Yes, Gregg, you ARE the last person in American to give up on Sears.

Reading this reminds me of those stories where the guy says, "So, I caught her in bed with another man again, and I said 'that's strike two!'...then she turns around and cheats on me again! Well, that was strike three, so I had to put my foot down."

Gregg, if you give me $1500, I'll mow your 3 acres.

This guy's fixation on Sears borders on the insane! I would have taken my business elsewhere as soon as I found out that they were lying about my amex card being declined.

Hey, if it wasn't his department, it wasn't his department. Don't blame him, he only works there.

As background, I have an irrational loyalty to Sears

there's your problem

Yeah you are hard core. My girlfriends parents shop at the Sears warehouse all the time, I don't know if they have had any trouble making purchases tho.

It is amazing how blind corporations become when they get so big. You would think that since they are looking down their noses at us, their customers, they would see their feet stepping on the very people who keep them alive!

...and the sailors refused to bail water to save the sinking ship...

Do these people realize that if Sears dies, they become unemployed?

I'd like to know where he's flying for $15,500

The moon?

I wonder which tractor he was trying so desperately to buy, there are a lot of tractors in the $1300-$1800 range.

As background, I have an irrational loyalty to Sears.

And that's where I stopped.

I used to work at Sears. They dont even pay their employees they make them work for a commission 1 to 3 percent of a sale (electronis, appliances). Then they put five people on the floor and in three days two customers come in and buy 230 dollars worth of stuff. Not worth it! Then sears gives the employees a check paying the employee 6 bucks an hour and when/if they are able to sell anything they take it back. The standing joke is that at the end of the day "you owe Sears." The employees are forever changing as the have a turn over rate that mimics that of sand on the beach.
Sears is almost void of customers its like desert town. The management lies to new hires and tell them that by earning commission they can make 15 dollars an hour. Not. There is currently a class action lawsuit against Sears for this. Sears needs to close down if it cant/wont pay its employees.

Why do we not call customers when a transaction is declined? Because there are alot of customers and it take too much time to try and get a hold of you.

There are bad stores and bad employees no matter where you go. Try coming to my store. We are a good store and will take care of you.

@CRNewsom: Ummm, yes that is realized. That is why alot of us do a very good job.

And, Meg, actually alot of us do care. But, just like with every other business on the planet, there are bad employees. I am sorry that this individual got a bad one.

@Bagels: And an $18,000 roof? Holy moley, that would have to be like a 6500 SQ foot house.

So this guy can afford to fly to Sydney Australia and re-roof his 6500 SF house but he still shops at Sears?

@Asvetic: It's Gregg here...it was a 21HP 46" deck tractor, which anywhere else would be over 2000. But really, I had spent so much time figuring out what is important in a tractor, etc, that I didn't want to go through it again with John Deere, etc. AND, I try not to buy Chinese made machinery, so it's John Deere or Sears Craftsman. And, it's a disease, I have (or had) this sick loyalty to Sears. THe first step is acceptance, now I'm on to anger.....

@Bagels: I had bought round the world tickets for a trip of a lifetime, that's why the charge was so much.

@Mudpuddle: I make well over minimum wage. And I don't work on commission. From what I understand from the commissioned employees, they do well. Of course, it comes and goes but so it is in retail. Void of customers? Yeah right! And we are actually a smaller store.

And when I interviewed, I was told that commissioned employees could make "up to X amount". And it was not a sure thing. Never lied to.

If it weren't for craftsman tool i would say sears can go to hell. I just hope they sell off craftsman first.

With the credit line you must be carrying around, I'd like to suggest that Gregg just buy Sears. He could probably get a pretty good deal.

The call center is probaly a contractor that got stuck in a contract to be Sears customer care and they are trying to get out of it. :p

My dad had a situation with Sears where he was willing to pay cash at the store for a $2000 tractor which they had sent him a 10% off coupon good on any in stock tractor, then they wouldn't honor it because they said that brand wasn't included (coupon did NOT state any exceptions. said any tractor on it) After several phone calls to management, he bought a John Deere instead. We no longer shop at Sears. If they don't care about their customers, we'll shop elsewhere.

This is a microcosm of the typical problems associated with underpaid/undertrained support and sales representatives. They quickly develop a Not-My-Problem attitude. Supervisors fall into the same category. Honestly, companies lose themselves more money trying to save money by under training and underpaying employees.

Any business needs to have a strong 'sales culture' where taking care of the client is most important. Bottom line will follow. Places like Whole Foods, NewEgg.com, most luxury car dealerships, and even Amazon.com understand this. Treat the customer well = life long customer. (I have had very positive experiences many times with all the merchants mentioned, in case anyone is wondering).

@Bagels: One pair of first class tickets from New York to Australia & back would likely cost around that much.

Was it this one?

[www.sears.com]

As of right now it is being offered for $1299. If you pursue it, I also have a bridge you can buy for cheap.

