Staples' voucher giveaway runs into a system glitch

That wasn't so easy.

Staples ran into problems yesterday while handing out vouchers worth $7.50 each as part of a class-action settlement for failing to com ply with a state regulation requiring it to mark prices on individual items.

The vouchers stated ``no minimum purchase," but some store officials told consumers their vouchers couldn't be processed unless they bought at least $7.50 worth of merchandise.

Paul Cohen of Amherst said he got into a lengthy argument with officials at a Staples in Hadley, who insisted his $7.32 purchase wasn't sufficient. He said they relented only after he started complaining loudly.

``How many consumers unwillingly spent more than the $7.50 just to use their settlement vouchers?" he asked.

Owen Davis , a spokesman for Staples, said he didn't know how many but expected at least 77,000 vouchers to be given away yesterday. He said the company discovered the system glitch at about 8:30 a.m., when the chain's 64 stores in Massachusetts were told to overrule the system and allow purchases less than $7.50. But not every store employee may have gotten the message; a Globe reporter encountered the problem at a Staples in Dorchester at 10:30 a.m.

The system glitch, Davis added, was corrected at 1:30 p.m.

BRUCE MOHL