Jerks working at Staples

[hambone79]

BEGIN RANT

My wife and I are preparing to move from our apartment into a new house and we have started packing. Yesterday afternoon we ran out of packing tape, so I ran down to Staples to grab more packing tape and some bubble wrap for the breakable items we were packing.

Since I was already in the store, I figured I would take a look at the netbooks they had to see if I could find something I really liked. After a quick glance around I saw a single HP netbook hidden amongst all the other laptops. I walked up and started looking at it...it was a nice machine, but it was running Windows XP and I'm really looking for one that is running Linux.

About that time a Staples employee appeared and asked me if I needed any help. I said "yes" and asked him if they had any more netbooks available. He took me to a endcap where they had another HP and an Acer on display and I started looking those machines over as well. I then asked him if they had any netbooks with Linux preinstalled and he suddenly got a disgusted look on his face. He said, "Why do you want Linux? Windows does more than Linux and all the netbooks come with Windows anyway." I then informed him that I use Linux at home and at work and I prefer it over Windows since it works perfectly for my needs. From there he just started acting like a complete jerk and kept telling me that it was stupid to use Linux and that I was one of the very few that wastes my time with it.

WTF? I thought the sales people were supposed to help you find what you want/need instead of belittling you for your choice of OS! Even though I am a die hard Linux fan, I still believe a person should be able to choose the OS that works for them. If I'm going to sell you a computer, I will show you the choices and let you decide what will work for you!

This experience has left such a bad taste in my mouth that I probably won't be going back to Staples any time soon...especially since their is an Office Depot across the street.

END RANT

[howefield]

What did the store manager have to say ? Presumably you did express your "bad taste" in the store ?

[billgoldberg]

BEGIN RANT

My wife and I are preparing to move from our apartment into a new house and we have started packing. Yesterday afternoon we ran out of packing tape, so I ran down to Staples to grab more packing tape and some bubble wrap for the breakable items we were packing.

Since I was already in the store, I figured I would take a look at the netbooks they had to see if I could find something I really liked. After a quick glance around I saw a single HP netbook hidden amongst all the other laptops. I walked up and started looking at it...it was a nice machine, but it was running Windows XP and I'm really looking for one that is running Linux.

About that time a Staples employee appeared and asked me if I needed any help. I said "yes" and asked him if they had any more netbooks available. He took me to a endcap where they had another HP and an Acer on display and I started looking those machines over as well. I then asked him if they had any netbooks with Linux preinstalled and he suddenly got a disgusted look on his face. He said, "Why do you want Linux? Windows does more than Linux and all the netbooks come with Windows anyway." I then informed him that I use Linux at home and at work and I prefer it over Windows since it works perfectly for my needs. From there he just started acting like a complete jerk and kept telling me that it was stupid to use Linux and that I was one of the very few that wastes my time with it.

WTF? I thought the sales people were supposed to help you find what you want/need instead of belittling you for your choice of OS! Even though I am a die hard Linux fan, I still believe a person should be able to choose the OS that works for them. If I'm going to sell you a computer, I will show you the choices and let you decide what will work for you!

This experience has left such a bad taste in my mouth that I probably won't be going back to Staples any time soon...especially since their is an Office Depot across the street.

END RANT

If some sales person at a shop would call me stupid, all hell would brake loose.

[Giant Speck]

I went to a Best Buy once to find a printer that would work with Linux. I asked one of the employees there if they could help me with my specific problem. They politely told me that they had no expertise in Linux, and referred me to a Geek Squad employee that had knowledge in Linux.

First of all, they guy told me that he hadn't used Linux in a while. I was fine with that. No problem. I told him that I use Ubuntu and that I was trying to find a printer that wasn't made by HP (I don't like their ink, but that's another story). He kept insisting that HP was probably the best I could find. I started looking at the Canon printers. He kept telling me he didn't know if Canon printers would work with Linux and that I really should try an HP model.

Eventually, I got fed up and walked up to one of the Mac computers (the only computers in the entire store that had internet access), started Safari and browsed to openprinting.org and found the driver for the Canon printer I was looking for. All the while, he kept trying to make Linux small talk and he asked me what DE I used. I told him KDE. He said, "I hate KDE."

It was bad enough that he was insisting that he help me with his limited and out-dated knowledge of Linux, but to dismiss my choice in desktop environments right to my face?

I shrugged the comment off, bought the Canon printer and some ink, and then left.

It wasn't bad enough an experience to make me never shop at that Best Buy again, but it was bad enough an experience with the "Linux expert" to never ask Linux-centric hardware questions at that Best Buy ever again.

EDIT: The Canon printer worked perfectly, by the way. It's a Canon PIXMA MP210, and I love it. :)

[hambone79]

What did the store manager have to say ? Presumably you did express your "bad taste" in the store ?