I have 2 words for you:

LOWES

One of my fondest memories from when I was in high school was going to Sears with my dad occasionally to buy Craftsman tools to outfit trucks for his company. I got to spend time with my dad, which was rare and cool. He'd outfit the trucks from top to bottom, dropping thousands inside of an hour. Eventually, I'd get bored and go look at clothes. We'd meet back at the candy counter, he'd buy us candy corn or haystacks, and we'd go home.

The stores were clean, stocked, bright, and had employees who knew what they were doing. They knew my dad by name. They seemed genuinely interesting in helping their customers. The first piece of clothing I ever bought with my own money was from Sears - a really cute dark green, wide-wale corduroy skirt.

By the time my dad retired, though, he had completely stopped buying tools from Sears as even the Craftsman warranty wasn't worth the hassle.

The employees were rude and simply did not care if you received help or not. They really couldn't be bothered to do large orders for thousands of dollars anymore.

I have never taken my own kids there for clothes, because at some point I realized that they regularly don't have what their ads say they will. No one seems to care and no one there seems to be able or willing to do anything about problems you may encounter.

So, even if you get your tractor at this point, look at the type of service you can expect if it breaks or needs repairs. No one will help you online or in the stores. You would be buying trouble at this point.

The Sears we all remember is gone and apparently will not be returning. Please do not reward their terrible behavior with any more of your hard-earned money.

"I have an irrational loyalty to Sears"

Is there any other kind of loyalty to Sears?

"I wanted them to honor the price."

And now we get to the root of the problem. Sears is giving you the run-a-round because they do not want to honor the price.

@Asvetic Your a smaller store than ???? the store I was in for two months was void of customers...nuff said. Since you dont work in one the commissioned areas perhaps your doing better. No one was doing "better" in the store I was working in. Employees were worried about feeding their kids, and paying the bills. Everyday was owing Sears at the end of the day. I have since moved on and so have 80 percent of those I worked with, of course, only to be replaced by other "new employees" that are being fed the same line. Check out the class action lawsuit yourself and then wonder who all those past employees are? Sears needs to close. Google sears class action lawsuit

"The employees were rude and simply did not care if you received help or not."

Agreed, I can't help but think that at some point Sears started hiring former DMV employees. You can't find a surlier and lazier bunch anywhere else.

@DojiStar: What's the other word?

@Greeper: Hey, that's great! Have fun.

@CRNewsom: It's more of a "when" question rather than an "if". But yes, I do think that the employees know this. And yes, they will give you crappy service. It's likely because they know this too, and what incentive is there for doing a good job when tomorrow you may not have that job. I gotta say I'd be pretty hard pressed to give a damn if I worked at Sears.

Tried to use sears.com to purchase some $5 tool yesterday, we have had a dozen or more orders just totally canceled (no notice, nothing) from them in the past and just hate them with a passion, but it was a good deal.

Had to use the reset password tool to reset password. It sent me a temp password, which did not work (yes I was using the right email address). I did it again, same problem. Neither the real password nor the temp ones worked. Sounds like business as usual there.

I still shop at sears... only because I morally cannot shop at wal-mart.

All you need to know really when researching garden tractors is the engine it has in it. My dad and I have found Kohler to be the VERY best. There's a reason a tractor with a Kohler engine costs more than those with a B&S or Honda or Kawasaki.

Also, Craftsman's lawn tractors I beleive are built for Sears Holdings by MTD. With the Exception of Husqvarna and John Deere, nearly every other piece of lawn equipment you find at the big chain stores is made by MTD. So the Cub Cadet at Tractor supply isn't much different than the Craftsman at Sears. I wouldn't be surprised if in fact some of John Deere's stuff was made by MTD.

Also, if you want a good used tractor a John Deere 110 is hard to beat. My dad bought one for $600 that runs like a top.

I've read all the horror stories about Sears and I've never had a problem with them. Mostly we buy clothing there and some tools.

In December last year we ordered appliances, Fridge, Dishwasher, and a range. Total w/ tax was almost $4000 (less 20% rebate).

1. Purchase process was smooth. My wife got a Sears card and they gave us free shipping, no interest for 12 months.
2. Initial delivery date was 3 months out. We ended up re-scheduling multiple times and they arrived last weekend; almost 6 months after we'd ordered. Each time we'd call the CSR was polite and handled our request quickly.
3. Delivery day: 4pm - 6pm window. The delivery guys arrive at 4:05pm. They help remove the gate and door (we didn't expect them to be on time) unload the stuff, help put the door/gate back AND gave me the parts (for free) to hook up the dishwasher.

Overall I'm happy with Sears and hope they get a clue to stop this kind of thing from happening. I'd rather shop Sears than Wal Mart.

@Mudpuddle: @thelushie:

The underlying problem here,guys ,is that no one below a certain level of the company can share in any upside from giving knockout service.Sears has quite simply lost the ability to reward employees through a piece of the action.You guys look at them as a paycheck (and a skimpy one at that) and not much more. That's why the company is crumbling all around you. Get your heads out of the sand and stop blaming "a few bad apples". The time for that has gone.If those bad apples are not thrown away soon,there won't be a barrel to fight over.

