I purchased a Location free base station from Office Depot for $199.99, then 3 days later I was at Staples and saw the same exact item for $15 off regularly selling for $99.98 for only $84.98, not only that, but they had an instant $50.00 coupon for a total of $34.98. That's a $165.01 Difference! WOW!!!
Once I returned home I found that Office Depot did have a low price guarantee - http://espanol. Officedepot.com/renderStaticPage. Do? File=/customerservice/lowPrice. Jsp&template=customerService
Upon calling customer service the gentleman searched and found the items at both websites, and he informed me that it wasn't worth discussing because they wouldn't honor anything with this huge of a difference. I asked where in their policy this was stated, he informed me that although it wasn't written in their policy, the postage would cost more than the cost of the item so they wouldn't be able to honor their best price guarantee, I asked if they would match their regular price and he said absolutely not!
Unhappy with this answer, I called back and spoke with another gentleman who again was able to find both Office Depots and Staples prices. He said he was unable to give a discount beyond 10%. I asked him where in the policy this was, I then waited on hold, 20 minutes later he returned and stated the section of the policy which reads any discount above 10% must be confirmed. I explained that he had confirmed the discount so that shouldn't be an issue, he replied with "please hold" Again I waited on hold only for him to return and read two more exclusions which again didn't pertain to my situation, one about mail in rebates, and the other about manufacturer discounts both of which this item didn't have. I asked if they would please just match Staples regular non-sales price of $99.98, he said unfortunately they simply can not go this low. At this point I asked to speak with his supervisor, then after several more minutes on hold I was finally hung up on.
Again I called back, I was refused access to a supervisor unless I first re-explained the situation, the CSR then said they wouldn't honor the guarantee because this is a special buy offer, I asked him what he meant and he read the low price policy where it states Office Depot will not match special offers from a manufacturer. I tried to explain this was a special buy from Stapes, and has nothing to do with a Special Offer directly from the manufacturer. I asked him if I could just get them to honor Staples Regular price of $99.98 he said, Sir, like I've already told you, no then hung up on me...
Then again I call... Same thing, however I finally get a supervisor "Oscar" who tells me a new one entirely! Oscar states that office Depot doesn't match any of staples sales prices. I asked where their policy stated this; I was put on hold for a new record 35 minutes! Then I found myself listening to a new recording, it seems Oscar had transferred me to the Office Depot National Sales Account office what a surprise, and I was able to speak with a very nice CSR by the name of Cynthia. She confirmed that although Oscar was very unprofessional, he was correct in stating that Office Depots Guarantee doesn't include any sales prices from competitors such as Staples, again I asked where this was stated in Office Depots policy.
After waiting on hold for several minutes, she came back and informed me that it is found on the red pages of volume 2, on page #498. She read the paragraph where it states "Office Depot has the right to refuse to honor the guarantee if acceptable proof is not provided." I then asked her how she knew the price, and she said she had used Staples website... I asked her if this was proof enough, she said; hold on, I'm still reading...
Cynthia finally returned and now wanted to know my account #, when I asked why she said that would make a huge difference, I asked her if the price guarantee was different for business accounts, she said that she can easily make an adjustment based on the volume and size of my account. I said lets just treat me like a regular customer and help me understand your low price guarantee. She said in that case we will not honor it, I asked why, she stated because it's below our purchase order price.
Again I asked where it states this in the guarantee. Cynthia said I would need to speak with an escalations coach, I have already been on the phone for 2 and 1/2 hours, and 1 hour and 30 minutes in this call alone... Finally! Cynthia is back, it's been 2 hours! Sad to say she informs me there are no escalations coaches available... But she did fill out a form and a coach would be calling me back in an hour or two.
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