Fox Twin Cities says:

They asked the clerk if they should they come back the next day, he said no, they made the purchase, and headed for the exit.

They looked around and saw no one. Anthony, already in pain, went upstairs looking for the clerk.

They tried calling out from a store phone, while Anthony tried Sears on his cell phone, but then the lights went out.

Finally, they reached Maplewood police...

Eventually police arrived and sorted everything out.

Police checked the Brown family's IDs and receipts, and the Sears representative eventually let them out.

Hey, it's too bad Anthony was scheduled to have hip surgery the next morning — it might have been fun to spend the night inside a Sears.

Customers Accidentally Locked in Maplewood Sears After Hours [MyFox Twin Cities]

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Researched by Alex Jarvis
Last updated: 11/07/2008

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.

(Photo: robinsonsmay)

We have a brand new KitchenAid Refrigerator beep beep beep that has been beeping since it was first plugged in. beep beep beep A call to Sears, resulted in a 3rd party repair man beep beep beep showing up. He, over the course of 3+ weeks replaced every computer board in the unit and this beep beep beep still did not solve the problem. Following their torturous policies meant a replacement could not be ordered until he had been out to repair the unit at least 3 times. beep beep beep The new unit is on order and won’t be shipped until October 30th. At that point we will have been listening to the beep beep beep ing for well over 2 months. KitchenAid says they are only human and they make mistakes but there is nothing more they can do. beep beep beep If they are acknowledging that they are human and make mistakes; shouldn’t they keep a few units around as replacements for the ones that are faulty? beep beep beep The beep sounds just like our security alarm. Not a pleasant way to live. I don’t recommend beep beep beep KitchenAid or their customer service to anyone. Well, maybe the Defense Department would like to use our refrigerator beep beep beep as an instrument of torture, but, wait, that is illegal. beep beep beep.

Maybe a smoke detector is stuck in the fridge and the batteries are running low?

We wouldn't expect anything from Sears, but KitchenAid is known for their excellent customer service. Call their executive office and explain that constant beeping drives people to lose their minds and their brand loyalty. If they don't have a replacement unit on hand, considering the suffering you've clearly experienced, it's not unreasonable to request a free upgrade to something—anything—that is in stock.

(Photo: Meggito)

All tires bear a Department of Transportation number hidden on the inner wheel wall. At the end of the number is a four-digit sequence that shows the week and year the tire was made. Tires with the notation 3502 were made in the 35th week of 2002. If you only see three digits, get new tires immediately; your tires are from the 90's and are way past their effective lifespan.

Listen as the mustachioed John Stossel explains:

Check Your Tires [The Kim Komando Show]
Aged Tires: A Driving Hazard? [YouTube]
(Photo: zorilla)

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• Sears: Free Masterlock with printable coupon
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• Amazon: Bill Cosby Himself (Comedy Album) - MP3 Download for $1.99

Aaron writes:

Dear Consumerist,
I recently purchased a Craftsman snow thrower from sears.com during an online 12-hour 10% off sale. I selected the store pickup option as the website stated that my local Waterford, CT Sears had this model in stock. Well, later in the morning the local department clerk called to inform me that the only available unit of that model snow thrower was a floor model. The clerk told me that this was last years model that had been reduced and he could possibly get me a bigger discount if I agreed to continue with the purchase & take the floor model. Now the clerk tries to apply a larger discount on top of the ten percent I've already received but can't, the computer is telling him that I've already reached my limit on discounts on this sale. Ok, I've received the 10% from the 12-hour sale then another $5 discount for signing up for sears.com emails. Fine, I decide to take the unit anyway as long as the unit is complete, manual, keys, etc...

Cut to later the next morning, Waterford, CT Sears. During my lunch break I leave the office to drive to the store to pick up the machine. I first stop by the Lawn & Garden dept to confirm that the snow thrower does in fact carry all the relevant warranties and is not an 'as-is' purchase. The clerk, different from the one I talked with the previous day, confirmed that the unit is not an 'as-is' sale and the unit carries all associated warranties. Fine, I head up to merchandise pickup. He further confirms that the unit was assembled two weeks ago and everything is upstairs waiting for pickup.

Upstairs, merchandise pickup:
Two associates very promptly bring out the machine, just the machine, and no user manual. I tell the associates that I will not accept the unit without all relevant accessories. They go back into their area and leave me for about ten minutes. This time one associate returns with user manual but he tells me that he can’t find the key to start the machine. I am left waiting for another ten minutes, at least. He comes back with a plan that Ray from Lawn & Garden will “mail me the key” when he gets back from his day off. I tell the associate that this is unacceptable. I will not accept the unit unless it is complete. Take it off the truck and do what you will with it, just refund my money. The associate tells me that it will get “complicated” if I refuse the unit and he heads back to further search for the key; further leaving me hanging for another ten minutes and making me late for an appointment. After another ten minutes he returns with the key from another model Craftsman snow thrower and tells me that the keys are basically universal. He leaves and I take the key & go to the truck to try it in my model. It doesn’t fit.

