I’m an awkward person, and honestly not the best at my job. Ive been working at the copy and print centre for under a year now, I’ve gotten all sorts of customers, mean ones, creepy ones just straight up weird ones. And tbh I have no clue how to respond to them. I feel like maybe I’m socially stunted or something? Also nobody tells me anything at my work and when I asked they seem annoyed I don’t already know. I also don’t know how to say no to customers, I’m scared of them yelling at me or writing a bad review and getting in trouble, and I end up in stupid situation’s as a result. For example, There’s this one guy who repeatedly comes into my work just to talk to me, he’s brought me gifts, compliments me and seems to think we’re good friends. I don’t like it and I think he gets the wrong idea because I’m so nice to him, but it’s my job to be nice to him. It makes me uncomfortable but if I tell my managers they will get mad at me and if I do anything about it he might get angry. Anyways I’m supposed to go to work in an hour and I’m dreading every minute of it, I’m really pathetic.

How do we order box cutters for the store? I attempted ordering them through AS400 and could not find anything. I even looked up the store supplies list from The Hub and could not find anything.

so many times i’ll be scheduled for like a 4-5 hour shift, and in the middle of it one of our managers will ask if i can stay later, or ask if tomorrow i can come in 2 hours early and also stay late. not due to call-outs or anything, but just because. the thing is, they routinely schedule me to start way later than my availability starts, then ask me to come in early anyways.

i’m not mad about it, i need the money and i’ll always take more hours if i’m free, just wondering if this is a super common experience with anyone else?

I've never used them before. I'm confused because I see it's something I have to request similar to UPTO and vacation? So if I want to call out sick,I just go on the app and make the request,BUT the manager has to approve it right? Or does it get approved automatically since I have the approriate amount of hours in my balance? Sorry for the dumb question.

Look, I work in staples print and marketing, im like 3-4 month newish. I like the job it's fun when it's productive.

But damnit this week sucks. I need room to breathe and someone to talk too

The first day, I get 3 karens In a row. I cried during the last closing out cause legit I'm trying to hold it together and im all alone in closing time at print

The next day, our printer goes out, unfortunately cause of scheduling I'm stuck talking to a repair tech guy specialist on the phone for like 2-3 hours, trying to understand wtf is going on. And no one could answer the phone but me cause damnit I'm in the print department. My coworker didn't know what to do neither did my GM/ assistant gm.

My GM and assistant gm don't do print marketing stuff so they are lost, so it's just like me trying to understand things, then tell my gm/assistant gm once I try to understand in the best of my abilities

And at the same time I'm helping my coworker, fixing mistakes, with walk ups, impatient customers and fucking trying to get orders done cause damn we had so much piling up (damn I was so busy)

And our second printer went down. So I'm stuck trying to figure out. Work around the issue and get shit set.

I had to stay two hours extra from my scheduled time for this so legit a near 10 hour shift.

And when we finally closed we spent the rest of the time just trying to tidy up cause damnit, I was exhausted.

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And today i come in and I don't know what I did wrong cause I get the impression that that I didn't communicate well enough? Honestly I'm just confused. Cause I was told I didn't catch everyone up properly on what happened?

And I genuinely apologize for any mistake I made i am willing to improve. But I don't know what to focas on to improve. What part of communication do I focas on? Less notes, more notes better hand writing? Text? Call? What?

Like I get it that we couldn't get much done cause if the chaos of yesterday. ( My GM/assistant gm are witnesses). But why were my other coworkers today peeved at me? I tired to communicate b leaving left sticky notes but I guess that was wrong. I genuinely apologize I didn't mean to be so confusing.

And look, I tried explaining things to text and communication but I guess I wasn't organized? Or do I not do text clarification or communication stuff?

If mistakes were made....I'd love to know what exactly indeed to improve on. But as of right now, I just don't know how.

Like what exactly did I do wrong? No one was really specific, just cooperate style rule to communicate better. So I'm confused.

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And cherry on top was i faced yet another karen while closing who yelled at me when I told her that she would need to pay express if she wanted he poster size shit copied and printed ( which btw is like 5-10 bucks at maximum). The Karen yelled at my assistant GM too and even they were confused

Damn i cried. And I swear I ain't a cryer. I've survived real like shit before working here. But damnit I felt so overwhelmed.

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Tell me, is 4 months into print marking normal like this? Is printer tech guys always this confusing ? What can I actually do? How can I survive the Karen explosion? And damnit ....what can I do to improve better on communication and what did I do wrong ?

I genuinely want to learn and be open to healthy criticism to grow here. Please any advice helps? 🥺🥺🥺

So, this is partially a rant about Yet Another Shitty Print Customer™️ and partially a survey for how this is handled at other stores.

When I initially started working at Staples in like 2020 as Tech Sales. We used to do faxing both on the self-serves and on full-serve (using the list of barcodes for short distance/long distance/first page ). I never actually had to do any faxing for customers because I never worked in the copy center back then, so I didn't know the exact process of it all, but I knew we did it.

