Why You Should Never Order Anything From Sears.com
Mike sent us two stories of back-to-back merchandise fiascos with orders he placed on Sears.com for in-store pickup. What's worse, the problems can't just be blamed on a lone rotten employee, or attributed to bad luck—several Sears stores were involved. Our verdict: there's something seriously messed up with the Sears fulfillment chain, and it's not worth your time or energy to bother with it. But you knew that already, right?
Thought you might be interested in some horrible sears.com in store pickup experiences. The first one was simple yet annoying so I didn't go into much detail.
- Sep 11- Order a TV thats %5 off due to one day sale, in store pickup within 10 days
- Sep 22 - Call customer service. Told it'll be in the werehouse that day and I'll receive an email tommorrow
- Sep 23 - No email
- Sep 24 - Call CS again. Told sometime next week. While on the phone, I get an email saying the 29th. At some point in the day I get a call saying it won't be coming in.
- Sep 25 - I call up CS again and they tell me to call the store and ask to transfer the salescheck to another store. I do that, and they cancel my order instead. I call up CS again and they tell me to order from another store and they SHOULD be able to adjust the price to the sale price. I order from a further away store that showed it as immediately available. I get a fairly quick email telling me that the item is in stock and I head otwards the store. I get a phone call telling me that they don't have the TV and won't be getting it in.
I give up on Sears and buy a TV from Costco instead.
The TV situation was annoying but didn't really turn me off to Sears. [Seriously? -Ed.] So I make the mistake of trying again.Oct 2- I order a heart pendant necklace for my girlfriend's birthday for in store pickup, at a different Sears than the 2 above. I get an email saying it's ready for pickup. I go to the store and attempt to pick it up.
Apparently they have a 5 minute guarantee for them to bring out your order after you sign into their kiosk, but they avoid that by "completing" your order before they even see you. Guy finally comes out, takes my paper print out of the order and disappears. Then he comes back and gives me a sticker (which I saved) and tells me I have to go to the jewelery department to pick it up. I go there and am first told that I'm supposed to pick it up at merchandise pickup but eventually told they don't have the item in stock.
Back to merchandise pickup. No one is there. Wait 10 minutes and still no one, so another call to customer service. I explain the deal and multiple times ask them if this item is showing as picked up. I'm assured it isn't. Customer service apologizes and tells me that this is rare and it never happens and that sometimes lines get crossed and you have to wait a day even after getting the email. They offer to ship it, but not for free, and it definitely wouldn't arrive by when I needed it even if they could. So I tell them to cancel it and I'll place another order myself.
Oct 3- I called CS again to verify that I would receive a refund and the order wasn't showing as picked up, and was assured that was the case. I wasn't really concerned since there were about a half dozen other Sears that claimed immediate availability on this item. So I attempt to order from other stores. I get numerous email cancellations.
I got this for one order.
Dear Sears.com Customer, In order to provide the best customer experience, when you place a Sears.com order for Store Pick Up, we do a final verification step with the local store you selected for pick up to:
- Ensure the accuracy of the inventory information we have received from the store, and
- Physically confirm the availability of the item(s) that you ordered prior to you going to the store.
Unfortunately, we checked with your local store at SEARS STORES and discovered that one or more of the item(s) in your ORDER #xxxxxxx/ SALESCHECK #xxxxxxxwere not in stock.
As a result, we have cancelled this order, and no charges pertaining to this order will be reflected on your credit card.
I got this for three orders.
Dear Michael, Thank you for shopping at Sears.com. Unfortunately, due to the demand for the item(s) that you ordered, we were unable to process your order due to being out of stock. Consequently, we have cancelled your order for the item(s) listed below.
At some point I decided to just place the rest of the orders all together and not just wait to be canceled. So I eventually wound up with 2 orders that weren't canceled yet. I eventually received ready for pickup emails from both orders. I then get a call from the Middletown NJ store. A woman from the jewelery department asking me to describe what I ordered because all she has is an item number. She couldn't find the item, but said she would keep looking and call me back. She actually did call me back and was able to locate the item.Oct 8 - I let the other order sit for about a week before I canceled. I was concerned about a refund from that getting mixed up with my original order that hadn't been refunded yet. Out of morbid curiosity I called the store inquiring about the still open order and of course, they didn't have it in stock and didn't bother calling me. I canceled that order and received a refund 2 days later.
