Office Depot Lie to Customers About Laptop Stock

[tayb]

This couldn't be more true. I worked at Office Depot for two years in college before I got an internship and it was laughable.

They call the extras "market basket" and you are supposed to get 50% "market basket" on each sale. The store managers and down would honestly DISCOUNT a product substantially if it meant they could get a Plan, a Case, a Printer, Ink, and Paper. If you ever sent a laptop or desktop out at 0% (nothing but the unit) you immediately got a call from the manager. It isn't as if you could hide it either because the cashiers are supposed to call out when any "market basket item" is sold and they ask you what you sold with it.

I have come to a manager telling him I need a laptop from lock up and he'll ask me "what are you getting with it" and when I tell him nothing I'm told to tell the customer we don't have any. Even worse is when the MANAGER would send the customer to another store despite having inventory of the product.

Not all managers were bad. The supplies manager, furniture manager, and print services managers never dealt with market basket. The store manager, assistant manager, and technology department manager were PATHETIC. Absolutely PATHETIC.

 

[Guest]

I work for one of the larger retailers who makes very little to no profit on laptop sales without protection plans. Technically stores have a right to not sell merchandise to customers, depending on what they will be purchasing with them. It is a business after all, they are trying to make money. How can someone be competitive price-wise and still turn a profit when the margin is so little, it barely pays for the associates hourly wages. Then again, with the company I represent it's not common practice and is discouraged by corporate and the managers to lie about stock. Replacement plans are an option, not required. However it is also common knowledge that if you're going to purchase a new computer from a store, prepare for a bag of tricks. Aren't car salesman the same? And all they are trying to do is make a living.

 

[Tekkamanraiden]

I used to work for EBgames part time while I was going to school. The manager used to ride me over the fact I didn't sell enough extended warranties. It was one of the reasons I quit and got a decent paying full time job.

 

[jerreece]

I worked @ Best Buy years ago. And this sort of thing was a big deal back then too. (circa 2000?) We didn't get perks, bonuses, etc. However each department was held to a standard for attachment percentages. It was a rivalry between departments in some ways. But if your numbers were low, the heat came down on you from management to perform.

If you couldn't get customers to buy the attachments, you got transferred to another department, or got to run a cash register. After I left they started making cashiers offer free magazine subscriptions and such.

I like Best Buy in general, but it's not the most comfortable place to shop these days. There's to much extra crap they try to get you to add on to your sale and I just don't enjoy that.

Next time you're in a Best Buy, listen to see if you hear a manager announcing percentages over the loudspeaker. That's their way of publicly announcing which departments are keeping up and which ones aren't.

Nobody I worked with every lied about laptop stock that I'm aware of. But it wouldn't surprise me with the pressure put on these kids.

 

[mdillenbeck]

[citation][nom]anonymous1999[/nom]I work for one of the larger retailers who makes very little to no profit on laptop sales without protection plans. Technically stores have a right to not sell merchandise to customers, depending on what they will be purchasing with them. It is a business after all, they are trying to make money.[/citation]

Not entirely true. In the USA, most businesses reserve the right to refuse service (as long as that refusal isn't discriminatory in nature, such as refusing to serve all Asian women).

However, if a product is advertised for a set price, then that is the price you must honor. If a customer is required to get a protection plan, that must be noted on the advertisement in some manner ('additional charges apply', 'with purchase of protection plan', and so forth). Otherwise, the business steps into the realm of false advertising and bait-and-switch marketing. (A price tag on a shelf does constitute and 'advertisement'.)

Unfortunately, if a business sets a price and advertises it to the public, they had their opportunity to ensure they would make a profit. If they say "with additional purchases" or "after rebate", they have put a way out - they have disclosed there are hidden charges that the customer is responsible for finding out.

Lets use another business as an example. I pull up to the pump at a gas station and say "fill 'er up." The attendant says "will you be buying any milk, cigarettes, candy bars, or sodas today?" I say "Nope, just want the gas." (NOTE: Gas is a very low profit margin item like the laptop, and the stuff inside is like computer cables - its where the money is made.) The attendant says "Sorry, we're all out of gas right now." Why? No profit in selling gas without add-on purchases, but I don't think any of us would say that they have a right to advertise gasoline at $2 or $3 or $4 a gallon, but sell it to us only if we buy enough to make a profit. Same goes with computers or fitness equipment or a car or whatever.

