Office Depot

Yesterday I had the most helpful experience in a long long time in a big box store. For some reason I couldn’t get my reward to load on my phone and a new employee helped me print it out on one of their computers. Everybody in the store is usually very friendly and I appreciate it being so close to downtown San Mateo versus going over to bridge point — I hope you have a pleasant experience too !

Although I wonder what keeps these guys in business, I do see the need for them once in a while. This Memorial day weekend, I found myself in need of a charger for my dictaphone. Yes, I use one to dictate work correspondence, it is actually super handy and convenient and since we all have various models of phones, etc it makes it easy for a law firm with over 100 lawyers to all be consistent.
Sorry for that digression, back to the topic at hand. I of course do not have an at home charger and I needed one badly. I tried all my various chargers and none fit. I drove myself on Sunday to the closest Office Depot and asked for help. The sales guy opened a package on the floor to see if it fit and it did! I was on my merry way for $ 15. I know I could purchase on Amazon for probably half the price but I would have had to wait and I had no clue what size charger I needed. Office Depot was there to save the day.
Also, I had the whole store to myself :)

Called to see if they could make me some business cards on saturday, they said no problem, I get there ten minutes later, and an associate tells me, oh sorry she just left, and will be back in 20 minutes. So I leave and come back 20 minutes later. After waiting for about 20 more minutes, the girl behind the counter says, oh the guy who does the business cards won’t be here til 2. So I leave a template of the business card with her, and she said she’d give it to the business card guy when he comes in. Finally get the call that the cards are done. I say great, what time do u open on sunday, oh we open at 9am on sundays. Here I am at 930 on Sunday, and they don’t open til 10. Wtf is wrong with these people.

I’m so happy to be the proud owner of an absolute monstrosity of a printer so I don’t have to f*ck with the UPS store’s broke azz no more.
I would go to the UPS store so much that the guy who runs the shop started calling me ‘book report girl’ because the first time I came in to print my biweekly 4 pieces of paper with words on them, he asked me if it was a book report and because I couldn’t actually hear him that well, I just laughed and nodded like any normal person who doesn’t know how to use their mouth properly does.
From there on out I was ‘book report girl’ and the guy would usually comment on whatever the subject of my «book reports» were. In truth, it’s been over 20 years since I’ve done a book report and what I was actually printing were news segment outlines, but sure… if the guy wants to think I do book reports on burritos and macaroni and cheese, sure. I’ll let him have that.
I don’t need to print a ton of stuff, but when it’s like 3 single pieces of paper twice a week that I’m running to the store for, it’s mega annoying. So I decided to take the plunge and invest in a printer.
The staff here were a mixed bag as far as being helpful, and they def try to up-​sell, but I think I came out with what I needed and was happy that the printer I got was easy enough for even me to set up.
The employee who called for help for me could not have been less interested in actually helping me but the woman who stepped up to actually help me couldn’t have been more proactive about printers and printer accessories. And the dude who helped carry the printer to my car was pretty cool, too, and when he said my car was ‘not *that* messy’, it made me feel like a pretty respectable human being.
Thanks, Offce Depot!
Sincerely,
The artist formerly known as book report girl
Post Script — Def check out the sharpie marker sampling section that tweens use to write nasty notes about other people in their class. It’s just pages and pages of people writing the word ‘butt’ and other anecdotes like ‘Morgan is a whore’ or ‘Mrs. Tran eats ballz’ and for a person like me who has zero drama beyond the cats micro-​managing me to feed them earlier in the morning, it was just the scandalous type of stuff that I needed to keep things interesting in my mind.

I shop here frequently because of their variety of supplies. Their employees are always helpful and friendly. .I have been in twice over the past year to fix problems with my computer… Both times the tech solved the problem quickly and explained what was wrong. This last time my computer would connect to the internet and wifi but couldn’t open any browsers. The tech, Earl Thomas, was awesome! He solved and explained the problem in 15 mins and suggested a free program to deal with malware. I hope he stays working at this Office Depot as he is now my go to guy when anything goes wrong with my computer! Plus the cost was beyond reasonable! :-)

I stopped by for some office supplies and their prices were almost twice as much of Staples down the street. Customer service was great though, the manager Navindra was very helpfull. Unfortunately their prices are to high.

I had a great experience there getting copies of picture. I was in a rush and didn’t have a lot if time. They were friendly and helpful, got me in and out within just a few mins. I normally go to Kinkos for stuff like this but its good to know that Home Depot is another quality option. I was pleasantly surprised.

