Beatties Basics, Not Your Hometown Business After All scam, deceived, stole, fired St. Catharines Ontario, Canada

Yes Chris, I am aware of that. However at the same time and this is indisputable ... Beatties Basics is not an American company. And using this site for a company outside the U.S. is prohibited. Yes I realize, my mistake. However your right, they will probably keep it up here regardless. However, I don't think many other Canadians know about this site, and Googleing Beatties Basics alone will only get you this site if you add rip off report to it. I just tested it out for myself, and it only provides 72 pages for the search "Beatties Basics", and this page doesn't show up.

And what really prompted me to do this, was not just getting fired..... but the fact that I was not given a last check and was told it all went towards the computer, and then last week getting a statement showing that it had NOT been put towards it. That much isnt slander or untrue at all... and I have the copys of the statements dated to prove it. However, I did jump the gun on that one, and after bringing it to H.R and Accounting's attention, I have just received a new statement with the proper balance remaining. So furthermore I would like to apologize to the people in those respective departments as well.

And yes, I am still sorry to all those at Beatties Basics. Clearly, I am a lowlife loser and could not fit in with the rest of you..and while it hurts to know that I was disliked without knowing it by most of you throughout the time I worked there, I do not have the same feelings towards all of you and for you to be included in my disgruntled behavior was uncalled for and unnecessary...and I am very very sorry. I understand you probably all hate me now or more than before anyways, but I will miss working with you all. It was brief, but enjoyable while it lasted, and while the feeling isn't mutual, I wish it could've lasted longer. But clearly, I don't belong anywhere including Beatties Basics and will never fit in.

At the very odd chance a customer or potential customer sees this page, please take note that I was upset because I THOUGHT I had been Ripped Off by this company because of my last check and the computer I had gotten through them, and was the reason for this report. To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect any customers to see it as I said before, American site... It was, to be an annoyance to them for causing me the aggravation regarding the said issue. Regardless, I was wrong.... and once again I am very sorry.

Also, I would especially like to add that the Basics Brand itself, is also a VERY good company. They sell a lot of great products at much more affordable prices than the name brands, while still being top quality.
And they are green, they also have a very good recycled paper product that I would encourage everyone to use. The Basics Ultra 100% Recycled Paper. I would still use it myself if I knew where I could get it, because I completely understand if I am never allowed back in the stores that I was not working at of Beatties, including one very close to my new job.

Also, in regards to the technical services department. They are probably one of the better tech services in the area, and will not immediately convince you that its better off to get a new product just to try and get a sale. If they can get your older machine working, they will. Ive seen them repair computers that looked like they had to have been made in early 90s, and the customers were satisfied. Also, their main tech there who has posted on this site is also a great person, and I apologize to him as well for putting him down earlier. It was misdirected frustration, and was wrong of me. Im sorry.

Im a horrible person for having said what I did, and I can understand how pathetic and bitter you all must think I am for doing so.... and if it is any concellation to any of you, my actions have also affected my relationship with family and I will most likely, not be having a christmas this year... and I surely dont deserve it I guess either.... but I hope that you all do know, that I did like working with you and that I think you are all great people , and I cant stress how sorry I am once again.

Goodbye Beatties Basics Employees.

Apparantly you have not read the TOS of this site. Anything you post WILL NOT BE DELETED even if you request it. You did not read that apparantly.

How you missed this at the submit button is beyond me considering you have to put a checkmark beside it.

"Submit your Ripoff Report By posting this report/rebuttal, I attest this report is valid. I am giving Ripoff Report irrevocable rights to post it on this web site. I acknowledge that once I post my report, it will not be removed, even at my request. Of course, I can always update my report to reflect new developments by clicking on UPDATE. Further, I agree that by posting this report/rebuttal that the State of Arizona has exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes arising out of this posting."

I personally am glad they will not delete it. It shows that the employees and customers of Beatties really know what Beatties stands for.

Family and friends, Quality service and incredible customer relations.

As an employee of Beatties I have taken a personal affront to what has been said in this forum. I think it would be quite obvious to anyone reading this former employee's comments that they are a disgruntled ex-worker that felt he needed to get back at Beatties just because he could not find his place in the family.

