Staples: The Grinch Who Stole Back-to-School

  Today I had a rather unpleasant encounter at Staples when I rushed over to buy, among other things, their $0.01 folders on sale until Wednesday.  When I got there, however, I was met with unpleasant management, ridiculous sale limits and employees who said their hands were tied by Staples Corporate.  One cashier even told me that a lot of people have been disappointed with the sales this summer and that the Corporation is getting "really cheap."  When I asked if they'd been effected by the recession, the cashier laughed and shook his head.  "They're fine, they're just cheap," he replied.

Well.

The letter below details--as briefly as possible--my current complaints against Staples.  I plan to shop at Office Max and Office Depot, who are much more generous to teachers than Staples is, until I hear from Staples.  If their reply is not satisfactory, I might stop shopping there all together.  At very least, I don't plan to buy anything there at full price anymore, which is something I often do when I'm hitting up the sales (for proof, check out my Office Depot Swag post, much of which was purchased at full price while I was taking advantage of Teacher Appreciation Day).  

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To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing in regard to a situation that I have noticed at my local Staples, store number 0147.  While my dissatisfaction is in many ways site-specific, the problems I have witnessed at this store lately indicate a larger problem with Staples Corporate.

I am a teacher and have also been a long-time Staples customer.  I spend hundreds of dollars on school supplies at your store per year and am a Teacher Rewards cardholder.  I buy most of my supplies at Staples at full price, and stock my classroom from your shelves.  The one chance I have to save a bit of money is during the Staples Penny Sale, which I excitedly anticipate each week.  This is both a useful and fun shopping experience for me; I enjoy stocking up on back-to-school materials at a good price, and almost always buy several full-priced items during your sale.

In previous years, showing my teacher identification card and my Staples Teacher Rewards card allowed me to bypass limits on these sale items, within reason.  I thought this was a wonderful thing that Staples does for teachers, and always made sure to buy only what I needed on sale.  This year, however, I was surprised to learn that teachers are held to limits of 25 per item.  While surprising and disappointing, I have mostly been able to make these limits work for what I need.

This morning, however, I rushed to my local Staples because the sale I most anxiously anticipate was going on—one cent for folders.  As a teacher of 5 subjects, I color-code my students’ folders, and your penny sale on folders is invaluable for me.  I needed to buy 90 folders—15 each of 5 colors—and asked a salesperson what the limits were for teachers and was told we are limited to 25.  As the sale holds limits for all other patrons to 20 (as opposed to the usual 5 or less), I found this unfair.  If it is understood that the average patron will need exponentially more than the usual limits on penny sale, shouldn’t the same hold true for teachers?

Fortunately, I was able to make three transactions in a row to get the folders I needed because there was no one behind me on line. However, a short while later, I returned with my mother, also a teacher, when she needed folders.  While she waited outside with the dog, I went to purchase more folders for her classroom.  She needed 50 folders, which I collected.  When I got on line, the store manager on duty (it was about 12:00 noon) told me that I would not be allowed to make 2 transactions and that I was not allowed to get back on a line with more folders.  I was limited to 25 folders and asked to leave the store without the rest of my purchase. 

At this time I also witnessed a disturbing event; a young girl and her mother were on line in front of me.  When the mother went to look at something in the store, she left her young daughter, who was about 8 years old, to pay for the items she had collected, which included on-sale construction paper and folders.  When the child got to the front of the line, she was informed by the cashier that she was not allowed to purchase sale items because she was under 18.  I asked the cashier why this was store policy, and he explained that Corporate was trying to prevent families from bypassing sale limits by asking their children to make transactions.

Staples’ slogan is “that was easy,” but of late it has become anything but easy for teachers and families—who may need multiple quantities of items and may not be able to afford them without your sales—to make purchases at your store.  I found the staff at my local Staples quite pleasant during these two transactions, but the manager was extremely unpleasant.  When I expressed dissatisfaction with the limit of 25 folders and explained that last year I had been given an override to buy the 90 I needed, she snapped, “This is not last year.  Policies change.”  When she refused to let me back on line and told me I could not make any more sale purchases, she was equally rude.

