I purchased a 3 hole punch from OfficeMax in May, 2010 only to find out from my wife that we already had one in a box in the basement. It was a busy summer with a new baby in the house and family visiting, etc. In August (3 months later) I finally remembered that I had this 3 hole punch that I needed to return to OfficeMax.

The lady at the register called the manager over when I handed her the 3 hole punch, still in the box with the original receipt from the day that I purchased it. The manager, with a distinctly 'I don't care' grimace on her face, informed me that because more than 30 days had passed since the date of purchase, I would only be given a store credit. Had it been a larger purchase, I would have raised some hell, but it amounted to $23 so I just said ok. In the next 10 minutes, the cashier went through a lengthy process of issuing me a store credit on one of those nice little gift cards. The process included asking me for my drivers license several times, and calling over the manager, who now seemed extremely annoyed with me, to enter her secret code several more times. Finally, gift card in hand, I walked out of that OfficeMax for the last time.

I will not do business with OfficeMax again. They could be giving away laptops and lcd TV's for the price of paper clips, and I would gladly spend my money elsewhere. Money is only a small part of the problem that I have with OfficeMax. They gladly took the money out of my account the day after I purchased this 3 hole punch, and refused to give me my money back when I returned a product that they would easily be able to sell. I hadn't even opened it. Instead, they told me they would be keeping the money that I had earned and so foolishly given to them when I bought the 3 hole punch.

My attitude is this; it's a free country and people have every right to run their businesses the way they want to so long as they are not breaking the law. OfficeMax broke no law in creating and enforcing this policy of keeping peoples money if they do not return an item in the time frame they deem to be proper. It's just bad business to take someone's money in exchange for a product, then refuse to return the money when the product is returned in the condition it was purchased in and with a valid receipt.

As I have said, it is a free country, which also means that I am free to do business with whomever I please. I will not purchase from OfficeMax again, and judging from the results of my internet search, there are a lot of people who will not be giving them their business either. Beware of OfficeMax. They do not have good business practices.