Oct 11- I email Sears.com customer service inquiring about my original refund and stating that I'll be disputing the charge if I don't get a response by Oct 14.
Oct 14- No response to email, so I dispute.
Oct 15- It's still bugging me and I want to triple check that the original order was not showing as picked up, so I called CS again. I found out that it is indeed showing that I picked the order up. The CS person says she can't do anything if that's the case and I have to go to the store. I ask for it to be escalated and talk to who I presume is the supervisor. I firmly state that I refuse to goto the store again and she calls the store. After a longggg wait she puts me on a three way phone conversation we get the refund processed. I get the smiplest of apologies...
There were a few more customer service calls in between everything, but thats the majority of the problems. I'm just really happy to actually have all my money back.
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Not that I doubt what this man is saying, but I can't believe the patience this guy has in dealing with Sears. Has he not heard the other horror stories?
I wouldn't buy anything from Sears. They have just gone downhill, not worth the effort. There are many other places that I can overpay for goods and get them the same day.
I suspect that this economic downturn will kill all the unhealthy companies like Sears. Bizarrely this is where the market disaster creates a healthier stronger economy.
You can't fight dysfunction like this ... only go to a different retailer.
Anyhow, my Sears is sold out of P00 and P000 Phillips Craftsman screwdrivers, and I think P1 (but wasn't looking for that); they had only P0 and P0000. (You know, the black ones with the blue swivel tops.) How in this age of computerized inventories and just-in-time shipping can Sears sell out of one of their most popular items!? Whatever is wrong must be systemic.
That gave me a headache just reading it. You, sir, have infinitely more patience than I do.
Yeah, I've had nothing but bad experiences every single time I've tried to buy something from Sears. I just don't even bother going into the store anymore.
@Crabby Cakes: I used to work at sears... its not the cashiers fault.... sometimes, but the management is retarded... I feel your pain.... I know what youve been through. And im sorry... want a taco? Not even to be an ass.... like I really know what youve gone through, but I like tacos
This is so weird - I order from the Sears website all the time (the store near me is convenient and has free parking but is small, so I order stuff on the website to be sure it'll be waiting on me), and have never had a problem with picking thing up in store! Then again, I'm always ordering mundane things like pots and so forth, so perhaps if I were trying to save big on TVs and fancy jewelry I'd run into more problems.
You could just go to Kmart for your Craftsman tools...
Oh, wait. They suck just as bad.
Either I'm lucky, or Sears in Canada isn't as screwed up as Sears in the US.
I work for Sears and can tell you exactly why Sears.com shows items as being in stock when they are not.. They rely on inaccurate counts that are held in the store's local system. This system does not automatically adjust if something is stolen, misplaced, incorrectly scanned, etc. (there are a lot of things that could happen to throw the count off). This isn't just store-to-web that's affected. If you're in the store making a purchase and the item you're taking home isn't out on the floor in front of you (ie: TV, lawn mower, treadmill -- not talking about the display) then you need to ask the sales associate to check the back and make sure it's actually there. Just because they check the register or a hand drawn tally for the count, does not mean the count is correct.
Wow, for a while I was pretty concerned that Sears was going to go out of business. I guess they must be doing a lot better than I thought since they can afford to turn away customers! Congrats Sears and keep up the good work!
Why can't this company die? Every time I see an Electrolux commercial or a sale commercial, I think, "Oh that's cool," and then I see Sears. And I resign myself to never going to that sale or getting that product. Sears has now provoked a new kind of anger in me- that of a company I would not trust to make a correct credit card charge dangling something cool in front of me that I won't buy.
@donovanr: Very economically Darwinian of you.
I happen to agree.
Sears (w/ K-mart) and Circuit City will be the retail dinosaurs that die off as a result of this economy.
I ordered a table from sears.com for pickup, and received my "its ready" email. Went down there a couple days later, it wasn't ready. They told me they accidently sold it to someone else, and would I like the floor model? I asked about availability at other stores, waited an _hour_ for the manager to call around, and finally gave up and left. Called a day later to see what was going on, said they still didn't know if other stores stocked my table(!) and wouldn't give me a discount on the floor model or take it apart and put it back in the box. I cancelled my order, but unlike this guy I got my refund right away. I'd have to say they have the most unfriendly and unhelpful CS people I've ever dealt with.
