Sears Employees Demonstrate Shocking Levels Of Competence

We frequently mock Sears as incompetent and secretly a vast anti-capitalist prank, but we mock because we love. Kinda. We hate seeing such a venerable brand that a significant portion of the population still relies on and trusts. Well, that a significant portion of the population used to rely on and trust. That’s why Michael’s story stands out: it’s a tale of a Sears employee demonstrating competence and compassion. This customer service representative has probably already been fired.

I have a success story with Sears that I have to share – I’ve both
enjoyed reading about–and personally taken part in–bashing Sears for
its mistakes in the past. Last week, my Craftsman lawnmower’s wheel
adjustment handle broke – about 5-6 weeks after I ordered the mower
from Sears.com. I called the 1-800 number and spoke with a very
helpful person who told me that they could get me a new mower shipped
to my house, and that I could simply return the broken one to the
store. I expected problems, so I told her that I ordered it more than
30 days before, and asked whether that would be a problem for the
return. She said it is 30 days from when I received it–a date neither
of us could figure out.

In response, she simply noted in the computer that I had until 10/10
to return the mower to a store (since I would be out of town until the
8th). I asked her what should I do if the store gives me a problem –
she said that I should then call her and they would send me a return
address label. When I noted that I don’t have the box anymore, she
fixed that also by saying they would have someone pick it up instead.
Finally, she ordered me a new mower, with a 10% discount from my
already sale-reduced price for my inconvenience, and had it shipped
immediately. She explained that I would get the credit for the first
one when I returned it to the store.

Not wanting to worry about it later, I ran over the store that
afternoon and returned the old mower – it took 5 minutes. Piece of
cake. Better yet, my new mower got to my house in 3 days and was
waiting for me when I got back from my trip. All in all an amazing
experience with Sears – problem-solving, anticipating issues and
fixing them in advance and a hassle-free return.

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