I am not one to write negative reviews generally. That being said I feel it important to share my consistent poor experiences with this Staples location. Specifically, the copy center.
While I can't sing enough praises about the young man who most recently assisted me with my printing needs, (as well as multiple other copy center employees over the last 3 years that I have used this location for my copy and print needs, sadly with very similar experiences to what I'm about to describe) it is overly obvious that the employees in the copy center are not given the support that they need in order to provide a level of customer service that I would expect from a company of Staples size.
Specifically, I spent over 3 hours in the store this week trying to have a 25 page presentation stapled and printed. Granted there were some technical difficulties but for most of those 3 hours there was a line of 3 or more customers waiting to have their copy center needs addressed, some there to pick up orders, some to copy a single page and some that needed a little direction making business cards. This was an endless process, all while this young associate kept his calm and multitasked flawlessly. That being said, he could not even come close to keeping up with the demand of the business. The disheartening part is that he informed me that this is standard operating procedure. Never once complaining about the responsibilities on his shoulders and at all times demonstrating fantastic composure and customer service. (He gets a 5 star review)
Staples is lucky to have an employee like him, as an employer myself I understand better than most how rare it is in today's age to find reliable help. However a wonderful employee can not run an entire store by himself.
During my 3 hours, I did a lot of observing... What I saw was that 4 employees seemed to be running the entire store. At times they appeared to have no comprehension of just how swamped this employee was as they attended to merchandising end caps and straightening shelves full of paper towels. (Obviously a business priority.) I was told that none of them were trained to be able to assist in the copy center. (While I was tasked with operating what seemed to be a very basic stapler for my own order)
By the end of my experience I somehow managed to identify the store manager who hid behind an unkempt beard and a head of hair that appeared to have seen more pillows in the last week than it did showers. I approached him and shared my concerns with him. Had he addressed them appropriately I probably wouldn't find myself punching keys on my iPhone sharing my experience with the world. I was told that they were looking for more help but had been unsuccessful finding people "that actually want to work" (a segment of the population that he obviously has a lot in common with.) I am sure that Staples as a corporation understands the importance of their management staff supporting their employees and I am not surprised that in a company of their size that some things get overlooked, I only hope that in some small way my review will spark an opportunity for the leadership of this company to look at the staples location in Torrington, CT and provide them with the staffing support, training and focus that the patrons and dedicated employees of this location deserve. read more