Consumerist
wishful thinking
Posts Tagged “
Sears
”
wishful thinking
Loyalty
Sears Cancels Your Account Of 44 Years Because Your Husband Died Ten Years Ago. What?
Meet Judy, Sears' ideal customer. When Judy's husband died ten years ago, Sears, like her other creditors, assured her that she could continue using her account. Since then, Judy has used her Sears card to buy a washer, dryer, and refrigerator. Yet when Judy recently tried to buy a $142 saw, Sears insisted on immediately closing her account because it was in her late-husband's name. More »
Sears death watch
Sears Is Now Officially Too Incompetent To Even Take Your Money
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. More »
Ex-Sears CEO Aylwin Lewis has taken a position as CEO of Chicago's delicious Potbelly Sandwich Works. Reader Tim asks: "Should I be worried that he will destroy this great sandwich chain?" Hmmm. Maybe, but we think Chairman Eddie Lampert is the real source of evil at Sears. And now we're hungry. [Chicago Tribune]
kmart
Despite the common stereotype, there are some young people willing to work hard. Patrick found a job at Kmart since it is one of few stores that starts hiring at age 16. He was hired under the guise of Customer Service Representative, but Patrick soon realized he was really the "Coach's Bitch." Besides being treated as nothing more than a slaveboy, Patrick says he was instructed to do things that are illegal for minors. His letter, inside...
More »
Tale Of A 16-Year-Old Kmart Employee
Despite the common stereotype, there are some young people willing to work hard. Patrick found a job at Kmart since it is one of few stores that starts hiring at age 16. He was hired under the guise of Customer Service Representative, but Patrick soon realized he was really the "Coach's Bitch." Besides being treated as nothing more than a slaveboy, Patrick says he was instructed to do things that are illegal for minors. His letter, inside...
More »
complaints
Sears Replaces Your Dishwasher With A Defective One, Then Says "See You In July!"
As part of a full kitchen upgrade, reader Sean purchased a $1300 dishwasher from Sears. Shortly after he received the unit, he realized it was defective. Sears directed him to an outsourced service company called OneSource. During the phone call to OneSource, Sean logged over 3 hours of hold time and was bounced around to 11 different CSRs, but they did nothing to help. Eventually, he got with Sears Executive customer service who said that they couldn't replace the washer until July. Now, Sean can't even wash his dishes because his hot water isn't connected and his garbage disposal leaks water. Sean's letter, inside... More »
sears
Sears Auto Sucks As Hard As Sears Repair
While Sears Auto may not be the division of Sears that leaves you without hot water for three weeks, or refuses to refund the money on the TV they never delivered, they are the division that magnificently screws up changing a tire then tries to bill you for the labor it took them to fix their mistake. Reader R writes in to tell us when he needed to replace a damaged tire, Sears Auto had the cheapest price. After three hours and two different tires, he left Sears Auto with the damaged tire he drove in with. Sears botched the first attempt at a tire change by giving him a tire in the wrong size, then presented him with a bill for the additional labor it took them to get it right. When R balked at paying to fix their mistake, the manager on duty put the busted tire back on the car. Classy! Read his story, inside. More »
kmart death watch
Sears Loses $56 Million In The First Quarter, Experts Say Kmart May Have To Go
Bad news for Sears Holdings — the parent company of Sears and Kmart lost $56 million in the first quarter, and some experts are saying that boss Eddie Lampert may have to face up to the fact that Kmart needs to close. More »
admiration
America's Most And Least Admired Products And Services: Budweiser Is Good, Coors Is Not
Each year Fortune magazine does a survey to determine America's most admired companies. We took a look at their data and found the top 10 most admired companies for the quality of their products and services. We also found the least admired.
Oddly, beer topped each of the lists. Anheuser-Busch is the company most admired for the quality of its products, while Molson Coors is the least admired. The full lists inside.
