Use Staples Coupons Carefully

[2canoe]

Received today after placing Staples orders:

Email #1:

Subject:
Staples Order # xxxxxxxxx

Thank you for shopping at Staples.com!

Staples.com offers customers a wide selection of coupons. We pride ourselves in consistently being
able to extend savings above and beyond our everyday low prices. Occasionally one of our coupons is
not used as originally intended and we are forced to cancel orders that reflect its use.

Unfortunately your order has been affected by this and we regrettably had to cancel it. We apologize
for any inconvenience this may cause you and are working to enhance our systems to better serve you
in the future. Your order can still be placed at www.staples.com (http://www.staples.com) but certain coupons can no longer
be accepted.

Thank you for shopping at Staples.com,
Your Online Office Manager

Email #2:

Subject:
Re: This Customer Number has been Restricted by Staples Direct.

Thank you for shopping at Staples.com!

Unfortunately we are unable to process your order for delivery at this time. If you would like to
complete this transaction, you can purchase these items at your local Staples Store.

We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you. Please contact us if you need any
additional information regarding this issue.


Thank you for shopping at Staples.com,
Your Online Office Manager

I wonder if my online shopping at Staples is over forever. Any good workarounds to be shared by the bargain hunters here?

[blueribb]

You didn't say what you did to cause these letters. Did you stack or use dividend coupons ?

If you know you did something wrong then you got what you deserved. If not, fight it.

Staples has been GREAT to most people. It's a shame that some people cross the line and screw it up for the rest of us.

Glenn (TV Doc)

[crimsonburning]

I think saying that Staples has been great to MOST people is an over statement... There have definitely been more complaints than praises in the forums over the last few months. The problem rests not only with overuse of coupons, but with the "untidy" way Staples.com runs their business. An order placed with an "invalid" coupon might be caught by their systems but instead of just cancelling the orders, they will often ship you the product anyway and charge you full price for it. And the return service is HORRIBLE (at least in my experience in both Southern California and Philadelphia). I waited at home five days in a row (ALL DAY) for the return guy to come. Of course he never came and finally after the fifth day the warehouse calls and asks me if I want them to come pick something up! This was of course after several phone calls to Staples.com to ask why the pickup never came.

[Grizybaer]

I'M pretty happy with them, even with them maxing out my card a while ago, i forgive them. I ordered a phone yest, got 50 bux off, about 33% off, and i got today. their shipping is great. I ordered something from estyle last week and its still not here.

------------------
~Grizy
Great, so how much is shipping?

[Motabota]

I must add that my experience with Staples.com has been extraordinary.

I have placed many orders that I have felt rather guilty about, but were legit. I have only been treated with respect and found the CSR's to go out of their way to be helpful. I have even had conversations with some about what fantastic deals I was getting at Staples.

I do not attempt to trick them or treat the CRS's like idiots. If everyone I did business with were as professional and eager to help the customer as they are at Staples.com, I would have much less to bitch about.

Staples has the competition beat by a long shot.

I hope they continue to make my buying experience as pleasant in the future as in the past.

Mo

[LordPolo]

I have had nothing but good experience with Staples. I have seen a great many posts knocking them, and I don't see any good reason for it. (although I might just be really lucky) Until they start killing orders of mine and billing me wrong, I will stand by them 100 percent.

[the_dude8]

now since od does not do their lpg anymore..i think staples is the best place to shop because they offer many coupons kode and most of it r legit as long as ppl do not abuse them..

------------------
"Heroes Are Ordinary Men
Who Do Extraordinary Things
In Extraordinary Times"
(_8(|)

[larryxtreme]

I had a rather odd experience with Staples...

It happened back when they were offering a free zip drive with any digital camera purchase. So I purchased the Barbie Digital Camera. They called me and said that I couldn't use the coupon with the Barbie cam.

The way their coupons work is that when you enter in the coupon code, the refund you the money for the zip drive. When they ship it out, they charge you for it. That way, the total is zero dollars.

The weird thing is that they shipped the Barbie camera to me but not the zip drive. They told me to refuse the shipment of the camera, so I did. But since they never shipped the zip drive, the money they refunded me for it when I used the coupon code is still on my credit card. So I owe Staples around $100, but they haven't charged me for it yet... And it's been a while... like 2 months.

To play it safe, I'm not going to consider that hundred dollars my money yet... Some other dude assumed Staples forgot and they charged him like 3 months later.

[carpenoctem]

They've sent me three emails already concerning my use of a $40 coupon on a TI-89 that cost around 150 (i had to add a pen)...they claim the coupon is only good for catalog orders...I have emailed them back asking why it works through their online store if it is only good for catalog orders, and they wrote back:

We received your request to have coupon XXXXX added towards your order. We have refunded the amount
of $40.00.

So, we'll see how if comes out on the credit card, but if it does come out right, I appreciate them holding to the price I was quoted online...instead of just charging me the extra and not telling me...




------------------
And furthermore, I believe that Carthage should be destroyed.