I am not the only teacher dissatisfied with the position Staples has taken regarding limits on sale items; I spoke to several other teachers who were equally annoyed.  Furthermore, I called your competitors, Office Max and Office Depot, and was told that documented teachers would be able to completely override sale limits at their stores.  When I was at Office Depot last week, they even encouraged me to take beyond the limits on free-with-purchase items!  Office Max is currently running the exact same sale on folders as you are (though limits for non-teachers are 6). 

I manage a blog called Cheaper Teacher, which helps teachers to find deals on school supplies.  I will be posting this letter on my blog at www.cheaperteacher.blogspot.com along with a more detailed complaint against Staples’ new policy regarding sales.  I have already expressed dissatisfaction with the scaling back of your penny sale this year, but I believe my experience today will cost you a great deal of patronage.

I hope that Staples Corporate will attempt to rectify this situation, which has already inconvenienced several teachers that I know of.  I always enjoyed being a Staples customer and am very surprised with the treatment I have received and witnessed at Staples lately.  I do not plan to shop at Staples until I have heard from you and will be making the rest of my back-to-school purchases at your competitors’ stores. 

I hopefully anticipate your reply.

Best regards,

Mallory McMahon

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I plan to eventually detail my experience even further on this blog, and I promise to post any replies I get from Staples (with their permission) or at very least let you know what, if any, response I get.

Customer Review: Staples Teacher Appreciation Day

I got on line outside my local Staples around 8:40 am.  There were a lot of people milling around when I got there, and then other people started the line, so even though I was about the 5th person there, I was maybe 8th on line.  The doors opened at 9:00 exactly and the line moved quickly.  You showed your ID, got your gift bag and could get to shopping.

There were no special sales for teachers, just whatever was in the weekly ad.  Since I'd already bought what I wanted from this week's weekly ad, there was nothing I wanted to buy.  Even though Staples was offering $2 reward for every $1 spent (double rewards), I wasn't motivated to buy anything.  The Staples employees told me that teachers will get double rewards until 9/15/09, which is awesome, but made me even less interested in buying at Staples when I knew there were big things going on at Office Depot.

However, this didn't prevent me from going to a second Staples later in the day to pick up a second bag.  The bags and swag were exactly the same at both Staples, except that at the second one I also got a paper folder with a coupon and some information about home office supplies in it.  My Staples gift consisted of:

--Staples reusable tote bag ($1 value)

--blue plastic pencil box ($1 value)

--2 packs of 3M Poster stickies ($1.69 value X 2 = $3.38 value)

--100-ct vinyl-coated paper clips ($1.50 value)

--50-ct push pins ($1.50 value)

--one highlighter (guessing $1.50 for 12-pack = $0.12 value)

--one mini mechanical pencil with comfort grippy (total guess here - $0.50 value)

--12-pack pencils ($1.29 value)

--paper folder ($0.15 value)

--2-pack eco-friendly mini-legal pads ($2.50 value)

So the whole kit was about $11.50 worth of stuff, which is actually pretty good.  Strange, when I total it up, the package looks WAY better than it felt when I got it.  I think part of the problem was that Staples used to give us the gift in an expandable file folder, which is smaller, so it looked fuller.

I left Staples sort of disappointed with my gift and with the fact that there were no special sales for teachers that morning, but in hindsight, it was a very nice gift.  Especially since I cheated and ended up with two!  That's $23 worth of goodies.

Thank you, Staples, for appreciating what teachers do.  

What I did for Teacher Appreciation Day

Check out what I scored for Teacher Appreciation Day!  You can't see everything in the picture, so of course I'm willing to give a breakdown of the scene (which, for the record, took forever to set up, so I hope you appreciate it!)  

*OD indicates Office Depot free gift for TA Day

*S indicates Staples free gift for TA day (I went to 2 different Staples, so I got doubles of everything)

$OD indicates that I purchased the item at Office Depot.

From left corner, moving down:

Two purple milk crates $OD

4 packs of Ricola Minis $OD

10 "Very Useful" small storage cubes w/ tops (5 packs) $OD

2 Plastic Pencil Boxes *S

5 Steno Pads *S 2 eco-friendly 2-packs / *OD 1 single

Fold Out Ruler *OD

2 Boxes of 12 pencils *S

2 Herbal Essences conditioner samples $OD (hey, they were a quarter each, I couldn't resist!!!)

2 packs 50-ct Push Pins *S

2 packs 100-ct vinyl-coated paperclips *S

Post-It Note dispenser *OD

5 packs of 3M Poster Stickies 4 packs *S / 1 pack *OD

From just left of center, heading down:

2 Staples Tote Bags *S

Sight Words Bingo $OD

Money Tray $OD

4 larger-sized (7 l) Very Useful Containers with lids (2 blue, 2 clear) $OD

5 packs of 4-ct glue sticks $OD

6 packs of 12-ct pencil top erasers technically $OD, except they were FREE.

