Staples: "It Would Be A Disaster To Compensate Customers Based On The Amount Of Problems We Cause"
Staples took over a month to deliver an order for business cards that they promised to fill in under seven days. The office megastore somehow misplaced reader Brett's payment confirmation and never sent his order along to their supplier. When Brett asked Staples to fix their mistake and deliver the cards, he was told to pay for a second order and trust that Staples would eventually issue a refund. When he explained that he deserved compensation, not another charge, a manager told him "it would be a disaster to compensate customers based on the amount of problems we cause."
Brett writes:
I just had a nightmare experience over the last month and today with a Staples store, and I wanted to tell you about it so you understand what was occurring in your company, rather than just complain to people I know, which is not very constructive.My boss ordered business cards from the Staples at 4620 N Clark St, Chicago, IL. They had to send away because the cards were not white. We paid up front, and were promised it would be 5-7 business days. After at least 7 days had passed, we called, and were told there was a problem and the cards would come soon. I was gone for a while, and came back to work a month later (last week.) The cards still had not come. We were out of business cards, which hurts our business, so my boss told me to get this straightened out.
I called at the beginning of this week to find out what was wrong. I was told that there was a disconnect between Staples and their supplier, that the supplier hadn't received the confirmation that it was paid, etc. An employee named Samir had taken/misplaced the payment confirmation. They promised to call the supplier, straighten it out, and call right back. At the end of the workday, I hadn't received a call back, so I called again. A different person told me that "she hadn't had time to call yet," and promised me this would get taken care of immediately and I'd receive a call within the next day. I was confused, because I'd think that a month-late order would take some sort of priority, but I was patient. Fast forward to today, nobody had called yet. I called this afternoon, and was told that nobody had taken care of anything, and that they don't know why. They told me to come in and they would just restart the whole process and remake the order. I didn't understand why they needed me, but I just wanted the problem solved, so I brought another business card to the store.
I spent at least an hour and half at the store waiting for these employees to take care of this problem. Most of the time I was there, I did not need to be, but the employees spent a lot of time helping other customers, consulting with each other, calling this "Samir," and mostly ignoring me. I was very concerned because I could see firsthand how these employees had messed up my order, and didn't even try to fix it. I think they should have tried a little harder when I called the 5 or 6 times throughout the previous month, especially considering they had our money already. They should have escalated if the problem was difficult, rather than completely ignore it and continually tell me it's being taken care of. In the store, first, I was told that I would have to pay again so the new order would go through. I didn't have any money to pay for that, so they said they couldn't reorder. They also said they couldn't refund the original order, because I didn't have the receipt or credit card from the original order. I told them that couldn't be legal, to demand more money from me and not provide the goods, even though I've already paid. They claimed they would eventually refund me this second, double payment, but based on my previous experience there, I could not trust their competence to do this. I also could not even be sure this order would go through, since for no apparent reason the previous order never did, and nobody felt like trying to fix it.
Finally, they brought over the district manager, Gene, who happened to be visiting the store. I was told they would place the new order without charging me, and expedite it, and eventually refund the first order whenever this order arrives (hopefully before 2009). I would still have to find that receipt, or else force my boss to come in and bring his credit card. This is unfortunate, because by now my boss thinks I am incompetent since I couldn't handle the little issue of a late order. I can understand how he thinks that, considering it took me hours of work on his dime to get this straightened out, when it should have been handled by Staples immediately and professionally. It will be a huge strain on my job to tell him he has to go over to Staples since I could not take care of the problem, but I guess this is life.
I explained this to Gene, and asked if he could throw in some extra cards or coupons for the trouble, so I can play the hero with my boss and possibly show him that I wasn't just wasting hours and hours trying to force Staples to fix the problem. Gene told me that they could only refund the order, since it was company policy. I asked if that meant no matter how much trouble and grief they cause (such as being months late, forcing me to return many times, and being unhelpful) they always just refund the same amount, and he said they had to. He said that if "they had to start compensating customers based on the amount of problems caused, it would be a disaster for them." I wrote that one down, since it blew my mind.