I have been with Beatties for six years now and love my job and the fact that they are a family run business with true interest in not only their customers but also us as people as well. We are not treated as just another worker or a number but as people with ambitions, desires, and our own families. We can speak openly to any manager or Yes even the Owner about our daily jobs or private issues and they will assist us in any way that they can and show us respect as fellow humans. That is only one of the reasons why Beatties has had employees that start working there as young adults and stay all the way through to retirement. That's job security.

About our level of customer service we all give 100% to our customers, and no not every customer walks away satisfied but we sincerely try our best to rectify any problems that arise. Would the other aforementioned stores drive 45mins both ways to a customer's house to deliver a product? I don't think so. That was exactly what our Manager did, he went out to assess a problem that my customer had and we worked together and found the correct solution then the Manager and myself took the trip a second time to bring the product directly to the customer ourselves. Now if that isn't service I don't know what is. We take pride in our jobs and make true friends and build relationships with our customers.

I could go on for pages about our service, prices and green policy but I think others have covered those very well. Everyone makes mistakes for we are all human and I hope that through reading these responses the disgruntled employee realizes his mistake in starting these lies and can own up to his responsibility and phone the people he called thieves and apologize.
Thank you.

Theresa Jacobs
Retail Furniture Dept
Beatties Basics
399 Vansickle rd
St Catharines
905-688-4040 x2251

I would like to retract my previous comments that were untrue and embellished truths.... it was out of spite and anger because I feel that I was given a raw deal because I was laid off.

I would like to encourage anyone who viewed this ad and chose not to goto Beatties because of it, if anyone did, to go there and check it out for yourself. Not everyone at Beatties Basics is a bad person.... there are some great people there that I will miss working with, and I would like to apoligize to them most of all.

I am awaiting an email back from the people who run this site so that this post will be removed permanently.

Once again, the previous comments I made were out of my own doing and does not reflect the store in any way. I was bitter and upset and used the ripoff report to vent my frustrations, which I admit was wrong.

Im sorry,
JerikoCane

I am the store manager that was mentioned in this article. This former employee, Aaron Belding, was terminated from the employ of Beatties Basics and has, unfortunately, chose to show his disgruntlement in this forum. All allegations stated by Aaron are completely false are are a slanderous attempt to get even with me for dismissing him.

Paul Cole
Store Manager
Beatties Basics
399 Vansickle Rd
St. Catharines
905-688-4040 ext 2237

As a former employee and continued consumer of Beattie's, I feel the need to express my opinion to the slanderous and defamatory comments that have been posted by Jerikocane.

As a Consumer:

I have been a shopper at Beattie's Basic's since '76 when it was just Beatties,and only had the one store on Queen St. As the years passed and the business grew I still continue to patronize them whenever the need for their supplies is upon me.Whether it's receipt book,or a tech. item,or just to browse,I am always greeted with a smile and greeted very quickly with offers of assistance sometimes before I am really sure what I'm looking for,assistance is always very near and I have never been asked to wait.Their products are of good quality and reasonable prices in this forever expanding market.I am a compulsive price shopper and am content to spend a little extra in a store knowing I am treated as a person and not a sale figure,that I will receive the help I require if a product fails,and the quick assistance to locate something if they have rearranged the floor. In all dept.'s the staff is readily available and strive to do the best they can for you within their means,as well,at times,going beyond the call of duty to assure you are satisfied and will return.I continue to this day to carry business cards of the varying dept.s employees and hand them out whenever I hear of someone looking to purchase products that this company carries,and will continue to do so!!

As an Employee:

As an employee of Beattie's I was always treated with the utmost respect by ALL the employees as well as the Mgmnt. staff. I was employed for a short period of time and absolutely loved my position,however an injury sustained while working had put me in a bad spot and left me open to the wrath of W.S.I.B. Although Beattie's tried to accommodate me in every way that they could,the accommodations were still affecting my injury and I was getting no where with the W.S.I.B.,my only option was to leave because Beattie's hands were tied in respect to the fact that I could not simply return to my original position,which I was very good at,enjoyed,and was passionate about.To this day I sincerely regret my choice to leave and pursue something else as Beattie's has been the most caring of it's employees that I have ever experienced,as with their consumers,they will go the extra mile for their employees as well.This is one of the most unbiased and equal opportunity employers I have ever encountered.

