-- My Staples Saga
Part 2
"Color blind"
As soon as I saw the small parcel at the door, I immediately knew what it was. Were my ears finally delivered from the naked exposure to the ramblings, preachings and bayou/mariachi musical interlopers on my daily commute?
I opened the little box like a boy on his birthday, when suddenly I was struck with the biggest and heaviest blow hope can have: Disappointment.
They had in fact replaced my Sony MP3 player, but instead of sending me an exact replica of my BLACK USB thingy, they sent me a horrible WHITE one... utter, and bitter disappointment. It was unacceptable under any and all standards. But I was through with Sony; I decided that the best course of action was to surrender myself to Staples customer service. Sony would be dealt with soon enough.
Once again I found myself stepping out of the R on 34th St. to the little Staples; once again I had to explain everything (the manager apparently had been changed) "Wait one minute, let me go check in the back" -the Manager said, disappearing into an aisle..... after 10 min, he was back, but what he held in his hand vexed me to no end. Indeed it was a black Sony mp3 player, but NOT a USB lipstick, but an iPod like MP3 thing.... Didn't he understand? Wasn't it obvious? I wanted a USB/MP3 combination that was SMALL; the size of my friggin index finger not my palm!! Grrr... I summoned patience and explained, lazily he went off and came back again with an answer: "I'm sorry we don't have anymore of these in black; you can go to the Staples in Queens or Maspeth; they have one"
"Queens or Maspeth?.... can you be more specific?" -I said. He gave me the addresses of the two stores that purportedly had the thing in stock, so once again I took the R, this time Queens bound to Northern Blvd.
Now this was a Staples worthy of suburbian legend; roadside, next to a McDonalds drive-in, HUGE in size; for a minute I doubted that I was in New York at all. I walked in and saw that in contrast with smaller Staple stores in Manhattan, this one had the luxury of displaying items that you could normally order through catalog; so there were racks with Storage Cabinets, Office furniture, Bookcases and other items to furnish your home or business. I approached customer service, and once again, I explained to them my debacle.
But the store manager at Staples 34th St. had sent me on a wild goose chase; they did not carry my coveted black Sony MP3 player. I could not hide a face of dejection, the rep at customer service named Sabrina noticed this, and decided to join me in my crusade for the dark mp3 horse.
First she leveled and told me I had a crucial problem; I needed an Staples invoice in order to reclaim my item, since the Sony replacement was not itemized in the Staples data. I shuddered just to think I had to go back to fetch the invoice, when she said that was not necessary. She was there to help. Asking me for my credit card, she swiped it in a machine and told me they had installed a new system just a few days ago that allowed for them to track a transaction anywhere along the Staples system, enabling them to print a receipt for the customer. She did. Receipt in hand, she then took the liberty of not only finding the REAL Staples that carried the very last black version of my player, but calling the store to explain my situation beforehand, and even telling them to hold the door for me; I was on my way (they closed at 9, it was 8:30pm) !!
I couldn't thank her enough. Now that's what I call outstanding customer service.
"Staples Astoria is just 20 blocks down the road" -she had said.
No time to cab it, no time for Subway, let's try and make a walk for it. I tried, but upon arriving 20 blocks down there was no Staples to be found and it was 8:58pm... I tried asking for it, looking for it to no avail. I knew I would have to come the next day thanks to my tried and trusted sense of geographical orientation; but at least I knew that this white MP3 abomination would never upset the color program I envisioned worthy of my musical wanderings.
Victory was at hand on the morrow.
(To be concluded...) read more