Staples — Local services in South Burlington

I was at the store to purchase a keyboard and monitor today, and was directed to that area by the tech support person, after he helped determine I also needed a mew keyboard. When looking at monitors, one of the two on display, that I was interested in, was not powered up. I tried turning it on but no change. I really wanted to compare the displays, powered on. That’s one of the benefits of shopping local, right? I could not find any employees on the floor. I went to the employee at the sales counter and he said he couldn’t leave his position and that there was another employee on the floor somewhere. After searching for 15 minutes, I again didn’t find anyone on the floor, so I went back to check if the monitor was plugged in, which required moving a lock of boxes and found I could not access the outlets. I then asked to speak with the tech support person and was told no, that he was busy in the back, and to look for Karen in the Marking/ UPS shipping area. I had no idea that she was the person “on the floor” that he was previously referring to. She’d been busy working with customers constantly since I arrived. She checked the monitor for me and decided it had stopped working. So, I chose the other monitor I was considering, even though it was smaller. Then I looked for the HDMI cables. It wasn’t clear to me that one was included with the monitor. When I found the cable area, there were various HDMI cable descriptions. I again asked at the register for help and was told that any HDMI cable would work. No help offered and I was made to feel stupid. I told him that they have differing descriptions. I went back to the cables and the tech support gentleman came out and told me that a HDMI was provided with the monitor. By this time I’d been in the store over an hour. I complained about the poor treatment/customer service and he said they are short staffed and he was taking lunch and asked if I needed anything else, to which I replied no, I just want to get these items and get out of the store. He then called me terribly rude and said I’d never get help from him again. That surprised me! He rang up my monitor and keyboard. I reminded him of a coupon that should be applied, he corrected that and I finally got out of the store. I’ve been a loyal customer of this store for 20 years and never had an experience like this. I do try to support local businesses but as I was getting into my car, found myself thinking I could have done this on line, much faster and with much less effort and frustration; and now it sounds like I’m not welcome back. Well, there are other...

Officially, on the record, I am Not pleased with the cost of the project I had done yesterday.

I assumed it would be a couple dollars for printing on larger than usual paper (11" x 14" vs. 8 1/2" x 11") but not more than that since 11" x 14" is still a standard size used very commonly.

And last year, I did a similar project through UPS print & copy & ship and didn't pay much for color copy, thick posters.

So I was shocked to come in to pick up my order and be told that it cost $9.98 per square foot (and that my order (of 3) was a little larger than that, as if I should be grateful that they didn't charge extra for the last 2" on one side).

The person who was processing the payment said they didn't know anything about this area (they'd only been moved over there that day) and so he went to get someone to look into my question about the price. That man checked his computer, and said matter-of-factly that yes, those "posters" cost $9.98 per square foot.

I put posters in quotation marks because there was nothing special about the color print outs. Not textured, shiny, or thick--those "posters" stood out in no way. Not to mention the print outs were rolled (instead of laid flat with backing) which made them more difficult to display when removed from the hugely long plastic tube bag they'd been shoved into.

Frankly, if I had not been in such a rush of time trying to get home to meet the children's bus, I would have made a bigger issue of this ridiculous cost right there and then.

As it was, I used a little coupon I had (for 20% off) and ran out the door.

However, I did tell everyone I met at home and at the club I went to (where I displayed that poster) just how much it cost, and besides being incredulous, they didn't think I should do business again with Staples Print & Copy. Personally, I agree with them.

Sincerely...

I went in looking for a storage box for a book I wrote. I didn’t want some impersonal plastic or cardboard storage box. Simple enough or so I thought. I was led to the storage boxes, plastic and cardboard. Not at all what I asked for and certainly not what I was looking for. I wondered around on my own after I was left on my own by the employee. I ended up finding what I was looking for. Something that was online but was told was sold out in store. Not only was it available in store but there were quite a few. I checked the model number and they were in fact the exact object I saw on the website with one exception, the price. The item $3 more. Instead of having to fight them on the price I decided to just leave without having bought a thing. The whole experience left me irritated and disappointed. This is also why I will go instead online and shop at Amazon. They have what I want and I won’t need to haggle prices. I was looking for something I wanted and I chose to go to a local store and was disappointed. Here’s hoping this store learns to change their ways and work better at keeping customers. Today you have lost one and it could have all...