Gregg wants us to know that Sears has just hung up on one of the last people in America who hasn’t totally given up on them. He’s spent quite a lot of time lately trying to give them $1500 for a lawn tractor, but they just couldn’t figure out how to complete the transaction. Yes, Sears has finally gotten to the point that they can’t take your money even if you want to give it to them.
My recent problems with Sears have driven me so crazy I checked to see if you had EECB contact info. When I saw all the stuff you had on Sears, I thought you’d love this story. I’ll try to be short.
As background, I have an irrational loyalty to Sears. In the last 5 years I have spent probably over $20,000 on appliances, mattresses, and power tools there. I drive by 3 Home Depots to get to Sears; I want them to succeed for some bizarre reason. I don’t even get it, haven’t really even had great experiences, but nonetheless keep on going back. In May I tried to buy a lawn tractor, which is where the problem began.
ROUND ONE: The day after ordering the tractor online, I went back to check the order status and saw nothing. So I called Sears and they said the order had been declined by AMEX. I asked, “Was anyone going to call and tell me?” and she said, “No, we don’t do that.” So I called AMEX, told them to take the charge (which they denied declining), and called back to place the order live. She then told me that it would take 3 WEEKS for delivery. (Do you know how much it costs to pay someone to mow 3 acres?) Reluctantly, and accepting the situation in good humor, I agreed.
ROUND TWO: 3 WEEKS later: nothing. No call, no delivery, nothing. I call Sears, and they again blame AMEX. I explained that AMEX cannot possibly be the problem since I spoke to them live. I also noted that in the intervening three weeks, I charged a $15,500 set of airline tickets and $18,100 for a new roof, both of which zipped through without a problem. Nonetheless, I told him I’d replace the order if they didn’t make me wait 3 more weeks. He put me on hold for an eternity and then agreed. I had bought the tractor on sale so I actually think he was doing some work to recreate the original terms of the sale. I told him I would not hang up until he confirmed that the charge went through so there would be no more opportunity to blame AMEX. He laughed and agreed, and we hung up friends. I suggested that they call customers when a sale doesn’t go through, because that’s a way to GET MORE MONEY, and he said he’d pass that along. Which he clearly didn’t.
ROUND THREE: My tractor, now ordered twice, was scheduled for delivery today, so I called last night to confirm. What a shocker, same story. Now, normally I would just say screw it and order somewhere else, but (1) it takes a long time to research tractors, and I didn’t want to go through that process again, and (2) I had gotten a really good price or $1299 for a $1799 tractor and I wanted them to honor the price. ALso, the sales for tractors all happened around fathers day and now I would be stuck at full price somewhere else. I should also note that one bizarre thing about Sears tractors is they have identical models where one model is on sale and one isn’t. I don’t get it, but the picture on the site does show them in different colors, but when you click “compare,” they are exactly the same – every word, every spec. So when the woman said, I’m sorry, it’s out of stock, I laughed (as did she) and suggested that they give me one of the identical ones at the sale price. She said that a supervisor could do that and told me to call back today.
ROUND FOUR: So I called this morning, asked to go to a supervisor. I explained what happened, that I’ve been waiting 6 weeks now for a tractor, and can’t belevee that no one at Sears actually seems to want to take my $1500.
Me: I just want to know, can you get me the same or similar tractor at the same price, delivered this week. (She put me on hold and in the meantime I went to sears.com, found an identical tractor at the same SALE price, in case she was too incompetent to do so).
Manager: That’s not possible, I can give you the same tractor for $1800.
Me: Why would I pay more for the same tractor? Can’t you honor the same sale price you originally gave me?
Manager: Because it’s not our fault the card was declined.
Me: But it is your fault, because the customer service guy told me it was not declined, and promised me the sale went through. We went through a big exercise to make sure it wouldn’t be declined.
Manager: I can let you talk to someone else.
Me: No, just do what the last guy (who wasn’t a supervisor) did, and give me the original sales price. You have a record of that transaction, right?
Manager: I’m not going to do that. I can let you talk to someone else.
Me: NO, LET”S JUST ORDER THIS OTHER ONE (the identical one I found on sears.com), fully ready to put myself through another round of wholesale incompetence…..sound of silence….the bitch hung up on me!I got transferred to some other customer service line, and the first thing the woman said to me was, We don’t do Sears.com problems. I asked who I could talk to, and she said, there’s an email on sears.com. I asked if she wanted my $1500 or wanted to lose a loyal customer, and she said, you’ll need to go to sears.com.
