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:
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
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