Of course, the belief that they have the right to refuse to sell you a product at an advertised price is exactly what they want. Can they refuse to sell? You bet. May they refuse to sell? Not a chance. If you really think you are scammed, immediately call a friend to inquire about the exact same product with all the extras, get it up to the register, and THEN step in and confront them with the "out of stock item" and have your friend conveniently defer to you for the purchase of the laptop alone.

 

[Guest]

i have been in retail 20 years and have seen it all. I have worked for depot longer than most people...its retail and thats life....we do not tell salesmen to lie about that but some managers take it upon themselves to do that and they get fired and by the way you wont get fired if you dont sell enough ppps or tds...thats bullshit...those guys that say they have been are pissed because they got fired for stealing or for stupid shit...ill be honest theres no way you can be fired from depot unless your stealing or you hit a customer or an employee...i should know i have been there more than ten years... and for those assholes that say they hope depot goes the same way cc did...fuck you thats my job and my life hope your job goes to the shits...

 

[slob]

I've worked for Best Buy a while now, and I admit, there's constantly pressure to attach. We're always told to push for accessories, services, and Black Tie Protection (basically insurance) and that all those combined should total about 30% of the sale. That means someone has $1000 to spend, I'm supposed to show them to a $700 laptop (no matter if it's overpowered/underpowered/inadequate for their purposes) and push for the rest of those extras. Once I've attached everything I can as a computer associate, I'm supposed to take the customer up to Geek Squad where they get drilled *again* about getting these extras before they check out. I've had people so frustrated, by the time an "Agent" talks to them, they walk out. If we hand the customer off with a computer ala cart, then the manager at Geek Squad drills *us* in the computer department about keeping up our numbers. Personally, I think It's great that we can sell the computers without them being that expensive, especially for everyday home use. I've never been told to lie about our stock either. On the other hand, for some reason it becomes our job to pick up the slack. Our attachment goals that our manager gives us puts so much more pressure on the sales reps to perform. Fortunately, most of us back in our computer department don't care about the numbers, we try to focus on the person and what kind of computer they need. It is the only thing that keeps me from going crazy from being yelled at for doing my job some days.

 

[Guest]

I thought I would get the "hard" sell when buying a $350 Acer laptop at Best Buy a few weeks ago, but was pleasantly surprised. Our local store is stocking computers directly below the display models. I just picked one up and walked to the register. I told the cashier I didn't want the extended warranty before they even asked me... and simply paid and left.

 

[Guest]

@slob the difference there at Best Buy is that no one is on a commission, whereas that's not always the case in retail.

One thing that is common across all outlets is selling computers at or below cost, which is what makes it such a hard field to be profitable in.

To my way of thinking, a computer by itself is prob'ly not a solution to most people's needs - you're gonna want a case & mouse for a laptop, a battery backup or surge for desktop, and you'll for sure need blank DVDs, stuff like that.

As far as hiding product from customers, unless it's being saved for an ad special or something like that, I've never seen it, and it's absurd to think it'd be at all rational. Even if you only make a percent or two on the sale, at least you're boosting revenue and marketshare.

I never worked at an Office Depot, but if you read the original report, it's not credible journalism, even by today's standards.

 

[takealready]

Before I was promoted to a Sales Support Manager (meaning Tech Depot Manager at Office Depot), I was constantly being pushed to lie to customers about everything. I was always told that if they don't know..Take advantage of that. I wasn't comfortable about lying to customers, so I refused to only because I was constantly having to clean up after one of my co-workers who were always lying (just so they can get "Market Basket" and Product Protection Plans aka PPP's).

But long story short going from regular part-time to Customer Service Specialists (Full-time employee) to Tech Depot Manager, I told my guys that don't lie to them. Just tell them the truth, they will come back to my store because they will see that we have a honest running store. And sure enough that honesty worked (even though it put me in hot water with my store manager a lot).