I've had similar treatment (but never this bad) before from outsourced phone customer service in other countries, but never from a local store! We buy a lot of things at Staples, and just last week bought the chair I'm sitting on there. I was flabbergasted by the fact that they kept telling me they'd call the distributor and call me back, only to never call, over and over. I'm also shocked that I had to go into the store and stand there just to get them to call the number, which is exactly what they finally did when I came by. I'm glad that the order is (hopefully?) going to be completed and refunded, but after all those experiences, I'm sure there will be more hitches next week; I won't be surprised if the order does not go through again, and since it's "the same order," they won't feel the need to rectify the situation since I'm already getting the refund (hopefully).
I cannot imagine this kind of disorganization, and lack of service represents your company, so I wanted to bring it to your attention. I am considering not making any more purchases at Staples, since my boss and I cannot afford these kind of unnecessary problems; it's not great for a place that prides itself on making things easier, and that store most definitely lacked an 'easy button.'
(Photo: Tengaport)
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Comments:
Wow. That's some radical honesty going on there, Gene.
This is another reason why you should deal with local vendors and not these chains. You might pay a bit more, but you actually get treated like a human being, something that is priceless.
Initiate a charge back with your credit card company. There are plenty of other places to order business cards.
It is always pretty shocking to see how drastically different two stores from the same chain can be. Our local Staples is pretty good about doing their job and trying to give decent customer service. I did go to a Staples while in Indiana once and it was a run down dump with apathetic employees.
Is there somewhere to do reviews of chain store locations like on Yelp or something? A store by store review system so you know what locations to avoid would be great, especially for when your traveling.
@Plates: I wonder if anyone has performed any kind of research on such a thing. The error-to-order ratio for a chain, I'm sure, is much smaller than a local vendor. If a local vendor screws up one order a day, that could be 5% of their daily business. If Staples (even just one store, not the national chain) screws up one order, that could be less than 1% of their daily business. Overall, I usually tend to trust chains more because they are more like machinery that has one input and one output. You can usually expect the output correctly, but sometimes the machine gets jammed.
Unfortunately, I've had worse experiences with local vendors than chain stores. Many of them create ridiculous policies like having a minimum purchase amount to use a credit card or something. Plus, I usually find it more difficult to get in touch with local vendors when there is something wrong. A local place may have 4-5 full time employees and a chain may have 20-30 full time employees.
@Plates: Totally second this. I known the local printer and he knows me. No problems. Acutally, on the very rare occasion there is an issue, it's taken care of right away. Stable business, same people there every time I call.
@bohemian: I agree about the differences between locations. My local Staples is great. I prefer going there for anything that I can get. When I lived in Pennsylvania, the local Staples was horrible. Things were priced incorrectly all the time, customer service people were very rude, etc.
I don't know of any site like you mentioned, but it would certainly be great to have. It could help others realize that just because there is a bad location does not mean that the entire corporation has that problem.
@bohemian:
The idea that every McDonalds in the world is the same is totally false. Just because it's a giant chain doesn't mean that you get a consistent experience.
What happened to this person should not have happened and hopefully they will get it straighted out.
HOWEVER, common sense says Staples is NOT a printer. They are an office supply store. In their quest to be "all things to all people" they offer these other services and farm them out to 3rd parties.. BAD IDEA.
There are probably dozens of LOCAL PRINTERS in your area where you SHOULD have ordered these business card, not to mention countless online sources and you would have avoided all of this... and probably paid less.
Ordering business cards from Staples = Bad Idea.
My local Staples actually messed up printing our wedding programs. I spoke to the manager, and it was resolved nearly immediately and I was comped the job.
Now, it might be an outside vendor issue, but you can't condemn a chain for the actions of one store.
Letter's also too long, and using the Staples branding as your close just smacks of snarkiness.
@bohemian:
I do agree with bohemian, BTW. The Home Depot closest to me is a NIGHTMARE. The managers are rude, the staff is a trainwreck and nasty if you dare ask a question. I have written them about this store many times and didn't even get a reply.
Yes, different stores in a chain can be very very different. It's sad, but true.
"it would be a disaster to compensate customers based on the amount of problems we cause." Well, then, just give up. You shouldn't be in business. That was easy? Ha!