I went to Sears in the King of Prussia Mall (outside Philadelphia) last December to buy my GF a coat. In the enormous ground floor womens section (probably 3000 sq feet), I couldn't find a single sales person for help in 20 minutes.
I can't fathom how a store can operate on a Saturday during the holidays without any floor staff. I mean they might as well not even be open for business at that point.
I took my Craftsman Lawn Mower to Sears for a repair (the 2nd time) as I had bought it there and it was still under warranty for another month. A week later they wheel out a similar used lawn mower, (only a more expensive model with a larger engine) and hand it off to me. They never did call me to see if I had picked up the wrong one, OR inquire as to why I never picked up my original mower. By the way, Yes, I did keep the mower they gave me. lol
Interestingly I was on Sears.com the other day and was thinking about buying a torque wrench, after finding a few $150 models I hit the $2500 torque wrench. I closed the tab and went to Digg.
@lilacorchid: Sears Canada is, or was, operated so differently from the U.S. Sears that is almost an independent business.
I've got to agree with lilacorchid, Sears in Canada isn't screwed up like this. I've ordered many times for delivery and for in store pick-up without a problem. - But - for the in store pick-up they ship it to the store you want to pick it up from - if that store doesn't have it in stock. I've even had them issue raincheques for out of stock sale items - had to wait a while - but eventually got the items at the advertised price.
I had several bad experiences With sears.com. I ordered hardware items and got an email stating that the item was ready for pick. went to the store to pick up the item was told that they dont have it in stock. i had to argue with them to understand why i got an email stating that the item was ready for pick up they had no answer. As far as the 5 minute guarantee, i have noticed that they marked it complete even though i am still waiting there. i tell them to give me my coupon because it was not on time
Sears is circling the drain and has been for years...
I don't really know a tactful way to say this... And I say this as a guy who values convenience...But don't buy your significant other jewelry from any store that also sells socks and underwear. The reason here is that somewhere in the course of her excitement she will likely ask where you got it from, and you will have to answer honestly. Saying 'I got it at Sears' will (in most cases) not illicit the reaction you may be looking for. This is my personal experience, and in all honesty, I have heard great things about CostCo's jewelry (which, if true would make me wrong). I'm all for bargain shopping, but local jewelers often have competitive prices and superb quality (and they don't sell lawnmowers).
I bought a cordless electric lawnmower at Sears The young man who sold it to me was rude, but I needed the lawnmower so I ignored it. When the box came out at customer pick-up, an employee put it into my trunk. I couldn't read the item description the way the box was placed, so I verified with the employee that it was the cordless electric. He said it was, but of course when I got it home and wrestled it from the trunk it was not. Okay. I called Sears CS and they told me that they no longer even carry the cordless model. Why did they sell it to me? She couldn't say, but said I could (load it back into my trunk) and return it. That was my last trip to Sears. I can't think of one reason -- not price, not service, not product selection -- for a consumer to patronize Sears.
@Crabby Cakes: This might explain a few things about why Sears is in the state they are in now, if people have to try to give them money then there is something seriously wrong..
Sears has really fugly clothing too, and the one time I tried to buy a pair of shoes there I had to flag down an employee from the register to go and get the mate shoe since it was a display shoe. Then I was told by her that this is a self-service shoe department (mind you there was also 3 other customers in the shoe department needing the same thing, a mate to a display shoe), well if it was then how come the mate was not on the shelf! Geez. I was almost tempted to go searching in the back room for it myself since the door was wide open and there was nothing from stopping customers from going in there.
I don't really know a tactful way to say this... And I say this as a guy who values convenience...But don't buy your significant other jewelry from any store that also sells socks and underwear. The reason here is that somewhere in the course of her excitement she will likely ask where you got it from, and you will have to answer honestly. Saying 'I got it at Sears' will (in most cases) not illicit the reaction you may be looking for.
More importantly, her friends will ask her where he got it from.
It won't matter that your gf's/wife's/etc jewelry cost twice as much as her friends' if theirs came from Tiffany's or Cartier.
