[Gulo Luseus]

Oooooooooh. someone said PCW****d!
The fun I used to have with them! I bought a computer from them ( it was a birthday present, and because of the sale it was actually cheaper than building myself). 3 weeks later, it went phut. I phoned them on the wonderful helpline, and eventually got a supervisor. His attitude was you bought, you put software on, no guarantee. Even told me it was a virus, and my own fault. So i asked him how it could be a vrus, as i had Norton on it. He told me it was my fault, shouldnt have installed it, so I reminded him it was the software THEY put on it
As this stage, it got a bit abusive. He told me I had probably got a virus from the internet, I said, no way. At which point he told me there was no way i could say that, so i said, yes, there is. He called me ignorant, stupid and a liar, so I let him rant, then told him I knew 100% I had not got a virus from the internet, at which point I was interupted with another diatribe for a few minutes. When he was done, I said it again, and finished the sentence, saying i knew i had no net virus because it had never been connected to the damn internet. Cue silence<g>.
I ended up taking it back, having yet another arguement, and getting my money back. And that was a hell of a fight! only good point was the computer had gone back to the original price, and I got £350 extra back. Nothing like not looking at a receipt<g>
All told, I only go to PCWorldto laugh at them now, and ask questions I know they cant answer, because that is about all they are good for.

All opinions stated are my own, and other users may have different experiences

[steveie85]

I think on here that everyone agrees with you. I know of people who have bought computers from staples and they said they are of poor nature, so I refuse to go buy from them. I don't need to now that I got my own business and can right a new computer off as a business expense!!

[simple simon]

Well I bought a monitor from PCWorld, and I also bought the extended warrenty...

Then in the summer this year it went wrong. Thats when my troubles began.

Three times I called the helpline number, three times I was promised that someone would contact me the next day regarding its collection and repair.

After the third time I went to the local trading standards, who (I understand) wrote The Tech Guys a letter. They also suggested taking legal action.

After this I exchanged several letters with someone at a Sheffield postal address, who asked me to call him. My boss was going to let me do this at work, but only if it was a normal phone number (ie: 0114, for Sheffield) but as the number was an 0870 so he said 'no'. This was because my boss has a phone plan whereby normal numbers are free, wheras 0870's are expensive.

So, I tried calling from a public payphone, but my 20pence was used up even before I got past the queue system.

From home on a Sunday (when the cost of the call is at its lowest) I tried calling the 0870 number on the extended warrenty form once again, only to be told a new story, this being that I had a business warrenty and that the number was different. I told the person that I did not want to know, I was calling the number on the form, and that if I did not get a repair I would go to court accusing DSG Retail (the parent company) of taking money but refusing to provide a service. I also planned to ask for £500 damages, for aggravation.

However, I thought that before going to court it could not do any harm to try an alternative solution which the person in Sheffield had suggested (log a call online) and this was followed by a string of emails and replies which found that the item was faulty and in need of repair (you dont say!).

Very unhelpfully these people refused to arrange a service call for me, but a day or so later I was fortunate enough to arrive home early be able able to call the number they suggested before it closed.

From then on I actually got some service (shock horror) and a repair.

So, in the end but after making life VERY difficult PCWorld / The Tech Guys came up trumps. Indeed, they came up double trumps, as I also got a real phone number out of them (01202, which I think is Bournemouth).

I will add that the repair was fast (barely a week). But the power supply for the monitor has come back with items inside which rattle if it is shaken. I think they must have opened it to test it (which is reasonable) but I am alarmed in case there are metal pieces which will short out. I think I'll have to open it myself and take a look.

Simon

[Doom_Machine]

...and then again some people have good experience's with staples. same goes for every company. i guess thats where the term "buyer beware" comes from.

[steveie85]

I never deal with staples for anything. I can go to walmart and buy all my office supplies in the stationary aisle cheaper then there. Plus if you buy something and find it cheaper, ie. a keyboard/mouse combo for half the price regularly they will question you if its a sale or not when it is not and they will fight not to give you the refund. I agree with buyer beware, you get what you pay for, or well sorta.

