Previously I regaled you with the failures and foibles of Michael; however, I neglected to include one of the most ironic bits of yesterday's woes.
Hence, P.S.
Before leaving our young salesman and crew, my friend ask if they'd call and let her know if her computer happened to come in on their regular delivery schedule Wednesday.
Apparently they get a shipment weekly with a variety of different items that the main branch has decided needs to "move" that week. So randomly, the item she ordered due in 4 days could possibly arrive early.
When she ask this innocently appropriate question, Michael immediately reacted. He started looking around the register he was standing at, going through shelves and drawers...with obviously no success in finding what he was looking for he moved over to the next register, and then the next; once again visibly frustrated by not finding what he was searching for. As his frustration mounted he began darting to-and-fro. Finally running to the main counter, he began to rifle through every shelf and drawer. As his anxiety increased, a light bulb suddenly appeared above my head and I reached into the side pocket of my purse where I'd jammed some sticky notes just before leaving work to meet my friend!
Michael, a nervous sweat forming on his brow, for an untold number of frantic minutes, had been searching desperately for a sticky note to write my friend's phone number on as a reminder to call her. At the same instant I pulled the stashed, yellow pad from my purse, Michael produced an exact duplicate, our hands thrusts the notepads towards each other in an intense release of spontaneous success! I can't make this stuff up you guys, this is true, Michael, a Staples employee, needed to write himself a note, and could not locate a sticky note in Staples.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Over the 'Top
A knack for organization and a penchant for logic is not necessarily to my benefit. Yesterday's experience at the local Staples is proof in point...to the point of pointless...
A friend ask me for help in purchase of a laptop, so I did a little shopping around online and came up with a nice machine at a reasonable price at Staples Office Supply. I called our local store and was told they had 2 of this item currently in stock.
Armed with a printed description, item #, and list of specs, we arrived to make the purchase of said laptop; believing this to be a simple, in-and-out process. As we were looking at the display model a young salesperson immediately stepped up to help us. "Michael" looked to be in the 20 to 22 age range; an age you'd assume that would give him an advantage in a retail establishment selling technology.
We'd indicated to Michael which particular laptop we wanted and told him that I'd spoken to an associate a few hours earlier and was informed there were two in stock. Michael proceeded to the main checkout counter as we were left staring at our prospective purchase. After about 5 minutes it seemed as if Michael had abandoned us, so I went over to speak with him at the front counter. He said that there were only two keys to open the area where the stored computers were and they were both being used by other associates currently; so we'd have to wait a few minutes...
My friend and I continued to chat and stare at our prospective purchase, shortly Michael arrived to inform us that the two laptops in stock were: the display model which was currently holding our attention, and a broken one that had been returned.
Mind you, the main factor that contributed to me walking in the door was the prearranged assurance that the item I wished to purchase was in stock.
My friend was disappointed but reluctantly decided to order the laptop, with the reassurance from Michael that it would be here within 4 days. He escorted us to a computer to fill out name and address for shipping purposes; in turn Michael proceeded to put in the local store's info to have it shipped there. After several attempts it was clear that he was not coming up with the Red Bluff store's address. After the third or fourth attempt he ask me if "Red Bluff" was one or two words. I said, "It's two words, and you're not from Red Bluff then?" When he told me he was from Red Bluff my friend looked over at me and said "that's strike two." In my mind it was at least "three."
Finally, Michael was able to bring up the correct address, he shuffled around the computer and came up with some paper that had already been printed on one side to feed into the printer; realizing that he had not put in enough paper after the printer had begun he ran back to the main counter, grabbed some more paper and stuffed it into the printer in mid-print. Immediately, it started pulling in two and three pieces of paper at a time and jammed. He popped open the front, pulling out the jammed paper, and after a few unsuccessful tries was unable to get it working.
I said "if you turn it off and then back on again it may work" and his reply being "it'll lose all the information and I'll have to reenter it."
Once again Michael left us and came back with his manager, who got it working again but all the information was lost anyway, despite Michael's reluctance to restart the printer. He then told us that he'd have to take us up to the main counter and reenter the information himself. After he'd done so, he took us over to the checkout counter and "rang up" the purchase, and a few accessories at the register. On this particular item there was an in-store instant rebate plus a $50 mail-in rebate. The receipt printed out without a hitch at the register, but when he printed the mail-in rebate form it cut off the wording on the right hand side of the page and was not necessarily legible.
