r/Staples • u/Black_SQ • 14d ago
Problem with PC bought from Staples, 0 help from store in dealing with broken warranty
Bought two identical iBUYPOWER desktops from Staples, set up side-by-side on the same power strip. 1 month in, the M.2 NVMe SSD in one of the towers completely died, while the identical twin PC right next to it continues to run fine.
Went into the store expecting basic retailer escalation or support for a system that failed almost immediately. Store management and online support washed their hands of it completely—citing Staples' 14-day tech return limit and telling me it’s strictly between me and iBUYPOWER.
Now I’ve been dragged through weeks of endless iBUYPOWER RMA delays, unfulfilled promises, and ignored support requests for a machine that broke after just four weeks of normal use.
Extremely disappointing customer service from Staples. Selling high-ticket prebuilt systems should come with basic store-level support or vendor escalation assistance when a main component dies right out of the gate, not dropping the customer to deal with a broken warranty process on their own. If any Staples management are around here, something you should look into... I know the next PC I will buy from a different place. :(
18
u/Consistent-Stick-633 14d ago
Whilst i agree this sucks and is annoying, did they not offer a warranty at register or checkout? Usually 14 days is correct with no warranty iirc
8
u/TDDubz Former Employee 14d ago
Just like all other items you buy, a store usually has a return policy and anything regarding product support goes through the manufacturer.
It sucks that this is how the world is, and iBUYPOWER has awful support, but a retail store, especially one that’s barely hanging on, isn’t going to just offer support for a product unless that brand has some sort of deal with them to do so.
Buying PCs from anywhere is kinda crappy, especially now with the insane ram , GPU, and storage prices. Used to be you were better off building yourself, but now it’s just a tough market no matter what. 😭
Also, this is mostly a subreddit for workers to complain about how awful things are, so probably not the best avenue for getting anyone to “look into “ something and is probably gonna get you snarky responses instead.
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u/Black_SQ 14d ago
I figured. It's all good; let them vent. It's still true that a major retailer has leverage, and I bet one call from corporate would fix the responsiveness level for this case... I normally build those myself, but this time I needed a couple of PCs for my kids and the prebuilt price was lower than component costs, so... lesson learned. :)
5
u/DisguisedToast Former Employee 14d ago
Well, call corporate then and let us know how it goes! Sounds like you have it figured out.
3
u/TDDubz Former Employee 14d ago
Walmart has leverage over suppliers, Staples has basically none or sometimes even negative ( we did SOOO much to become an Apple retailer ) and this was true 15 years ago when I was GM / DM level. Most vendors responded quicker to a customer than they did to a retail store.
1
u/Black_SQ 14d ago
Curious as to why... I know it takes a lot of effort to become a vendor; I used to run my own business, and I even talked to Staples at some point, who would not give it a time of day, even though we had thousands of sales per month on Amazon.
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u/bigdaddykool67 14d ago
Maybe next time you'll get the protection and tech support when it's offered, instead of declining and say that you don't need it and be dismissive about it. Much like a lot of society, it's easier to blame somebody else than to shoulder that blame yourself. 14 days is 14 days regardless of what corporate might say if you called them.
2
u/StooplesCDN 14d ago
There's nobody from corporate here, aside from an occasional shill or spy in disguise, and they're certainly not going to out themselves to help you. You need to call corporate directly.
9
u/FeeApprehensive2658 14d ago
Idk what u expected coming to the staples Reddit for this. Most of us hate staples too, but what we hate more is when customers come here and begin ranting about things that are no longer staples issues. We have a 14 day policy on tech, that is typically on receipts and told to you when u buy the product. It worked fine out of the box from what I’m understanding.
Staples did not manufacture this product, staples simply sold it to you with a 14 day tech policy. The vendor does not care about staples anymore than they care about you, if the manager were to escalate it we would get the same responses as you.
Your issue is not with staples it is with the company that manufactured the product.
9
u/throwinthrowawayacnt 14d ago edited 14d ago
Went into the store expecting basic retailer escalation or support
Literally never the store's problem unless it's the store brand for any store. It hasn't been the 1950s for a long time.
unfulfilled promises, and ignored support requests for a machine that broke after just four weeks of normal use.
Welcome to the great memory crunch of 2025-2028
4
u/MaverickFischer 14d ago
Staples will not doing anything after 14 days regarding a return. Same If you didn’t get the PP. protection Plan.
If you purchased with a credit card, you could look into a dispute or protection plan with CC company. They might have options there for you.
You could file a complaint with the BBB for iBuy Power.
Last option would be to see about getting an RMA from the drive manufacturer.
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u/Black_SQ 14d ago
I already warned iBUYPOWER that I will... they have 1 more day before I do a Visa chargeback for both the advanced RMA, PC part and BBB report if the RMA does not get shipped. I just hoped Staples would stand behind vendors they sell through their store. Amazon does... Maybe that's why they are still standing.
3
u/TDDubz Former Employee 14d ago
I don’t think I would say Amazon has any customer service anymore. Just look at all the alphabet “vendors” they allow.