[blxmjx]

I got screwed by staples too. They flagged my account for using invalid coupons too. I tried stacking coupons from that previously locked consumer advocate post, which was cancelled. I then tried to use the code for the 40 off of the 150 coupon to buy the pixie monitor and it didn't work on the website. I then called in my order as apex suggested. The lady took my order then put me on hold. When she came back she told me that my order was restricted and that I could no longer use coupons. At this point I was pretty peeved because I really wanted the cheap monitor. So I went to the B&M store nearby and bought the monitor there using the same 40 off 150 code. Ha, Ha staples, I got the last laugh.

Lesson learned, I will no longer use questionable coupons especially from questionable sources.

[2canoe]

What is required to use a coupon in the store? Do you need a papre coupon, printout, etc.?

Right - be more careful of sources.

[sklim1]

If you're a veteran of staples deals then this is nothing new. Ahhh, I remember the early days when all my stacking deals went thru. $100 worth of stuff for practically nothing...

[pop-eye-]

i fondly remember getting that 8x hp burner for 115...

[crimsonburning]

I think you guys who have had good experiences with Staples are either lucky or I just have the worst of luck. I have never attempted to use the really big coupons. I got screwed just by using small coupons (like $5-$10 off ones) and when using their rebates. There was a time when my order went through for an item that had a mail in rebate attached. The rebate expired the a few days later and when I calld Staples to ask why I hadn't received my order yet, they told me they never received my order. Then they told me that if I tried to reorder the item, I wouldn't get the rebate becuase that had already expired. Then a few days later my item came anyway but the date that the order posted was still after the rebate expiration date! Anyway, you can see where this all went. In the end I wasted too much time calling and waiting for the pickup guy to come (took him 2 weeks) and to finally credit my card back.

I think the only good experience I had with Staples was this very last one... but that's only one out of at least 10 orders that I have done with them.

[blxmjx]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 2canoe:
What is required to use a coupon in the store? Do you need a papre coupon, printout, etc.?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

What I did up at the register was tell the cashier that I had tried to purchase the monitor over the internet but that it was out of stock. I then proceed to inform her that the internet CSR told me to go to a B&M store to purchase the monitor and that the coupon code would still be valid. I then told her the code and details of the code. She then called the manager and I told him the same story. He said that it would be okay to do that. I sent my father in-law and two friends to do the same thing and it worked all three times.

The CSR was pretty cool about it too. After telling me that I was restricted from using coupons on the internet she gave me the idea about going to a B&M store to use the coupon.

[shmosely]

Throwing some fuel on the Staples fire...

When they had that Situations Leather Chair for like $49 after rebate and coupon, I researched it and looked at other chairs for a couple hours, and I even entered my zip code on staples.com so it would show me inventory in my area, and the chair was listed.

So, I finally decided to purchase the chair, add it to my cart, add the coupons, fill out all my information, cc info, etc. Next day they email me and say that they can't ship to my area because UPS can't ship furniture for them or some nonsense and my order was cancelled. THANKS FOR THE INFO!

[asian_panda]

what kind of excuse is this. UPS probably can even ship that person's mother if that's available. heck UPS even ship hazardous materials if i recall.

[2canoe]

Thanks for the explanation, blxmjx. Before you posted, I had gone into the local Staples store and inquired about using the coupons. The associate checked with someone else with the outcome being rejection, though I did not request to speak to a manager. The sales associate also rejected my request to use a pricematch from an internet seller. Too bad, as I was ready to drop $600-700.

After returning home, I called another store, which is 10 miles away. After inquiring about product, I then gave the sales associate a general question regarding use of the 25 off 100 and 40 off 200 types of coupons in the store. "Certainly" she replied, "as long as they are still valid." She also gave me an affirmative answer to pricematching to internet etailers. Guess where I'll be shopping?

It seems that in the stores, as with their online store and 1-800 ordering, there is quite a bit of latitude in what can be accomplished without getting one's hand slapped. Unfortunately, it is not uniformly applied. Not a great business model for the long haul. Consistency is a key ingredient to repeat customer business. Maybe they will learn, maybe not.

[2canoe]

Since the first rejection, I have visited two more Staples B&M. Each time I walked out with a Compaq 7594, monitor and printer. They both honored the price matches from my internet sources. One added a shipping charge, one did not. I had copies from the web sites to which I price matched, so they did not hassle me on that.

Using the $$ off $$ coupons was another story. The first B&M would allow only one to be used for the entire purchase, and would not allow the instant savings of $100 if I chose to purchase the 3 items separately. Blah.

The second B&M would not allow any of them unless I had an original or a copy of the source document. I just had five digits, so no go. However, they did give me the option to produce the source documents ex post facto, so if I can get my hands on a few copies, I can recoup an extra $100 or so.

Anyone out there have the original postcards, newspaper ads or emails and willing to email me a copy? Thanking you in advance .....

[Jedidian]

2canoe: I have two of those postcards. One is for $40 off of $200 other is $20/$100.

Contact me at: [email protected] and I'll get those to you. I'll warn you ahead of time that the cards say online use only.