So in closing,it is plain to see,as well as he himself has basically admitted,That Arron is nothing more than a disgruntled employee striving to leave a bad taste in the consumers mouth due to his own inadequacies.If his allegations were remotely founded than he should have aired his complaints then and there,and in the appropriate forum and manner.Ones attitude and carrying of themselves has to be downright terrible to be fired from a company that strives hard to keep and maintain their employees such as Beatties does.And,once terminated,I fully agree with Beattie's to withhold monies owed to be applied to any outstanding debts or acct.'s.

I can only hope that any future employer I encounter can be as family oriented and lax that I can be able to share humor of any kind with fellow employees and not fear repercussions,but enjoy the laughter,as well as the support they offer each other.

KUDOS!!!!!

Sincerely,
Duane Minshull
Leeper St.
St.Catharines,On

I am also an employee of Beatties Basics. I have been here over 3 years now and recently moved from the Retail floor staff to the Inside Sales department. I have never enjoyed working for a company more then this one. Allow me to share some facts since I have experience on both the Retail floor as well as the office staff.

Lets get to some facts and clarify some of the falsities that are being shown here.

Fiction: Beatties does not follow there own advice and use Green Products.

Fact: Beatties does in fact have a very proactive recycling program. We recycle toner cartridges, paper, ink cartridges. Beatties in fact does use green products. The paper we use is all recycled at least 30%. Is any company at fault for going through what they have already stocked and use that up then move on to the green products? This paper has already been paid for by the company and would not benefit either the company or the customer by turning around and reselling it.

Fiction: Beatties does not use energy efficient machines. In fact they use a custom built computer instead of one that they sell.

Fact: I am not sure how a computer with the energystar certification is not energy efficient.In my books and in the energy guidelines it is.Also the computer in question was built many years ago when Beatties offered custom computers. They use it because it is an older machine that suits there needs. The rest of computers used by the retail and office staff are in fact HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, Compaq, and Acer. All products sold by Beatties. Are they state of the art? No of course they are not. That would be dilibating to a company to every year replace each computer with new ones. Not to mention bad for the environment.

Fiction: Beatties leaves there demonstration computers on all the time and dont offer any savings on display models.

Fact: For the most part, Beatties does leave there demonstration computers on for the time the store opens until it closes. It would make no sense to display a computer only to have someone not be able to see what its functionality is. A consumer needs to see and feel how it operates. A computer that is not on would not help them to see features and benefits of its many uses.
These computers all have a Screen saver feature which is enabled. LCD monitors do not BURN IN. This is a fact that has been proven time and time again. About 10 Years ago if you left a static image on a computer screen it would over time put that image permanently to the screen ( this was more related to the old CRT monitors). This is still the case with Plasma but is far less frequent and only related to tvs as computer monitors are made using LCD technology and not plasma techonolty.
While Beatties may not always offer a discount on a demonstration model there is plenty of reasoning behind it.
First is that they offer to reformat the computer back to original factory specifications for no charge if the customer feels they would like to have that done. Also many times they offer to make a recovery cd for no fee for the consumer. Go into any other place mentioned by the original starter of this post and ask what they charge. They cannot even do that for the most part and places like Best Buy and Future shop will charge a fee for it. Many do not have the time or knowledge to do such a thing let alone having facilities in house to do that. Most would have to ship it to a depot area where you may wait for a month before you get it.
Second the computers do not have access to the internet. This is disabled on set up so as to prevent any unauthorised access to the internet and a possible virus.
Third is that there is the Manufacturers warranty that starts from the Day Of Purchase not the day it was put on display. The day it is purchased is the day the warranty starts. As for extended warranties, all companies mentioned by the creator of this topic sell them as well. One large difference is that we can do MOST repairs in house instead of shipping it elsewhere. The Technicians are Fully certified. If they were not would we have authorisation from the companies to repair them here?

