Staples - Free 40 Piece Electric Screwdriver Set [CLOSED]

dadada

It is truly a shame to see the shameless locusts of MSE swarming over Staples.

I run a small business, and believe me, I have a far greater understanding of economics, profit margins, the business of business now than I ever did, and how peoples time and effort is more costly and more valuable than many products.

In setting up my business, I discovered Staples. Staples were without question the best office supplier in Britain and a great resource for small businesses. They offered superstores with an unrivalled product range, without doubt truly unrivalled and unbeatable everyday prices on stationary, nevermind great special deals, and extended opening hours. My nearest store WAS open 7 AM till 12 midnight five days a week and I would travel miles to shop there, or bring my important reports for copying and binding for an early morning meeting.

Facing financial difficulties the company tried to address these. They slashed the staff, with most of the knowledgable, helpful full timers put out of a job and under-replacing them in numbers, worse with gormless part-timers. They slashed the product lines from over 10,000 different products to less than 4,000. They slashed the opening hours. They shut branches. Then they merged with closest competitor Office World, in doing so sold off stock at perhaps 10% or less of the RRP, and rationalised branches in various areas putting more people on the dole.

The company is a shadow of their former selves and I don't shop with them much any more, primarily because they no longer have the wide range of products that would make me travel there, and the opening hours that allowed you to get your copying and binding done in the nick of time. They have lost a pile of money, lost long time customers, but worst of all, real people have been put in real precarious positions due to their unemployment.

Do the MSE Locusts care ?

No, the MSE Locusts who various without shame pose as business customers to rip off Pitney Bowes, pose as disable people for a free bottle of wine from an orthopedic business, pose as NHS staff to rip off a variety of business, who fill Ebay with Oral B toothbrushes and Little Me gift sets, and who even boast about defacating at work rather than home so as to save money on toilet rolls are at it again. It's free. It's a misprice. We don't care. We don't need it. We want it for our "Christmas Cupboard". We want our free gift without ever considering that the value of the gift may be a minimal to the company compared to the time and effort of a variety of staff who are employed in providing the gift, or worse giving the orthapedic bed demonstrations, or the cost of couriering and collecting that Pitney Bowes machine. We want our bargains without ever considering the real economic picture. We want our BSE.

It will be truly Karma if one day a business that employs some of the most avid MSE Locusts is troubled by the swarm and an avid MSE Locust ends up on the dole.

Staples are in enough trouble.

One day all MSE fans will be left with is Tescos, because they are the only company able to survive this attitude.

phoebe03cat

Well said. Whats been going on at Pitney Bowes then?

My husband works there and escaped the last cuts on staff, maybe a loophole we can do something about?

dadada

Hi Phoebe03cat

The Pitney Bowes thread is what I think of as typical of the MSE forum, which long ago stopped being about a genuine bargain or loophole at big companies who can afford it and these days is more about pre-meditated fraud of any company, regardless of the consequences.

You can read it here;

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=49038

Essentially "Free £20 Postage" by ordering a Franking Machine then returning it.

Except this does not cost Pitney Bowes £20. It probably costs them hundreds; an additional "free" personalised stamp; the expense of couriering an extremely heavy item not once but twice; the cost of manpower to process the orders, prepare and package the machines, and reset, repair and refurbish them on return; the costs involved in manufacturing this sample equipment and it's depriciation.

Who cares, it's " FREE ".

Maybe your husband should print off the thread and bring it into his employees so that they can be aware of what MSE Forum Members are about, and prevent it. As far as I'm confirmed his job is more important than £20 of " FREE " postage.

Now down to Iceland for another factory farm BSE offal burger, because they are " CHEAP " packed into the freezer by an ex employee of Index, Allders, Pitney Bowes etc.

appleblossom

Whilst I appreciate the above comments about ordering for the sake of ordering because it's free, and using disabilities etc. to get things, it is also worth considering that a lot of people will take advantage of the 'free' (actually not really free as you have to make a purchase) gift as their first order (as I have done with Staples), and then return for more, so whilst it appears that the company is being taken advantage of, a lot of times they do actually benefit in the long run. I have never shopped with Staples before, but have been very impressed with their site, their customer service and their delivery, I already have items written down that I will be ordering from them. Without the aforementioned posts being posted, I would probably have just gone to WHSmiths and bought them instore, so Staples have won my custom. There have been a few posts brought to my attention by MSE posters for firms that I have never heard of and now regulary use them as a genuine paying customer, not looking for freebies or discount, just as a normal joe bloggs customer. Basically the postings are free advertising for the companies, I see no difference then if they had advertised in the national paper or on the TV, the only difference being is that ppl who post freebies are critised for taking advantage, when I believe the majority of the posters are simply making fellow MSE posters aware. I do not order 50 free BBQ sets from the RSPCA (I didnt actually order any, but I did spend a good while browsing their site that I wouldn't normallly have done). If you don't like a tv programme, you turn if off or over, if you don't like promotional posts.......................................