Please note, and I swear on this — I have always been polite, never rude, just insistent and clear in what I want. And I’ve asked each person why a company which loses a sale due to an (alleged) credit card decline doesn’t call the customer to let them know about it, and they all say, We just don’t do that. I’ve had $10 orders not go through other companies for one reason or another, and the company at least emails me to let me know. It’s like Sears doesn’t want to succeed or make the sale, or secretly delights in knowing that I’m sitting around waiting for my non-existent delivery to show up.
And to hang up on one of the last people in America who haven’t totally given up on this piece of shit company? Is just plain stupid. Whatever, I guess I’ll have to go to Lowes.
Really, Gregg. We’d love to tell you to write an EECB or something to Sears, but let’s be honest with ourselves. They just don’t care.
(Photo: So Cal Metro )
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“I’d like to know where he’s flying for $15,500
The moon? “
@Bagels:
Nope…AA, from ORD-DSM, after all the fees and crap are accounted for!
@IphtashuFitz:
That would be a steal! Putting in random dates in Orbitz (non-peak, more than 21 days out) turns up a range of $11,900 (Malaysian) to $30,000 (AA or Cathay) – and that’s for ONE person!
I can assure you that 99.9% of people out there would be more than willing to sleep for 20 hours in an economy seat if you told them you’d give them a free car or $25,000!
The guy (real estate tycoon) bought kmarts then bought Sears. Kmart didnt by Sears in the literal sense. The tycoon just bought them for the property thats why they are are doing as well as they are doing. Not well at all.
On occasion, I will visit Sears to buy some crapwear. Just peruse the clearance racks of any Sears and you’ll find a plethora of clothing that has been marked down since Fall of last year. That’s what I call value!
next thing you know, poor guy’s gonna have his transaction go through all 3 times at once, and still not have a tractor.
That’d be Sears and AmEx for you.
My sears mower (walk behind with front wheel drive) died a couple months ago. It lasted 7 years. I didn’t even bother to look for a new mower at sears, I went straight to lowes.
on a side note, I spent the weekend re-organizing my tools .. most are craftsman (15+ years old) .. I hope I never have to use the “lifetime replacement” guarantee .. I don’t think they’re made in the USA anymore .
The only good thing about Sears nowadays is that the one by my house has a DMV nobody uses so I can usually be in and out in less than 20 minutes.
I broke my Johnson bar off at the 1/2″ adapter and they gave me a Korean-made one (admittedly nicer looking [chromed])
It makes me sad because they used to make and market all kinds of quality items and now they’re craptacular.
If you ‘Mericans think its rough at Sears there, try dealing with Sears Canada.
If you want to be loyal to the makers of Craftsman (American made) stuff, buy a Snapper mower. This will also give you a chance to support a local small business.
@KirkDouglas: Homeless Depot sells Husky Tools which have a similar guarantee.
Snap-On makes a lot of their super expensive but high quality tools here in the States still.
Reminds me of my Sears.com experience in April for my father’s birthday. He wanted a 15amp circular saw with a laser. The only one I was able to find with those specs was a Craftsman model only available at Sears. I ordered it online and two hours after receiving the “Your order is ready to be picked up” e-mail, I left for the store.
I arrived at customer pick-up at 8pm. They took my information and my name popped up on the monitor. Two minutes later the monitor showed my order as completed. Ten minutes later, my “completed” order was still not completed. So much for the 5 minute guarantee. I asked about my order and they said it was being brought up. I got some sob story about there being only one person in the tool department. Apparently two hours isn’t enough time to bring a tool up an escalator and 50 feet across a floor.
During my 45 minutes there I watched people walk in, their names come up on the monitor, the status go to completed then receiving their items 10 minutes later. I don’t know about anyone else, but completed to me means the item is in my hand and I’m walking out of the store. I then noticed the “5 Minute Guarantee” board. This thing made me angry and made me laugh at the same time. “Last month: 99%, Today:100%.”
At 8:45 I got to speak to a supervisor who told me the item was out of stock and was listed as available online because of a floor model. So I agreed to have the item shipped to me (missing my dad’s birthday.) But at least my time was well compensated with the $5 coupon.
I sent an infuriated e-mail explaining what happened and that I just bought a house. I was planning on buying about $8,000 in appliances from Sears because that’s where I’ve been buying appliances for years. I received a call the next day with nothing more than “Sorry about what happened, please buy your apliances from us.”