2 Chapsticks

Center, foreground of photo:

3 packs Expo Dry Erase Markers (2 10-ct with whiteboard eraser / 1 16-ct) $OD

2 highlighters, 2 pencils, 1 pilot Varsity fountain pen, 1 Expo marker, 2 mini-mechanical pencils with squishy grip things *S highlighers and mechanical pencils w/ grippys / *OD pencils, Expo marker and Varsity Pen.

2 folders paper folder *S / plastic folder *OD

DVD-R *OD

From far right, heading down:

Office Depot Tote *OD

White Sentence Strips $OD

Multicolored Sentence Strips $OD

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Aaaannndddd for the totals!  Drumroll please:

All Office Depot purchases cost me $79.00 out of pocket.  I got two coupons while I was there (one Register Reward and one tear-off as part of TA day) for $10 off future orders.  If I apply those savings now (as theoretical, since they function like cash-back) I spent $59.00.

Going over my Office Depot receipts, if I had bought this merchandise at full-price without my teacher's discount, I'd have spent $185!  That means that I SAVED $126!!!  If I estimate the costs of the free merchandise from both Staples and Office Depot, I probably saved closer to $150!

Future posts will detail my experiences at both Teacher Appreciation Days (and the Old Navy T-Shirt sale!) and give a little bit more information about where my biggest savings were and what the best (and worst!) parts of each day were.

Appreciate Me!

I'm off to be appreciated this morning!  Don't forget that from 9:00 - 11:00 both Staples and Office Depot are hosting their Teacher Appreciation Days!

Also, just a reminder that today is Old Navy's $3 t-shirt sale.  One day only!

Don't be lazy!  Be  cheap!  :0)

New Staples Weekly Ad!

Usually we have to wait until Sundays to see the new Staples Weekly Ad, but I got an alert to my inbox today about the new sale!  Woot!  I couldn't navigate to it through the mainpage (I still got the current weekly ad) but see if you can see the page by clicking the link they sent me here.  Just don't buy anything - you're logged in as me!  :-)

In case you can't see the ad, or in case you're feeling lazy on this hot-as-Hades August day, here's my brief synopsis of the best of the weekly ad.  This is not a complete listing, but they're the deals that I thought might actually be worth it.

2-Pocket Folders are finally on penny sale!  Yeah!  Usually teacher limits are 25, but that's when in-store limits are 2-5.  Since the normal person limit on these is 20, we'll probably be able to push the envelope on this one, but since I need 100, I'll still need to make multiple trips (or bring friends to help).

Staples 4-pack Dry Erase Markers are $3.99 BOGO - works out to $2 a pack or $0.50 a marker.  Pick from fine or chisel tip.

Expo Dry Erase 12-pack are on sale for $10.00, down from $15.98!  This is a good deal if you like to have assorted colors for your dry-erase boards (I know I do!) and works out to $1.20/marker.  While this is higher by over 100% than the staples Dry-Erase on sale, you may choose Expo for one of several reasons:  Expo are known to be excellent dry erase markers, while I think the Staples brand is new.  You may have a finicky white board that isn't as good with cheaper markers (I'm looking at you, LiquiMark!  You suck!).  Or you may just be into the colors.  I would suggest getting one or two Expo 12-packs (put one away until December) and then using the BOGO above to stock up on everything else you need.

Sharpie Felt-Tip Pens BOGO - $6.99 for a fine-tip 4-pack or $9.99 for the assorted colors 6-pack.  The assorted colors are good for grading (black, blue, green, purple and orange, plus a red that I'm sure you can use for something).  I am OBSESSED with these pens, and this is a really good deal.  Seriously, best. pens. Ever!

24-pack multicolored Sharpies $10.00.

36-pack Staples brand Gel Pens $10.00 (I thought Gel Pens went out in like, 1999!)

Staples Plastic Pencil Cases B1G2 $0.99 (works out to $0.33 each!)