Fiction: Untrained sales staff and technicians.

Fact: All of the sales teams Retail, Inside, and outside all go through an extensive training program. In fact finishing the Candadian Office Products Association tests is a REQUIREMENT. You must do the tests. These are tests that give you general product knowledge on many things related to office and technology. All staff are required to do this. I myself did these and they are updated and new tests are offered all the time. We are constantly updating our training in this area.
I for one know that the technician mentioned here is constantly reviewing his areas of expertise in order to further his knowledge. Not because he has too but because he wants to be able to better serve the people he deals with. Everyone at Beatties feels the same way. The better you can serve a customer, the better you can help yourself and feel proud of what you did.

Fiction: Beatties does not care about its customers.

Fact: I am the person that recieved that star reward. If I was only concerned about them buying from us I would have not bothered to tell them where they could get the product and tell them to wait.Fortunately I am not like that and I still do have contact with that customer whenever they have questions. Many of us have personal relationships withour customers. We can talk about the weather or any idle chit chat without worrying about if they are going to buy or to push them to buy the highest end product. All of us are concerned about one thing. The right product for them while saving them money.

I say saving them money because as part of the inside sales team I have seen my fellow workers bend over backwards to find ways for our clients to save money. Be it price matching, Price beating, Contractual or whatever. They are constantly looking for savings for our customers. If we did not we would be out of jobs. Many of my clients are on a first name basis with me and during my time on the retail floor, it was the same.

This is also the case for many of our current retail staff. They know there customers on a first name basis. Not alot of companies can claim that.

Our customers are constantly updated when there may be price changes. Just recently a letter was sent out to many clients to let them know that due to paper mill prices rising unfortunately our price would have to as well. The clients I talked to had absolutely no problem and were understanding that it happens.
This was a personal thing that our president chose to do. He could have slowly upped the pricing without saying anything except maybe a little note on the website like other companies buried deep and hidden. I know that my customers that may occasionally shop with them have never been personally called or recieved a letter to explain it.

Fiction: Better Prices elsewhere

Fact: While it may be true with some products that they are better priced elsewhere we in fact do meet the price or beat it for the most part. In a ever changing market place this is something you must do. Keep an eye on pricing or lose out.

Fiction: Beatties is only concerned about being number 1.

Fact: What company is not concerned with that? Would you not want to shop at a company where they are at least keeping tabs on what others are doing in order to provide you the best overall pricing? Any company that did not strive to be number 1 would not survive. As for pushing around the little main street guy, Beatties started over 100 years ago as a tiny little shop on Main st. It still is the little main street guy and has a hometown feel to it.

Fiction: Irate customers, Unhappy customers.

Fact: Every company gets these. There are just some customers you cannot satisfy completely. Thats a fact of life. However I have seen our management staff especially the assistant manager work diligently just to help resolve it. There was a customer with a TV that they had purchased from Beatties that had broken under the warranty period. The assistant manager sat on the phone for hours a day just trying to get through to the company so he could get the product replaced or repaired for him. I mean literally hours of sitting on hold, being hung up on,refered to the wrong department. He stuck to it every day and eventually he got there tv replaced at no cost. How is that for not caring about the customer? There have been times that they have eaten the cost of a repair for a customer just to make them happy.

Fiction: Cameras were moved so customers cannot see where they point.

Fact: Even if the cameras are moved the customers cannot tell where they point in the first place. They are covered with dark domes just as they are in Staples, Walmart, Future Shop, Casino. They are there to help protect the customer as well as to prevent theft.

Fiction: The managers corraborated to steal a laptop and blame the person that started this.

Fact: I have seen no proof of anything that this actually was a case. All that was stated was what he thinks not actual fact. I will not comment further but to defemate someones character shows lack of credibility.

I hope that others read this and realise what kind of company we really are. A company that does in fact care about the regular hard working person and not the almighty dollar. A company where people can feel like they are a part of a family when they work here.

I would just like to mention one more thing.

