Comments on: Forget Cyber Monday…It’s Staples Sharpie Sunday

By: Linda Taylor

Linda Taylor — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:25:11 +0000

I can’t believe you waited for 3 hours to talk to customer service on Sunday!

What coupon did they send you?

By: Linda Taylor

Linda Taylor — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:20:52 +0000

I don’t mind that they were out of stock. I do mind that they let me place the order online and did not tell me they were out of stock. I had to find that out by calling customer service a few days later when I got a confirmation with my part of order was missing. I printed a copy of my original online order. Nowhere does it say “subject to availability” or “while supplies last”.

I also mind spending time shopping on their web site when I could have been doing my Cyber Monday shopping on another site that does reflect accurately reflect what Items are in stock.

It’s 2009 there is no excuse for a major retailer using antiquated inventory and ordering software. From how my reaming order was chopped up, my guess is some of their inventory software is about 10-15 years old.

I do agree their customer service is very polite.

By: samantha

samantha — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:57:57 +0000

I have worked in retail my whole life. Retailers are not required to offer subs, and most of the time it is noted that promotions are “while supplies last”… good luck with the attorney general! *eye roll*

I tried calling in on Sunday, and waited over three hours to speak with a customer service rep. Obviously they were slammed with thousands of customers, so you can’t honestly expect to have been guaranteed the items you wanted would be in stock. Seriously.

I was quite happy with my experience, and the nice woman I spoke with even sent me a coupon because the computer I wanted was out of stock by the time I got through! I didn’t even ask for anything.

By: Linda Taylor

Linda Taylor — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:26:11 +0000

I’m going to write the attorney general. The site allowed me to place orders for items, including the sharpies and a ACER monitor. When I finally got a confirmation a few days later half of my order was missing without my being notified. I called customer service only to find the monitor and sharpies were out of stock. I substituted more sharpies, with the promise I could get the discount, but the discount was not applied. There no was equal substitution or rain check for the monitor. So I substituted an AOC monitor that was on sale later in the week (for $20 more), then checked my order online, only to find again the sale price was not applied. I was able to get the AOC monitor at the sales price by going to a local Staples, but I can’t cancel the one being delivered to my local store. Customer service said the store will refuse the delivery and I will get my charge credited within 10 days. There’s no excuse for poor online inventory tracking and sales in 2009. What’s really bad is customers lose out on real deals at other stores when they purchase cyber Monday products only to be told on Tuesday the products did not exist.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:22:20 +0000

Well..I called in to order my stuff from cyber monday and was told by the rep on the phone, that they knew nothing about calling back later in the week for the deal and they refused to honor it..So I’m out I guess….

By: David Addison

David Addison — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:12:18 +0000

Here’s the response that I got from Staples Customer Service. Very lame. I think that I’ll write a letter to the FTP and my State Attorney General. The offer is a clear case of false advertising. Staples could have easily put a notice on their website but did nothing. Hmm.

Read for yourself:

Hi David, thank you for contacting Staples regarding the Sharpie Promotion and Staples.com.

I apologize for the inconvenience that you experienced. Our goal is to create an easy shopping
experience for each and every customer.

We are constantly making upgrades to our site to make it easier for customers to order office
supplies and purchase business services. At Staples, we take all customer comments very seriously.

Your comments will be very helpful as we prepare future promotional offers and future versions of
our site.

If you need further assistance, please reply to this email or contact us at 800-333-3330.

Thank you for your patience concerning this matter.

Tina
Customer Service Representative

By: Not So Happy

Not So Happy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:55:17 +0000

I sent emails, called three different numbers, no response, no message about “redeming later”. Recieved a simple email TODAY that just told that they were sold out, even though I had tried at 6 on Monday.

By: This is ridiculous

This is ridiculous — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:50:04 +0000

This promotion was a disaster. They had to shut down some customer service options. Many who wanted items that were in stock were unable to use the offer as they expired it without any notice Monday morning.

By: Hi Ya

Hi Ya — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:39:16 +0000

Many times it is harder for retailers to fix errors on website than it is worth to them. If they fix the issue, they would have to take down the website.