Staples Construction Paper Ream B1G2 $4.99 (works out to $1.66 each!)

20%-50% off backpacks 

HP 4-gig Flash Drive $9.99 

And now here's a deal that might  be worth it and might not be.... I won't do it, but you might be interested, depending on how much money you're willing to lay out.

Staples is offering a BOGO after Rebate on 5-ream Typing Paper Cartons.  These retail at $24.99 each, so paying for 2 requires you to shell out $50.  Yikes!  But then you'll get a $25 instant rebate and have paid $25 - or $2.50 each ream - for the paper.  There are also coupons floating around (I haven't found any, but if I do, I'll post - I'm on it!) that are $20 off orders of $50+, which could get the layout down to $30 and the total cost down to $5.00 - or $0.50 a ream!  I'm not usually a rebate fan, and I wouldn't lay out the $50, but I would be willing to lay out $30 to get 10 reams of paper for $5.00.  I'll post if I find the coupons.

What's the deal with Recession Penny Sales?

I became a teacher in 2007.  The summer before I started teaching, I found out about Penny Sales and my life was forever changed.  I stocked up!  My first summer I got rulers for either a penny or a nickel (can't remember, but I got about a million), two-packs of scissors for 5 cents, white Elmer's glue for 5 cents a bottle, the coveted paper folders for a penny each, 12-packs of pencils for a penny, individual pencil sharpeners for 5 cents, 24-packs of Crayola crayons for 15 cents, and all sorts of other good stuff.  My second summer, I got the pencils, folders, glue and sharpeners again.  I also got crayons again, but they might have spent 20 cents on them.  I got some other things that I'm not remembering, but I know for a fact that both summers I STOCKED UP.  Remember that even though there are strict limits on these deep discounts, teachers get up to 25 as their limit (instead of like, three).  You can bring friends to hold baskets and get back on line to do several transactions, or you can shop several times over the course of one day or a few days.  Some cashiers will override any limits and let teachers get away with overages (within reason) if you beg and flirt a little.

But what's going on this year?  I have been striking out at Penny Sales this year.  So many of my favored items are either not on sale at all (I'm looking at you, folders!  I get 90 of these every year so I can color code things, and there's a big difference between 90 cents and the $13.50 that they'd cost at 15 cents, which is the full price).  Other items have turned up, but at less of a discount.  These are still awesome deals for parents buying school supplies for children, but are kind of hurting my pocket.  

Here are the deals that are currently running:

STAPLES, who started the penny sales (to my knowledge) are really falling down on their deals.  There are still some good opportunities, and of course I'll take them, but I'm hoping they ratchet things up a notch in the last weeks of August.

-This week they have 25-cent marble notebooks.  This is awesome for parents, but not so good for me.  I have 12 students, so to get them each one book is $3.  My kids need 5 books (school rules) so that's $15.  If half the parents buy their kids books (which is what happened last year) I can get them all notebooks for about $7.50.  I'll do it, but last year it cost me less than half that.

-They're also offering computer/typing paper for $1, which is an AMAZING deal.  I am running out to do this tomorrow, but it's on a rebate.  Rebate limits can't be extended for teachers (not sure why) so I can only get 2 reams of paper.  I'm not sure if I can just keep getting on line, either, since Staples rebates are filed for online.  Maybe I could beg some friends to file for my rebates for me, but that feels so moochy.

-Packs of pens and hilighters are on sale for $1.  This is an OK deal but I'm going to hold off for now in the hope that they or someone else run them cheaper in the next 2 1/2 weeks.

-Other penny sale items I've gotten that have expired include 6-packs of spiral notebooks for 6 cents (I got 2 packs for 12 cents and have to figure out what to use them for, since marbles are preferable... maybe homework notebooks?) and... that's it.  I haven't seen the pencils, so maybe I missed them when I was on vacation, but those usually repeat.  Also... where are the folders?!?!?!

-Remember that Penny Sales Expire on Wednesday of the week they are listed.  New sales will still be released on Sunday.  I like to check staples.com in advance, but I often just walk in.