I didn't tell the store manager because I didn't think was worth the hassle. I'm perfectly content with driving across the road to the Office Depot store.

[Kevbert]

Those stores will need to learn about linux soon as it look like it will be the OS for the future, especially as MS market share is going down (it will be interesting to see how Win7 does).
If any shop assistant called me stupid, I'd take my business elsewhere.

[jeyaganesh]

Mostly sales persons try to sell what they have at their store. Some times they dont even know about the latest products that their company produce.

Because you are an experienced Linux user, he couldnt convince you. He would do this to lot of customers and sold those netbooks.:D

[northwestuntu]

i once got in a argument with a guy at fry's once. transformers was about to come out on dvd so i asked him is there gonna be a blue-ray version. he say's NEVER!!! pretty much yelling at me. there will be a hd-dvd version and that's it. i said never? how do you know that? he say's sir i can guarantee you in this lifetime you will never see transformers on blue-ray.

it's just funny how they get mad at you when you question them :D

like "how dare you question me!! i have a name tag and everything!!! where's your name tag!!! ....evil laugh"

[stimpack]

The guy is a shop assistant in Staples... comfort yourself in the fact that he lost in the game of life.

[lswb]

The salesman was way out of line, but Staples and similar stores do have a vested interest in pushing windows over linux. They have significant sales income from windows application software.

[Sealbhach]

If my only exposure to Linux was the dumbed down buggy childish netbook distros I've seen in stores, then I would probably have contempt for it too.

Also, just because someone works in a store, it doesn't mean they don't have the right to express an opinion.


.

[Patrick Snyder]

Why get mad? It's like when a little child starts to argue with you. As soon as you get angry, you've already lost.

Just like the children, these people who've talked to you guys (in the few examples posted) are naive on these topics. Their outbursts are symptoms of the inability to deal with their powerlessness and uselessness when they're supposed to be useful.

When we can see that it's the same naivety but in a grown up body, it becomes more sad than a situation to return anger. It's like the rug has been pulled out from under them, and they aggressively grasp at straws to stay where they think they should be.

And once we realize that we also respond in the same way when confronted with the fact that we're unhelpful in the very situation we thought we'd be best at... in a strange way, it brings peace and tolerance.

[youthforlinux]

I wonder if those sales people figured out why they dont run vista on those netbooks.....

[zmjjmz]

Surprisingly, I went to a Staples and when I saw they were selling a bunch of Dell computers (among them an Inspiron 530, the Studio 15, and an XPS M1330) I asked one of the salespeople if they had the Linux models. He called over another salesman who was the specialist on the computers there, and he told me that while he uses Ubuntu and would love to see the n-series there, that they don't have any and do not have any plans to get any.

[howefield]

I didn't tell the store manager because I didn't think was worth the hassle.

Thought not, it is so much easier to vent on here....

[init1]

BEGIN RANT

My wife and I are preparing to move from our apartment into a new house and we have started packing. Yesterday afternoon we ran out of packing tape, so I ran down to Staples to grab more packing tape and some bubble wrap for the breakable items we were packing.

Since I was already in the store, I figured I would take a look at the netbooks they had to see if I could find something I really liked. After a quick glance around I saw a single HP netbook hidden amongst all the other laptops. I walked up and started looking at it...it was a nice machine, but it was running Windows XP and I'm really looking for one that is running Linux.

About that time a Staples employee appeared and asked me if I needed any help. I said "yes" and asked him if they had any more netbooks available. He took me to a endcap where they had another HP and an Acer on display and I started looking those machines over as well. I then asked him if they had any netbooks with Linux preinstalled and he suddenly got a disgusted look on his face. He said, "Why do you want Linux? Windows does more than Linux and all the netbooks come with Windows anyway." I then informed him that I use Linux at home and at work and I prefer it over Windows since it works perfectly for my needs. From there he just started acting like a complete jerk and kept telling me that it was stupid to use Linux and that I was one of the very few that wastes my time with it.

WTF? I thought the sales people were supposed to help you find what you want/need instead of belittling you for your choice of OS! Even though I am a die hard Linux fan, I still believe a person should be able to choose the OS that works for them. If I'm going to sell you a computer, I will show you the choices and let you decide what will work for you!

This experience has left such a bad taste in my mouth that I probably won't be going back to Staples any time soon...especially since their is an Office Depot across the street.

END RANT
My experience at BestBuy wasn't been that bad, but could've been better


me: So, do you have any Linux eeepc's?
sales rep: No, I guess it's just not popular enough

I did see a Linux eeepc there a bit later, but they've since removed it.
And actually, I've seen Xandros Linux at Staples before.