That’s the end of my buying from Sears and K-mart, and after pricing the applianaces I want, they end up being cheaper from Home Depot and Lowe’s. Here’s to hoping my experiences with them will be better.
I’ve worked at sears for quite some time, yes I do dislike it like the majority of others here, but I try and provide the best customer service I can to my customers. I can tell you straight up that the majority of this story simply doesn’t make sense. Anytime a credit card is declined you immediately get a “call credit line” error on the P.O.S. The sale will not go through until you receive authorization from the credit center itself. Granted I’ve never delt with AMEX so I’m not entirely sure how that works, but whatever the problem is here, it lies entirely with the customer. If the sale shows that it goes through on Sears end yet AMEX is denying the sale, then the error is no longer with sears, but with AMEX. Not denying the fact that Sears is quickly going downhill, just saying this problem is not their fault but the customers.
@battra92:
Yeah when I bought the tools from Craftsman, Homie De-pot didn’t exist, and they were quality!
Remember, they used to advertise on Hometime and This Old House, that meant that they were 800% better!
I thought it said “mistresses” instead of “mattresses”
As a current sears employee the OP’s first problem is that he tried to purchase a large ticket item on sears.com with a AMEX card. For some reason AMEX and sears.com do not work well together. I have personally seen this happen with other online retailers also. Something with the additional 4 numbers on the front of the card causes problems. In the store no problem. Also when problems like this happen and the ones from black friday with the sharp TV’s for 999 sears.com is powerless. In our store we had 30 of the TV’s in the store and they were gone in less then an hour. Our systems in our store crashed and we were doing merchandise on order sales and took care of the customers once we were back up. In all we sold 50 of the units without problems…. Anyways back to the tractor… If the customer took the time to research in the store he should of bought it in the store. There is more leeway although not much in the stores on subsitution and other things that can be done to satisfy a customer. Our store will never let a customer walk due to availablity problems. It is our fault not the customers and we will take a markdown on something else to make them happy. Of course it has to be within reason. Usually one model up or manual transmission to an auto transmission…. The products are not made by MTD they are made by HOP. Husquvarna Outdoor Products. They make all of our tractors except the rear engine rider and all of the mower except the snappers all of our tillers most of our chainsaws, blowers, and weed wackers. The only non HOP units in the company are the Incredipull or P2 as it is called merchandise. If you look at your model number on something and it starts with 917. it is made by HOP. Eventhough sears.com screwed up originally the ultimate mistake is buying a large item through a computer. (I know people do it on amazon etc all the time) When you have a problem the first time to try it again is your own damn fault.
@consumedchick: But would you really want a prossie from Sears? IMAGINE the STDs!
OK, so I zoned out at “irrational loyalty” and lost interest at “$15,500 plane tickets.” Rich man is rich, let him deal with his richy mcricherson problems.
Rich.
I still shop at Sears, but really it’s only because of convenience. It’s about a mile from my house. Mostly we just buy clothing for my boyfriend, because he likes the Structure line. And… actually, we got my engagement ring there on quite a clearance. And our HDTV. So Sears is great on the sales items, especially with a Sears card.
But if it is a really important purchase, I shop around like crazy. I know I can never rely on good service from Sears, so the only thing keeping me going is the distance from my house and the low prices that (occasionally) lure me in.
@DojiStar:
I have two words for you:
Remedial math.
[www.amazon.com]
I am dreading the day when Sears actually starts to infect Lands End. That’s the only reason I set foot in a Sears anymore.
(It’s not recent, either; my stepdad once sent me to a Sears service station to get a car fixed, not realizing they’d turned into sleazeballs. They lied to me about my ‘tie rods being loose’ and got angry when I called them on it.)
@Mudpuddle:
Nope. Don’t work for free. Wouldn’t hear of it. I don’t want you to,either. But…
I DO work in a business with sharp elbows. It’s dog eat dog. You know what my secret competitive advantage is ? (I should charge you,but here goes)
I TREAT CUSTOMERS THE WAY I WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED. Are soem of them asshats ? You betcha. Do some of them want more than you can provide ? Absolutely. (Are these questions asked in the third person silly ? Probably)
But I have the highest customer satisfaction rating and repeat business book in my area. I will move heaven and earth to make ‘em happy and keep ‘em happy. No phone trees here.I LIKE the vast majority of my customers,because they have put my kids through some pretty good schools.
