By Dave MacGowan

Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 is a great product. Unfortunately, my experience with Staples leads me to believe that they cannot be trusted.

I bought the product from a local Staples store for a super price of around $60. The price was even better considering the promise on the outside of the box of an additional $20 rebate. It was only after going through the major job of installing the software,that I discovered the small print on the rebate form packed INSIDE the box. Please note that I said “INSIDE the box.|

Basically, the rebate was not available for purchases made from Staples (and a couple other retailers). Despite 2 emails to Staples customers relations about this apparent ????? I have waited more than 2 weeks and have not received an answer other than the automated answer saying I would receive a response soon.

An honest mistake? Probably. But to refuse to deal with their mistake is inexcusable. Staples obviously doesn’t place much value on their reputation.

by Norton Fan

Future Shop had Norton Internet Security 2010 advertised for 44.99$. Thinking this was a good price; my dad went ahead and bought it. The next day the Staples flyer came out with the same product advertised for 29.98$. I went along with him to Future shop to return the product and purchase it instead at Staples. The stores are right beside each so I thought I should go to Staples first and see if NIS had been sold out or still available. It was sold out and wouldn’t be available for 4 weeks. The customer rep was super friendly and apologized. She said that there had been a problem with the order and that I can pre-purchase it and when it arrives I will be called. Great! I tell her I will be back in 10 minutes after making a return at FS. The customer service rep at FS was equally friendly and offered to price match and beat the difference by 10%. I told her that Staples didn’t have it in stock (seems to be the requirement sometimes). She said it wasn’t a problem and gave it at a cheaper price than Staples.She didnt call Staples or ask for a flyer. I ended up getting back 17.xx$. Overall a great experience at both stores.

by JSAM_s Mom

I went into the store on Saturday to pick up an SD card for my GPS.  I completely expected to find the store packed and nary a staff member to be found.  I was shocked when I was greeted right away, and asked if they could direct me to find something.  I said I was only picking up an SD card, and she pointed out the direction I needed to go.  A sales clerk was walking out of the back room, walking in my direction, and immediately asked me if he could help me find something.  Although it was obvious it wasn’t the department he was used to working in, he still tried to help me find what I needed.  I found the item, and walked up to the cash and paid.  Keep in mind this was on the last Saturday before school started, so you can imagine it was fairly busy in there.  All told, I was in and out of the store in 5-10 minutes.  Although this store is out of my way, I will try to go back there more often, instead of shopping at the Staples store I usually frequent, which has really crappy service but really convenient for me.