My next trip at Staples made me a happy camper because I was satisfied and so was my Stuart customer

On March 30, 2011 at 2:00PM, I had an appointment to meet another customer in Fort Pierce to purchase the same HP desktop noted in the previous post. He had an old Gateway with Xp so I told him it was time for a new one and he agreed.

He went to the Staples in Fort Pierce a day prior to see what they had available. He decided on the Slimline or the other HP a step up from that model. He called me that day asking if he can keep his current monitor or purchase a new one. I said he would be better off getting a new one because his computer and monitor were over six years old and his monitor has been doing odd things. We made an appointment the next day to get a new PC at the Staples in Fort Pierce.

After taking care of some personal things that morning and before I headed to Fort Pierce to meet him, I decided to give the Fort Pierce Staples a call to make sure they had the PC in stock because of the reasons already stated in the previous post. It was a Wednesday so I already had a big assumption and gut feeling they were sold out; they were.

Being near the PSL Staples store, I asked the man on the phone if any other stores had them in stock. He said the ones in St. Lucie were showing some in stock. I then said this is for a customer of mine I was going to meet in Fort Pierce and wanted to know if there was going to be an issue if I were to purchase the PC in the PSL store and return it in the Fort Pierce store and have my customer repurchase it there with a monitor and everything else he wanted. He said that wouldn't be a problem. I thanked him and hung up the phone.

I drove into the PSL Staples store parking lot and went inside to check if they had any in stock. I didn't see it on the shelf but saw a tag for it and nothing else (no "Sorry this item is out of stock" sign). I asked the EasyTech guy to check for me. He said inventory showed some in stock. He looked at the top stock above the displayed PCs and found one. After asking him to hold onto it for me for a minute, I walked outside to give my customer a call.

While talking to my customer outside, I told him what was going  on and he agreed with what I was doing for him. I told him I'll still meet him at his house in about thirty minutes.

I went back in the store and told the EasyTech man I'll get the PC and nothing else. I then told him about my incident which occurred about two weeks ago (noted in the previous post) because he sees me in the store a lot and remembers me as does the other EasyTech man who used to work at the store I used to work for over a year ago. The man I was talking to then pulled out this sheet:

I honestly couldn't believe my eyes! It was a sheet with the website and password for the online training my customer wanted a couple weeks ago, yet the manager didn't let her have it!! I thanked the man and told him how much I appreciated it and quickly stuck it in my pocket so he didn't get in trouble for going above and beyond to help me out. After he rung me up for the HP, I thanked him again and headed out and to Fort Pierce to meet my customer at his house.

After a nice thirty minute drive, I was at my customers house in Fort Pierce. I went inside for a bit and talked to him and his wife about what was going on. I suggested and then they agreed we use my car to drive to Staples. I don't mind driving my customers to the store and I've done this a few times before.

We arrived at the Staples store, I brought the PC I bought from the PSL store inside and we started looking at the ones on display. He decided on the one I already purchased at the other store and also picked out a 21.5" Samsung monitor. We were all set and they both started to look for the EasyTech man who helped him out before. I saw the man I usually see when I shop there and put my hand up with my finger pointing upwards. I don't yell across the room for them, do a big annoying wave, or even snap my fingers. I find that to be VERY rude and, after having it done to me back then, it pisses the associate off to no end! Being in retail for many years, I respect the people who work in retail. I know how the job is and how people treat them and I do my best to make sure I'm not one of those customers.

The EasyTech noticed me and, after he was finished with his current customer, headed over and greeted me and "our" customers who he helped the previous day and who we were both helping that day. After talking about the computer and about the one I brought in, we headed to the EasyTech bench so I can do my return and they can repurchase it. My customer mentioned the protection plan and I told him what it was about and had the EasyTech man tell them more about it. I said to the customer it was their call. They both agreed on the two year. So, they got the HP Slimline, 21.5" Samsung monitor, and two year protection plan. That made us all happy; the customer because he got what he wanted to get, the EasyTech man because he got a good sale with the protection plan, and myself because everything the customer wanted was in stock and I'll be able to go back to his place and set everything up for him and train him a bit on how to use it. Also... it's another Xp machine replaced with a new Windows 7 machine which, for some odd reason, makes me happy because I love helping people with brand new technology.