I won’t argue that you and maybe some co-workers are having trouble making ends meet. No quibble there at all. But you will have a hell of a lot tougher go of it if you see that Sears is going Tango Uniform on tomorrow mornings front page.That means that maybe not you personally,but the dimwits that ran off the OP made your job a little shakier.
You can hate me all you want for putting it to words,but that is kinda like being pissed off at the TV weather man because he tells you it’s raining.Better get on the stick and make your little corner of Sears a better place.
@Greeper: “t was a 21HP 46″ deck tractor, which anywhere else would be over 2000.”
I bought that same (or similar) tractor last summer at that same price. It is a ROUGH ride. Sears did you a favor.
I worked for Sears during the holiday season in 1999. Right after I left, they changed the way they did business–going from sales reps in different departments who gave personal service to sales kiosks where the reps didn’t move. The quality of service and the employee happiness have drastically declined. I’m glad I quit.
I’m sad to see Sears walk down this dreary path. I had fond memories of Sears even when I worked for them. I understand this guy’s loyalty to the place. I can’t walk into a Sears any more as it depresses me. Perhaps Sears should consider canning its CEO as I don’t think the person makes wise decisions.
@Mudpuddle: I worked at Disney World for 6 dollars an hour when I had been making 9-10 after tips at Starbucks all because I was duped into joining their stupid WDW College Program. Regardless as to how miserable I was, I never ever ever let the guests know I was not happy. I made it seem as though I was incredibly lucky for that opportunity and I was happy to be there. I worked really hard and received many complements. You work for what you want to earn, not what you do earn. That is the proper work ethic.
When I am in Canada, I get impressed by the folks who work in fast food. They are so friendly and competent, it makes the US look lazy. You know they don’t get paid well but they want to so they work to earn it.
If you’re so miserable, find another place to work. I bet you can’t though if you have the attitude you’ve got. Its harsh but someone needs to give you reality.
I feel sorry for Gregg. Poor fella. My father has the same irrational loyalty to Sears. I think it’s an older person thing. They started shopping at Sears back when it was “the” store to purchase tools and appliances. Now they cannot let go of thinking that Sears is the end all, be all.
When my father was updating his kitchen last year, Sears was the only place he would buy new appliances from. I was willing to look at other places for him but he said he has always gotten his appliances from Sears and wouldn’t feel comfortable buying them anywhere else.
Unless Sears does some serious identity and service revamping, its days are numbered. My father’s generation is the last generation that still holds onto the concept of store loyalty. People will buy from a completely unknown store on the internet if the brand and price is right.
Amazing. Hope it works out for you, wherever you go.
Sounds like they just didn’t want to give you the sale price to begin with. They would have been happy charging you full price, after all! Of course I’m sure the Sears executives will get shiny golden parachutes when the company *does* go under.
We bought tires from Sears and they called to tell me my car was done before I even left the parking lot. It hadn’t even been moved. I was rude to them, told them they were the K-Mart of Mall Anchors.
Anyway, I now have tires from Firestone and they’re stupid, too.
@baristabrawl: If it’s any comfort, Walmart Tire and Battery is worse (as if that’s news). I took my car there to get my tires changed, and somehow they CUT MY BRAKE LINE. At least they owned up and told me before I tried to drive off. I made the Walmart mechanic drive it to the nearby repair shop while I WALKED behind, because I wasn’t getting in that thing for a variety of reasons. Yes, they did pay for the repairs, but I sure never went back to Walmart again.
I have made more angry posts about Sears than anyone probably, and there is no doubt there is serious problems with this company. But reading through these comments, something struck me. It is amazing how many $X,000 sales are lost because a customer didn’t get their new toy in 10 minutes. I used to work at Sears, hearing this comment often from customers.
Customer: Oh, you don’t have any bargain bin DVD players in stock for $20? Well that’s a shame, I was going to buy $4,000 LCD TV!
Me: Really? You can afford a $4k LCD TV, but you are going to buy a GPX DVD player that I guarantee you’ll be bringing back in a week? Tell me, what color is the sky in your world?
At least Greg did one thing right!
“I drive by 3 Home Depots to get to Sears”
I bet it would be difficult to show a receipt for something they refused to sell you;)
Good bye sears!
