Viking Office Products

Full review
With the end of summer and the start of fall, I always find myself glancing at school (or office) supplies with a longing gaze. How can you resist fresh new notebooks or clean, ready to be used glue sticks or a whole package of unsharpened pencils? I can’t resist and have given up trying but I do try to get the most value for my dollar.

I tend to do my office supply buying on line. I can’t think of any reason I need to be carrying reams of paper all over town and if I can get it delivered to my home for a reasonable price, that works best for me. With that in mind I looked at ebates for companies that offered good refunds for shopping with them. (In case you didn’t know, you can shop online and get a quarterly check if you shop through ebates. It isn’t a lot for me but getting a little check every quarter is a nice thing.) Viking Office Products was listed with ebates and offered a 5% return so I had a look.

When you first enter the Viking website you will notice that there is a list of various office supply categories on the left side of the screen. I used this list to find some items. However at the top of the page (in the center) is a find box. I used this a lot more. I prefer this because I am trying to stick to my list and not buy impulse items as I go through other search methods.

Whenever I typed something into the find box it took me to the category and gave me a few options – and example with would be tape. I typed in tape and was given the choice between masking types of tape and scotch tapes. When I chose scotch tape, I was given the choice between the rolls that came on their own dispensers and the ones that you feed into an office tape dispenser. I made my decision and then went on to the next item.

Once I had completed my list, I went to checkout.

To checkout, you have to have an account with Viking (free account). This means you have to give them your name, address and credit card information – which you would have to give them anyway, but you also have to create a sign-on identity and password. This is very easy and straightforward and if you can type (okay, sometimes I can’t type but usually I can!!) you can do it.

In my area, under certain circumstances you can get same day delivery (check on this for your area) but since I was ordering on a Sunday night, that wasn’t available. I plugged in my shipping preferences and then proceeded to the final check of information. Once that was done I checked out. Delivery is free for orders of $25 or more and my order was worth more than $25 so I got free delivery.

I received my merchandise within the time window promised. It was well packed and undamaged and everything was there. All the items I bought were name items. Included in my shipment was a catalog for future shopping needs. I particularly appreciated that because it gives me a chance to browse and see if a store brand might suit my needs in the future.

I am very pleased with my purchases and the service I received with Viking. While I wasn’t familiar with them before finding their name online, I like their products and how they dealt with me and I will be shopping with them again.