Complaint Review: Staples

On 6-11-2010 I visited the local Staples store after calling them to verify they carried a particular laptop and to inquire about their return policy.
Store employee helped me select the laptop and I wanted to make sure the info I received  on the phone matched the experience at the point of sale regarding refunds...especially since I was paying in  cash, I wanted to know if there was a problem that I'd be reimbursed in the same manner.

I was told he believed that was the case as long as the purchase price was under $500, but he'd ask the manager to be sure. As I approached the front desk from an angle I could not be seen from until I was right there within hearing range of their conversation, as soon as they saw me they had an awkward look on their faces and began a "new" conversation wherin the salesperson (having been speaking to the Manager for at least a couple minutes prior to my arrival) asked the Manager what the policy was regarding cash refunds.
The Manager informed me that because they did not carry enough cash in the store at any one time (claiming the limit was $350) to guard against robberies), Corporate would have to issue a check that would take at least 2 weeks to reach me.
Since i knew he was lying, as I looked up the store policy on the floor sample of the very laptop I was buying, I said  "so each time your store has more than $350 in cash, you send someone to the bank?"...he said "yes, we deposit all cash above the amount of $350 so that we never are in danger of being robbed."

I told him to go ahead and get the laptop and ring it up....
As the gal, Ava, was ringing up the sale, she told me I had been misinformed as to the store's cash refund policy..apparently as she had been privy to the salesperson and manager's conversation that occurred prior to me being in their hearing range, as well as having witnessed the conversation. I thanked her for her honesty and registered the fact I was very disapointed at the way I'd been handled by the other two employees, and that I could not believe they thought they could get away with it.