@baristabrawl: Don’t even get me started on Sears Auto. I’ve heard a horror story from a close friend who is a Lexus mechanic. They had to undo the damage that a bad battery replacement did to a poor Lexus SC400. Fried EVERYTHING. Sears ended up having to pay the Lexu$ labor/parts costs to undo the damage they did – and it was extensive since Lexus seems to rival the space shuttle in electrical complexity.
Also: I inherited a vehicle that had Sears tires w/ road hazard on them way back when. Hit a pothole, road hazard kicked in. I got a whole free set of tires because the guy behind the counter either didn’t know how the computer worked or couldn’t be bothered to look it up. Sears auto is almost comically bad.
@AlexTheSane: Honestly, in my experience you are best buying appliances from locally owned Appliance stores. Some are crooks of course but if you can find a good one, you’re all set.
It’s too bad as Kennmore are still quality appliances. :-/
My favorite Sears story is when I bought my HDTV from them.
Sony got out of making rear-projection TVs about half a year ago. However, for reasons no one really understands, Sears got a big shipment of them in May, and they are dirt cheap for what you get. So, lucky me, I went to my local Sears, and they had a floor model in stock. I looked it over, and it seemed cosmetically perfect. However, you’re an idiot if you don’t actually check to make sure it works, so I called a sales associate over.
He had trainee written on his tag, so I was immediately apprehensive. He promptly confirmed my suspicions by asking me whether I did a lot of gaming. Well, yes, I do. “You don’t want that TV, it’s a plasma.” I replied that, not only is this not a plasma, it doesn’t even LOOK like a plasma. It’s an SXRD / LCoS HDTV. He makes noises as if _I_ don’t know what I’m talking about, looks at the tag for a few minutes, and realizes he’s an idiot.
I then tell him to hook the TV up to power and a video source. He manages to get power to it, but steadfastly refuses to get out a DVD player, as though they won’t spend $40 to make a sale of $1100. Geniuses! I eventually have to round up his manager and make them haul it halfway across the store over to an unused coax video distribution jack. All is well, albeit it’s not terribly easy to tell if the screen is in great shape when you’re looking at it from 2′ away.
So, I pay for it (no, I don’t want your worthless warranty), and schedule delivery for Thursday (this is on Tuesday). Time passes, and it’s Thursday. No call, no nothing. I call them, and am promptly told “well, we don’t deliver on Thursdays”. I tell them that my receipt says otherwise. “Well, we can refund your delivery cost and have it delivered on Friday.” Thanks, guys – I really needed to waste another vacation day!
So, honestly, my advice for Sears purchases is this: unless you’re carrying it out of a store with you, EXPECT THE WORST. They’re digging their own grave with gusto, as far as I can tell.
I will never, ever shop at Sears for anything. Expect to see them going out of business in the next few years.
I feel bad for you. You… the one that can spend $15k on plane tickets…
richer…
It’s me…update => An email supervisor, very competent, nice, concerned, called me this morning. He was not aware of the consumerist story but was replying to my email to them. (I had no reaction from Sears as a result of this story, which had 15,000+ hits….kind of strange but whatever).
According to the email supervisor, the order was NOT cancelled and he doesn’t know why they (two people this week) told me it was….delivery was delayed another week due to stocking issues, the customer service people wrote down the wrong phone number (missed by a digit) and did (allegedly) call me. He gave me the order number and told me it would be delivered on the 30th unless I cancel. He said he was sorry for the long delays, misinformation, and the hang-up but that he hopes I choose to remain a customer. I’m undecided about it and have been researching slightly more expensive John Deeres.
And I have to say in my “defense” — it’s a trip of a lifetime which we’ve planned for many years, my house is NOT 6500 square feet as some guessed (it’s a small 1200), but the roof was totally replaced with a deck added, hence the 18000 price. THanks to everyone and the consumerist…POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!
“dixie chopper”. Gotta love that.
“… (1) it takes a long time to research tractors, and I didn’t want to go through that process again, …”
Honestly, Greg, if you had taken the time to research ‘em in the first place, he would have easily figured out who REALLY made it, and bought one from that company. Sears doesn’t make any of their products (with maybe the exception of some hand tools), they’re just re-badged, up-priced versions of other companies’ wares.
Drop the Sears loyalty and start comparison shopping with other places, and use their sales prices to get a better deal someplace else.
ahhh yes the good old sears…i loved working there in the auto department…it was the best!!!….never buy tires from them people…there auto dept techs are useless and you wonder why it takes 4 hours for tires and a oil change
*cough*lost leader*cough*
“I also noted that in the intervening three weeks, I charged a $15,500 set of airline tickets and $18,100 for a new roof, both of which zipped through without a problem.”