The OP is not too tightly wrapped to expect a call about the AMEX thing-No argument there.But when he came to you guys again and again trying do business,a sharp manager somewhere should have spotted an easy sale and quota making orde and jumped on it. Apparently,those types are gone from Sears...

This is proof that God exists. This man's desire to give Sears $1500 flew in the face of all reason and divine law, and (reading from the Book of Sears):



Lo, the Lord spake and unto the man: "Yea, rejoice thou fool for thou hast a role in mine divine plans, and will therefore, not complete of thine transaction evermore." And there was much rejoicing.

@Greeper: Comparible is the John Deere LA145 sold at both Lowes and Home Depot. It's more powerful than the Craftsman YS4500 with a 22HP and 48" deck, but it has the Briggs&Stratton engine for $1999... Not the price you were looking for, but not bad for the size of the tractor... The other JD tractors were 19-21HP with 42" decks, no 46" decks on the JDs. You'll easily kill 3 acres with this beast, and it's American Made.

[www.lowes.com]

[www.homedepot.com]

We only have an acre and I bought a 6000 dollar dixie chopper. Takes my husband about an hour to mow the lawn, including trimming.

sure as shit didn't buy that baby at Sears!

@ThinkerTDM: sigh.

@thelushie: But fear/hatemongering doesn't work when you make specifications. It only works when you can make broad, sweeping "them" generalizations. Plus, saying "the Sears in Lubbock Texas" doesn't generate as much traffic as a generalization about Sears does.

The first question I ask myself when dealing with a tough situation is, "why would a reasonable, rational person do this?" I know there's an assumption that all people are reasonable and rational. I can't find a reason on Sears' side or the OP's side.

The last issue I has with Sears (aside from their hand-tools guarantee which goes flawlessly each time) was our microwave, which broke under warranty, but the manager wouldn't exchange it because we got it on sale! I asked myself the same question, and figured it was because he didn't want to comp us a $300 microwave (the only comparable model) when we payed $80. Luckily, he refunded us our original purchase price and we left, happily knowing we'd never go back.

I used to work there during high school. It didn't suck then.

Sears is weird, sometimes I do in there for car batteries, that's about it. It's like a ghosttown in there. I don't know much about cars but I outshine the guys at Sears. I think the requirement to work in the auto section there now is that you own a drivers license.

@Snarkysnake I'll quote you "You guys look at them as a paycheck (and a skimpy one at that) and not much more. That's why the company is crumbling all around you."

Your trying to say that you work for free? Where I wanna know? The down fall of Sears is it unpaid employees fault, huh!

I guess employees who have no food in the refrigerator and barely enough gas to go to work should be to blame for a companies demise....I forget how much money do CEO's get nowadays? What do they do?

I still don't understand something. K Mart went bankrupt, and then bought Sears who wasn't bankrupt. Now K Mart is running Sears into the ground. How does this process work. Sears used to be a pretty good store. Here in the midwest, Sears really sucks, to the point of driving people away. How can a poorly managed company who went broke go out and buy a moderately good company, and drive it (and the resurrected K Mart) into the ground? You would think that at least the stockholders might care. Apparently not.

@DojiStar: Ah, yes, Lowes. Dad bought his tractor from them. They delivered it without taking off the "take this off before delivery" lock/tag under the hood, without the manual, and without the KEY.

So dad calls them up and they say they'll get a key to us whenever a truck comes out our way . . . oh, and couldn't he just print the manual off the web? (I went into town and got the key that afternoon, but it took a couple of weeks of nagging them to get them to get us a manual.)

Still, Lowes *did* manage to at least accept his money. . .

@IphtashuFitz:
I just went to Australia on my honeymoon. Just one round trip ticket to Australia costs $17K First Class....

so we flew coach and 20 hours in coach is not so much fun, but still worth it. But the tickets are probably only $5K/pair... so we splurged on luxury accomodations instead.

Sears made a recent purchase incredibly hard for me as well. I finally got those DTV tuner rebate cards in the mail but every place that had cheap ones was sold out except Sears, so I went there. First one fellow could not figure out how to do the card thing. Then another got farther along but got stumped when it seemed that their system would not sell them to me with a credit card. I did not have much cash and we had a terminal there where the rebate card info was already entered and so we were afraid the cards were basically voided at that point. There was crowd of Sears employees at that point. The whole appliance, electronic, and even a lady from Sears optical had congregated. I really think my daughter and I were the only customers on that half of the lower level.

Finally a Russian lady employee had an idea and explained we could buy two gift cards and use them as cash and that should work. So we walked to another terminal, this one did not work, so on to another, bought two gift cards for exactly how much my portion was and then walked back to the terminal where the rebate was being processed. When that worked there was really a noticeable sense of excitement, like, "Wow, it actually worked!" And slowly all the employees sort of meandered off.

Sometimes Sears surprises me like that. A long time back I bought a dryer but got the wrong vent. I went back and explained it to the salesman that sold it to me, and he just did not want to deal with the crap told me to go wait outside. A few minutes later he showed-up with a stolen vent of the right size and I left and we were both happy.