Office Max started running commercials about a week ago for their "back to school for pennies" sale.  Cute name.  Except that it's so hard to tell from the website what, exactly, is on the sale.  Unlike Staples, they don't seem to list the penny sale on their Weekly Ad, which is frustrating.  Because I haven't gotten to an Office Max to check out what they're offering, I can't complain as hard as I did about Staples, but I know from seeing the commercials that they weren't mentioning anything that made me want to rush out to an Office Max.  Maybe I'm biased because there is a Staples 5 minutes from my house and Office Max is a 20-30 minute train ride away.  I am going to try to get out to an Office Max this week to scope out the sale situation.  Hopefully they won't have been hit by the recession the way Staples has!

In other news, the best deals I have found so far this year have been at Target.  This post is getting unwieldy, so I'll address that in my next entry.  

Teacher Appreciation Days/Weeks/Months

Have I mentioned that I love free stuff?

The month of August means a lot of things to teachers.  We leave town.  We try to cram in as many days at the beach as possible.  We lament the end of vacation.  We start stocking up on supplies.  We maybe get together with other teachers to plan.  We start having those awful back-to-school stress dreams that all teachers seem to get in August.  

Fortunately, several retailers sweeten the dog days of August with Teacher Appreciation celebrations.  Staples is probably the most well-known, but Office Max and Office Depot seem to be getting in on the action, too.  

(1)  Staples has been doing their Teacher Appreciation Day for 6 years and this will be my 3rd Teacher Appreciation Day.  The New York date for this event is August 22 (this Saturday, kids!) starting at 9:00 am (I get there early).  Some states have had their TA Day already, but I had trouble finding out what the swag was online.  It seems there was a reusable shopping bag (so trendy!) filled with notebooks and other supplies.  For the last two years I got plastic expandable file folders, dry erase markers, sharpies, pens, a legal pad and some postits.  It's nothing major, but it's nice to be appreciated, no?

This brings me to an (embarrassing) story from when I was a brand-new teacher.  As a NYC Teaching Fellow I was due to start teaching in September and had (somehow) managed to sign up for a Staples Teacher Rewards card even though I didn't have a DOE ID yet, so I was eligible for Teacher Appreciation '07.  I woke up early and super excited, marched into the store all proud with my Rewards Card, claimed my prize and... went home.  It was a little anti-climactic, but I was so excited.  I picked up a cup of coffee and the newest Brookyn Parents newspaper and went home to bask in my new teacher glory.  August was a wonderful month that year.

(2)  Office Depot Teacher Appreciation Day is - horror of horrors! - the same day as Staples TA Day in New York!  Fortunately, Office Depot is celebrating for a full week, from 8/16 - 8/22.  All week there are 10% discounts storewide for teachers, but the cool stuff is happening on Saturday.

First of all, I love free stuff, but I love free food most of all.  The fact that on Saturday, 8/22, Office Depot is giving away free breakfast AND free giveaways for teachers puts them a notch above Staples in my book (though I'll reevaluate when I get my swag)!  The plan is for me to hit Staples right by my house (and the train station) upon opening at 9:00 and then get right on the train to go to Manhattan to be at Office Depot at 10:00.  It'll be stressful, but I don't think Office Depot will run out of materials because it sounds like they're making a day of things.  Staples, on the other hand, really just gives away a package and some discounts, so I think I'll be able to do both.  For others who need to multi-task, The Office Depot event is from 9:00 - 11:00 am.

 (3) I missed the Office Max Teacher Appreciation Day this year (did any of you get there?) on August 9th.  I didn't know they held one, or I totally would've been there... maybe.  The truth is, this deal was not that exciting to me.  All attending teachers were given a reusable Office Max tote and given 15% off of "everything you can stuff inside."  Okay, first off, I love free anything, but 15% is not that great a discount to make me rush over to Office Max, free bag or none.  I can do much better at Target or Staples Back to School sales, or even at the new Office Max Penny Sale than 15%.  While it might've been nice to get the discount on things I need for myself (does Office Max sell plan books?), this is not a stock-up event, and the giveaway was not enough to get me out of bed and onto a train.  If they were closer to my house, maybe.   

Also, I can imagine the madhouse.  I love sales, but I have trouble with big crowds of people pushing each other to get the best deals on different items.  While I like to think that the Cheaper Teachers out there who went to this event conducted themselves with dignity, I just picture the melee that seems to be attached to the "stuff this bag" discounts I've encountered.

Anyway, that's all for now.  Next post will discuss the Staples and Office Max penny sales, which are OK this year, but not really doing it for me.  Are they worth it?  I'll let you decide.