Staples ad for 4/1 - 4/14 is up

[Tomer]

-=rant =-

Notice: The "new" Staples Rewards program will go in effect on April 1, making it virtually useless to a vast majority of us. Unless you spend big money on the copy center, ink/toner, or paper you will be SOL. I am totally screwed. I urge you all to contact Staples via E-mail and phone to express your dissatisfaction. I've done both and was told they changed it because that is what the customer wanted. I call BS on that one.

So now if I spend $1,000 a quarter on say, hardware technology items, I get Bubkis, Nada, Nuthin! That really blows donkey.

-= end rant =-



Anyway, items of interest in the ad (There may be some good ones I missed, so feel free to ad to this thread)

Staples 4" x 6" glossy photo paper 60pk - FAR - $10 less $10 rebate - Limit 1 per

Staples photo supreme 8½" x 11" paper, double-sided matte, 50/pack - $2 - Limit 2 per
(You can still get up to five each of the 4x6 and 8 ½" x 11" in-store at $2 a pop on this weeks ad until Sunday)

8 pak uni-ball Vision Elite pens - FAR - $16 less $16 rebate - Limit 1 per

Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 - $80 - $10 IR - $70 rebates - No upgrader rebates - No limit shown

 

[vrbaba]

wtf is the rant abt?

 

[wiredspider]

Ooo I love those pens, but they are so expensive normally.

 

[babylon5]

I got a letter from Staples. It seems they will end the free shipping program for Reward card holder.

 

[allisolm]

Originally posted by: babylon5
I got a letter from Staples. It seems they will end the free shipping program for Reward card holder.

It's not that they're ending the free shipping for members, it's that, according to the letter, their "new and improved" rewards program will include "FREE delivery on orders of $50 or more" - the same deal nonmembers get. Wow. :roll:

 

[origami]

what does "easy rebate" mean?

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: origami
what does "easy rebate" mean?

Basically rebates you can submit online, no need to mail anything in including rebate form, UPC, etc.

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.stapleseasyrebates.com/img/staples/paperless/pages/pop_difference.html">https://www.stapleseasyrebates.com/i......aperless/pages/pop_difference.html</a>

 

[allisolm]

Few other decent deals:

Targus 320 CD/DVD album $9.99 after $5 easy rebate #674156
60pk DVD media $6.98 #658878/658879
Targus? messenger notebook case $9.98 after $10 easy rebate #634479
Compaq® Presario® notebook $479.98 after $30 easy rebate #673997

 

[geecee]

Does this mean that they will give no rewards for non copy/ink/toner/paper? Or that they will continue to give the 2% for other items? I see that they will only pay you if you accumulate $10 in a quarter ($500 in purchases assuming the 2% amount is still in effect). Will they carry over partial balances from quarter to quarter in the future (now even)? TIA.

EDIT: Added question.

 

[Thump553]

First I've heard about the Rewards program changes. Is there anywhere I can find out the details? I don't recall getting anything.

If the program is now worthless, maybe a mass mail-in of our cut up Rewards cards is in order??

 

[allisolm]

Originally posted by: Thump553
First I've heard about the Rewards program changes. Is there anywhere I can find out the details? I don't recall getting anything.

If the program is now worthless, maybe a mass mail-in of our cut up Rewards cards is in order??

Go to Staples.com and click on Staples Rewards. That was Easy!


I don't see anything about getting rewards for anything EXCEPT the 10% stuff and special events (I assume to be announced as they go along.)

 

[amdskip]

The way I understand it, the old rewards is a dead program

 

[Tomer]

Yeah, sorry for the rant fellas.

The lowdown is this. Before the upcoming change, pretty much anything you bought there tallied up towards your Rewards total. As a Gold member I got a check each quarter for 5% of what I spent up to a limit of $30. Now the *only* purchases that will count are for ink and toner, case and ream paper, and Copy & Print Center.

Thusly if you don't buy that overpriced stuff the Rewards program is essentially dead for you. I'm willing to guess most of us here in the Hot Deals section buy, well, the hot deals, which are usually technology items and sometimes a furniture deal here and there.

In the past they used to not have the $30 cap (I used to get some killer checks), then they started taking the coupon amounts off, and now this.

Frankly, what burns my ass is that they try to make it look like a good thing.