…can I borrow your credit line? Add those two prices up and you get my yearly salary :-
And Sears does have some sort of strange appeal to me still. Where I live it isn’t easy for me to get to Sears, but if I need any tools/clothing/DVD’s/electronics I end up going over there, or Kohls. I think it is partially a working class loyalty I come from – I mean Macy is right down the street, but that place is like shopping at Tiffany’s from my perspective.
@AlexTheSane: I had the EXACT same experience, Alex, with a freezer. Received an e-mail AND a phone message saying my freezer was in. Arrived at the store and entered my info in the terminal. It shows up on the screen as “Completed” 30 minutes later and still no freezer. I ask what’s the hold up and they tell me they don’t have one for me but the warehouse guy went to appliances to get me the floor model. I declined and asked to have another shipped.
The woman at the counter told me they couldn’t do that. She said she would have to cancel the order, and then I’d have to call the toll-free number for Sears.com. So I did that and went home. The person I talked to at Sears.com told me that was BS and the woman at the store could have handled it but was just “too lazy” (exact words). I screwed myself by canceling the order since it was already charged. I’d have to wait 6 weeks for a refund, and if I still wanted a freezer I’d have to re-order. I spoke with a supervisor who agreed to ship it to me and waive the cost ($65).
All-in-all a silly, stupid experience. And I won’t be going back to Sears.
I signed up for 2 reasons; first, I’m really enjoying this particular blog and want to participate, and second, I feel compelled to comment on the Sears Death Watch story.
I’m former customer service manager for a Sears rival (think of the color orange) and also a former associate of that company’s chief competitor.
There are some things going on here that you may suspect but perhaps aren’t consciously aware of. Not the least of which involves the staff; there are not enough of them to meet the demands placed on them not only by customers, but moreso by managerial staff. The equation reads something like this:
too few people – decent pay and benefits + high customer expectations that have been artificially inflated by dubious advertising + unrealistic performance demands + panic from declining sales performance = crappy customer service.
It’s entirely likely that none of your orders were submitted to AmEx for payment.
It’s entirely possible that there was no desire to sell that mower to you for the agreed-upon price; I suspect that Sears was waiting for one of two things: (1) for you to go away quietly after canceling your order, or (2) for you to agree to pay full price (plus delivery charges) in order to get the merchandise.
Sears isn’t the only one doing such things. That’s why my personal preference is to deal with my LOCAL merchant instead of the Big Box guys. The local guy may cost a little more, but the business belongs to HIM and he cares about it, and by extension, he cares about you. I don’t believe that the same can be said for ANY business whose first loyalty is to the stockholders and board of directors.
Most of the Big Box outfits really don’t seem to give a fig for their walk-in customers. Your money is as good as anyone else’s, and if they don’t get YOURS, there’s someone else right behind you. The problem with that presumption is that there just ain’t many fish in that pond.
The last time I ordered from Sears was Christmas 2004. They promised they would have everything shipped to us two weeks before christmas (so, by Dec. 10th).
We recieved a call to go and pick up our parcels on the 24th of December, almost two weeks late, but at least they had arrived before Christmas right?
Wrong.
When we reached the store there was a small group of people milling around by the front door, all wearing unhappy faces. As we approached one of them said “Ah.. another dissapointed customer”, and gestured to a sign on the door.
The hand-written sign on the door said “Closed until Dec 29th, Merry Christmas!”
They’ll never recieve another dollar from me, or my family, again.
I think it comes down to this: to avoid the frustration of poor customer service, avoid the Big Box outfits except for the things you can carry with you. I say this from experience on the OTHER side of the customer service counter. The current business model seems aimed at separating the shopper from his/her money as cheaply (did you notice that I didn’t say “Inexpensively”?) as possible. Merchandise quality has deteriorated while merchandising is often much more misleading and confusing; most of the locations are short of staff, and what staff remains tend to be over-worked and obligated to work bizarre and ever-changing schedules by an upper management whose only interest is the bottom line of the P&L statement. If you DO get great customer service, count yourself among the very fortunate. Associate turnover tends to be high, virtually encouraged by an attitude that implies “go ahead and quit! There are 10 more just like you, waiting for your job”.
So my advice, when it comes to Big Stuff, buy local, from a dealer who’s been there forever. He answers to his partners (if any), his family, his employees, and YOU.