Yes corperate A-Holes are always pushing for market basket (selling related accessories).

Yes I was written up for not bringing in enough money. My store was a $6 Million a year store (and Tech Depot brings in 60% of the revenue for any/all Office Depot stores).

No you won't be fired if you don't sell PPP's and get market Basket. If you do get fired it's for some performance realated B.S. (That's why they fired me).

I'm surprised no one has done this report about O.D or The Depot (as we called it) sooner.

 

[Guest]

I work at a Staples store and yes we are strongly encouraged to sell Protection plans and Tech services. Sometimes it can work out favorably for everyone, for example we could fix your 1.5 year old desktop for $200 instead of you buying a new one for $350. We make huge margin on that repair and you do save some coin. Other times it's just a plain rip-off, Protection Plans are ~%60 margin. My managers have tried explaining to me in the most convoluted logic how they are actually beneficial to customers lol. I am usually the top seller in the store, and I know that with every plan I sell I'm ripping someone off, I don't try to justify it in any way other than that it makes my life easier to keep management off my back. (I still don't sell them to friends or family). I don't think that this is hurting our buisness since most of our competitors do it, and we DO try to be friendly about fucking you over.

 

[fuser]

People actually buy computers at Office Depot? Wow.

 

[omnimodis78]

As someone who works in the retail industry in Canada, at Bestbuy, I have first hand experience with such matters. Yes, services and accessories are what really drive the retail industry, and not so much the core product itself (i.e. the laptop. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who is slightly knowledgeable about the world retail market. Depending on what you are buying, yes, service plans do make sense and I honestly would encourage you to at least strongly consider it; while on other items it's so damn ridiculous that i don't even offer it because i simply will not make an ass out of myself to even mention it... But there is one thing that I absolutely must mention: nearly every time a customer buys something of value (computer, camera, mp3 player, etc) and they are having issues with the product, they always (!) come in to the store and bitch at us...and we tell them straight up that if they didn't INVEST into a service plan, they have to get support from the manufacturer. Wow, they always get pissed!!!!!!!! Sorry, that is life...and if you thought that $200 was too expensive for a 3 year coverage on your $1000 laptop, then good luck dealing with the manufacturer's limited warranty. You are in for a nice surprise. I don't condone lying to customers, and I have no respect for managers who terrorize their staff - but in this day of age, you get what you pay for.

 

[JonnyDough]

[citation][nom]briandr[/nom]
You cant just take a few instances of dishonesty and make an accurate judgment on the company as a whole.[/citation]

Actually, that's EXACTLY what you should do. That's like saying a manager isn't responsible for what employees do. WRONG!

It's time to banish huge corporations and get back to the great basics, like SERVICE and LOCAL BUSINESS!

 

[michaeljr73]

I worked at Circuit City back in the early 90s when it was still a spiff orientated store.. spiffs were add ons to the sticker price.. so if you sold a 2000$ TV, it would have a 100$ spiff on it.. making the TV 2100$...that spiff was yours when you sold it.. you were encouraged.. well, almost forced, to make sure that you made more in spiffs per week than your hourly wage.. if you got paid by the company, then you were spoken to.. so this Pushed the sales staff to compete at the customers dime.. I got let go when I gave some sales to another sales associate when I knew I wasn't going to make my spiffs that month (happen to be around Christmas) but I knew he could use the money.. to the company, that was stealing.. because that month, they had to pay me by 6$ an hour wage.. I gave him, maybe 300$ in spiff.. couple of computer sales.. and that was enough to almost take me to court and have the police involved.. I guess they didn't understand that 6$ an hour was just fine to me than to lie, cheat or steal to make more..

at that time, some of the sales staff were pulling in 90,000$ a year.. they also reminded you of "The Cadillac Man" with Robin Williams.

When Walmart and Best Buy came into the picture, it changed that sales format..