@Outrun1986:
I have to disagree about the clothes, at least in the mens section. Since Structure morphed into the intensely overpriced basics that is Express, Sears took it over and it continues to be pretty decent.
Since most who shop at Sears have no style, the nice things usually end up on the clearance rack at severely discounted prices. I have cleaned house on the Sears clearance racks.
I'm sorry to see they haven't fixed these problems. They've been going on FOR YEARS AND YEARS. Their problems don't end with the "dot com" either...
It was about SEVEN YEARS ago that I ordered one of those hardware levels with the laser. I ordered for them to hold it for me at the pick up window. I won't bore you. Even though I paid for it online, they took my credit card, I printed out the sheet, etc., etc. I ended up having to go to the hardware dept and pick it up myself.
Then, about THREE YEARS AGO I ordered wet/dry vac for pick up. The website reported that the item was "ready for pick up". This time, however, instead of going there to be disappointed, I decided to call ahead to make sure they had it. After holding on for over 45 minutes, (thank god for speaker phones and NO, it wasn't lunch time) I gave up and went there. Guess what (again)? They didn't get it. I had to get it from the hardware dept and buy it.
Going back home, there was no way on the website for me to cancel the order that was charged to my card. After all, it was "waiting for me" at the pick up window. I had to call to cancel the order (shades of AOL!)
The charge was reversed, but, of course, IT WILL TAKE 7 TO 10 BUSINESS DAYS for the reversal to show up. (funny how the original charge was INSTANTANEOUS)
OK, *MONTHS LATER* I decided to check back. You know what? The item STILL APPEARED to be "ready to pick up".
I called customer service, to let them know there's OBVIOUSLY something wrong with their system. Do you know what they did? THEY SAID THERE WASN'T "A PROBLEM" AND *HUNG UP* ON ME!
Sears better not F*CKING get CLOSE to asking the gov't for help when it goes BELLY UP...
@MyPetFly:
Shit... image problem...
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@postnocomments: It must be, because they only problem I have when I try to shop at Sears is the catalogue is different than the store. Although they both appear to representing the same business, they have nothing to do with each other.
Growing up hours away from a major centre, the Sears catalogue was *the* place to buy everything. The majority of people I know over the age of 40 swear by their Kenmore appliances.
Future News :
Jan 9,2009
Chicago-(AP) Iconic American retailer Sears filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in Federal Court yesterday , citing a crushing debt load and "unfavorable market conditions caused by the financial crisis of last fall." CEO Bruce Johnson cited an inability to finance new inventories and a loss of confidence by vendors,banks and suppliers.
"A stronger Sears will emerge from this filing,but for now,our associates and customers should know that it is business as usual at Sears",Johnson said. "We expect to close or merge some operations,find efficiencies in our supply chain and renew our focus on the consumer as we move past this painful,but neccessary step in our history "
Analysts immediately pointed out that Johnson is full of shit. " The reason that this company can't get find first base is the near total absence of employees that give a flying damn. ",said Tobias Leftwich of Wanker and Leftwich Securities. " Frankly,it's a fucking miracle that they have hung on this long" ,he said , in a rare display of candor. Leftwich added that he has changed his rating on Sears stock (NYSE-SHLDQ) to a "hold" from "market perform". The filing will affect all of Sears operations in the U.S.,but does not include the Canadian unit,which will be destroyed at a later time.
Sears was founded in 1886 in Chicago and employs approximately 335,000 full time incompetent employees in the U.S.
@Outrun1986: @Rectilinear Propagation: That's exactly what my bf said! "I'm trying to give you money in exchange for a product and you're telling me no? This is a STORE isn't it? You SELL things for money, right? but the manager just kept pointing to the screen. On a positive note, we did find a really cool local hardware store where we now make all our tool related purchases.
@Etaripamai (XBL): And yes, I would very much like a taco. :)
Oh, how I love Sears' "5-minute Guarantee," where they "complete" your order sight unseen at four minutes and thirty seconds and you get to wait another 10 for them to retrieve your item.
Wow. I've had some good and bad experiences with them, but wow. I order stuff on their website pretty much every other week, and never have a problem with picking it up on the way home from work. I was there yesterday and had excellent service from the cashier in the tool dept who now recognizes me which is a little sad. And I think I got a great deal on an air compressor.
