The Saga of the Staple Tacker
Subtitle : How do big corporations get so big when they provide such crappy products and service?
My Dad, god rest his soul, was not the world’s greatest handyman. He tried and to be honest, part of the problem was that he was too much of a spendthrift regarding tools and materials. I inherited his haphazard handyman skill and my brother received the genes that bring on being overly frugal. So shortly after my father’s passing away, my brother went into the workshop room and stripped out every tool that might be of any practical use. My brother left only an assortment of obsolete tools and a badly beat-up old staple tacker. That is where the staple tacker saga starts.
Last week, I began cleaning out Dad’s old workshop room in the basement and I tossed the staple tacker into the trash. Then I had an idea to insulate the ceiling and install new ceiling tiles. Damn! I could’ve used that old staple tacker but I remembered tossing it. And I didn’t have any staples for it either anyways. So on my way to the store to get tiles and materials, I decide I need to buy a cheap staple tacker too. I only need a cheap one because it will likely only be used for this one project.
Why are all the building supply stores big chain monstrosities? Where have all the ones owned by real people gone? I suppose the answer is that corporations have bribed corrupt politicians into passing dubious legislation that favors the big, bad and ugly. The decent stores are squeezed out of business, but that is grist for another post. This story is just the staple tacker saga.
Without assistance, I pick out the insulation I need and get a carton of ceiling tiles. Then o go looking for the staple tacker. The a choice is only between a light-duty Stanley and a heavy-duty Stanley. I pick the cheap one and select the staples that are long enough for the job. The staples are also by Stanley and that is a well-known name. I don’t expect any problems with either – BUT – it turned out the staples weren’t the right ones for that staple tacker.
I returned to the Rona store after finding the light-duty tacker jammed on the staples not designed for it. While returning the item, I decided to go with the better staple tacker instead. The bill for my previous purchases hadn’t been as much as I expected. But I wanted to check that I had the right staples for the heavy-duty staple tacker before buying it and taking it home. Nope! The Stanley staples I bough at the Rona store do not fit either of the staple tackers that they stock – AND – the don’t carry the correct staples for those models. HOW Fricking STUPID is that?
I didn’t purchase either from Rona. I left the store and went to another supplier where the staples they sold actually matched the staple tackers they carried. As I was leaving, I examined my receipt and found why the price was so low. The cashier scanned the carton of 32 tiles but the till only charged me for one tile. I didn’t go back to get it corrected. 31 free tiles is a fair repayment for my wasted time with mismatched staples and staple tacker.
This saga of the staple tacker needs a better ending and I have one. As I cleaned up from my handyman job, I found my Dad’s old staple tacker. I had thrown it in the garbage can but I hadn’t taken the refuse container out for dumping. LOL! And the useless staples I had gotten from Rona didn’t fit that one either.