Toshiba Canada and Staples Canada: How They Don't Get Along And Ignore Each Other
A couple of days ago, this would have been my post about my war with Toshiba Canada and Staples Canada. Unfortunately, I am forced to take it all back because, as I was writing the following post, I was on the phone with Toshiba Canada and they changed their flippin' minds:
Over the past seven or so weeks, I have been at war with Staples Canada and Toshiba. In February, we purchased a couple of Toshiba laptops that were on sale at Staples (yes, I know, I wouldn't normally order something from them but the deal was just too good!). They were new machines, so, we bought them. One of them had a problem on the screen, so, I happily sent it in for repair. It was fixed and I got it back. The keyboard on the second laptop had some sticky keys. I sent that in for repair. It didn't come back because it was not in warranty. "What?" I said. "It expired last year." The nice technical repair guy said. "What?!" I said. What followed was not pretty. When I get screwed, I like to make sure I have a good time - so, one must watch out when they sell me something and, if you are a huge corporation that spans the globe, even better for my day in the fun and sun. I called Toshiba. They said: "So, what is the problem?" I explained it calmly...almost. Three Toshiba departments later (which I had to call all individually because they apparently can't call each other), and a call to the Staples store, I again said: "What?!" Anyway, it has been resolved now, but I will never buy anything at Staples again. Why? Because it has been discovered by myself and Toshiba that the sales people were not selling stuff "above board". It has all been deception, lies and plain ignorant, mindless stupidity. I also must make mention of DTM Systems, a company that has been holding on to my poor machine and tolerating this whole mess. They rock! Thanks go to Barry, Paul, Wayne and Dave - without their help on this matter, I might be stuck with a busted machine that no one wants to repair. And, Toshiba, bless their hearts, has taken this all in stride and supported their product regardless of this situation....
My post trailed off somewhere around here because...Toshiba revoked their promise! Two of the people I spoke to at Toshiba told to me that everything would be taken care of. But, at the last minute, a decision came down from Toshiba's head office to deny me what I wanted (a new keyboard). They feel they had fulfilled their promise and they had no further obligation to satisfy me. I called Staples head office cheesed off and ready to kill. But a nice executive lady answered and explained to me what was going on.
"Toshiba and Staples have an agreement that their product, no matter when sold, is covered under their 12 month warranty. No problem. They are obviously violating that agreement in this case. We will sort it out, you don't need to worry about a thing. I am sorry you have been mixed up in this dispute. It has been ongoing between our two companies for some time."
So, Staples Canada customer service (with the exception of the local store jockeys who were nice but a little clueless) provided me with some satisfaction. And, yes, the keyboard was repaired. I hope that Toshiba can do the same in the future - but, somehow, I doubt it.
Tags: toshiba, staples, toshiba canada, staples canada, poor service, customer service