My friend requested that he reprint it because she wanted to make sure she had all the correct instructions and information to get her rebate. Michael after another attempt at a different printer was unable to print the form correctly. He called his supervisor over once again and told him the situation, he in-turn tried the "printer in the back" which printed out a completely different form.
I said "this isn't even the same form" to which Michael replied "okay, well you can just fill it out online at home"...to which I replied "my friend can't do that, she's not online and she doesn't have a computer;" at least one of us realized this was redundant information and it wasn't Michael.
He then volunteered to fill out the rebate form online in the store for us, after getting a "code number" from his supervisor to do so; after many unsuccessful attempts he explained the situation to another associate behind the counter. He was told that the number was incorrect, which led to another conversation with the supervisor.
The supervisor "explained" that they couldn't submit the rebate form online since the purchase had just been made, but rather, to wait and fill it out after picking up the computer since it was due to be shipped to the store within 4 days. What strike is that? I'd have to go back and count...but not quite yet.
Michael went on to explain to us that the store has a 14 day return policy from date of purchase, and with his date stamp positioned over the receipt I said "but she doesn't even have the computer yet, it won't be here for 4 more days, how can it be a 14 day return policy? That would be a 10 day return policy; if you stamp it with today's date."
This burst of logic on my part once again prompted the supervisor's involvement; he proceeded to tell us two more times that their store had a 14 day from date of purchase return policy; which of course prompted me to state twice again "that would make it a 10 day return option, since she's not getting the computer for 4 days."
Mind you, we'd now been in Staples for an hour and 15 minutes, and had spoken with all three male employees in the store. I attribute my mental stamina and emotional control solely to the detailed vision of the alcoholic beverage that would be touching my lips within minutes of exiting this store.
The manager, obviously worn down from the experience (and possibly a teetotaler) reluctantly told Michael to "hold-off" stamping the current date on the receipt; and that they would date it when we returned in 4 days to pick up the laptop.
As we stepped out the door my self-control had reached its limit and a rather loud litany of swear words began to escape my lips, which continued as I unlocked the door to my vehicle and started the engine.
My friend offered dinner, and I replied "anywhere that serves adult beverages." After two beers in less than ten minutes I was beginning to relax and count my blessings; mainly that none of my three children worked at Staples.
Last night, as I settled down at my own personal computer, safely at home with another adult beverage at my side, I opened my email and found two separate order confirmation emails from Staples, (since my friend does not yet have email, we used my address) with two different order numbers, both for a laptop computer. When Michael had to reenter my friends address information he put in the wrong apartment number. Does this technically mean that she can pick up two laptops, even though she only ordered and paid for one? If we use the same logic as the 14 day return policy, she just may have a case...
A friend ask me for help in purchase of a laptop, so I did a little shopping around online and came up with a nice machine at a reasonable price at Staples Office Supply. I called our local store and was told they had 2 of this item currently in stock.
Armed with a printed description, item #, and list of specs, we arrived to make the purchase of said laptop; believing this to be a simple, in-and-out process. As we were looking at the display model a young salesperson immediately stepped up to help us. "Michael" looked to be in the 20 to 22 age range; an age you'd assume that would give him an advantage in a retail establishment selling technology.
We'd indicated to Michael which particular laptop we wanted and told him that I'd spoken to an associate a few hours earlier and was informed there were two in stock. Michael proceeded to the main checkout counter as we were left staring at our prospective purchase. After about 5 minutes it seemed as if Michael had abandoned us, so I went over to speak with him at the front counter. He said that there were only two keys to open the area where the stored computers were and they were both being used by other associates currently; so we'd have to wait a few minutes...
My friend and I continued to chat and stare at our prospective purchase, shortly Michael arrived to inform us that the two laptops in stock were: the display model which was currently holding our attention, and a broken one that had been returned.
Mind you, the main factor that contributed to me walking in the door was the prearranged assurance that the item I wished to purchase was in stock.