More »
success stories
UPDATE: Sears Changes Its Mind About The Definition Of "All"
If you read our story from this morning "Sears Kicks Off Holiday Weekend With False Advertising" you should remember Nazar who couldn't get the advertised discount on his garage storage. He wrote to us with the following update:
I got in touch with Sears customer service yesterday (1-800 4 MY HOME). After 20 minutes on the phone explaining to them why the ad was misleading they agreed to provide all of the pieces I had selected at half off.
Congratulations to Nazar. It's amazing what a little escalation and tenacity can accomplish.
PREVIOUSLY: Sears Kicks Off Holiday Weekend With False Advertising
false advertising
UPDATE: Sears Changes Its Mind About The Definition Of "All"
Like many consumers, reader Nazar hoped to get in on some money saving deals over the holiday weekend. He spotted this advertisement (pictured above) in the Sunday paper for Sears, which clearly reads "ALL Garage storage on sale, 50% off - excludes closeouts." Nazar headed down to Sears and picked out a garage storage unit, (not on closeout) but at checkout the Sears manager refused to give him 50% off citing that the sale was for the pictured unit only. Nazar's letter and our advice, inside... More »
Sears Kicks Off Holiday Weekend With False Advertising
UPDATE: Sears Changes Its Mind About The Definition Of "All"Like many consumers, reader Nazar hoped to get in on some money saving deals over the holiday weekend. He spotted this advertisement (pictured above) in the Sunday paper for Sears, which clearly reads "ALL Garage storage on sale, 50% off - excludes closeouts." Nazar headed down to Sears and picked out a garage storage unit, (not on closeout) but at checkout the Sears manager refused to give him 50% off citing that the sale was for the pictured unit only. Nazar's letter and our advice, inside... More »
confessions
10 Confessions Of A Kmart Manager
Most people consider Kmart's merger with Sears the marriage from hell. It should come as no surprise that this sinking chain is leaving thousands of upset customers and employees in its wake, which perhaps explains a letter we received marked "10 Confessions" from a person identifying his/her self as a Kmart manager. The confessions, inside... More »
fines
Big Box Retailers Fight Back Against FCC's Recent Fines
Best Buy, Circuit City, and Sears are all contesting the FCC's recent fines against them for not properly following analog transition rules in their stores, reports Ars Technica. Last week, Best Buy submitted a 41-page response (PDF) that claimed among other things that the FCC has no authority to fine them. More »
disgusting
Peeping Tom Sears Manager Sued For $2.7 Million
It seems the floors aren't the only thing that's dirty inside Sears. According to Style Weekly, former Sears assistant manager, Robert E. Lee of Virginia, is being sued for $2.7 million for allegedly spying on a young girl and her mother through the ceiling tiles of a dressing room, while hiding inside of a "peeping hutch." The alleged crime occurred in March, 2006 when Lee was discovered spying from the masturbation station, strategically located above the ladies' dressing room. The young girl, whose age is described as "prepubescent," is said to have been traumatized when she suddenly noticed Lee leering from the ceiling while she and her mother were trying on bathing suits. Lee admitted his culpability. The lawsuit states, "During the search of the room, police officials recovered sexually explicit magazines and seminal fluids." Oh Sears. Before we were only ashamed of you, but now that shame has grown into disgust, with loathing not too far off in the distance.
Sears, Robert E. Lee Sued For Dressing Room Peep Show [Style Weekly]
rude
Sears Confiscates Your Coat For Attempting To Return It And Buy It Back For Less
Reader Nick's mother bought a coat that was on clearance at Sears. A week later she saw that the coat had been marked down even further, so she brought it back and asked if she could return it and then buy it again for the cheaper price.
That's where it got a little weird. Rather than just saying "no," the Sears employee processed the return, then told Nick's mother she couldn't have the coat back. Nick's mom then asked her to call the whole thing off, void the return and give her the coat. Sears refused.
More »
ignored
Warranties: "It's Been 3 Weeks. I Don't Have Hot Water, And Sears Doesn't Care"
Reader Christina has a (broken) water heater from Sears. It's covered under a warranty, but Sears isn't willing to replace it. She's been without hot water for 3 weeks and Sears just doesn't care. More »
economics
