It's becoming quite the saga, but a new chapter has unfolded in the TaxCut software story. I didn't mention it before, but when I got the Microsoft Money software I noticed that the round, clear sticker that served as the seal had been broken, only to be covered by another one. While it may have been done in the factory or somewhere else along the pre-customer route, I wasn't particularly pleased. I called up Staples, who offered to come pick it up and exchange it with another, or I could go to a store to do the exchange myself. Because I get my deliveries at work, and I usually don't have contact with the Staples courier, I figured it'd just be easier to go to Staples myself (especially considering that I had other errands to run in the same shopping center).
I finally got around to going today (in the snow, no less). I brought the software up to the CS desk, explained the story to the clerk, who called over another clerk/assistant manager. He didn't want to authorize it himself, so he went to speak to the manager. He reported that they would not accept "open" software for exchange (in direct violation of the Staples Return Policy, which states, "Software: We’ll gladly exchange opened software for the same title.") So after arguing with him for several minutes, I took his name, his boss's name and number, and I'll have a nice chat tomorrow. (You'll, of course, be able to read about it here.)
I proceed to look around the store to see if there were any deals to be had. I found a package of 10 rolls of receipt paper for $.50. While I have no need for such products, I figured it would be good for my MIL and her calculator. There were also a couple of FAR items - Post-its and a calculator. As I was about to check out, I noticed that the Microsoft Money Deluxe was (still) marked at $39.94, instead of the regular price of $59.99. So I picked up a copy and went to checkout.
Everything rang up smoothly except for the MS Money - it was showing up in the system at the "right" price of $59.99. The clerk called for a price check, and the assistant manager with whom I had dealt earlier did the check, and found that I was right - it was labeled at $39.94. The clerk proceeded to do a price override. At this point I handed over my Customer Appreciation Days coupon (12% off). The clerk proceeded to enter a 12% price correction for each item. At the end, she told me the total, and it seemed high, so I took a close look at the screen, and discovered the problem. With two price corrections on the MS Money, the system first applied the 12% to the $59.99 price (bringing it down to $52.79), then did the correction to $39.94, automatically calculating the difference ($12.85), producing a final cost of $39.94. I pointed this out to the clerk, who actually caught on surprisingly quick. She then tried to trick the system by entering the $39.94 price override first, then the 12%, but the system still did the same thing. After a few more futile attempts, she called for the manager.
The actual store manager (whom I had argued with earlier) came over and assessed the situation. He quickly stated that that was how their system worked, and it couldn't be overridden. I started to suggest that it could be solved by manually calculating the 12% off of the $39.94 ($35.15), and entering that as the price override. I was even in the process of offering to do the calculations myself, if they would just give me a pen and paper, but he cut me off with the line, "When did you ever work for Staples." Gee, I never did, but I can still tell you how to solve this customer service problem. I proceeded to chastise him for cutting me off, then explained my solution in full. He sort of shrugged and told the clerk to go ahead and do that, then disappeared. As she was finishing things up, I commented to the clerk, "Man, is he in a bad mood today," to which she responded, "No, he's always like that." The clerk finalized my order, I paid, and left with a partial smile.
So much for Staples showing any "Customer Appreciation."
When I returned home, I checked FW and happened to find a thread discussing that the shredder that I had bought as part of this TaxCut bundle was online for $9.94 (with a $10 MIR), $10 less than when I bought it ($19.94 with a $20 MIR). I called to PM, and will be getting $10.86 (including tax) credited, for a new profit total on the tax bundle of $13.72 (which may rise if the rebate on Money Deluxe is overpaid)! I even posted a thread of FW to share the deal/news.
I also called Staples to complain about the misleading information I had been given (that it would be no problem to do the exchange in-store), and to arrange for a pickup of the software. Now that I have Money Deluxe, I simply wanted to return Money Standard, and arranging it was no problem. I was also given a special number for Executive Customer Service. (You'll read about this call, too!)
The whole point of getting Money Deluxe for under $40 is that it comes with a rebate for up to $40 off (with a TaxCut purchase). At the normal price ($59.99), it's not worth it, but for free, why not. Plus, there's a chance the rebate center will pay $40 (or $39.94), leading to an even greater profit!