Over the past few years I have shopped here frequently. My issue is in the copy and printing area. A few weeks back I ordered on line for the first time, which worked out quite well. The only problem is now I am bombarded with daily emails with discounts.
I received one for online printing service. Needing some cards I placed an order. What I received was what looked like a black and white copy of what I submitted. I went to this store on Wednesday and was told by someone in the department that I had to talk with the print specialist, but she was gone for the day. I left the cards and informed the person I would be back. Returned Saturday and met the specialist and reordered cards and envelopes to be printed locally. I was told that once proofs were approved they would be ready in a few hours. Went to the store yesterday and was told that the specialist was out for the next couple of days, and that the materials could not be found. I cancelled the order!
Interestingly, you cannot spend anytime in the store without someone asking if they can assist you. That they do well!

Extremely limited selection, unhelpful sales clerks, loud irritating pop music playing in the background, and a highly discourteous checkout counter person. I walked out, drove home, went online and ordered$ 350 worth of office supplies from a different company. How do stores like this stay in business? It’s a complete head shaker!

This review is solely in regards to the PC repair department…
They got me with the «Free Diagnostic»
My company laptop was freezing, and got really slow, so I got worried and decided to get it fixed right away, because this laptop was utilized for our clock in and payroll system. So I took to office depot, because I once saw a sign that said they offered a free diagnostic and I remember seeing that best buy charged hundred.
So I take it in, and told them issues I had, and gave the contact info of the owners of the company if they had any questions (because it’s technically their laptop). They apparently contacted one of the owners very rudely over the phone. nevertheless, the owner still agreed with the fix because he knew how important this laptop was to payroll. They worked on it from thursday to monday…
Monday when it was picked up and returned to me, no issues were fixed, and now I could not connect to the internet. WTH???
I return it to them, and they do nothing but blame the other guy and point fingers…
Sooooooo another guy decides to try to fix it… He calls me later stating that they can’t figure out the issue and reformating the hard drive might help…
I gave up and took it to boxed CPU in belmont…
Thanx a lot for wasting my time!

Double Eeew! I have to agree with other Unilocalers on the customer service here. Stopped in to buy some Avery Internet Shipping labels. The ones I have bought here for the past 5 years… It looked like they were discontinuing Avery products which is fine, I sure I can use something else.
While I was standing there looking at the labels an employee walked by and I said «excuse me, but do you have any Inkjet internet shipping labels» Imagine my surprise when he said,“do you see a spot for them?” WTF? Uh, well, uh no I don’t… then he said «we’ve never carried anything like that…» Really???
Look, I know you think you’re Justin Timberlake on American Idol with the microphone head-​piece in your ear… But here is a reality check… Your not.
You work at Office Depot and your job is to help middle aged housewives and anything else that walks in the door find products they are looking for…

Not any different to any other office depot store. I think some of the items here are more expensive than other places but they keep the things I need so it’s easier for me to come here.

Bought a triangular desk furniture from here. It was on sale and quite a steal. Aisles are well organized and attentive staffs.

i buy here often and never had a problem, bought about 30 PC’s for work. everyone is helpful and does a good job. well stocked and prices are all comparable. recently remodeled

From the outside, this place looks like this is where dreams go die. But I went in the other day because I needed a new notebook and was pleasantly surprised. The area is well lit and well stocked. Aisles are clean and organized … I guess no one wants to go inside so there are few patrons to mess everything up. Not nearly as depressing inside as I’d thought … and that’s always a nice surprise.

Way over priced. Check around for better prices, particularly on computer peripherals.

I went to Office Depot in San Mateo to purchase labels. I thought that the price was $ 19.99 but the clerk (as in jerk) ran up $ 34.00. I questioned this so the ‘clerk’ went over and checked. He spent about 10 minutes looking over the prices and I got annoyed. His boss came over and they discovered that the price was covered up, and of course they refused to acknowledge that it was their fault and started arguing. I work for a large organization that has an account with Office Depot and I advised them that we would look somewhere else for all our supplies; we have accounts with Staple, etc. So it pays to hire good help; in this case it will definitely mean a loss of an account although not a big deal for Office Depot. But eventually with this type of non-​service, it will add up. Of course, they did not believe me, but I will make sure that whoever the manager is finds out.

Oh, eew! I think I’ll continue to order online.
The Office Depot store/​warehouse is comparable to a phone sex operator. Krikies! It’s all good… until you actually see it – then, barf.

I’ve been in an Office Depot before. This was no different really.
I’m writing about the customer service.
Walked in expecting to buy nothing, just taggin along with my sister for some law school study supplies when I saw it.
Zoo Tycoon II.
Don’t ask me why, I had never even heard of this game.
But I bought it.
20 minutes later I was at staples, when *gasp!* they had the SAME exact game for $ 10 cheaper.
I promptly went back to Office Depot and returned it.
You know what? No problem. No bother, no rude remarks.
Even though they had the product for $ 10 more… their customer service and willingness to help me out was great!
Oh and Zoo Tycoon II is pretty addicting. No, I don’t know why.

Before Staples and Target opened, Office Depot was the place to go for office supplies, but not anymore. I only go to Office Depot for Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip pens.