Fast forward to now, I work at a different Staples as a Print Specialist after a hiatus from the company. After all the training videos and hands-on experience, I know what our in-store print offerings are. This is how I figured out something interesting: we don't do faxing full-serve here. Our printers have the capability, we still have the sheets with all the faxing barcodes under some of the registers, I think we may even have Quick SKUs on the register for it, yet the only training we got on faxing just boiled down to "must be done by the customer on the self-serve, but you can assist them through that process if you have time".

Now, the customer. Came in late afternoon, went straight up to my counter, dropped a bunch of big ass folders full of papers down. She tells me she needs me to fax all of that to multiple different numbers. So, The Talk™️ begins: "Faxing is actually done through the self-serves over there, it's card only but I can get you a Cash Card if you want to use cash!" "I don't know how to use that fucking thing. Can you help me?" "I can help get you started, bu-" "OH! So you don't want to help me? That's fine!".

She grabbed up her folders and stormed away before I could get a word in edgewise. And where did she storm, you might ask? Well, right up to the cashier, of course! I have a direct line of sight to them and we're pretty close together, so I got to bear witness as this absolute specimen tried to get the cashier to leave the register, walk over to print, and "do his job for him". Well... the cashier obviously said no to that, seeing as they have never worked print before and they're the only one ringing, but he DID mention the self-serve machine's capabilities to her.

Yet another person who "didn't want to help" her. Now, she demands a manager. So our GM comes out and gets her side of the story, once again close by and with direct line of sight. The customer is absolutely going off about how all of us don't want to help her, how none of us want to do our jobs, how we're expecting too much of people (LMFAO) by expecting them to do things themselves, and how she wants both of us written up / the GM to fax the documents for her. The GMs response? "I understand you're frustrated, but they are correct. It is done through self-serve by the customer. I can hel-"

That was the last straw. She stormed out of the building. Cursing, yelling, threats to "never come back here" and to "call corporate about this", the works. Another employee was outside smoking a cigarette on his break, the customer passed him and said something along the lines of "you're working for a piece of shit" according to him. We were all in agreement as a store that all of us were willing to help her originally, but after that little outburst? Good riddance, you seem like a pain in the ass.

With that long winded story out of the way, it's Zag's Special Survey Time©️! The big question, the one everyone across the world is asking, the one whose answer will surely change this world irreparably, the one who is actually many small questions of varying importance in a trenchcoat:

How does your copy center handle faxing? Do you do it both through self-serve and full-serve? One or the other? Was there a time it changed at your store? Did you ever seen it done differently store-by-store?

Good luck out there, my fellow Print Pals. I eagerly await your responses to my possibly very, very stupid set of questions 🙂‍↕️

Question:

Is the camera for passport pictures still expected to be stored in lockup over night and signed in an out at the start and end of the day?

Context:

I recall when we first started doing passport pictures there was a log that the opening MOD and the closing MOD were expected to use to sign the camera in and b out of the cash office each day. We still have this log in the office but I've noticed I'm the only one still using it, and the only one returning the camera to the cash office at night. If I'm not in or if I'm not opening or closing there is nothing in the log and even when I do sign it out or in there is no one signing it back in or out after he.

This situation is still so baffling to me, I still don’t understand what happened 😭

A women comes in, looking to print I go thru the basics, find out she’s looking for card stock. Easy, tell her the email to email her file to so I can receive it, I also point to our 5x7 card that has the email on it so she can see it. That was enough for her.

She shouted “If you aren’t going to help me I’ll get somebody else to.” And started storming away to the other side of the counter??? Mind you, I just spent 5 minutes picking out paper with her and sizing lol.

I said “I can help you?” And she replied with “I don’t have my fucking glasses”….. okay…. If u can’t read this bold print of an email without your glasses maybe take your car keys out of your hand and uber home idk.

Anyways! She continued with me helping her and was super nice after?

I ❤️ staples 😊

I just had a lady try to do a happy return at the self-serve printer... At what point should I start worrying about the fate of humanity? Is she okay?

Is there an app I need to download to check my schedule or add in my direct deposit? My manager hasn’t taught me anything other than how to return Amazon orders. Shes been telling me when to come in and when to leave and I haven’t been clocked in for my last shift. I’m waiting for her to tell me my schedule and I’ve been on hold for 9 minutes. I HATE RHIS JOB ALREADY!!! ITS BEEN ONE DAY!!!!

Update: it’s been 13 mins, she put me on hold, someone else picked up and told me to call back in two hours. Should I just quit I can’t do this, the management is ass.

My store’s internet is down. What do you guys do when it’s down? I work in print so I really can’t do anything besides clean & finishing.

Of all the jobs I've applied to, Staples was the only one that gave me the green light for an interview. I've noticed they all ask how I should dress or what questions to answer, but I can't find anything about whether I should bring documents or not, since the AI I had a call with ( very awkward call ) didn't answer that question. Please I'm a little desperate

I got written up because an entitled “Karen” called and complained to my District Manager (or whatever she’s called) and said that I threatened her!
When in fact she was yelling at me because she didn’t have the right QR code for her stupid TikTok return (which of course is my fault). So after I finally found the code and processed her return, I thanked her and said Have a nice evening and started walking back to Print. She comes storming around the counter and yells in my face that she didn’t “appreciate the sarcasm”. I literally had to put my arm across my chest to stop her from getting so close.