As it turns out there were two other merchandise pick up associates walking by as I was on the truck trying out the key. They walk over ask if it’s working. I explain that it isn’t. They both look at the machine & notice that the unit is missing a critical piece of equipment that fits onto the electric start socket. The machine will not start with out this piece. I thank them & tell them to remove the snow thrower from my truck. The associate processes the order as a return & I leave extremely unsatisfied.

Now, there's a sign hanging up at merchandise pickup that states if the associates don't have your order out in five minutes then you're entitled to a $5 coupon good on a future purchase. I take this into account when I email sears.com about my experience. The following day the operation manager from Waterford Sears contacts me and apologizes for my inconvenience. She offers me a new in box unit (apparently they found one sitting around) for $499, discounting it $90. I tell her this is untrue, as I paid $526. She puts me on hold & comes back with her final offer of $489. So it's not $90 off, it's $37 off.

$37 off, for my trouble. Thirty-seven dollars. I was lied to by the lawn & garden clerk, waited at merchandise pickup for upwards of forty minutes, drove forty five minutes round trip to borrow a pickup truck to haul the snow thrower, took over an hour off of work. Oh, and my eight month pregnant wife was with me the whole time waiting. I decline her offer & email national customer service to have a regional manager contact me. Nothing, not even a reply.

Thanks for nothing. So long Sears.

(Photo: Getty)

So what should you do? CR says:

Our advice:

• When washing, use warm or hot water unless a load requires cold.
• Wipe the door gasket and glass dry once you’re done washing.
• Clean the detergent dispenser and any attachments once or twice a month.
• Run a dehumidifier if your laundry room is damp.

If you see mold buildup in a front-loading washer, call the manufacturer for service and save all paperwork related to the purchase and service of your machine. In the Maytag Neptune and Whirlpool Calypso settlements, plaintiffs eligible for restitution needed to document multiple authorized repair visits made during the warranty period and soon after the warranty expired.

In response to the many reader letters we've received, we're asking owners of front-loaders whether repairs they’ve had done to their washers relate to mold alone. We’ll report on the findings from the Annual Questionnaire, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, in future stories.

Does your front loading washer get moldy?

Mold can be a problem for some front-loading washers [Consumer Reports]

He just laughed when I went through my story of frustration with the Sears service personnel and told me he had had 75 similar calls in the last 2 days. His bottom line: Sears is not sending him product and he has nothing to deliver.

Sandra writes:

I’m wondering if you’ve had other tales about the woeful lack of service from Sears and their so-called “Delivery Specialists?” I’ve been attempting to get concrete information about the delivery of 6 kitchen appliances (purchased and ordered for delivery last month). Delivery was confirmed twice by phone for yesterday. My contractor and plumber were standing by to install and do the necessary connections. But then, a Sears call-center rep informed the contractor that nothing would be coming at 1:00 PM, and gave no reason for the cancellation and no date for rescheduling. My contractor alerted me and I started the farcical pursuit of information at that point, totally consuming the rest of my work day. Telephone conversations with the Enfield, CT Sears acting store manager, appliance department sales reps and 3 different “delivery specialists” segued into the last futile hour working with a sales rep at the Enfield store where the purchase had been made. Even his valiant attempts to get info through his channels were all to no avail. We gave up after nearly 90 minutes of total aggravation at the store and left at 6:30 PM.

Starting again this morning, I obtained the number of the warehouse from which the appliances were to be delivered yesterday and finally got through to one of the managers at 7:20 AM. He just laughed when I went through my story of frustration with the Sears service personnel and told me he had had 75 similar calls in the last 2 days. His bottom line: Sears is not sending him product and he has nothing to deliver. Meanwhile, I paid a contractor and plumber to stand by for nothing. And the family get-together I had planned for this weekend will not take place since I have no kitchen appliances and no way to prepare the meals I had planned.

My question: do you know of any way to get straight answers and real solutions out of Sears for delivery problems?

Although the sales personnel in the appliance department at the Enfield, CT Sears store were extremely professional and helpful, they have no tools at their disposal to assist a customer having this kind of issue. I will never, ever, buy another Sears product. My contractor and his plumber agree with me and have said they will advise their clients not to purchase Sears products if they require delivery or service. This is all the more frustrating because I intentionally patronized Sears (and not Home Depot, Lowe’s or Best Buy) because I thought I could count on good service from point of purchase through delivery. You can be sure this extremely negative experience will be shared with friends and colleagues. And the most egregious point of all is I’m sure the customer service management team at Sears could care less.

Straight answers? Real solutions? We can do many things, but squeezing service out of Sears isn't on the list. We could tell you to launch an EECB or file a chargeback, but for all the good it would do, you might as well fly a kite with "HELP!" emblazoned on the bottom.

Sorry Sandra, you've been Seared.

(Photo: jritch77)

Got this in the mail yesterday, and the terms really caught my eye!

Oh, Sears. You're so funny.

Claudia tried to get Sears/Citibank to correct their report. 25 calls, 11 days, and 3 faxes that never happened later, Claudia stumbled across our post, "Contact Citibank CEO William Rhodes."

