Office Max events

From: Gary Hildebrand <ghldbrd_at_ccp.com>
Date: Thu Apr 18 23:30:47 2002

Businesses are like that all over, not just Office Max. I once asked
one of their people about a laplink cable and they had absolutely NO
idea what I was talking about.

Everybody takes the Wal-Mart approach to retailing . . the customer
should know what he's getting, and offer no advice or suggestions. And
never make promises you can't keep.

You can raise a stink about that, but they really don't care, as long as
the dollars keep flowing, and they will with or without your patronage.

Gary Hildebrand
St. Joseph, MO


Mzthompson_at_aol.com wrote:
>
> Event #1
>
> I went to OM earlier today to take pick up a UPS that was on sale.
> Their ad from last Sunday's paper lists a unit at $20 off (and no
> friggin' rebates to mess with). The ad listed the unit as 500VA.
>
> When I get to the store, the clerk points it out to me and the unit is
> 350VA. I say whoa, it is listed in the ad as 500VA. Turns out they
> list the model number for a 350VA unit and spec it at 500VA. I asked
> to see the manager, who already knows me (more on that later). This
> time I got stuck with the assistant manager. She states that it must
> be a misprint and she can't be held responsible for printing errors.
>
> I don't mind saying that I am getting tired of employees who will not
> take responsibilty. So I read her my riot act mentioning that she is
> standing here as a representive of OM and in my eyes is responsible.
> I also point to Staples (across the street) and mention the fact
> that a young man over there was also not responsible and after my
> complaint to Staples on their web sight, he got lectures from the
> higher ups, not to mention the phone calls that I got from district
> and regional managers seeking to make sure I became a satisfied
> customer.
>
> Anyway, back to this gal at OM. I mentioned to her that listing the
> model number of the 350VA unit and the spec of the 500VA unit might
> be construed as "bait & switch". With that she looked up the price
> of the 500VA unit and said she would sell it to me for 40 bucks off.
>
> Event #2
>
> A few weeks ago I want to OM to buy another sale item. They had a
> CD-R 100 pack listed for $40 with a $30 rebate. What caught my eye
> was that they were 650 mb. My CD Burner drive is an earlier model,
> and does not like these new-fangled 700 mb thingies.
>
> So I go into OM and can't find them. A clerk comes along and I show
> him the ad and tell him that is what I want. He leads me to the big
> display of 700 mb. I point to the ad and tell him I want what is
> advertised, not these. You ever noticed how these clerks become
> dumbfounded and clam up at this point. He suggests I talk to the
> manager. I did and here again I mention that trying to substitute
> 750 mb for the advertised 650 mb might be construed as "bait & switch".
> With that she took my name and phone number and said she would get
> back to me. She did, she called two days later and said she had
> 2 100 packs for me. I indicated I only want the one because of the
> rebate limit. She then explained that the 2nd one was complimentary
> for my trouble. Now if I just get the rebate, that's 200 CD-R blanks
> for $10.
>
> Event #3
>
> Speaking of rebates. I bought some memory at OM and sent in the rebate.
> Three months later I had not received the money. So I took all the
> paperwork into the store. Lo and behold, they have a form for just
> that. I filled it out and they gave me the $50 rebate right there.
> Why don't they just do that in the first place?
>
> Why you ask am I still going into OM? In this town there just isn't
> much else and they seem to have better sales.
>
> I share all of this because you need to watch out if you are dealing
> with OM. If they try to pull a fast one, namely "bait & switch", then
> call them on it. Maybe they will learn to get their ads right, or at
> least you may get a deal.
>
> Mike
Received on Thu Apr 18 2002 - 23:30:47 BST