mandarin_2

dadada and phoebe03cat


Are you not aware that the motto of this site is:-

"companies try to screw us for profits. Money saving shows you how to screw them back"

If you don't agree with the principles of the site then why are you here?

Also dadada, very clever of you to highlight and therefore enable the Pitney Bowes 'loophole' to be exploited again!

dadada

" ... it is also worth considering that a lot of people will take advantage of the 'free' (actually not really free as you have to make a purchase) gift as their first order (as I have done with Staples) and then return for more ... "

A) I hardly consider buying a pencil a hardship, although Mr One Toilet Roll A Month might.
A "Lot" of people will certainly not "return for more". One or two might. The rest will go back to scamming somebody else.



" ... There have been a few posts brought to my attention by MSE posters for firms that I have never heard of and now regulary use them as a genuine paying customer ... "


Well, I'd suggest that you are in a minority of less than 1% then. How about some examples. How much do you spend with Staples p/a ? Have they made a profit from you yet ? Where are the posts on any Staples thread about how people use them regularly ? Perhaps they are hidden behind all the posts about free coffe machines and speaker sets, and problems last time, and whether to make up a business name etc, etc, etc, etc .


" If you don't like a tv programme, you turn if off or over, if you don't like promotional posts ... "

This is not a promotional post. It typical of the MSE forums encouragements, nods winks and tips to deceive and defraud.



FACT: The Staples site clearly states on every page; " This site is for business customers only, ordering goods for use in the course of their business. All prices exclude VAT."

Are you a business customer ?

dadada

mandarin wrote:

dadada and phoebe03cat


Are you not aware that the motto of this site is:-

"companies try to screw us for profits. Money saving shows you how to screw them back"

If you don't agree with the principles of the site then why are you here?

Also dadada, very clever of you to highlight and therefore enable the Pitney Bowes 'loophole' to be exploited again!

Since when has a Business Only supplier tried to screw consumers for profits ?

FACT: The Staples site clearly states on every page; " This site is for business customers only, ordering goods for use in the course of their business. All prices exclude VAT."

Any consumers have never been screwed for profits by Staples Mail Order.

Any consumer trying to get the free screwdrivers by ordering a pencil is not "screwing back".

At least you are honest in your self justification. Not like some of the posts on other threads ....

appleblossom

As stated, my order with Staples has been my first, and I have a list of goods that I will be ordering from them - would you like a copy of it? and, yes thank you, though what business it is of yours, I DO run a business, which is why I will be using Staples for my stationary supplies. and I do not give a monkeys what you 'suggest', so what if I am in the minority of your estimated 1% (would you like to provide an example of how you have arriven at this figure?), are you aware of the number of members of MSE? I am sure any company would welcome just 1% of those as new customers. I was not aware of the MSE 'motto', I use MSE to genuinly save money, I don't see it as screw the companies although in a roundabout way I guess I am if I order a free gift from them - I take it you never order anything where you get a free gift too? god forbid you might consider that you are taking advantage? or would you just see it as a way of enouraging custom? Have you actually thought that perhaps if the companies thought "we're going to get well and truly ****** here if we offer a free screwdriver set", they would not offer it for orders over a set amount? No, they offer it to entice the customers in the hope that they will return, and I beg to differ that it is more than your 1% that do so.

abijanzo

Staples shouldnt offer such 'free gifts' without a minimum spend if they can't afford for people to order low priced items and still get the set.
My heart certainly doesnt bleed for them...they should take such things into consideration.
Trying to make people feel guilty for ordering low priced products purely to take advantage of these 'free' gifts is not going to work - especially when companies such as Staples charge over onflated postage rates to start with and are not considering environmental issues by sending out tiny single items in huge cardboard boxes!

abijanzo

And another thing...Staples marketting department may borrow my screwdriver set...they obviously have a screw loose if they think people won't take advantage of a no minimum spend freebie.