This review is about Staples extended warranties/protection plans issued by Square Trade --- My Wife and I live in Texas and purchased from Staples online store an HP All-In-One PC, HP printer, and a 2 year extended warranty on each, a gift for my wife's brother, who lives in Connecticut, and had it shipped to him. Our brother received his gift 09/17/2013. Staples' agent for extended warranties is Square Trade a third party warranty company. - In late May 2015 our brother's PC went caput, resulting in loss of email capability; therefore his only means of electronic communication was cell phone. His first attempt to file a claim by phone with Square Trade through their phone center in Karachi Pakistan was not successful. This was an online purchase and Square Trade wanted a nonexistent store cash register receipt and other information stored on the caput PC's hard drive. - In addition Square Trade wanted to know the email address through which the PC was purchased. My wife and I have several email addresses, and our brother does not have them memorized, they were on the caput PC hard drive, plus he did not know which one was used for the purchase. - Our brother called me and I called Square Trade, talked with a guy at Square Trade's Karachi call center gave him our email address used for purchase and they sent an email to me that was meant for our brother. I replied to Square Trade with an attached copy of the Online Order as found in our Staples Account. I also explained in the email reply, as I did over the phone that our brother had no email and only has a cell phone, and the reply was sent from my location in Texas. Square Trade could not comprehend that our brother did not have email, therefore throughout this "kabuki dance" Square Trade sent emails meant for our brother to me and I telephoned our brother and read him the emails. Our brother, in turn, telephoned Square Trade - and we kept going round and round. Time went by and Square Trade was silent, calls not returned etc. I began an email conversation with Staple's customer service personnel and finally after another week, Square Trade offered the value of the printer as a settlement for the "electronic devise" which was unacceptable. Only the PC claim had been mentioned to Square Trade. - I next called The Office of The President of Staples spoke with a very nice lady who in turn called her counterpart at Square Trade. This call got some action, a Square Trade Rep called our brother from San Francisco and told him that a tech from a Louisiana company, Barrister, would contact him in a couple of days and make arrangements for a tech to come to his home and repair the PC. - Several days later I received an email from Square Trade, addressed to our brother, which stated a tech had been located and would contact him within the next 1-2 business days to diagnose the problem and/or schedule a visit. I spoke to our brother by phone 4-5 days later and the call had not yet occurred. - I again contacted The Office of The President of Staples reported the status of the claim and very soon afterwards our brother received the call from a Barrister tech. The tech instructed our brother to sit in front of his PC and follow his instructions. Our brother complied, and the tech told him that he would send a tech to his home in the next few days with parts to repair his PC. - Ten days passed and our brother had heard nothing and no emails from Square Trade or Barrister had arrived. I once again telephoned The Office of The President of Staples. Afterwards our brother communicated with a Barrister tech that was in Las Vegas. This tech told our brother that the claim had been canceled, because the repairs would exceed the value of the PC. - I again called The Office of The President of Staples. Shortly thereafter I received an email, addressed to our brother, stating that a check in the amount of the PC purchase price would be mailed within the next 5 business days and delivered within 10 business days. - 19 days passed and our brother had not received the check. - I once again contacted The Office of The President of Staples and later that day our brother received a call from a Square Trade Rep and was told that he would receive a check within the next 5 business days. - Our brother received the check on July 27, 2015. - The Square Trade Claim process was 70 days from our brother's first attempt to file by phone to receipt of final settlement check. - Staples personnel performed above and beyond to help get this claim settled. - However, Staples' agent, Square Trade, claim settlement procedures puts a kink in "the easy button". read more