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Office Depot Employee — "We Changed Prices Too"
Avram Piltch writes "Last week, LAPTOP reported that Office Depot employees were routinely lying to customers about notebook inventory, telling them that systems were out of stock if they didn't want to buy extended warranties or tech services. Now LAPTOP has spoken to more Office Depot associates, one of whom goes by the name Alex and reports widespread altering of prices in his region. He says he even Photoshops higher price tags on clearance notebooks so that associates can tell customers that they're getting a free warranty or tech service, when the price has been raised to cover it. LAPTOP also talked to a representative from the FTC, who would not comment on Office Depot specifically, but said that the sales practices described by LAPTOP clearly violate federal law."
Sadly, this is the attitude of many in sales in this country. Good Business is how much you can milk from your customers and how fast regardless of the consequences. I sat with a couple of sales guys (friends at that) last weekend who bragged back and forth about how they were literally screwing associates.
Paraphrasing a quote from The Grapes of Wrath, "Steal a tire and you're a criminal. Sell a man a tire with a hole in it and that's just good business."
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Well, except that for once sales people admit that they lie to customers.
Aware? Do you think a employee would actually care about that crappy company, to pull off shit like that?
I bet they even have to tell the employees that they can choose between lying to customers, or getting fired.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Sometimes though "reporting it" does absolutely no good. The damn government which is *supposed* to help the People which created it, refuses to do its job and crack-down on dishonest businessmen. Case in point:
I was staying at a Motel 6 week-after-week, and everything was great. Then about 6 months (and $3000 room rent) later the manager decided to no longer accept the "click to get 10% off" that I had been using via the website. I contacted the national office who said he MUST honor the rate. The manager responded by saying, "I am sick and tired of you. I told you I don't do the 10% off rate, and you refuse to listen so I'm kicking you out of the hotel." He ignored what the national office had told him to do (refund 10% of my money), and even went so far as to call the police and have them remove my luggage from the room. I complained to the Virginia Consumer Protection department, and they didn't do shit other than talk to the manager. The manager made-up a bunch of lies about how I had sex with a maid (false), yelled at employees (I'm quiet and timid, not a yeller), and falsified reservations (impossible; I'd have to hack the central corporate computer to do that). The VA government was completely worthless and this manager is still mistreating customers (I was not the only victim as it turns out).
Those reading this probably think this is non-relevant, except that it is. It goes back to Customer Service, and the lack thereof. Whether the product is hotel rooms or laptops, there is a prevailing attitude amongst Sales people and managers that WE the customer are there to serve them.
I hope the current economic collapse quickly corrects that misconception. Without customers, business can not survive. Mistreat the customer and soon you'll be the next Circuit City.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
When I worked electronics at Staples a few years back, 2 or 3 stores in our district were "reorganized" and all management at those stores fired for similar practices. One store was printing the higher price tags for big ticket items to sell warranties and replacement plans without having to even offer them. Another would lie about inventory levels on everything from printers to laptops.
All of this happened about 2 weeks after they sent 2 people from each store to the highest performing in our district for "training". This store had been performing TOO well, and as soon as the training session started, most of us start exchanging puzzled looks, as their methods were clearly against company policy.
Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?
The extended warranties and service plans would be FAR easier to sell if *those* things were honest in the first place!
Honestly, I tend to *like* the service plans, in theory, on many of the things I'd buy at a store like Office Depot. My resistance to them comes from being screwed over on multiple occasions when I went to actually USE one of them!
As one example, years ago, I purchased the 2 year extended plan for an HP inkjet printer I got for my work. I knew that out in the shop where it was used, they had a track record of breaking or wearing out the things on about a 1 1/2 year basis, so I figured it was a good gamble we'd use the plan. Sure enough, it broke down - so I called the ext. warranty toll-free number and tried to make a claim. Turns out the company went bankrupt and all warranties were transferred to a different firm. When I called THAT firm, they had "no record" of my warranty - and told me I needed to go to Office Depot and have them look it up in their file, and fax over proof.
I went through that whole fiasco, only to have the place refuse to pay to replace the printer with a comparable unit. Instead, they said all they were willing to do was mail me a check for the cost of the extended warranty and wash their hands of it!
As another example? I paid about $100 for a furniture warranty on a new sectional I bought at "Weekends Only". The microfiber started tearing in a corner, so I called to make a warranty claim. The place was *impossible* to work with though! They kept putting me on hold for 30 minutes or more and hanging up on me, or insisting the person handling the "Weekends Only" warranties was out of the office, and to "leave a voicemail". After leaving numerous messages, I got them to return my call a total of 2 times, both at odd hours (like late evenings, at my work number, when I was already long since back at home), so they left me messages simply saying they "tried to reach me" and to "give them a call back at my convenience". Never was able to get any service before the warranty expired, and I *still* have holes in my sectional!