I worked at CC just a few years ago, this time as a Firedog Tech.. I've been in the IT field for 15 years and was just doing this as a get out of the house job after leaving some a more pressured IT job.. I could fix anything they had.. sometimes, fixing more than the other 2 techs together.. but because i was to busy FIXING, I wasn't able to SELL the services as effective as the others.. after 4 months of a near perfect track record for helping customers, I was pulled away from fixing computer, to go work the sales floor so that I would learn how to sell.. I had to change my shirt to the red one, so no one would talk to me, and they put the better SALESMAN in the Green shirts, to make the customer feel they knew more about the computer, thus they could sell more services because the customer should respect the Firedogs guys more than just a sales guy.. unfortunately.. they didn't know how to fix them as well, so with in a few weeks, they were behind on repairs.. I left a week after that.. even though they changed their sales policy, public view of it that is.. it was the same police from years before..


this is why they went out of business.. stock owners came first.. customer 2nd.. workers 3rd... I was told, to my face, between the lines, to lie.. cheat.. and or change the perception of what I was doing, to make the service sale at all cost.. that a customer with a service sale, over took a customer who's computer was there for a week.. money was #1.. the customer #2..

it was a constant push to sell the service.. and when you didn't sell it.. then you did something wrong, and they let you know it..

and being a moral guy.. and a Christian.. it was a constant struggle with management to be an honest worker there.. and I wasn't the only one that had issues with that..

don't get me wrong, I'm old enough to understand basic business practices.. i get that we were there to make money.. but I'm also a bit old fashion, the customer is always right, and they are also not sheep to be led to slaughter, that the customer isn't an idiot.. and a lot of the time on a budget... there were better ways of saving money to keep prices low.. one being not having so many sales people on the floor, when no customers were there.. can't tell you how many days we stood and stood, hours and hours, doing nothing..

and as you can see now.. CC's business plan, like that of Communism just does not work..

 

[Guest]

I tried to buy a x-mas sale laptop at Staples Business Depot last December, and also 1 at Best buy.

Bestbuy had already loaded the software on the systems BEFORE customers could have the option of not getting any extra loaded top-up useless services. And then it became a lame game of bargaining for how much you will pay for something that you explicitly don't want. 30? 40? 60? 80? extra dollars? It was pure harassment. I endeed up walking out and so pissed off I will never shop there again.

At Staples this old prick computer salesman and the rest of the staff would not just bring me out the box so I could by it. He was selling 'in store setup' to a couple who did not know a thing about laptops, and bought all this crap. The lady was so oblivious she said "Does this laptop play movies?" She should have been buying a DVD player, not a laptop. So I had to get aggressive with every staff member in the store just get me the damn box and let me buy it. Finally I did, and they were very ungrateful that I just spent $600+ in there crap store. All they care about is extras - not customers - not service - not you.

 

[christop]

Who in the hell is going to buy a laptop from Office depot...

 

[danr22]

Just to let people know and to expand on some of the above points these retail stores are generally selling sale items at below cost. Pricing the components out will undoubtedly get you a lower total cost but that isnt the cost the store is paying for it. Most of the money goes to the manufacturer. So while it may cost Gateway 1300 to assemble a PC Best Buy, or Staples, or Office Depot is still going to pay around 1900 hundred for it. They sell it at 2000 but most people only buy it when it goes on sale for 1700. [Insert Store Name Here] is then losing money on the sale, money they need to make up by selling service plans, accessories and tech services. Its not all just being greedy.

And while were on the subject the service plans themselves really arent all that bad as most people make them out to be. Now most people on this website will likely consider them to be bad deals and admittedly, for you, most of them are because generally anyone browsing this site has a degree of technical knowledge and can do things for themselves. For the general public though they are actually useful. Even something as simple as installing a new hard drive and restoring the system if the hard drive fails is going to run the average person about 180 dollars between parts and labor to get it installed whereas a 150 dollar service plan would cover this and many other, more expensive things as well such as screens and motherboards.

Also to the commenter who said buy local, where do you think all the local stores get all of their merchandise from. If you want to look at someone who is in it for a large profit look at your local retailers. They come in to the chain stores (BB, Staples, OD...) and buy a bunch of whatever is on sale then bring it back to their stores and sell it for regular price if not more. They are the ones making the real money off the computers and thats why the chain stores have to push the warrenties on the average customer. If a reseller comes in and buys 5 laptops that are sold 100 dollars below cost and nothing with them the store has to make up that 500 dollar loss. Its retail and its not pretty but its the truth

That said I certainly dont condone the actions of the Office Depot managers and Im sure that, if it hasnt already, it will come back to get them. A happy customer is a return customer, and happy employees are more productive. From the looks of the way things are going Office Depot will soon have neither.

