Office Depot

My visit to this store was certainly not a pleasant one today! I’ve shopped at this store numerous times over the years for both personal and business reasons. While there have been a couple of hick-​ups during this time, overall I have had a good experience — that is until today.
The purpose of my visit was to purchase a few miscellaneous work supplies, a time clock to use on a temporary basis at a new location we I’m opening and a new work laptop. After looking at a few of those on display, an associated named Pat approached and offered his assistance. We discussed a couple of the models and I choose a Toshiba Pat checked the in-​store stock and there were no more available. He checked all the surrounding stores and there were none available. I asked if he was able to order one for me and he stated that he could not as this was a ‘Black Friday’ sale item. Pat stated that he could talk to the manager on duty, Ryan to see if the floor model could be sold and if there would be a discount.
While Pat was checking with Ryan, I continued to explore around on the lap top. The lap top display was next to the office furniture section. Pat walked by and addressed a family that was looking at office chairs. The husband told Pat that he wanted the chair he was sitting in and Pat checked the electronic device he was holding and said that four were in stock and off he went to look for the chairs.
Pat had somewhat disappeared. Another associate named Amanda (?) approached and asked if I needed help. I told her no, Pat was helping me and was checking with Ryan. I turned around and saw Pat now helping another customer. It was almost as if he had totally forgotten about me and the lap top. Amanda was walking by and I asked her for help. I explained what was going on and she said she would check with Ryan. (Note: Ryan was not on the showroom floor — he was in the ‘warehouse’ area.) At this point, I had been by the lap top for approximately 35 minutes.
Amanda came from the back of the store and went over to Pat, had a quick conversation and then she walked away — never addressing me with any information from Ryan. I went over to Pat and asked what was going on and he stated that he was helping another customer and would be with me in a few minutes. I then approached Amanda and asked what was going on? She stated that she had given the information to Pat and that he would help me and relay the information from Ryan. I looked and saw that Pat was still helping the original customer. At this point, I was feeling as though I was not important as a customer at all to Ryan, Pat or Amanda. I asked Amanda to tell Ryan that I wanted to speak with him directly. She left to go relay the message to Ryan.
After another 5 minutes, Ryan appeared from the back — walking up with a fast food drink cup in his hand which I felt was unprofessional, especially for a member of ‘management’. There was effort at greeting me on his part — I had to initiate the greeting and a handshake. Ryan then asked what computer I was looking at and a couple of other questions as if no one had said anything at all to him about the situation — questions he asked as he was walking away from me and towards the lap top I had been interested in purchasing. When he got to the lap top he stated that they do not sell the floor models. I replied by stating that Pat had looked and there were no more available and the store was not able to order more so I wondered why the floor model could not be sold. Ryan stated that he needed to check the computer and walked past me to the computer station. I followed and after a couple of minutes, Ryan asked what my last name was and my address. I asked why did he need this information and he stated that he needed it so he could see if he could actually place and order for the lap top. I responded that I did not want to give him all my personal information unless he could get the lap top, to just us the stores information. Ryan stated that if he did that, and there were lap tops available, then he would have to retype over all the stores information and he was not going to do that as it was a waste of his time. Since I would not give him my personal information, Ryan stated that there were no computers available and he would not sell me the floor model. I felt like he was being very childish — school yard antics — since I would not give him my personal information he would not even check to see if the lap top could be ordered. I told Ryan that I would look elsewhere and walked away. When I had taken about 5 steps, Ryan yelled out ‘Merry Christmas’ in a sarcastic and condescending tone.
I’m very disappointed in the way that I was treated today by Pat and more importantly, by Ryan. As the manager of the store, he is setting a poor example for the other associates to follow. His behavior today was not guest-​service focused in any way — there are simply no excuses!

A typical Office Depot. The manager had sort of an undercurrent rudeness about him. Probably just has a dry sense of humor but he came across a little curt. Staff is fairly helpful but these days it feels like they are running thin. This probably has more to do with the economy than anything.

I didn’t get much help while looking around at the paper shredders. I didn’t really need help, but it might have been nice to check a few things out. The store is not properly mapped in the mobile-​app for Unilocal.Make sure you realize this is in the greater Southlands Mall complex. It is right across from Best Buy, which by the way, has better paper shredders for the buck.
There’s nothing really good or bad about this place. I’m not dying to go back if I need office supplies though.

Nice store with very friendly, helpful employees. They have a great store layout with easy to read signage.

The latest addition to Southlands Mall re-​opened after being hit by the recent tornado — Welcome to Aurora !!
This Office Depot is large, bright, and brand spankin’ new — an automatic 3 Stars in my book.
The extra Star is for honoring my $ 30 entertainment coupon even though my purchase was $ 140 vs $ 150.
I did have to deduct a Star as they are Super Expensive –my $ 30 coupon savings brought the purchase, a Netgear Router, down to the every day price that WalMart sells it for — not that I ever want to set foot in a WalMart; I’m just saying — without a coupon or sale, I couldn’t justify paying 20% more.