STAPLES UPDATE…Half a Refund and Half an Apology so far…

UPDATE 5/5/17 –

Because of YOUR calls, emails, and Facebook Posts on the Staples page, Staples has apologized…

I’m cautiously optimistic that Staples corporate is trying to do the right thing here…and it’s because so many of you lit up their FB page. Isn’t free enterprise awesome! The market will correct things far faster and better than trying to use government force and coercion. I didn’t ask anyone to post online or call Staples, y’all did it on your own, which I think is fantastic!

HOWEVER, it’s a half-hearted attempt from Staples thus far… literally half a refund and half an apology, so we’ll see.

Here’s exactly where we stand. The Office of the President did, in fact, call and give me what I perceived to be a sincere, serious apology for refusing to print our flyers and calling them “obscene, pornographic, or dangerous.” Funny thing is that the Staples FB page had been apologizing to me 3rd party for days without my knowledge. As so many Christians posted on their FB page, they started replying with this:

After reviewing Mr. Green’s complaint, Staples agree that the materials requested to be copied were not obscene, pornographic or offensive in any way. Our associate made a mistake and we sincerely apologize to Mr. Green for this experience at Staples. At Staples, we respect all viewpoints and are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused Mr. Green and his business.

The Office of the President made it very clear THERE WAS NO COPYRIGHT ISSUE, but the Sandusky store is still telling people that whopper to cover up the anti-Christian, anti-Constitution bias that took place there. Perfectly legal and constitutional for them to be anti-constitution… or at least not want to print flyers encouraging study of the document. But wow, that sure hit the pocketbook quick for them. I’ll let you know when they give me the full refund and a written apology.

Here’s the real question and the main issue…

IF Staples allows an individual employee to refuse to print Christian material as long as they find another employee to immediately do it, DO THEY IMPLEMENT THAT POLICY ACROSS THE BOARD for Christians and Muslims and others that would not want to print homosexual marriage material? I’ve asked that question multiple times and I’m told that they do, but I’ve asked for proof. I’m told that exact scenario has happened and I’m looking forward to seeing the evidence. If it’s true… if they truly do allow employees to refuse service based on violation of conscience (whether conservative, liberal, Christian, Muslim, or atheist), if all of that is truly true, not just lip service… then I will be giving my business back to Staples and encouraging others to do the same.

Now, for the fun part, Staples sent me 30 pieces of silver. Well, okay, not really silver, just a $100 coupon. Since I would feel like it was 30 pieces of silver if I spent it, I want to give it away. But let’s have some fun in how we do this. I’m going to post this on Facebook and ask for people to nominate the charity to which I should give the $100 voucher. If you really want to have fun, then nominate someone that will print something at Staples that really puts their policy to the test!!! Pro-Lifers, pro-marriage advocates, whomever you think would annoy the liberals the most!!

TAKE HOME LESSON = FREEDOM WORKS!!!

When individuals and businesses decide for themselves, do business with whom they choose, and take their business elsewhere when they choose, everyone is better off than if government dragoons are trying to force their decisions on all of us! (think bakers, photographers, etc.)

Two very real examples of the market winning stand out in this case.

First, a business said no to creating my product for whatever reason they wanted and I took my business elsewhere. No one sued or asked the government to come force others to do business with them (which is just like the spoiled brat on the playground saying “make Johnny play with me!!!“).

Second, when a business makes decisions that their customers do not like, the customers can let them know and if the business wants to keep those customers, it can correct course. Exactly that happened here. Christians stood up and let their voice be heard and Staples immediately knew this was an important constituency and a big part of their customer base, so they took action to make it right. Please keep this lesson in mind. Let your voice be heard… in politics, in the marketplace, in your church, at your local school. If Christians will stop hiding in the corner and actually stand for principle, act on principle, explain the principle, and teach the principle… we can win this culture back to common sense and liberty.