Yes the computers we use may be out dated. A lot of companies have computers that are out dated. It would not make a lot of sense if every company would throw out all their out of date computers. Yes the may use a little more energy but the amount of toxic chemicals going into the local disposal site would be a lot worse for the environment. Considering all those toxins leaking into the water system not to mention filling up the land fills. Not to mention that replacing that many computers would cause havoc in this time of economic crisis. All the companies would have to pass that expense on to their customers. Just as they do when the price of gas goes up or the cost of any other material goes up.
It would be more responsible to replace them when they no longer function. Easing the strain on the environment & the economy.

I am the computer technician for Beatties Basic and I would just like to say a few words.

I've been working for Beatties for about three years now and I can honestly say that this is one of the most relaxed, easy going and enjoyable working environments that I ever been in. It makes an eight hour day seem like one. The management & staff are so easy to get a long with that it reflects on to our customer who enjoy coming into our store. Customers always commenting on how friendly and helpful we are.

As for the "They will even work on your Apple computer. They have been for awhile now.... oh, but they haven't not finished being certified for it, and if they cant fix it right, then sorry...you've just voided your warranty by going through them.". Obviously the person who wrote this clearly does not know what they are talking about. When an Apple computer comes in, I inspect it to try and diagnose what the problem is. If the the problem turns out to be a software issue, I can the proceed to go a head and repair the issue. Software is not covered under any warranty. If it turns out be a hardware issue, then it is covered by warranty. I then take the unit to Mac Outpost which is certified & authorized to repair Apple hardware. There is nothing wrong in doing this. It does not void your warranty and it actually saves you time. Instead of taking your concern to the place where you bought your product and having them tell that there is nothing that they can do for you or just simply redirect you elsewhere. We actually take the time to diagnose your issue. Then we do the footwork to get your unit to the authorized repair center instead of deflecting the customer and making them frustrated.

If Beatties was such a bad place then how come it has been in business for close to a hundred fifty years. With employees that have been here for up to thirty years. Beatties places a great deal of time and effort in excelling in customer service.
This person is just trying to slander his former employer without any merit or proof.
The ideas and fantasies of a disgruntled former employee are just not true. If what they say is true, then why not use their real name instead of hiding behind "Jerikocane".

People are intelligent and can form their own opinions. I ask that every one that reads this to come in and form their own opinion for themselves.

Tony Reis
Computer Service Technician
Beatties Basics
399 Vansickle Rd.
St. Catharines Ontario
L2S 3T4
905-688-4040 ext 2227
1 800 263-4977 ext 2227
Fax 905-688-6633

I am the Assistant Manager of the store in question. I would like to say the following about the company that I work for:

After five years with Beatties Basics, this company has proved to me that they do care about their customers and employees, more than any company I have ever seen before.

When it comes to employees, I would like to site the following:

A few years back, Beatties opened the Vansickle Road store. Around that same time, the Bunting road store was closed, and the two warehouses were merged into one. In an article published in the St Catharines Standard, the company president Ted Hoxie bragged about how they merged the two warehouses together, and did so without a single layoff.

Most company presidents would only comment about the financial savings, and gloss over layoffs that they had chosen to make. A company president being proud of not laying employees off is a rare thing these days, and something that helps make Beatties better, and makes me proud of the company that I work for.

Further to this, how many companies of our size have you heard of, where not being on a first name basis with the president is the exception to the rule? This is another example of the personal care given at Beatties Basics.

Beatties is also a very forgiving company when employees make mistakes, and gives their employees clear direction as to what went wrong, and how they can fix it. Beatties also respects the privacy of their employees, and as such, I will not be commenting on specific examples of this in a public forum.

When it comes to customer service I would like to submit the following:

I remember one perticular situation where an employee (who still works for the company, now in a role with greater responsibilty) recommended a local competitor to a customer when we were out of stock on the part they needed urgently. The customer wrote a compliment letter to the president of our company about this employee detailing the situation.

Beatties responded by thanking the customer for their compliment, and giving the employee a gift card and a "Star Award" for going above and beyond in their duty to customers. If our company really didn't care about it's customers, would we celebrate and praise our employees in situations like this? This is another example of why I am proud to work for Beatties Basics.