[DaveBurnett]

but only if it was a normal phone number (ie: 0114, for Sheffield) but as the number was an 0870 so he said 'no'. This was because my boss has a phone plan whereby normal numbers are free, wheras 0870's are expensive.

Many companies do the low call thing as they actually make money out of it.


You can look up most companies/numbers at this site http://www.saynoto0870.com/search.php . Staples is listed

[Taporsnap]

Wow, sounds like you really got the run around! I own an Xplio tower and have had it now for about two years, and have only had one problem with it. (It comes with a Two year Manufacturer Warranty - twice that of most) I called tech support once with a noisy fan issue aswell. I just wanted to ensure that if I opened the case I would not void my warranty. They were great and even encouraged me to open it to ensure that it was clean and was not a dirt issue. My fan was just a cleaning issue, and was running great and fairly quiet after a simple cleaning. I have now purchased 5 computers from Staples, and have had to send 2 away for warranty work under the extended service and both machines have been repaired without complaint. The first repair was extensive on my toshiba, and the other was a new hard drive and processor on a HP tower.

I have had several products repaced without issue under the extended service (a phone, printer,shredder and a monitor) and have recieved a buyout on a printer aswell, so you could say I have had quite a bit of experience with Staples warranties, and I have to say after all the hastles that I have had in the past with other electronics stores and their third party warranties I would not hesitate to buy the Staples warranties again in the future. In fact the reason I buy all my stuff at Staples now is because of the horrible service I have recieved everywhere else in the past. I just got fed up with it and when I gave Staples a shot they were a breath of fresh air in a industry of companies that seemed more interested in ripping me off after they had my money. Staples has always come through for me when I needed warranty taken care of.

If I were you I would give them another shot, and if they do not help you out ask for the district managers phone number, as the store I shop in actually had his business cards available at the service counter with the other managers cards, and I am sure he would set the store straight for you. That whole thing about yelling and making a stink in my opinion is just a like throwing a temper tantrum, and most people do not react well to kids let alone adults throwing a tantrum. It is usually not the best way to get assistance in my experience, you just become the weird customer that other customers do not want to be around and make yourself look bad.

Thats my two cents anyway, hope your issues are resolved one way or another!

[sharky]

About 4 years ago i bought a computer from Staples store,however because they did not have it in stock they would have to mail the computer to my address, arriving in 10 days. 15-20 days go by NO computer arrived.

My GF goes into Staples to see what happen. They find out the computer was sent to the wrong address, it was sent to BestBuy and BestBuy had the computer. Dont ask me why. The copy of our receipt showed our address, nevertheless the problem.

After Staples tells my GF the computer was misshiped,they stood around like end of conversation. No telling her what they were going to do. She comes homes,tells me, i called Staples customer service.
Eventually they sent another computer to our address and it arrived. I have noticed in the 4 years management and personnel at that particular store seems to keep turning over.

[Taporsnap]

You raise a good point about the people, as I have noticed that the store I have been dealing with in Red Deer, Alberta (the one out on the highway) has had a lot of changes to the staff, if fact it seems I see different people every time I go there. However, I have been dealing with the same guy Chris, whenever I can for about 6 years now, I think.(he's their tech guy for repairs and warranty stuff I think but I buy from him quite often )

Also the Manager that has helped me on a couple ocations seems to have been there for a lot of years too, and seems great I can't recall his name though Dave or Don maybe?!? I don't know, anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is perhaps I am lucky enough to have a Staples here that actually has some longer term people who care, as we all know that many staff at these box stores (and many other stores lately it seems) couldn't care less about thier jobs and I supose in turn the customers that they serve. Around here there are staff shortages everywhere and not enough people to fill all the jobs being offered. Every employer, including mine(a restaraunt) seem to always be hireing.