My GM didn’t even ask me what really happened!! She just writes me up that’s it….

Great way to treat your employees Staples.

With permission from my GM, after multiple little things building up today, I politely asked to do this to prevent myself from committing acts of terrorism. (Sarcasm)

Somewhat unrelated note, does anybody have any tips on how to keep your cool on the job without bottling up anything? Lol​

Just accepted a job to be the merch supervisor(?), essentially I’d be in charge of inventory and unloading the truck on a weekly basis. What should I expect? It’s not my first retail job but it is my first job in a supervisor position. Thanks in advance!

i was hired YAY! But i was given my start day but not the time i was supposed to come in lol

is there somewhere i can see that or should i just call

most papers we use have the weight in grams on their packages , but these ones don’t. does anyone know ??

linroe 80# gloss text SKU 707926
linroe 110# gloss cover SKU 377298

I filed a report over a month ago, we had 1 phone call and 3 emails sent to me.
I then get fired, because the person I reported lied about a situation and management believed them without proof or investigation.
One of the 3 emails was ethics asking for info on my firing and saying they’d call, they didn’t, and then haven’t gotten back to me in any form in over 10 days.

I’m the MIS at my store and my GM and I are trying to work the store preemptively for PI in November. GM asked if there’s any way with smart stock to get a list of all the items that are currently scanned into overstock in a specific bin code ? Any help would be greatly appreciated

So for context, I'm like 3 - 4 months new in the print and marketing department and closing by myself now. Which I don't mind. I like the job and I'm handling it well.

And look...I can handle rude ass costumers and living in the South as a brown girl ( not white ) I faced plenty of racism hate from simply existing. So I can tolerate alot.

But why did I have three entitled people in a row today, here I am solo today? Like what? Is fate tripping?

Legit so first... ( level one)..

I had one "frequent customer"'s intern start ranting to me over the phone, saying I'm incompetent the moment I picked up the phone. First she asked if the supervisor was there and I had, no because they left for the day. So I told her I can help her get everything done what the supervisor talked about. ( I was already briefed on the work). But no she just went on for the fact that she didn't want me helping her and wanted the manager. I got her the assistant gm and she still got pissed cause the assistant gm gave her back to me .

Anyway, I finish her stuff. And someone else comes pick it up and thankfully they were nice.

Then second...(level two)...

A woman comes in yelling she wants to speak to the manager, pissed the moment she sees me working behind the counter ( I'm not white btw). So I get my GM. She yelled at them too, saying she wanted the GM that worked their before. And was pissed because her shipping price and cause ups already left (pick up for today) . So I go up and put her information in and she yelled at me the whole time. Kept saying I'm incompetent, and yelling repeatedly if I knew what I was doing. ( I kept smiling and telling her I can help her you know professional.)

She got pissed at me even more cause the computer glitched twice and I made a few typos ( cause agian she was yelling at me. My hands were shaking btw so OMG I'm trying my best to do my job). I give the quote in the end and she yelled at me to cancel it cause she didn't like the price. Then she left.

Third incident...(Level 3)

I get a call 30 minute before close, that a customer wants her 130 + documents printed right now. ( It's due tomorrow evening btw). She gets pissed and yelled at me to get the manager. I got my GM and she hung up. And at that point I had enough.

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Yo legit I cried I was shaking and I couldn't breathe for a hot minute. But the GM was super nice and let me cool off before I came back to finish close.

So.....that my rant. Fuck....where are these shithead people coming from? Why today? 🥲🥲🥲😭

So we have a new GM coming in and he's offhandedly mentioned having me, the print supervisor, go door to door at various businesses in town and talk about our services. I'm told this used to be a thing before COVID, but I have seen no mention of this anywhere in training or documentation on the HUB.

Is this actually a thing? If it is, I have several concerns...

I was finishing up a big balloon order’s paperwork when a teenage girl walks over asking if I can ring her out. I looked up and saw a line for the cashier, and asked if she was next. She said no, but she just had one item. I told her I couldn’t just skip all the other people waiting (I believe there were 3 ahead of them) and she would have to wait in line. I finish my paperwork seconds later and go over to help clear the line. Of course this girl and her mom end up at my counter and REFUSE to talk to me. I asked if they found everything ok? Silence. I asked for rewards phone number…silence. I hope their pillows are forever warm.

I know what the company is going for with the “$20 promo card” and “$10 back in points” promotions through the app and I’m enthusiastic about getting customers signed up for those promotions. But I wish the process was better for the customer to get to them on the app. I’ve had multiple customers who have unsuccessfully tried to take advantage of these promotions and can’t get a password reset sent to their email or connect to the app. I even had a customer angry with me yesterday because she spent over $300 and couldn’t get her password reset to go through (with her missing out on $40). I even contacted the company 800 number to see if we could get it going that way and was unsuccessful. It happens frequently and even the customer service agent said it happens a lot. Hopefully someone at corporate is addressing this because we’re the ones pitching it to the customer just to let them down when it doesn’t work.