Another situation that I remember, a customer purchased a laptop computer from us. Approximately 3 months later, the customer came back to the store, and explained to us that shortly after purchasing the computer, they had a heart attack and had been hospitalized.

They no longer wanted the computer, and were asking for a refund as they had bills to pay after being off work for three months. As is standard policy, amoung all companies that sell laptops, returns on laptops are to be processed in 14 days. Beatties chose to make an exception for this customer, who had it for 3 months and accepted a return on it. I have a hard time beleiving that any of the big box stores would have done this. This is yet another reason I am proud to work for Beatties Basics.

As to our pricing:

We are continually checking the market to watch our prices. Our prices are actually on average lower than that of the competition. Like all stores, we do occasionally miss something, in those situations we have a price match polcy that clearly states that we will match prices on identical products.

If any customer sees something lower priced at a competitor, we encourage them to contact us, and we are happy to price match.

Regarding the environment:

We are committed to being environmental friendly. We actually have a committee made up of employees who care more about the environment than most, who work to reduce any negative impact we may have though recycling, energy conservation and more.

We sell environmentally prefered products, so that our customers can also choose those products. These products cost us more than comparible products. Higher costs to us, means higher selling prices. This is the nature of any business.

Our prices were changed at the same time as the new ticket layout was rolled out. Our prices changed because our costs were changing, and like I said above, higher costs = higher selling prices. Prices are increasing across the entire Canadian office supply industry. We made two changes at once, which is better for the environment, better for our bottom line and less stress on our employees.

To any potential future customers, I encourage you to come to our store, and experience for yourself the fantastic customer service that Beatties Basics strives to give our customers. We are not afraid to match any competitors price, and we will go out of our way to ensure that your experience with us is a positive one.

To any customers who have had a poor experience, I would invite you to contact me so that we can resolve any issues and improve ourselves for the next customer, and we value feedback from our customers and employees.

If you have any questions, not specific to the allegations made above, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you,

Michael White
Assistant Manager
Beatties Basics, Vansickle Road Store
399 Vansickle Rd
St Catharines, On
L3S 3T4
(905) 688 - 4040 x2273
mwhite [at] beatties.com

Beatties Basics would have you believe that their green product is better for the environment, and would try to encourage you to go that route.

Dont be fooled again. While yes, the green products are green and good for the environment, Beatties does not follow their own advice, and they mark up the prices on their green products to increase their product, without taking the crunch themselves and using them.

In fact, recently within the last couple months, they used non recycled label paper just to change the colour of their price tickets, all across the store (keep in mind, the prices were not changed right away, we (when i was still working there) ended up raising prices on a lot of items. Much toner and paper was wasted on the making of these tickets, and none of them were made from recycled paper.

They also use machines not current with today's energy efficient ones that are available to them. They have a computer in the tech department for store use, that has lights in it in addition to being an older, custom built machine. Which also begs the question, if the computers they sell are so reliable... why are they using a custom made one?

Also, they leave all the computers on throughout the day, and don't turn them completely off all the time at closing... this burns through energy, and not to mention they DON'T offer any savings or discount on any of their display models. The store manager at the Vansickle would have you believe "well if its been on the shelf and working, then its just more proof that its a good working product". This is a con folks. Having those computer screens on all the time burns the LCD monitor with an imprint of whatever has been on too long, and reducing the life of the screen and computer your going to get. Oh, but don't worry... they have "service plans" from "specially trained and licensed professionals". They will even work on your Apple computer. They have been for awhile now.... oh, but they haven't not finished being certified for it, and if they cant fix it right, then sorry...you've just voided your warranty by going through them.

Once again, dont be fooled by the "GREEN" so called hometown store. They are a less successful and less known conglomerate like Staples, but still pushing around the little guy on Main St, and at least at Staples your working with better trained staff, and better prices. If your wanting to support your community, don't goto Beatties... they dont care about the community. They are only concerned with trying to be better than Staples and being the #1 choice. And they sure don't care about you, or the environment.