CrunchGear

Um, dude, you do realize that they need to actually pay MS for WORD especially for an application they are going to profit from I’m sure!

They are providing a service, not a discount printer for you..

If you want a cheaper more “custom fee” find a printer that is smaller and will do it for cheaper.. if not, don’t be such a Bi@tch

That this even ranked as a article is sad..

Bones makes a good point. But this isn’t exactly blog-worthy - these fees are old news! I was a Kinko’s graphic designer through college (two years ago now), and we were supposed to charge a $1 conversion fee for anything not in PDF format. We never DID, mind you, but we were supposed to.

Well…. no actually they didn’t have to buy MS word. There are lots of open source and rich text readers that handle .doc just fine even the 07 xml crap. MS also offers a free doc reader and I’m pretty sure you can print from it…

That being said setting up and getting all this stuff into production dose cost… while saying it’s a conversion fee is misleading but still they can charge anything they want, you just have to decide to pay it or not.

Tech crunch dose to see to becoming more a gripe log then a tech blog though…. kinda sad.

Printing? See a local printer. I use Postal Instant Press (PIP). A job that costs over $20 at Staples? Under $13 at PIP.
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KrazyKyngeKorny(Krazy, not stupid)
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You have got to be kidding me. People actually defending Staples and even insulting the author? Talk about a low, that is as low as it goes.

Staples creates a bogus conversion fee - even when a conversion is not actually done. In case you clue-impaired critics don’t get it, that is an open and shut case of fraud. There should be a complaint filed with the FTC. That’ll wake them up.

Pfft.

That’s nothing. My water and my electric company each charge me a $1.00 convenience fee to pay my bills electronically.

‘dem bums.

Charging me so that they don’t have to process a paper check ? ? ?

Gaylords.

Hello there!

I’m sorry to hear what you’ve experienced as I myself am a Copy Center Associate at Staples. I understand from your point of view why it’s a rip off but let me break this down to you. Number 1, the associate must go into much detail as possible as she/he places an order for you. It is true if the file you’re providing us is not in PDF format, we have to charge a file conversion fee once. For ex if you have multiple files, you only get charged once. The reason why we’re supposed to do this and I’m speaking out of experience, if we keep printing different formats on our MPS system, it’s going to cause technical problems. And due to the high volume of jobs we get, we’re intructed that is neccessary…However, as a service being provided, the associate must give you a FREE CD which contains a program that’ll let you convert your files to PDF for future ordering, that way you don’t have to keep paying over the same fee.

Following from your experience, the associate didn’t do the right thing. Last but not least, if they do indeed charge you for it, they’re supposed to convert it, if they don’t, don’t pay. Very wrong on their part.

If they do this again, prompt this to a manager’s attention.

To do may conversions for free and online, go to free file conversions online.

Would like to point out that the conversion to PDF is only needed for the Wide format printer in our store. I also do not agree with the squeeze every dime out of the customer policy. There is usually a cheaper place to get prints and if you piss them off enough they will drive an extra 30 minutes to get the cheaper prints.

A lot of the times these fees are added to help them make budget. We will do it at our store if we convert say 5 or more files. It does take time on the 7 year old PC we use in the copy center.

As for free programs, I’ve yet to see Open Office open a formatted Word doc correctly yet. I usually have to tweak a few things here and there so it would actually cost more for us to use that. As for Word viewer, it is illegal to use it for commercial purposes. It would be just plain stupid for Staples to use. Same with most “freeware”.

I still think that some of the policies are crap. I refuse to charge the conversion fee for every file converted. Just be glad most of the stores don’t charge the fee for email submissions, scanning, and even opening a file on the computer can be charged for. At our store it is $7.00 per scanned item. You have 10 pages you need scanned and emailed. This would cost you almost $100 after taxes (going by company policy) and it would be more feasible for you to just buy the Canon LIDE 90 scanner for $99.98 and call it a day.

As for that free CD. It is a simple converter that even watermarks the pages and can only be printed at Staples (watermark removal tool is on the PC at Staples). Not a big fan of this.

And no do not bring this to the managers attention. This is usually a policy set forth by the District Manager. You need to get the store number (a 4 digit number like 0064) and call the corporate office and make a complaint there. If you go to the manager it will die before it gets out the store, unless the employee is acting alone.

There are several reasons a file should be converted to PDF before printing.

#1. It prevents any of your native fonts/formatting from changing due to incompatibility issues with the privately licensed versions of MS Office and other programs which Staples Copy & Print Centers use.

#2. It runs through the print spool faster. That last one benefits everyone.

You can easily avoid the conversion fee (which is only $2 per order…not per file..come on..) by converting the file to PDF yourself, submitting it on staples.com/copyandprint (where it is automatically converted to PDF), or by asking the Copy & Print Center for a free copy of staples “Easy print” software (Which can also be downloaded at staples.com/easyprint). It is a simple conversion program.

Sounds like the associate who ran your prints didn’t convert the file because she didn’t understand why she was supposed to do so in the first place. She should have.

Staples Copy & Print Center consultants are usually pretty good at giving you an upfront price quote if the price is going to be $50 or more….but no red flags go up over $2. If you want to know the total price, just ask. They don’t have some evil scam to rip you off. The fees are no secret.

It really is a service fee because it takes time. The price will remain $2 regardless of the number of files they have to convert…whether it’s 1 or 100(and converting 100 files will take a while).

If you don’t like the conversion fee, try one of the above suggestions for avoiding it. It’s not such a big deal.

I also work at staples although not in the copy center. I completely agree that these policies are idiotic. I think we should be converting to a service oriented company that charges more for services than product. What I mean is that an appropriate service fee should be charged rather than a conversion fee when a customer needs assistance. This fee should be based on the size and type of order (time required to fulfill order). It is not just the copy center that should be doing this. Has anybody used the easytech services or bought anything in the business machines section? It would be more profitable if the company focused on selling services to setup things like networking, computer repair (hourly charge regardless of what or how something is fixed), and additional services like that. We will never make money off the products we sell and we DO make ridicules profits off the services (however bad it is- sadly). I can’t blame us employees as we are basically treated like crap and are merely seen as tools of the company. Of course this is no wonder given my salary doesn’t pay what would be required to hire competent employees. For me to do anything other than act as a tool I would expect a hirer salary. Given we are only tools it is policy that we can’t provide good services as everything is spelled out as to what we should do in every circumstance. This makes it impossible to both comply with policies and provide good service.

Hey, I actually work at staples… in the copy center. And I’m going to agree with that prices are ridiculous… to an extent. If you want something cut, we charge $2 for every cut we do. Ya we have to make sure our blade stays sharp, but I don’t think it costs that much to keep it sharp. And if you want things scanned and saved to a pdf it’s $5 a picture! But for the most part prices are pretty reasonable. I mean you have to consider 1. the price of ink and paper 2.Machine “wear and tear” and repairs for the machines (which is like everyday, hate those machines) And for The quality you get it’s a pretty decent price. And for some of the things, we charge for more labor. So yes some things can be ridiculously priced, but that’s everywhere not just at staples. Most (not all) corporations/ businesses/ etc. are trying to squeeze every penny out of you they can get. So don’t get pissed at staples itself, blame the employee for not telling you the “small print” (ps they would probably get in trouble for not saying that)
Laura