We were all set and headed out of the store and, like they say, the rest... is history! ;-)

One thing I would just like to note on the online training I mentioned above: it is stated on the sheet the online training is a $230 value. The training covers Windows 7 and Office 2010. This is just a site where you click "play" and go through some videos. There is no interaction nor is there any documentation the person can print out. So, in my opinion, I don't believe this is really worth $230. Back when I worked in Best Buy when Vista was out, we had a disc for sale for $20 which covered about the same things this site covers.

But don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself. Click here for the link to the Windows 7 training. Click here for the Office 2010 training Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

You may, of course, leave a comment about anything else I post or even send me an email.

That's it for now! Until next time,

- Dragon

Staples didn't go the extra mile to make my customer a happy camper

On March 6, 2011, I met one of my customers, whom I've been taking care of for over 8 years since I opened the business, at the Staples in Port St. Lucie Florida to help with a new PC purchase. She lives in Stuart and I was going to have her pick the PC up there but, like a lot of times when it comes to Staples, they were sold out in that store. In case you didn't note above, this was a Sunday, the day stores have the new ads out and the day people go shopping for the things in the ad which are currently on sale that week. Having something not in stock in a store the day the ad starts is just foolish and is bad for business. Also (and most notably), it upsets customers AND business customers who shop there for THEIR customers to satisfy their technology needs. I know this because I've been in retail for eight years and I know how the "system" works.

The PC in question I recommended for her and the one she eventually purchased (after some persuasion since she was still using an 8+ year old HP desktop running Xp but she trusted my judgement and knew I'll take care of her) was the HP Pavillion Slimline s5710f. At the time it was selling for $349.99. You can click on that link above for the specifications of the desktop. As you can see, it's not the top of the line, but for basic computer tasks she uses a PC for, it's more than enough for her needs.

During that sale week and a few weeks prior, Staples was (and still is to this day this post goes out) offering a few free things:

If you have trouble seeing the above ad snip, it says: FREE PC Setup | FREE data transfer | FREE Microsoft online training. I obviously was going to do the setup and data transfer for my customer so she just wanted the training. I mentioned this to her as well and said this would have been a nice thing to get because it was free and whatever questions she had after the training, I could have helped her with. She mentioned this to the Easytech associate who was ringing her out. He was putting it in for her but the register required him to fill out a work order sheet. Basically, this sheet requires them to fill out information about services being performed on the PC, which entails them to keep the PC in the store until the work has been completed. He did not know why it was doing this and neither did I because it was just a website to go to and it does not require any setup. He brought the manager over and she said the training needed to be entered along with the setup and data transfer. Basically, it was a package deal. I asked if they can add that stuff to it and I just take the PC to work on but they enter it in the system  stating they would be working on it. This will be a win-win I thought; they get to ring that package out so it will look good for their store numbers and the customer is happy because she got what she wanted. Of course, she did not allow this to be done. So my customer got the PC, Office 2010, and left the store a little upset.

Here is what I  didn't understand:

• No where in the ad did it say this was a "package" deal. It just said it was a $300 value. 
• Since it was a "package" deal, where everything had to be rung up as a package, why couldn't everything be rung up and just have the PC services being performed say "completed" just to make the customer happy so she gets the online training she wanted and I can continue to work on her PC? If that was not possible, why not just give the customer the website and password needed so she can go to the site? 
• Also, and here is what really concerned me, this package deal was for any new PC a customer purchased in the store. What if the new PC the customer purchased was the FIRST PC they ever purchased. They obviously would have wanted the "FREE setup" and the "FREE Microsoft online training"  so they could learn how to use their FIRST PC they ever bought. They did not need the data transfer. Now, because it was a package deal, they probably could not have gotten two out of three and that would have upset that customer as well. I'm sure they wouldn't have rung that package up and done the two out of three services because they couldn't even do the simpler one out of three listed in that package. I honestly think the customer should have a choice in what FREE thing they want to have done on their PC. Having it as a "package" which does not state it being a "package" is not good for the customer and not good for the store as well who is "required" to do all three services, which will take a few days to get done.

So, as you can see, my customer and I, being a small business owner who shops at Staples A LOT for my business needs and my customers personal needs, were not happy campers.