This report must have been received months ago. Has there been a followup?
Yes, any local printer would be happy to take your order and make you a satisfied customer. So would businesscardsonline, or the other similar online card printers, never had a problem with them.
JN2 - In the printing industry for 20+ years.
Okay, what they mean by that phrase - and I'm sure somebody in legal wrote it for them - is "we are not going to pay for everything cause by our error". That is, if they failed to get you your business cards, and as a result you had to stop and get them printed at a QuikPrint, and the delay caused you to miss your plane, they will not pay for a new plane ticket.
@bohemian: So true.
I worked at two different Staples in my city over the course of several years. One manager made it a priority for our store to be the absolute best in customer service with the philosophy that a happy customer means a returning customer. My manager at the other location could care less. Needless to say, I went back to the first location, and more often times than not, we had people willing to drive across town (or even into town) to our store even when other locations were more convenient.
Now how the company treats its employees is another story....
Business card nightmare, I can't stop laughing.
I live near that Staples myself. I went in there once. Conscious decision not to buy anything and not to ever return. Ick. You could smell the incompetence.
@Plates: I've had the exact opposite experience. The local printers around here love to nickle-and-dime you to death ($5 for a "download fee" [to transfer a single file from a USB thumbdrive to their computer], $3 "document conversion" fee [to convert a PNG to PDF, because they refuse to print PNG files for some reason], etc.).
You may not get the greatest overall service from the big chains, but at least they're up-front about the pricing. And, as a bonus, they're usually cheaper, too.
@mythago: That makes sense, except they said it in response to OP not wanting to pay for another set of business cards to replace the ones he never got, which is a direct cost of their mistake and should be compensated - not an indirect, tangential expense.
@mythago:
Agreed, I take the phrase and context to mean that Staples will not pay for consequential damages as a result of their screw-up. I don't of any business or retailer who pays consequential damages unless ordered to do so by a court.
If your dry cleaner loses your pants you're very unlikely to win a $67 million lawsuit for consequential damages.
@SybilDisobedience:
No, they said it in response to the customer asking for more than his actual damages...
"I asked if... he could throw in some extra cards or coupons for the trouble, so I can play the hero with my boss"
@HawkWolf: Logic tells me that if a store advertises a service, it is generally safe to assume that said service will be rendered. Also, it's not as if "office supply" is that far removed from "office stationary printing"...
It's easy to have 20/20 vision when you're looking back...
@PLATTWORX: I agree it is a lot better to go with a local printer...but a lot of people don't understand the process of ordering printing and are intimidated. The printing desk at the office supply store seems more familiar, so they go there.
Printers could make ordering a lot less intimidating for their customers...when I worked for one, I made up a huge binder that had everything arranged so the clients could see their options - samples of fonts, papers, ink colors, specialty inks, template designs, etc. - we would just fill out their order as they went through the book. I also made one-page reference guides that explained the decisions that would have to be made on typical orders to hand out or fax out. We handed out a lot of those, particularly for business cards and wedding invitations - things that are usually purchased by people who have little to no experience working with a printer.
This story is pretty horrible, and after reading it I will make sure to never use Staples for anything service-related. Its horrific that their incompetence not only inconveniences the client, but also directly threatens his job security.
If anyone from Staples reads this, know that after reading this story, I will be making office supply purchases from other vendors. There's no excuse for your lack of professionalism dealing with this situation.
working in this industry I know a few things.
First, they are not using a supply chain. They use a Print shop that deals with many companies on a national level.
For example, Staples most likely uses [friedpie.com] for their business cards/stamps/letter head and so on.
Or some places use [www.carlsoncraft.com] they don't' just do weddings though if you go to a local place and they do wedding invites I'd say that 90% of the wedding invitation industry is done by them.
These are services that are outsourced because local copy shops do not have the ability to do PMS colors or Raised ink (being as they don't have off set presses).
Nor does places like Kinko's (NOW FedEx Office :P) Staples, or Office Depot have the room or care to have offset presses
Second, you went to staples and though i agree they should have treated you way better most staples stores have pretty much stopped caring about their printing department.(not all i know but most) It's a dying field with little to no growth and the only growth comes from the fact that mom and pop places are going under.