PS I just bought another PC from Chris yesterday, and he was a great help. If any one reading this thred is from around Red Deer alberta and is looking for a good computer guy I would definately recomend him, and also the store (though I have not really delt with too many of the other staff for any bigger purchases), as I have been really happy with them and have not gone back to BB or FS since they treated me so poorly before.

Take it easy!

[bp936]

amazing how they love to sell but ignore us afterwards.
Since my last post, first I bought a 360 GB backup drive, then: ACRONIS and backed up the whole stuff from XPLIO. I left the computer on all the time, but it closes on its own. Downloaded SPEEDFAN to see the temperature and it seems it shuts down when it reaches 89 degrees Celsius. I think that is too high.
Went back to Staples, still the same guy works there and is of no help.
After another snowstorm I managed to go to another city to another Staples store, explained my situation to the manager, where she told me I can bring the computer to that store.
|Ever since computer is quiet, (just like going to the dentist, pain is gone when you go there but you know it will be back) So I am keeping an eye on everything and logging when it shuts down etc. I won't give up just for the principle of it, still have 2 years paid extended warranty on it.
Otherwise I also had pretty good products from Staples and when I had to bring in my Toshiba laptop, they updated the BIOS and replaced the keyboard without any hassle. But that was years ago and it was a different manager.
I assume this guy didn't like me. So the saga goes on. I could buy another computer, but I just hate to have install all my programs, update them again, register them etc. on a new computer and then copy all my files back.
Presently I am writing down all my registration codes just in case.

[DaveBurnett]

Keep an eye on those temperatures.
90c is the default temperature for the CPU to shut itself down and is DOUBLE the temperatures that it should even be reaching in the middle of summer.

It indicates a physical build problem, which they may have found and fixed, but you need to check that it has been.

[steveie85]

If the CPU is getting that hot there is a problem with the heat sink/fan/thermal paste. Also another way to prevent over heating is get more or stronger cooling fans put in. If I have a computer brought into me and it is shutting down because it is getting to hot, first thing i do is pull everything apart and check all fans are good, that there is proper contact with the heat sink and i replace the thermal paste. If it happens again tell them to check all that stuff.

[bp936]

lots of snow here recently so I did not bring comp in yet. It always shuts down after a few hours. I guess it did get too hot. I will insist on fixing it, used my laptop in the meantime. *Unfortunately also from Staples) just hope I don't have to bring this one in.
I work with pictures on the desktop (restore old photos slowly in PaintShop) and I guess the computer doesn't like to get hot and shuts down on me.
Thanks for the further infos, heatsink etc.
-==waiting for spring to come back to life -myself and the computer--

[White Wolf 00]

Last year when I built my new PC, I wanted a proper version of Windows XP Pro, (Not that I would ever use a hacked version lol). Staples was the only place open to get a copy. I explained to the flunky on the floor, exactly what I was doing and added that I was going to be using this PC with a network. He recommended WinXP Pro 64 bit version. I almost messed me knickers when I went to pay for it. Just under $500. Approximately 8 months later, while on the Microsoft website, I came to realize that what I had was just a glorified version of XP Pro 32 bit version. I called the store and talked to a tech in repairs. He explained that 1) XP Pro 64 bit is just a numbers cruncher and that there is little support and very few programs that work on it. 2) The version that was recommended by their employee was not only useless to me but that it was totally unnecessary. XP home was better than XP Pro for the applications I wanted it for. I called back and talked to the department manager. 45 minutes later, I was at the store meeting with the store manager. At first he wouldn't accept responsibility for his employees stupidity, (actually, he was pretty good at scamming). Finally after a few threats and hostile words, I walked out with my $480 back and a free new copy of WinXp home and with the knowledge that the employee who scammed me no longer had a job, (yes, he was still working there and scamming customers).

Sometimes kind words work but when all else fails, you sometimes have to get nasty with them. I had been dealing with them since they opened the store. I haven't been back since.

[JohnWill]

A bigger hammer is sometimes called for.