My trip to Staples at Park Royal was a big waste of time. I needed a single 8.5x11 page laminated, something I thought would be a pretty simple task for a full-on "Print Centre" - I've used their Capilano location several times for the same purpose, and it's been a breeze.
~ For whatever reason, they needed my full name and phone number before doing anything else...I thought that was kind of odd, and it's never something I encountered at other Staples locations, but I continued anyway.
~ After giving the guy my info, he told me that they had not yet turned on their laminating machine, and it would take 15 minutes for it to warm up. That's right, at 1pm on a busy weekend, they hadn't turned on their laminator yet. Unprofessional. I had another quick errand to run within the mall anyway, so I decided to carry on with the promise that my document would be ready in 15 minutes. I selected a specific thickness of lamination, and was on my way.
~10 minutes minutes later I received a phone call. "Hey, we're out of your requested lamination thickness". Wouldn't it have been wise to check that first? Good thing they had my phone number after all. At this point, they couldn't fulfil my request and I was finished wasting my time. I picked up my non-laminated document and left. The employee was friendly, but not really apologetic or aware of the inconvenience.
Overall, a pretty big fail for this Staples location. They can't advertise themselves as having a "full service print & copy centre" if they don't turn on their laminators on before noon and run out of essential print-shop material. Better training and management are definitely required, because this experience was neither convenient nor user-friendly.
I have found a much more competent (independent) print shop to use for future jobs, and will not return to Staples. I recommend you do the same, if you value your time. read more