Further Reports of Office Depot’s Selling Practices

Two weeks ago, we reported on a story that claimed customers get the rough end of the deal if they opt out of Office Depot’s extra services, included with their notebooks and some other products. The story goes, if you want to purchase a notebook but decline a warranty, chances are the employee (with the backing of the manager) will claim that what you want is out of stock.

We followed-up the following day with an official response from Office Depot’s HQ, which claimed that these practices are not condoned by the company, and any employee found acting in such a shady way would be dealt with appropriately. Well, that’s all fine and good, but there might be a good deal that Office Depot is not telling us, and again, I have to stress that Office Depot is not likely the only company to partake in such practices. I have little doubt that many brick and mortar stores have their faults.

Since we posted these two articles, we’ve had two posters post some pretty interesting stories in our forums, one who is actually an Office Depot manager. The other, a previous Montgomery Ward employee, who has some anger-inducing stories of his own. The stories our Office Depot manager has is enough to really open our eyes wide though, so it’s a recommended read. These stories go far beyond the schemes already mentioned.

The budgets are based on the stores volume. Average budgets are around $400 each day. We must email our District Manager (DM) a midday update and a final number at closing. You can bet that one will get a call from the DM within the hour if these numbers are low or at “0”. We get statements like “What are you doing about this???” “If YOU can’t get this done…. I’ll find someone who can!!!” “I’ll bet there are lots of (out of work) former Circuit City managers that could get it done!!!… They’d love to have your job!!!”