On the books I'm sure the total of those $30 checks look massive when combined, yet for each one sent out the customer spent *at least* $600 and probably a lot more.

 

[allisolm]

Frankly, what burns my ass is that they try to make it look like a good thing.

Exactly. Like touting FREE delivery on orders of $50 or more as a feature of the new and improved program. :disgust:

 

[Ryland]

I just received my new "Premier" cards in the mail and at least they got the color right since they completely blacked out all items I buy there...

 

[Thump553]

Thanks for filling me in. I'll be dropping my Gold Rewards card in the mail to Staples next week. No sense in carrying it around in my wallet any more.

 

[Tomer]

OK, just checked again with a Staples Rewards CSR for absolute clarity. The *only* categories of items that will count towards your Rewards starting April 1 are: ink and toner, case and ream paper, and Copy & Print Center purchases

I like the idea of cutting up our cards and mailing them to Staples. Perhaps in the shape of a screw or a male phalic symbol.

It would be sweet since I'll have 4 I could send, my old standard Rewards card, my Gold Rewards card, my Tax Exempt Rewards card and soon, I guess my new Premiere card, when it shows up. I believe I may even still have an old "Staples Dividends" card, before they changed the name to Rewards and clamped the max payback at $30.

I let the Staples CSR guy know there are a number of upset members on various boards contemplating what to do. Has anyone bought StaplesRewardsSucksNow.Com yet? Launch it on April 1. Ha.

A nice grassroot effort might prove worthwhile.

In the end I suppose the easiest thing to do is to simply shop elsewhere and let Staples Corporate know why we left.

OK, I'll take a pill now......

 

[geecee]

Thanks Tomer for all the info and legwork. I am that a program that has been pretty good to me (as I'm sure for many prolific Staples shoppers) is coming to an end. I suppose it's even more upsetting that it's in the guise of "That is what the customer wanted."

 

[neoh7]

i dont understand. because staples stops the free shipping were not going to shop their anymore? ive always baught my items in a combined method of total cost. If adding shipping and tax is going to be more than another website... I use the other website. Because staples doesnt offer free delivery are you going to tell me if they have a steal of a deal on an item(including S&H) your not going to buy it? even if its the cheapest deal you can find? even including the 5%?

Did i stop shopping @ officemax because they dont have such great deals like they did two years ago? no...

Walmarts customer service is the worst ive ever seen but yet i find myself going back again and again. And each time i tell myself im never going back there again, and each time they give me another reason why not to shop there. But the fact is there the cheapest around for alot of household items and i keep subjecting myself to abuse because my $ means alot to me.

I will still shop at staples, however ill still do what i do right now is check my overall $. If staples isnt the cheapest...Ill buy elsewhere...If they are...they got my business...


just my $.2

 

[nomadh]

I was already sick of the old rewards system. I spent my >$100 the first month but I showed only $30 counted towards points because the other stuff was on sale. Then they didn't have another thing worth buying for the next 5 months. First and last time I took their rewards program seriously

Need to check the dvds for $7. Its usually the made in china playos. They work great in a benq but are junk in anything else it seems. Decent price if no rebate. Last time it had a $20 or more rebate. Totally nuts.

 

[marvdmartian]

I liked their rewards program because if I only needed a box of pens, I could order them (Staples has their own branded optiflow pens, which are, imho, the best roller ball pens on the market), and not have to pay to get them shipped here. Granted, I didn't do small orders like that every time, but that was a nice feature. Now I'd have to pay $7 to ship a $6 box of pens........PASS!!!

Oh yeah, and since my "local" Staples store is an hour's drive away, driving there would probably cost me the same as having it shipped, so no go that way either.

 

[efnethore]

I need an EASY Button!!!

*I press EASY Button*

*poof, I die, everything else lives on*

 

[Tomer]

Having issues getting any of the rebates to submit online.

Anyone else having any problems? Say's "No longer available to submit online."

 

[jwsw]

Originally posted by: Tomer
Having issues getting any of the rebates to submit online.

Anyone else having any problems? Say's "No longer available to submit online."

Yep, same here.

Maybe they improved "Easy Rebates" in the same way as Staples Rewards...

 

[allisolm]

Originally posted by: Tomer
Having issues getting any of the rebates to submit online.

Anyone else having any problems? Say's "No longer available to submit online."

I had that problem yesterday, but it works this morning.