Staples, that wasn’t easy

“For whatever it’s worth,” I said to the young techno-mavens at Staples in Henrietta; “it wasn’t easy.
In fact, it was a struggle.”
“What can I do to make things easier for you?” maven asked.
“Sorry I even said anything,” I thought.
“It was just a comment,” I said. “Your TV ads are always saying ‘Staples, that was easy.’
But it was a struggle.”
This is more an indictment of online ordering than Staples.
Actually, Staples is pretty easy.
The order was for ink cartridges for my Epson printer.
I’ve done it before, and Staples is a slam-dunk.
Order the ink cartridges and they arrive at my house in a day or two.
I order two or three blacks and one color.
Do it online and I’m not driving to a Staples store.
(The reasons I was at the Henrietta Staples were -a) it was nearby other errands, and -b) I’d made an ordering mistake.)
In fact, I do most of my shopping online.
I hate searching by car.
But every online shopping experience is a wresting-match.
And that’s not just Staples.
Web-sites to figure out, and hoops to jump through.
How many times have I called the store to correct an online order?
And quite often the site is wonky.
Things don’t work, or the site requires Internet-Explorer (the Granny browser).
What was supposed to take five minutes requires 30 minutes of hair-pulling.
This sorta stuff happens at the Staples web-site.
Not an Internet-Explorer requirement, or things not working.
Just figuring things out.
It’s not like walking into a Staples store, and saying “I need ink cartridges.”
Wrong turns and blind alleys.
“Where are the cartridges I need?” I ask the web-site.
“Lessee, Epson supplies,” I say.
“Epson 1280 Photo Stylus.
Gosh, there they are!”
Five minutes became 30 minutes.
Staples, it wasn’t easy.
It was a struggle.
“And $80.70 for three black cartridges is a fortune,” I said.
“We gave you a dollar discount per cartridge for ordering three,” maven said.
I’ve attempted to use el-cheapo cartridges, but they print awful.

• “Henrietta” is a large suburb south of Rochester, NY.