Hi all:

I am a new member. Nice to join in!

I just wanted to share my experience at Staples today, and maybe receive some helpful responses. I recently bought a 8GB Ipod & a MP3 player at Staples (before Christmas). After Christmas, I saw that both these items were being sold at a cheaper cost at other stores. So I went to Staples today, believing that I can get a price match, which is stated in their policy on their webpage as follows: "If you find a lower advertised price on an in-stock new identical item from an Authorized Canadian dealer, now or within 30 days of your purchase (14 days on computers and laptops), just show us the price. We will match it and give you 10% of the difference as a credit to your purchase (maximum $50 credit)!".

I talked to the Manager, and he said that he can give me a price match only if I had a flyer with me, or if I can provide proof on the other stores' webpage (unfortunately, Staples cannot call the store up to confirm the prices). Anyways, I didn't have a flyer because either the flyers were all handed out on Boxing Day, or I had saw the lower cost on the Internet. I told the Manger this, and he was very helpful, and tried to look the price of the MP3 player (I didn't bother with the ipod at this time) on the webpage of the two stores that I indicated (i.e. Walmart & Best Buy). For Walmart, he told me he could not find the price of the MP3 player because no MP3s were listed on the webpage for him to click on, and that the webpage only showed ipods. He also said that there weren't a search tool. I did not believe him because I was on the website two days ago, and I was able to locate the MP3 that I was referring to. In fact, I tried to search the MP3 player again tonight, and I was able to do it in less than 1 minute. For Best Buy, he told me that their website indicated that the MP3 player was only being sold online, and because it is an online sale, he cannot give me a price match. I saw the exact same MP3 player being sold in large quantities at a lower price at one of the Best Buy stores yesterday. Unfortunately, the Staples manager said that I will need to provide him with actual proof (which I couldn't today since I didn't have a flyer).

I was so pissed off after my conversation with the manager. He was of no help, and he didn't seem convincing to me. I have opened the MP3 player already, so I cannot take it back for a refund. And I certainly do not want to make a trip to Best Buy, buy the MP3 player, and then return it at Staples (too much effort on my part).

Apologies for the long email. But does any one have any suggestions on how I can get the price difference? Thanks.

If the sale price is still in effect, I would print out the page from the internet and bring it to staples (make sure the header/footer showing the web page, date, etc. are also printed). If they still claim that it's not legitimate because that's not actual proof, the web page you were actually looking at will be displayed, so you can get the manager to go specifically to that page. If that does not work, I'd try contacting the staples head office, explain your situation, and say you have proof of the price difference - offer to fax them a copy of the web page. Worth a try at least. Let us know how it turn out.

no proof no price match. it is easy. why not give proof? in court u have to give proof too. no proof no win!

^^u know that actually seems more work than to return it and buy it at other store = =;
yes like they said...ask bestbuy or walmart for proof! or take a picture or something.

always have the flyer or print the web site where us aw the chaper price out. U are lucky the manager did try to look for it. Most place just tell u to go home and pirnt out the flyer urself.

i agree, when i bought my laptop from Bestbuy and saw it cheaper in a flyer, and online with the same company, i brought both the flyer in, as well as the page that was 'online" so that they couldn't argue with me. I know how customer service is, and i didn't want to make a trip to the store for nothing, so i made sure i had everything in hand.

And if they were to try and argue against me, i was going to say: ok fine, here is my laptop, here is my receipt, i want a refund, and i will never buy from you again.

Find a flyer, or print it out if you really want the price match

^that is the way to go! good job. :)

A couple of months ago I bough a laser colour printer from Staples and then a week later Future Shop advertised the exact same printer that was $75 cheaper AND they were giving away a free toner (retail for $90). So I went back to Staples with PROOF (the flyer). Not only did I in turn receive a free toner, I also got the 10% price match. No hassles. They were very helpful and stayed true to their policy. However I've found in the past that Future Shop isn't so helpful when it comes to price matches.

I think that if you want the benefits of a policy, to save yourself and the store any hassles it's best to at least provide proof. It makes sense anyways, and it prevents people from purposely claiming a cheaper price without verification.

true it's good to provide proof.

although, before xmas i went to BESTBUY to buy a digital camera, and i did some searching around to see if anyone else was having a sale or special. The camera was $50 cheaper at FUTURESHOP online, as well as VISIONS on their online flyer (i didn't have one). I couldn't print out either of them b/c both my printers were out of ink.....i decided to take the chance and go to BESTBUY and see if they'd pricematch (i hate futureshop b/c i always get hassles there).

Well the girl called Futureshop to see if they had the Camera, but they weren't answering their phones. So she called VISIONS and asked if they had the particular camera that I wanted and they said yes. Then she's like, how much are you selling it for??? Well the guy on the phone was an idiot and was like, oh it's $279..........she's like, well online your flyer says it's $249.....is it $249? He's like, oh, ya, ya, that's right. She then asked if they had any in stock and he said yes. She looked at me and rolled her eyes and was like, ooookkkkk someone doesn't know what they're doing.

In the end i got the camera for $50 cheaper, and it turns out the warranty ended up being $20 cheaper as well!! The girl was really nice, and she even threw in a free camera case as well!! This was at the Bestbuy near Coquitlam Centre.........i've never had any problems with that location and prefer driving there from BBY b/c i prefer the service there.

But yes, it's always a good idea to cover your A** b/c nobody else will, especially when it comes to customer service......it's your $$ not their's so most cust service people could care less if you save money or not (although when I work in cust service, I sometimes will tell custs when it's cheaper else where --> then again I don't work on commission which is probably why, lol)

Staples is really bad with their price matching policy. I was going to buy a Logitech keyboard from them and found out that Futureshop was selling it for $20 cheaper (before $10 MIR). I asked to pricematch and in the end the manager said that they won't price match because there's a mail-in-rebate offer. All in all their attitude was really horrible and even though their price match policy said they would match any promotion (I even read this to the manager) she said that she simply won't.

I say just avoid buying stuff from there unless it's dirt cheap. The service is horrendous.

Babyblue - glad that you got great service at Best Buy. It's quite fortunate that they called up different places for you to check on the prices. Because at Staples, they do not do any telephone calls to verify the prices!

Anyways, I just wanted to thank you all for the postings and sharing your experiences. I did go back to Staples again with actual proof this time (not a flyer though b/c I weren't able to find one that list the item I bought; instead, I just printed the Best Buy ad from online). I went to a diff Staples store this time, because the Manager I dealt with last time was not very friendly at all. This time, Manager #2 was much nicer. But in the end, I still couldn't get the price match b/c he told me that my proof (i.e. Best Buy ad) was printed during "Boxing Week" sale (i.e. Jan 1), and they don't do price match for boxing week sale items. So being frustrated as I am over this, I ended up refunding the mp3 player, and buying it at Best Buy at the lower cost.

u should have refund the keyboard and file iwht BBB and tell them u are going to file with BBB

I didn't buy the keyboard in the end because of the manager's attitude.

I heard Staples has had a few complaints filed with the BBB before but there wasn't any satisfactory conclusion, or none that I've heard of.

what does BBB stand for?

BBB stands for the Better Business Bureau - it is supposed to be a way of letting people know if a company has a bad reputation or not. What happens is, if a person wants to check up on a business, they dial the BBB and enter in the business's phone number. The BBB will then list how long they have been in business, whether they have any complaints about the company, and whether the complaints were resolved.

In theory, this is great, but the BBB has no power to actually make the company change it's ways - its only power is by letting people know if a company has problems. Also, it only works if people actually take the time to complain - some do, but you know what they say, for every one complaint, there are about 10 people who have not complained and stew in silence.