It wouldn’t be huge news if Sears pink-slipped its employees…Sears has been through a number of roller coaster rides in the last few decades.
[www.fundinguniverse.com]
I’ve had good experiences with Sears lately. I purchased a new range, microhood, dishwasher, and countertops. Everything was installed on time or better, and the service was good. After I purchased the appliances, I went back a week later and they pricematched the appliances an additional 10% off the already-reduced original price I got them for. Everything was extremely low hassle. I was quite pleasantly surprised.
Funny.
I, too, have a thing for some Sears items… tools and power equipment.
I ordered a $2000 riding lawnmower from Sears about two years ago. I got it in about 2 weeks, but unfortunately, Sears outsources all their deliveries to guys… who don’t even own their trucks! It was like scheduling the cable guy… and they routinely don’t show. So the truck shows a couple days later, unannounced, in a Rent-a-Wreck owned POS. The mower does not fit on the liftgate, so they abuse the mower right in front of me, nearly dropping it off the back of the vehicle.
I immediately notice the front of the mower is smashed… they didn’t set the parking brake and drove like idiots, so the mower smashed into something in the truck… I could see the dents in some of the appliances. I tell them I want this returned. They explain they don’t work for Sears and are not going back to the warehouse. Another truck will be dispatched in a couple hours with a new mower and they will take this one.
Right. A couple hours later, I call Sears… the woman on the phone denies everything. Then they try to talk me into keeping the smashed mower for a cash discount. I bought an extra push bar just to keep the flimsy-looking nose and hood in good shape… I wasn’t going to settle for a smashed one. She tells me it will be three weeks. In the meantime, I have no mower… she tells me I can use it… I explain I have 6 acres of growing grass. She has no idea what an acre is. I cut the grass, careful not to damage the mower further.
FOUR weeks later (two grass cuttings), the same people show up… I ball them out for lying to me. This time, however, the liftgate doesn’t work… THEY LIFT/DROP the mower from the 5 foot high truck!!! Luckily no damage. While I am pushing the new mower in the back and I’m getting the old mower, they take off. I now have two mowers… and only one parking spot. I can’t put the second one in a secure place.
I call up Sears. Ball them out because I can’t store this extra lawnmower and I don’t want to be liable. They will get someone out there to pick up the mower. In the meantime, it sits in my yard, unattended, in the weather. I continue to cut the grass with the smashed mower… why wear out my new one? However, I start taking out my frustrations by “testing” the mower on rougher and rougher turf.
THREE weeks later, my buddies come back with the Rent-A-Wreck truck… and try to deliver a _THIRD_ lawnmower. I tell them to get the $#%$%#$%$%$ out of my #$#%$%#$#$ yard before I beat them silly.
A couple weeks later (after I had cut the lawn almost all summer with the extra mower… putting 40 odd hours on it… and mowing though 3ft tall grass, brushes, trees and rocks, a Sears person FINALLY picked up the extra lawnmower.
I later got a couple $50 gift cards… Its been two growing seasons, and I’m mostly happy with the mower. Its a little flimsy… the blades wear fast and miss some of the tougher weeds. Hopefully this will last ten years, because it will take a hell of a deal for me to forget this adventure.
Sears saved you a lot of hassle by not charging your card.
I had much shorter, if similarly disastrous experience with Sears recently:
1. Ordered a weight set off of Sears.com, 1/2 from store price, shows in stock, received email for pickup.
2. Went to pick up said weight set (2 dumbels, 1 barbell, weights) and they had pulled a full home Gym.
3. Attempted to explain to the pickup guy that his 3 7′x3′x6″ boxes wouldn’t fit in my Civic… didn’t work, he kept wheeling the first one out. “This is your order”. Ummm, no it’s not.
4. It all falls into place for him
5. 30min later Comes back out with a barbell and a fantastically incorrect selection of weights. No dumbbells.
6. Pickup guy says “this is what the manager gave me”
7. Demand to see manager
8. Wait 30 minutes
9. Eventually walk back into the stocking area to find the damn guy
10. “We didn’t have your order in stock so I pulled something close to it, had to get some weights off of the sales floor”. <— Wouldn’t you ask me if I even wanted something that was my original order first?
11. “I think what I pulled for you is actually worth more”.
12. It was not.
13. Canceled my ordered
14. Stopped by the sales floor, lo and behold, full weight set sitting there mocking me.
15. Will never shop at sears again.