Usually they pull people out of the printing department and stick the on the floor if lets say their down somebody for that day.
I've hired people from staples and know a Store managers personally. They all tell me the same thing about how staples copy department is run.
bottom line is it sucked this happened but why did you wait so long to resolve the problem. None of my customers would wait that long ever?
Yes they messed up but for you to wait that long? Not a good idea.
The only part of this story that is completely absurd is where the OP demands to be compensated more than just a free set of business cards. The sense of entitlement here is insane. You're already getting your order completely and totally free, why do you think you deserve MORE compensation than that? I think 50% off of the order would have been more than sufficient. And really, if I were this guys boss, I'd wonder about his capabilities if he couldn't handle a customer service rep at Staples over the phone.
First, they are not using a supply chain. They use a Print shop that deals with many companies on a national level.
Staples may not be the printer, but they are the middle man on a transaction from which they profit. It is, therefore, their responsibility to put pressure on the printer if the order is not handled in an orderly fashion.
Second, you went to staples and though i agree they should have treated you way better most staples stores have pretty much stopped caring about their printing department.(not all i know but most) It's a dying field with little to no growth and the only growth comes from the fact that mom and pop places are going under.
If this is the case, they shouldn't offer the service. "We don't really care about that department anymore" isn't an explanation; it's a shitty excuse for shitty service rendered.
bottom line is it sucked this happened but why did you wait so long to resolve the problem. None of my customers would wait that long ever?
Isn't blaming the victim fun? He says that he called "5 or 6 times" before finally going to the store and talking to a manager (who didn't help him at all). From a customer service perspective, this should have been expedited the second time Brett called. Also, it is not the customer's responsibility to "babysit" an order that takes minimal competence to fill.
Your money. Yeah, we've got that.
@Pylon83:
And really, if I were this guys boss, I'd wonder about his capabilities if he couldn't handle a customer service rep at Staples over the phone.
You're saying Brett should be fired because he can't light a fire beneath apathetic Staples drones? Wow...just...wow.
Overnightprints.com - never had an issue they didn't offer a discount or take care of immediately.
Vistaprint.com - HUGE lead time, but quality product.
@dddoistutter:
Quite a leap in logic there, as that's not even remotely what I said. I said that I'd wonder about his capabilities, as he is concerned about occurring already. I didn't say he should be fired, and I don't think that's even implicit. Just because a boss has concerns about ones capabilities doesn't necessarily mean they will be fired.
@Pylon83: Your implication is that he is incompetent. It's not a "leap in logic" to infer that you question his ability to carry out his job.
@PLATTWORX: "Ordering business cards from Staples = Bad Idea."
I disagree and disagree whole-heartedly. Granted, my experience with Staples was "merely" 1-for-1 and is not a statistically valid sample, but they did what I needed for a price I was prepared to pay. What more do I need out of a business?
And no, there were no "local printers" on a major road between the intersection of two major roads from my house to the local poker room, allowing me to do my order, pay cash, and come back in a few hours to pick it up within the same evening I had written off from my work schedule anyways.
That's the big problem with 'big box chains'. In theory, the customer experience is constant and predictable. In practice, it gets posted on Consumerist :D
@SabreDC:
Assuming the local vendor is one who does their own work as opposed to just taking orders, they aren't going to have a long turnaround time if they DO screw up, because they can handle the mistake themselves, rather than sending another order halfway across the country.
@PLATTWORX: If Staples can't be prompt with their service then they shouldn't be offering said service.
And if this service is costing Staples money and customer goodwill then it would could possible to save money by just ending the service.
Wow, I work at a FedEx Office location and so I have first hand "behind the scenes" experience in the print industry. If Staples can't keep track of payment for an single order, then obviously their system needs an overhaul.
At FedEx Office, we almost always try to print business cards in house. That way if there IS, on the off chance, a issue, we can rectify it on the spot. But unforunately if the business card needs to have raised ink or a unique ink (like glitter or something) then we have to "outsource" it since we do not have an offset printing press.
I won't advertise for my company here, but what I will say is do your printing at a local store, or at a store that actually IS a print store, not an office supply store that just happens to have a print shop attached to it. You'll get better service since the people you deal with will actually know the business.
