishment. As a business model that relies solely on providing products to consumers executing good customer service skills to ensure sales and customer retention, there seems to be a complete disregard and lack of understanding of this basic principle at this location. Upon entering the store, I tried to return an item that was defective. I had a receipt, an active code, the product and a detailed explanation in addition to it being within 24 hours of purchasing the item. After being told I cannot do a return or exchange as it was Microsoft's responsibility, I was given a number from their General Manager to talk them regarding my issue. I was given the wrong number, and spent 45 minutes on hold just to be transferred to the correct department. The correct department then told me that although their GM told me that Microsoft could fix my issue, they told me that as a retailing partner that had an obligation to take my return as a defective product as they could not provide me any solution as they took my payment. I returned to Staples, to be told that the GM is in an interview and will be busy for 30 to 45 minutes. I then waited in the building for the GM for that amount of time, only to be told time and time again throughout the period by associates that Microsoft should be dealing with this and that I should call another representative because whoever I spoke to was wrong. I did so, and after talking to 4 separate agents in 3 different departments, they all told me the same thing. That I had a defective product that should be returned to the retailer, as my purchase was from the retailer and that they were selling Microsoft products on their behalf. After ONE HOUR AND 15 MINUTES, I see the GM breeze past me without even acknowledging me, knowing who I was from our first interaction, as I waited patiently, nor did any associate insist on trying to stop her to give me the 5 MINUTES I requested of her because she is apparently too busy for her customers or corporate clients. I am a Manager, there on company time, being told that I would have her attention eventually only to be literally walked right past. Not even notified that despite being told that she would have time, that something had come up and would not be able to help me, or offering to reschedule a discussion time to resolve my issue. I did overtime that day to simply get my duties done because guess what, I'm a busy Manager too. I was civil throughout all my interactions with their staff despite an immense amount of reasonable frustration, and being sent down a rabbit hole for 6 hours total throughout the day because the GM could not be bothered to even clarify procedures with her Regional District Manager, Microsoft or provide me with the correct Microsoft technical support number that would have at least saved me two hours of holding. Their Staples policy for Microsoft products did not coincide with their Microsoft partner's policies, and they left it to me, the consumer, to sort out their own bureaucratic non sense. At least one associate apologized that I was going through this, although implying that somehow the situation was my fault beforehand. After 6 hours, I spent the 5 minutes I needed with a compassionate manager at the North Staples location who took the time to hear my story, resolve my problem and exchange it for a new product. Simply deactivated the product, wrote it off as defective/damaged and sent me on my way with my new product. An associate simply does not have the executive power to make such a decision or navigate conflicting company policies, which is why I asked to talk to the East Staples General Manager in the first place. 2014 Aurora Blvd in Regina, SK should truly be avoided for any purchasing beyond simple paper, although they don't deserve any...

Staff was incredibly rude and/or unhelpful other than one man that seemed to be the manager. We came in knowing exactly what we wanted (8½x11 - 65lb white printer paper) and found none on the shelves.

My mother asked a female staff member where she could find it and the lady didn't say a word and just contorted her face in contempt and just turned away to continue what she was doing. Talking to a wall was more helpful than she was.

So then we went over to the print service station where the staff member said it should be on the wall with all the other paper and cardstock, but if there isn't, she said she can sell it to us by the page, but she recommended us to go to customer service to get them to call the other store and see if they had any.

So we walked accross the store to customer service where there were 2 staff members there working. We explained to them what we wanted, how we ended up there, and asked them to call the other store. The one guy pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and we thought he was going to call the other store. He stood there for like 2 minutes tapping on his phone while the other lady there started helping other customers (understandable).

My daughter started talking to me so my mother started listening and joined the conversation. Maybe 5 sentances were exchanged in total. At this time, the man on his phone just walked away... we stood there waiting for like 10 minutes. My dad and daughter went to go look at some products near by to keep themselves entertained while my mother and I stood there waiting and clearly getting more and more annoyed the longer we had to wait. I asked the lady if he went to go look for what we needed, and she messaged him on the radio and confirmed, "yes, he's looking."

About 10 minutes later, still nothing, so my mom decided to make the phone call herself since the 2 staff members at customer service didnt do it when we aksed them to call.

At this time, this other man that seemed to be the manager came to the desk a few times throughout all this. He seen we were there for a long time and now no staff was around for quite some time either other than the cashier who was helping other customers, and now we were clearly upset and my mom was on the phone with somewhere else asking about what we needed. He asked me what he could do to help, so I told him what we needed and that we don't know if that other man was still helping us or not. He said he would be right back, and shockingly he was back in about 1 minute. He even had a solution for us (the same one as the lady at the print service area) and also gave us a price comparison of that vs the paper that should be on the wall but isn't.

My mom finished her conversation, and asked that store to put it on hold and they said they have a lot so she didn't need to worry. Then the man that went on his phone and then walked away came FINALLY came back with a cart full of other stuff and says hi to me and seemingly was about to ask if I needed help again, like he forgot that he was already supposed to be helping us, I ignored him as he did to me and started talking to my family.

The man that seemed to be the manager came back and talked with my mom and I for about 2 more minutes and then went to the back to get us a pack of the paper that we went there for. It took him about a minute, then he was back and rang us in himself. He was a very nice man.

One star for the lady in the print service area, and one star for the man that seemed to be the manager.

The fact that this trip was should have been 10 minutes in total and turned into almost 45 minutes is not good. This poor manager needs some staff that actually want...

I give credit for them getting my order ready on the 16th in a quick pace, however, the lead up to getting my order completed was complicated.

On May 14th, 2025, I made a call to the Aurora location near the Costco. I asked if they accepted Flexiti for purchases both in store and online. They said yes and I made my way to the store. However, as soon as I entered, I was greeted by the manager at the front whose attitude had the sense of disdain towards me and another customer. I started to ask where headsets were (Razer specifically), but I realized they were really close to the entrance. I said "There they are, I know what I'm looking for." And walked over, looking for which one I found online. Then about 10 seconds later, she approached me again asking me with the same disdain tone "Need help looking for something?". I said, "No, I'm good, thanks." But then I inquired if they sold computer parts, to which she immediately shook her head before I was even done my question. Turns out, that was a lie. I saw they they do sell PC parts such as GPUs. The manager simply didn't care, doesn't have the proper product knowledge or didn't want to deal with anyone like me that day.

So, I go to the cashier and I go to make the purchase with my Flexiti card. However, before I could make the purchase, one of the cashiers really tried hard to push for an extended warranty, even after I said "No thanks, I'm good." Then, for some reason, he tried to use an angle that the product could break or not work straight out of the box, which confused me. Why would a cashier disparage a product, saying how unreliable it is just to sell a warranty?

Then I attempted to make a purchase and apparently, my Flexiti card didn't work because according to them, my card was "old", despite that I got it less than a month ago. They then tried to get me to sign up for their Staples version, to which I denied and left empty handed.

Interestingly, I used my card on their online store for an in-store pickup instead and it worked fine.

TL;DR Shopping at Staples in person is terrible, the staff acts like they'd rather be anywhere else, they have no knowledge of product and if they do, they talk about how it could break without their warranty plan. Stick to in-store pickup or online delivery to save yourself from the trouble and their shady tactics to try...