[Swagman]

I went with my daughter to Staples here in the UK to buy an eeepc.

We found the one she wanted an I called a salesman over.

He said "Are you sure you want that one as it only has Linux on it"

I replied "Thats a bonus then"!!

He looked at me as though I had two heads and muttered" I ent got no use fer lynux, winduz duz wot i want"

By this time we were at the checkout and he was logging in his pin so he gets the sale so I replied.

"Thats a shame for you then."

"Why"

"Because When I get paid next week I'm going to buy another two of these for my other two daughters. Guess where I WONT be buying them from !!"


http://www.upload3r.com/serve/250109/1232903715.jpeg

[wolfen69]

http://www.upload3r.com/serve/250109/1232903715.jpeg

they make the eeepc with 7in screen and the atom processors? i thought the atom processors were only available on the 9in or bigger.

are you going to install ubuntu on them? i heard Eeebuntu is really good.

[gletob]

If some sales person at a shop would call me stupid, all hell would brake loose.

Exactly that is when the **** hits the fan.

[ajcham]

Also, just because someone works in a store, it doesn't mean they don't have the right to express an opinion.

Quite right, but if it is your opinion that the customer is stupid you should probably keep it to yourself - assuming you want to remain employed.

[xpod]

I cant complain about Staples.This time last year they gave me(well,the wife) an extra 3 inches of monitor for absolutely nothing.
At the moment i think asking most of the sales people in these types of shop about Linux is something you`d do for a bit of a laugh is it not?

[blueshiftoverwatch]

Does Microsoft actually honor their warranty that says that they'll refund your unused copy of Windows for full value if you buy a computer with it preinstalled and don't agree to the licensing terms?

He said "Are you sure you want that one as it only has Linux on it"
I replied "Thats a bonus then"!!
He looked at me as though I had two heads and muttered" I ent got no use fer lynux, winduz duz wot i want"
By this time we were at the checkout and he was logging in his pin so he gets the sale so I replied.
"Thats a shame for you then."
"Why"
"Because When I get paid next week I'm going to buy another two of these for my other two daughters. Guess where I WONT be buying them from !!"
It doesn't sound like the guy was harassing you. He just informed you that the particular model you wanted to buy had Linux on it. Something that would be a burden to most computer users who want Windows installed. And than said that Windows does what he wants.

[hambone79]

Does Microsoft actually honor their warranty that says that they'll refund your unused copy of Windows for full value if you buy a computer with it preinstalled and don't agree to the licensing terms?

In my experience they don't honor it. I tried this on a Gateway media center PC I purchased a year ago and wasn't able to get a refund.

[ajcham]

In my experience they don't honor it. I tried this on a Gateway media center PC I purchased a year ago and wasn't able to get a refund.

IIRC, Microsoft state in their EULA that should you reject the terms you can claim a refund from the seller in accordance with their returns policy. I interpret this to mean it is up to the store (not MS) to take back your copy of Windows and give you the refund - furthermore, depending on the store's returns policy, they may regard the PC + Windows as a 'bundle' and would be within their rights to deny a partial refund, instead requiring you to return the computer also.

[sizzlefire]

I wonder what would have happened if you would have asked him why he would want windows...

[forrestcupp]

Mostly sales persons try to sell what they have at their store. Some times they dont even know about the latest products that their company produce.

Because you are an experienced Linux user, he couldnt convince you. He would do this to lot of customers and sold those netbooks.:D

Great point. Why would he try to sell a netbook that they don't carry. They're going to try to make what they have look best.

[dasunst3r]

Unfortunately, money talks. To that end, just make it clear that they just lost a potential sale.

[cariboo]

The local Staples here, used to stock Red Hat and Mandrake linux. But now there is no linux to be seen anywhere on the shelves. I asked the head of the computer department why, and he stated that people that buy the software expect support form where they bought it from, and Staples was not willing to support for anything but Windows.

He also stated that the only certificate you needed was an MCSE to work in the technical department at Staples, and he felt that having a certificate for Microsoft products didn't qualify them to work with any other OS's. Here they ship all the Macs out for service.

Jim

[Swagman]

Does Microsoft actually honor their warranty that says that they'll refund your unused copy of Windows for full value if you buy a computer with it preinstalled and don't agree to the licensing terms?

It doesn't sound like the guy was harassing you. He just informed you that the particular model you wanted to buy had Linux on it. Something that would be a burden to most computer users who want Windows installed. And than said that Windows does what he wants.

It's quite difficult to portray someones attitude in text.

There was obviously more to the conversation than that but I condensed it for here.

Think with a high and mighty.. WTF are you buying that P>O>S for when the one next to it has windows on it ?