My husband and I shopped tonight at a Staples store. Our purchase added up to over $800.00. We wrote a check from our open home equity account and our check was denied by Certegy. How embarrassed we were in front of a line of people waiting to check out. We knew there was thousands of dollars left in our credit limit. We just received our bill for that so we knew no one else was using our account. We left the store with others watching us with judgmental looks. We were so embarrassed. We just called and spoke again with the store manager and he said that our credit was fine but, for some reason, the check was denied. We'll be talking with our bank tomorrow.

I purchased a scanner at my local Staples store on 12/13. The store personnel couldn't figure out how to either generate my rebate forms from the register or give me a blank one, so after ten minutes of their fumbling around and handing me things that had nothing to do with the scanner I'd purchased, I asked for a refund. My refund was processed within ten minutes of the sale. I used my debit card to purchase the item for $108.23, and the same amount was credited to my card.

When I got home, I checked my online banking statement. The sale transaction had already been processed, so Staples sucked $108.23 out of my account on 12/13. The credit had not yet appeared. Today is 12/17, and the credit still has not appeared on my statement. So, Staples has been holding my money for four days now.

Now, I'm fairly certain that if I told the store personnel that I intended to hold the scanner for four days while I waited for the funds to appear in my account, I'd have been arrested on my way out the front door. However, Staples is holding both the scanner and the funds used to purchase it. Is this right? Is this fair? Why are they entitled to hold the money of dissatisfied customers and collect interest on it?

Staples has over 2,000 stores around the world. If they do one refund of this size at every store, they are holding about a quarter of a million dollars of customer funds. Let's say they do that same refund at every store every day of the week---that's 1.75 million a week. Anybody got a calculator? How much money are they making off this policy?

If the folks at Staples are smart enough to suck money out of my account within moments, they should be smart enough to come up with a system that puts it back with the same speed---or they should pay me interest for the use of my funds.

To whom It may concern:

I was recently at your Cincinnati Store 8666 Beechmont ave (store #0456) Cincinnati Ohio 45255 and received some less than warm service as I was Checking out and the casher (Mandi) was ringing up I tried to question her about a charge, she was quick to ring up and say " We can look at that after you sign and the order is finished" I pointed out that the calculator that I picked out the sign said 8.99 and she rang 16.98. she had a guy run to check the price and he came back with the same price so I showed him where I got it from and he flipped thru the calculators and found the right one for the price listed on the hanger; meanwhile no apology was made for having numerous calculators on the wrong hanger and as I returned to the cashier (Mandi) she said " decided to go with it " and I said " no the wrong calculators are hanging on the hanger this is the one I want" So She Replied " I need you to go back and get the wrong calculator (the one they put on the wrong hanger) so I can remove it from your credit card”, to which I said “what about customer service” she (Mandi)just shrugged; so I told her to go ahead and remove the whole purchase and I would be on my way. To which she said "I am sorry you feel that way" If she was truly sorry she would of made more of an effort to correct the problem (the stores problem of misrepresenting an item). I have been a long time customer of that store and also shop online I bought my first computer there years ago and until today shopped there very frequently.

Sincerely,
Chris Weist
[email protected]

I am sending a formal complaint to all available avenues that I, a customer, has witnessed regarding false advertisement on your website.

My name is Rea , I received a Kodak EasyShare C743 along with the additional service plan as a Christmas gift on 12/25/2006. I decided to return the above mentioned camera to exchange for a different model I had researched and believed to be more suitable for my needs and likes. On Saturday 12/30/2006, my father (purchaser of gift) mailed me the receipt so that I may make an appropriate return/exchange of the item. Due to the New Year's Holiday and the National Day of Mourning for President Ford, I did not receive the receipt through the mail until Wednesday 1/3/2007. Upon receipt of the paperwork, I realized that my father had paid with a credit card and made a phone call to the selling Staples; located at 1301 W. Wade Hampton Blvd, Greer, SC 29651. The clerk informed me that my father would have to be present for any transaction excluding an instore exchange, but if I found any product on www.staples.com it could be ordered for me in store, with no problem.

I began researching on staples.com and had no luck at first looking for the Casio Exilim Z70 (Bk), the camera I had decided to buy. After many options I came upon the section of your website that allows the website to assist you in finding the camera that suits your needs best. I selected the criteria that I was looking for (see attached page) and submitted for my results. The website responded with exactly what I was looking for, a Casio EX-Z70 (Black), listed for $229.98. I called the closest Staples to me to verify that they could order a product from Staples.com which Letif did confirm. So I promptly printed the page and headed to my local Staples #0656.

Upon arrival I was assisted by Letif in searching for this model camera on your website. When he had problems locating a SKU , I offered my help as to how I had come upon this item. I showed him the survey and had him fill in the answers I had selected, he received the same results I had gotten. He then asked another associate to do the same thing, to which he found the same results. Then the Asst Mgr Danyal searched and came to the conclusion, after getting the same results, that you must not carry the model because upon trying to select the details button, he received a system error. Letif then stepped back in not willing to just send me on my way and offered me the store phone to call the 1-800 number and see if I could speak with someone directly who could assist me. I spoke with Mike in TeleSales for approx 45 minutes to no avail. Mike did everything he could, between contacting his help desk and looking through every page of available digital cameras to locate the one that was clearly advertised and priced on Staples.com. His help desk clerk, Matt, advised him that those surveys were outsourced therefore they could not give a reason as to why it would suggest a model of camera, therefore a BRAND of camera that Staples does not carry.

As you can imagine, none of this was satisfactory. The end result of my 2 hour trip to Store#0656 was Letif working hard to get me a Staples cash card for the full amount of the Kodak camera as well as the protection plan. Now having already taken up multiple hours of my research and travel time, I have to mail the Cash Card along with the TWO receipts to my father who is 2 hours away. So that he can make another trip to his neighborhood Staples to do a FULL refund to his Visa card to clear up this mess. I am very DISAPPOINTED in the lack of responsibility taken in the advise YOUR website run survey mislead me to believe.

The only shining light in this whole mess, was the empathetic and caring attitudes of the associates I have dealt with through this ordeal. Letif at Store#0656 and Mike at TeleSales tried every avenue they could to come up with a suitable option for my dilemma. You can rest assured that I will no longer visit Staples.com and I will make sure that my friends and family will know of the false advertisement issues that your website suffers from. At this point, my father will be purchasing the Casio EX-Z70 Bk through a competitor along with their protection plan.

Rea