 

[just trying to help]

Look I'm a manager at staples & I can tell you this...no commission or spiffs, just some group bonuses for hitting sales goals(not paid to managers or associates in cash)honestly the grab and go customer is not who we target in store, we train the associates to determine the customers needs than offer/sell the full solution...no one is forced to buy something or denied the item, but they are forced to listen and many times we do ferret out the truth...most people need virus protection, office software or a mouse (all these discounted with a computer sale)yep, we push protection plans...thing is... some never use them...truth is, many do...so I ask how can you tell who will or who won't...remember if just 1 or 2 pc's out of 10 made don't work as designed and 1 or 2 more get screwed up by the user...you are talking hundreds of thousands of computers that need support...add in that most buyers expect to use their computers long after the manufacture warranty expires...leaves this question...have you seen the labor rates for computer diagnostics...let alone parts & labor on repair...laptops are not user serviceable items...yes we sell things...yes we try to make money and yes we do help a lot of people...the question is not, will your computer break. (it will) the question is who is paying for the repair...lots of people think new cars are more reliable & to some extent they are...but it is really the longer warranties that drive that impression...if we had to pay each time a new car went to dealer...we would quickly being crying about the piece of crap we bought...if your in a hurry & don't want to talk, shop online @ staples (free overnight shipping)if you go into a store make sure you have some time, show some respect & let people do their jobs...they really are trying to help...it's just some people do their jobs better than others...some others just don't understand what they are supposed to do or even care...

 

[Guest]

@ just trying to help - You're a damn good sales person, but I doubt you could sell anyone on the 60-80% margin we make on each of those service plans. After all that margin is the bottom line behind why we push these things and why the customers here are complaining about them, talking statistics and such gets too confusing for the average joe and since they can't argue with you they have to agree. If you keep it fair and simple then our service plans have no legitimate defense. Don't get me wrong, I intend to continue selling these things by the dozens every month, but I'm not going to justify it anyway other than the fact that it put's money (by slightly increased hours) in my pocket.

 

[rwheelwright]

I worked at CompUSA for years and this is the way they would sell too. The managers basically told their salesmen that if they couldn't see the warranty they were a bad salesman and if a customer is not interested in buying it to get them out of the store as quickly as possible.

 

[dextermat]

if you wanna buy a computer, go to a small local retailer,

Places like futureshop, best buy, staple, they will ripp your off and moslt likely sell you crap

A lot of my costumers learned it the hard way

 

[juggernaut000]

Im sure I will get flamed for this but I worked for Office Depot up until about a month ago. We were never encouraged to ransom stock to customers in exchange for TDS or PPP's. In fact, the opposite is true, a fellow "shark sales type" employee was doing just that and HE was fired. this is a store by store basis. The district managers in those areas should be called. As a side note, I also traveled around our district as a member of the plan-o-gram (merchandising) team and I never saw any of this sort of thing in any of the 20 stores. I worked in the St. Louis District.

 

[rentar]

This is such a load of crap. I've been buying from TechDepot for years. TechDepot is the dedicated technology arm of OfficeDepot. All companies have an upsell strategy. "Do you want fries with that?..." The one thing that I find interesting is I had a sales rep named Chris H and he recently left TechDepot to go to a competitor. He has been banging on my door trying to steal my business, which I refuse to do. If I've learned any thing... you should never trust a sales person. you should always trust the service you have received in the past. I'm very pleased with TechDepot/OfficeDepot and I do not intend to go elsewhere. Lets not be stupid if rep offers to sell you something... you can say no.

 

[Guest]

i have worked for office depot for a long time and we have never lied about the stock on our laptops. od like everyone else relies on sales, so a sale is better then no sale at all. the customer always has the right to say no to ppp or tds, although they do have quite few benefits for the customer in the long run.