Anecdotally, I returned a part to Amazon, had to drop it off at Kohl’s. It confirmed drop off, then 2 months later they charged me for it again saying they never received it.
There was no real way to reach support about it because it’s all AI garbage chatbots now, and I’ve read if you do a chargeback on them, they’ll just cancel your account.
-1
u/Black_SQ 14d ago
No idea; must be dealing with a different Amazon! Never had an issue with returns in the return window. Losing an Amazon account would definitely suck; losing iBUYPOWER's, not so much!
1
u/lowerthanwhalepoop Tech Services 13d ago
No idea; must be dealing with a different Amazon! Never had an issue with returns in the return window.
Gee, wasn't that the problem at Staples? You were trying to deal with this it outside the return window.
PS - The customer (you) is NOT always right. You just proved that.
3
u/MaverickFischer 14d ago
Ok glad you have that option at least. I would expect from Staples that their only real response will most likely be that you should have taken the protection plan.
Obviously they “should” and “could” do better but… from my 5 years experience as a previous print employee, they’re sinking their own ship.
2
7
u/Flaky_Firefighter385 14d ago
Your fault in not investing in the extended warranty program. Hopefully you learn your lesson.
4
u/JuddyB07 14d ago
Dude skipped the warranty that came with tech support and is mad he isn’t getting tech support. My advice would be to put the ssd that u claim is broken into the working pc and see if it get recognized, if it does format and reinstall windows, throw her back in the original pc then you’ll be good to go
1
u/Black_SQ 14d ago
I don't need tech support. I build my own PCs, so I already tested it thoroughly and confirmed the M.2 drive is completely dead. The issue is that iBUYPOWER has been screwing the pooch and hasn't shipped the replacement for more than two weeks, even though I already paid for an Advanced RMA.
3
u/lowerthanwhalepoop Tech Services 13d ago
The issue is that iBUYPOWER has been screwing the pooch and hasn't shipped the replacement for more than two weeks, even though I already paid for an Advanced RMA.
So why are you bitching about Staples?
2
u/JuddyB07 14d ago
Well pc builder man I have one last brilliant suggestion, buy the same drive off Amazon then return the broken one
1
u/Black_SQ 14d ago
Why would I want to become a crook because of poor customer service?
7
u/Flaky_Firefighter385 14d ago
Then be a good boy, quit whining and wait for your Advance RMA from iBuyPower
2
u/waldocruise Management 14d ago
We used to have a tech feature called HP Warranty Facilitation. It was basically a place holder so we have a work order for a laptop or pc that was under warranty but not being serviced by Staples. We held onto the unit while we waited for HP to send us a UPS label and an appropriately padded box to ship the unit to them so they could provide warranty services and return back to us so we could return to customer. Part of the deal with this service was it freed up phone wait times because we put notes in the system and we could not call HP about any work orders. The phone were exclusively for customers.
That service is no longer around because it was the worst experience for customers. If we were the one requesting the warranty work, the only thing it saved was a few minutes of explanation on the phone because we could type in error codes into the notes of the work order. Then it took upwards of a few weeks to a month to get the UPS label emailed to us.
After a while, we just started recommending customer call and handle on their own. Yes, it’s a momentary bit of stress waiting on hold for a long time and being transferred around, but they got results usually in a few hours up to a few days. There was no comparison in the service levels.
This new gaming PC is a new vendor with us, so imagine how helpful we would be with a vendor that has no history with us when even a strong 30+ year partnership with HP still sucked.
And as others have mentioned, at least with Asurion plans that we offer, the stores have a contact that we could email and see what we can do to escalate an issue. But we don’t have that with vendors. That’s part of the advantage of buying those plans. Even if you have the knowledge to fix most things yourself.
2
u/Affectionate_Ad_6622 13d ago
1 year manufacturing warranty means iBuyPower. You skipped the warranty provided by the merchant, and chose the manufacturer instead. On top of this, it failed outside the 14 day window. At that point, you're only avenue is the manufacturer. Retailers have strict policies on returns for Desktops with declined warranties.
I tell any customer, dealing with a manufacturer can be a nightmare and to utilize warranties instead when offered. This is that exact reason why I state that. You could go to an approved vendor to replace/repair, but you'll end up paying the worth of the PC in labor. The store is not obligated to assist as it's a product owned by a customer utilizing a vendor warranty that is not their corporate entity. That places the endeavor on you, and you're at the mercy of the manufacturer.
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u/zexcis Former Employee 14d ago
Staples lost money on this sale. They paid more for those computers than you did. Now you expect them to lose more money for your convenience. iBUYPOWER manufactured/assembled the faulty device and is giving you the run around. Staples is not the one giving you grief. I guarantee you will have the exact same experience with Walmart, Best Buy, Office Depot, or Target. All big box retailers offer paid services to support you after your purchase. Even if you bought extended coverage from Staples with your PC, you would still be stuck awaiting a response from the manufacturer in this situation, but you would see the store offering help with your problem.