But then again, it's a "Sears Grand" which I think is codeword for ex-Kmart. I wouldn't think that would help the situation, but maybe it does.
I just hope if it goes under that somehow Craftsman spins off and survives, because I have a lot of tools with lifetime warranty.
@Tightlines: One time I actually got the $5 coupon. But I can think of at least one other time that they did what you said and "completed" my order without ever seeing me.
@MyPetFly:
Here is how you post inline pictures:
[img src="http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8418/searsyr3.gif"
But replace the "[" with a "<"
Recently, I've had some really good experiences with Sears, including Sears.com.
First, I've found that after I've searched high and low looking for some relatively generic item that should be easy to find for a reasonable price and come up empty or only find overpriced stuff, about 85% of the time, Sears has exactly what I'm looking for, and for an OK price.
I dunno about Outrun1986's store, but I've gotten some nice clothes from Sears recently - they went through a fugly phase, but seem to have changed buyers, much for the better. Their shoes have gone downhill, though - leather is seriously scarce and I can't wear plastic on my feet.
When shopping for a digital camera over the summer, Sears came up much higher in price than anyone else, and they were a model behind...same seemed to be true of all of their electronics based on an inspection in passing. I would shop Sears electronics as a last resort only until this improves.
I ordered a replacement part for my 10+ year old garbage disposal from Sears.com and was very pleased with that - the site made identifying the part easy and I got it in just four days without expedited shipping. It was packed appropriately, too.
I'm remodeling my kitchen and decided to replace my ancient, mismatched, hand-me-down cookware. I went online to a number of retailers, found a set I liked for an OK price on Sears.com, went into the store to look at it, and found it on sale. I am very pleased with it - very high quality (Kenmore brand stainless steel with extra-thick copper bottoms and stainless handles that actually stay cool).
I also selected a chest freezer using the same method described above, but the local store was out of stock. The salesperson looked it up, found that another shipment was coming in a couple of days later, and I went ahead and paid for it. She told me they would call to confirm when it arrived. Since I live well out of town and would be out running errands on the day it was supposed to arrive, I wasn't going to be home to take the notification call, so I called the salesperson (she had given me contact information) and she was able to confirm that the freezer was in, but probably had just been taken off the truck, so I should wait a few hours. I ran my other errands first, went by Sears last, it was ready, I got the item loaded within the five minute time, and when I got home, found the promised automated message on my answering machine telling me it was in.
So - I think I have a sufficiently large sample of experiences to say that Sears and Sears.com is actually doing pretty well most of the time. They had alienated me for a while, but are slowly earning my business again with good experiences.
I wonder if we plotted the negative experiences on a map if we might find that certain regions or departments are messed up?
I will say their commercial for Sony's HDNA TVs with the Chicken and Peyton Manning were pretty good. "I don't really watch sports." "Easy Chicken, easy."
Thanks! I'm not sure what went wrong the first two times, but I saved your instructions for next time. And sorry everyone for filling up the comments...
I too tried purchasing numerous times from Sears. I love their tools. I had a garage full of their tools. After the K-mart wiz pulled off the scam of a lifetime using Sears money to buy K-mart and keep himself in business, the whole Sears / sears.com thing changed. I had a $2k order that was also canceled several times. Then the in store pickup went all to hell. Then began the loads of emails from Sears.com, which I now ignore. Plus they change their pricing almost daily for sales. (Similar to Wal-mart.) So I too can't stand Sears anymore and don't get me started on K-mart. lol
Strangely enough, in Canada, Sears has a good reputation for customer service. I keep reading your horror stories, and wonder if the local management is different?
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I HATE SEARS with a burning passion. 3 separate times, my bf and I tried to purchase things in the tool department- AT THE ACTUAL STORE, where the items WERE ON THE SHELF and we picked them up off the shelves- and were told we could not purchase the items. First time, they weren't supposed to be selling the item (white spray paint primer.) 2nd time, the item had been recalled (cordless drill.) 3rd time, the item had been placed on the shelf by mistake and wasn't supposed to be out. (Some type of ratchet thing.) Sears and Sears.com = FAIL.