My friend was disappointed but reluctantly decided to order the laptop, with the reassurance from Michael that it would be here within 4 days. He escorted us to a computer to fill out name and address for shipping purposes; in turn Michael proceeded to put in the local store's info to have it shipped there. After several attempts it was clear that he was not coming up with the Red Bluff store's address. After the third or fourth attempt he ask me if "Red Bluff" was one or two words. I said, "It's two words, and you're not from Red Bluff then?" When he told me he was from Red Bluff my friend looked over at me and said "that's strike two." In my mind it was at least "three."
Finally, Michael was able to bring up the correct address, he shuffled around the computer and came up with some paper that had already been printed on one side to feed into the printer; realizing that he had not put in enough paper after the printer had begun he ran back to the main counter, grabbed some more paper and stuffed it into the printer in mid-print. Immediately, it started pulling in two and three pieces of paper at a time and jammed. He popped open the front, pulling out the jammed paper, and after a few unsuccessful tries was unable to get it working.
I said "if you turn it off and then back on again it may work" and his reply being "it'll lose all the information and I'll have to reenter it."
Once again Michael left us and came back with his manager, who got it working again but all the information was lost anyway, despite Michael's reluctance to restart the printer. He then told us that he'd have to take us up to the main counter and reenter the information himself. After he'd done so, he took us over to the checkout counter and "rang up" the purchase, and a few accessories at the register. On this particular item there was an in-store instant rebate plus a $50 mail-in rebate. The receipt printed out without a hitch at the register, but when he printed the mail-in rebate form it cut off the wording on the right hand side of the page and was not necessarily legible.
My friend requested that he reprint it because she wanted to make sure she had all the correct instructions and information to get her rebate. Michael after another attempt at a different printer was unable to print the form correctly. He called his supervisor over once again and told him the situation, he in-turn tried the "printer in the back" which printed out a completely different form.
I said "this isn't even the same form" to which Michael replied "okay, well you can just fill it out online at home"...to which I replied "my friend can't do that, she's not online and she doesn't have a computer;" at least one of us realized this was redundant information and it wasn't Michael.
He then volunteered to fill out the rebate form online in the store for us, after getting a "code number" from his supervisor to do so; after many unsuccessful attempts he explained the situation to another associate behind the counter. He was told that the number was incorrect, which led to another conversation with the supervisor.
The supervisor "explained" that they couldn't submit the rebate form online since the purchase had just been made, but rather, to wait and fill it out after picking up the computer since it was due to be shipped to the store within 4 days. What strike is that? I'd have to go back and count...but not quite yet.
Michael went on to explain to us that the store has a 14 day return policy from date of purchase, and with his date stamp positioned over the receipt I said "but she doesn't even have the computer yet, it won't be here for 4 more days, how can it be a 14 day return policy? That would be a 10 day return policy; if you stamp it with today's date."
This burst of logic on my part once again prompted the supervisor's involvement; he proceeded to tell us two more times that their store had a 14 day from date of purchase return policy; which of course prompted me to state twice again "that would make it a 10 day return option, since she's not getting the computer for 4 days."
Mind you, we'd now been in Staples for an hour and 15 minutes, and had spoken with all three male employees in the store. I attribute my mental stamina and emotional control solely to the detailed vision of the alcoholic beverage that would be touching my lips within minutes of exiting this store.
The manager, obviously worn down from the experience (and possibly a teetotaler) reluctantly told Michael to "hold-off" stamping the current date on the receipt; and that they would date it when we returned in 4 days to pick up the laptop.
As we stepped out the door my self-control had reached its limit and a rather loud litany of swear words began to escape my lips, which continued as I unlocked the door to my vehicle and started the engine.
My friend offered dinner, and I replied "anywhere that serves adult beverages." After two beers in less than ten minutes I was beginning to relax and count my blessings; mainly that none of my three children worked at Staples.
Last night, as I settled down at my own personal computer, safely at home with another adult beverage at my side, I opened my email and found two separate order confirmation emails from Staples, (since my friend does not yet have email, we used my address) with two different order numbers, both for a laptop computer. When Michael had to reenter my friends address information he put in the wrong apartment number. Does this technically mean that she can pick up two laptops, even though she only ordered and paid for one? If we use the same logic as the 14 day return policy, she just may have a case...
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