Staples Cutting Service Review

Staples offers a cutting service for all its customers at a rather inexpensive price of $2 per cut (many people think that means $2 per sheet, but is per stack and every cut made. If four cuts are made in one stack, it's $8), and their cutter is rather powerful and can cut even thick cardstock papers. However, is it worth going to them for? Let's look at the problems with the service, and you can tell me yourself if you still want them to cut your project.

As I said, their cutter can cut through many types of papers. Also, the few customers I saw that wanted their books rebound (like instructional manuals, game manuals, etc), they use the cutter to section off the original binding, and it rips right through without any problem.

Also, it can take about 200 to 250 sheets at a time (depending on thickness), so you aren't getting ripped off here, for once. But enough flattery, because this is all that's good about this service.

The cutter they use is mechanical, and the blade on it goes dull very quickly. Actually, unless it an a fresh one that has been installed a week ago, then you can expect that it will draw on your project. I mean that in two senses. One, it will draw gray lines on the cut site, and looks unappealing. In the cutting sense, drawing is when the papers move during the process and the bottom is shorter or longer than the top.

This problem was incredibly frequent, so if you have cards or anything that has a very specific cut line, don't expect the machine to do it properly. Normally this isn't even the associates fault, but the machine. It will begin pulling, and it is impossible for the associate to correctly position your papers without somehow messing up.

Also, when the cutter is finished and the blade draws back into the machine, it tends to bring the paper up with it, creating tiny folds on the sides. While this isn't too bad, it is a nuisance if you expected very clear cuts.

As for speed wise, considering all the shifting associates have to do to try and keep your cut accurate, and the focus they have to devote to the machine, unless the copy center is empty it will take several hours or a day (unless you have just one or two cuts, any more than that, expect to wait a little while).

So to review, the price is great, but the process is terrible. Don't do your cutting here. If you need one cut on a blank stack of paper to make it a certain size, it's not bad. Anything more specific than that though, you will find the cutter leaves A LOT to be desired.