Anonymous Vendor

This store has great customer service. I'm always greeted at the door and asked if I need any assistance finding what I'm looking for. I usually come in on my lunch break for a specific purpose, so it's helpful to have an employee walk me to the exact aisle where I can find what I need. It saves me a lot of time, especially when I need an item right away.

Strengths: Staples has a wide selection of office supplies that are immediately available.

Needs to improve: Brick and mortar stores are far more expensive than their online counterparts. Also, there are not that many stores in our County, so returns are inconvenient if you don't live or work near a store.

In general, we received a higher quality group of candidates through Appleone over Craigslist, but I'm not convinced that it's worth the cost. With Craigslist the cost is only $15 and posting on college career center sites are free. Appleone charges 20% of the first annual salary. So, to find an entry level employee that was making $35,000/year cost us $7000. And the result was equivalent to what we could find using other means. The main difference is that the process of using Appleone does save a significant amount of time. Just not sure it was worth $7000 for the time saved.

Strengths: They greatest strength of Appleone is that they provide skills and assessment testing to prospective employees. That allows us to narrow the field without having to take the time to assess each candidate ourselves.

Needs to improve: The cost of using Appleone is very high. They charged 20% of the first annual salary. In addition, the candidate pool was hit or miss.

After 2 years, people started having a difficult time hearing me while using the headset. Similarly, the automatic handset lifter worked great at first, but after 2 years the lifter began to lose power. Note, it is not battery operated. It wired into the base of the headset. So, I know that it wasn't for lack of electrical power. The lifter itself seemed to weak to lift up the handset, so that every once in a while, if I used it to answer a call, it would give out and hang up on the caller. That was my biggest frustration with this product.

Strengths: They have the most selection and seem to be the industry leader. They have innovated products that make being on the phone for hours or making multiple phone calls easier.

Needs to improve: The devices work great at first. However, the headset and automated handset lifter I have did not last very long. I don't know if all their products are this way, but the product I have was not a quality product.

Amazon has been amazing. I have Amazon Prime, so I get fast and free 2 day shipping. Deliveries are always on time and I'm kept up to date on shipping status through text messages. Returns are fairly easy as well. I just have to pay for shipping and go to the post office, which is inconvenient, but at least they will take products back.

Strengths: Amazon has great selection, great prices, fast delivery, and great customer service.

Needs to improve: Their strength is their weakness. Amazon is able to save so much on overhead and automating their systems that they are able to offer amazing prices. However, because everything is online, there is no way to touch or feel what you are purchasing. Sometimes a photo of an item doesn't do it justice. In addition, they don't provide expert advice from seasoned industry professionals to help the consumer navigate their wide selection.

Sure Payroll does not have many bells and whistles, but that's not what a small business needs. I just needed a simple payroll service that could administrate payroll, handle direct deposits, take care of taxes as well as generating necessary reports. It does everything I need and doesn't charge me extra for services I don't need.

Strengths: Sure Payroll is simple to use and affordable. Everything is done online, so I have instant access to reports and I need. I can even run payroll through my iPad app. Sure Payroll is user-friendly, but they also have a helpful customer support team that actually answers the phone when you call.

Needs to improve: Their strength is their weakness. Since everything is done online, they don't have an in person agent to help walk you through the initial setup process. The initial set up process is also done through a paper application. I would have thought a company focused on it's online presence would have an online application process, but they do not. The initial set up is a little cumbersome because of the paperwork.