Report: Staples is scamming customers with $80 laptop "set up" charges
Staples charges $80 to "set up" laptops when you buy them. And because they're so thoughtful, they've managed to "set up" all the ones they already have in stock! They'll just add it on at the checkout, and if you don't like it, tough.
The Consumerist wonders why it refuses to honor advertised prices:
He also informed her that they had 5 in stock, the display model, and four others in the back that were already "Set up". She asked what "Set up" meant, and he explained it was a service that meant the laptop would be set up and run optimally and perfectly with Windows and everything she would need.He found out the "Set up" service costs $80. It entails providing you with a CD that has a backup of the operating system on it, and doing all of the Windows updates. That's it. He asked the clerk if it was usual to "Set up" all of the laptops that were in stock and going on sale. The sales clerk said "No... we don't do that" but then was corrected by a manager apparently because he then said "Oh wait, my manager just said we do...".
Staples: Give Us $80, We've Already "Set Up" All The Laptops In Stock... [Consumerist]
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Added to my list of places to never shop at... let's see, now I've got Wal-mart, Lowe's, Best Buy, Circuit City, and Staples. Thank god for Amazon Prime.
Yeah, I'd call that a set-up...
I had a similar charge offered to me at Best Buy when I got my laptop, but it was $150, and I had the option to refuse it.
This is so wrong... I don't live in the US, and I've seen people here get ripped off with something similar to that! Check this out: When you buy a laptop from a store, they tell you that you can't recieve it right away. You must wait for the tech staff to "DECOMPRESS" the laptop (where in the world did they get that from???)
Anyways, I found out that decompressing means nothing more than:
1. Creating your user and password (finish the windows installation, like that's hard)
2. Updating your antivirus
THAT'S IT!!! And if you want your "ORIGINAL LAPTOP CD" you have to pay 10 dollars for a COPY!!! How's that!!!
I feel sad when I see (or hear) that people even buy at this place, that's a total set up
...One of my OMBloggers reported this to me last week, and it ranks right up there with that "File Conversion Charge" some office junk stores slap on you if you take your files there to print them out. How you handle this is simple: call the manager over, explain that if the charge isn't removed, he/she/it and the store will be reported to the respective State AG's Consumer Affairs department, and they'll have to deal with the investigation. At least in Texas this threat carries a lot of weight because busting "hidden charge" scams like this under "Bait & Switch" laws is second only to Texas' love of busting deadbeat dads on child support.
...Hey, since Boing Boing is branching out into sub-sites like Offworld, howabout a consumer watchdog version so we can let people in on such scams in time to torpedo the scammers amidships before they have a chance to sucker anyone else in?
I also had the Best Buy experience. One sales clerk told me they'd "get rid of all the adware and stuff that comes installed with new computers" for $150. Seriously? I opted to spend a half hour with the remove programs dialog box instead.
Then another sales clerk told me all the laptops of the model I wanted already had some Norton package installed (also $150), so I got them to uninstall that for me before I left, and did not have to pay for it.
Wouldn't such a "set up" laptop therefore be considered "used?"