This is a prime example of why NOT to buy business cards from hack office stores like this. They waaaay overcharge, for one (Kinko's wanted a whopping $70 for 100 business cards!) but you are putting too many real, incompetent, underpaid employees in charge of your business.
Try overnightprints.com
Awesome quality, great service.
@Plates: My family business used a local printer when I was a kid. I remember walking across the neighborhood with my mom to pick up flyers and yes, business cards, which she had had printed. As far as I know, there was never a problem with them, and they had a very nice dog.
Y'all's theoretical arguments as to why Staples is less likely to have a problem notwithstanding.
I used to work for Staples. Twice even. In the copy center in fact. Different stores, and not where the OP had his trouble, but it's actually a pretty common problem and has absolutely nothing to do with the employees there. Ok, let me stress this a little more
it has absolutely nothing to do with the employees there.
Here's how staples handles business cards:
First off, there are 2 separate systems for doing business cards.
Method A is: we scan the customer's card or have them type their info into a template, and then print it out on our color copier on shitty card stock, then cut the cards out on a small electric cutter that most of the time doesn't work.
Method B is: We fill out a form with the customer (this recently went all-electronic) which gets sent into the queue of the national printer that we use to print our cards.
The customer always pays for sent-out work in advance. Once the order is placed, the confirmation gets printed with the barcode for the register.
There are only a couple of opportunities for a problem here. If there was some sort of problem where the employee who rang the cards up didn't put the right order # into the register, the order may have been held up. Usually this is bogus, as the printer really doesn't give a rat's ass whether or not the order was paid for by the customer, because they bill us monthly. That may have changed since I quit. Otherwise the printer lost the order and tried to shift the blame back on the CopyCenter where the order was placed. Since everything's now electronic, it's hard to maintain a paper trail to verify that orders were paid for and what stage of production they're in.
Once in a while, there were just some orders that the printer could not do. They weren't particularly complex, and harder orders came back faster, but there were just some orders that were always wrong.
The OP was right to be upset that it didn't seem like the employees were being helpful, but there's not much they can do about it. Often nobody picks up the phone when you call to track down an order, and they keep banker's hours anyway, so evening customers are SOL.
Here's the rub, and here's what the OP needed to do. Staples Copy Center has a policy where if it's not done right or on time, the customer gets the order for free. Now, that's of small consolation, but when the cards finally DO come in, the OP should get them for free.
Trying to get free stuff by saying your boss will think you are incompetent is damaging your argument. If someone had told me that story about their order I would be bending over backwards to help. When they added the 'can I get free stuff to appease my boss?' bit it would make me question the whole story. If you are incapable of communicating this problem to your boss I hardly trust that you got the point across to the staff. Is this all a huge exaggeration to get free stuff? Why wouldn't you ask me to call your boss to explain the situation and accept our guilt in the matter? Your boss isn't going to think you are a more competent employee because you got coupons.
Staples screwed up big time and I'm sorry you had to deal with that. They gave you the cards for free and that's really all you can expect them to do. They can't pay out different amounts based on each customers sob story about what the screw up cost them. Take the free cards, write a letter explaining how their front end staff screwed up, take your business elsewhere.
@Plates: I worked for a very local record shop, and we had some serious customer service issues quite often. Actually, I and the person who replaced me left and won't go back because the only other employee is universally recognized to be the spawn of satan. The way she treats customers is appalling, all else aside.
I'm all for supporting local, but for vague economic reasons. I don't think you automatically get better service; often I think better service is too expensive for local businesses.
@dddoistutter: Maybe they're religiously opposed to printing business cards. After all, we all know it's ok not to do your job as long as it's because God told you not to.
Here is the scam. Staples guaranteed to deliver the cards in 7 days, or ....
Or nothing, its an empty promise. If it was 7 days or the order is free, on day 8 the request for a refund should have been made, with a request for the date they would be available.
At this point you go back to the boss and say, Staples f###ed up, the cards are free, but now they are due in a week late. Should we order another set from someone else? (this way you aren't depending on Staples)
I love how it says "Hopefully before 2009."