She got in touch with a nice lady named Diana and in less than one business day, Claudia's dad was no longer dead. "Thank you so much for such useful information," she writes. "I feel like a big load has been lifted off my shoulders."

Claudia's father could have also disputed the information with the credit bureaus, but that would have taken several months to resolve. The loan couldn't wait. Luckily, trusty ol' executive customer service came to the rescue. Remember it and use it when necessary.

The article says,

“It was like somebody decided ‘we’re going to send stuff to her, and she’ll pay for it,” [her son] Teddy Vail said.

Over five years, anywhere from 6 to 10 different agencies have asked his mother to pay for the unsolicited datebook, Teddy Vail said.

Vail said he must have explained the situation to collection agencies 30 times.

“They listen patiently. Then they say, ‘Well, can we work something out here to get this paid for?’ It’s like they’re not really listening. All they want is the money.” Teddy Vail said the amount the credit card company claims is owed has risen to about $130.

He paid $200 in fees just to file the lawsuit, he said.

“Yes, she could have paid for it a long time ago. But that’s not my ma. I know it sounds frivolous, but you’d have to be here, getting phone call after phone call after phone call, for five years. There’s a principal involved —- feeling like we’re being extorted and strong armed by these collection agencies,” he said.

Most people would just roll over and pay the money, but that's probably what Sears is banking on. Being harassed by debt collectors for five years is no way to live, especially for something you never ordered. We hope Margaret's lawsuit sends a message to shady companies that make a practice of pilfering our nickels and dimes.

Mansfield 80-year-old fights Sears with lawsuit over $6 datebook [Mansfield News Journal] (Thanks to Rachel!)

• 
  
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• Record High Personal Savings Rate Imperils Credit Card Industry Profits
• Person With Consumer Protection Background To Run CPSC
• Best Buy Geek Squad Replaces Your Current Porn With New, Better Porn
• Company Responds To Website's Fact-Checking Inquiry With Speed And Accuracy
• Do American Airlines' New Complimentary Hot Fudge Sundaes Come With Too Many Sprinkles?
• Wal-Mart Receipt Checker Shrugs Shoulders, Says, Yeah, We Know It's Total Bullshit Anyway
• CSRS Complain About Hold Times To Speak With Busy Customers
• Newspaper Wire Service Quotes Consumer News Blog By Name
• Finally Accepting Reality, Microsoft Debuts "Refurbished XBOX 360 Of The Month Club"
• Sprint To Pay Canceling Customers $50 "Sorry We Disappointed You" Refund
• "Help! I Signed Up For FiOS And Verizon Sent Me Too Many Free LCD TVs!"
• Payday Lenders Close Due To Lack Of Interest

(Photo: El Grande Mono )

My sister-in-law Judy has had an account with Sears since 1964 when she got married. She has been flawless about paying her Sears bill (along with all her other bills. That's just how she is.) Her husband passed away about ten years ago. Judy dutifully called Sears and every other company she had an account with to inform them of his death and tell them that she might be a few days late with her payment that month because of the funeral, etc. They were all understanding and told her to send in her payment when she could.

OK, fast forward to this past weekend. Judy wanted to buy a saw to take care of some tree branches which fell down during the hurricane force winds we had here on the Oregon coast. She found one for $142. on Sears' website. Her Sears card, which she hadn't used in about a year, didn't have an expiration date on it, so she wasn't sure it was still good.

She called Sears' customer service number. Everything was going well until the CSR asked Judy what name the account was in. Judy explained that it was her late husband, to which the CSR said, "Well, I'm sorry, Ma'am, but in that case I'm going to have to close your account." Judy was speechless but that was that; the account was closed on the spot and Judy was informed that she could call a department which /perhaps/ could help her... but not until Monday, as that department isn't open on the weekend.

Now keep in mind that Judy has never not paid her Sears bill AND that she has over the past few years, long after her husband passed away, bought a washer, a drier and a refrigerator from Sears, using the same account with no problem whatsoever.

I'm sure that Sears thinks it has some logical reason for treating a customer of more than four decades like this, but it makes no sense to me, especially since Judy made large purchases after her husband's death. Sears not only lost the $142. purchase, but has also lost a customer permanently, as she tells me she's livid at them for treating her as if she was trying to cheat them somehow. She found a similar chainsaw on walmart.com and won't be going back to Sears...ever.

This is what happens when you have ridiculous rules which treat your loyal customers like shit.

Judy's brother-in-law adds: "No wonder Sears is Where America Used To Shop."

(Photo: Nelson Minar)

We purchased 2 46' Magnavox hdtv's on Dec 9th, 2007. At the time of purchase, Sears was offering a 0% interest for 24 months.

We have been being billed for interest for the past few months and I have been unable to resolve this.

The department manager "max" said it was an error entering the promotion in and he would take care of it. Nothing was done however. I talked with the executive customer support people this morning, so we'll see.

Any suggestions? I am a teacher, and my wife stays at home with our kids. These tv's were Christmas presents for our parents, and I cannot afford the interest that is being unfairly charged.

Ordinarily, we'd suggest that you try to escalate your complaint with an EECB (executive email carpet bomb), but since it's Sears we're talking about here there's probably no point. We suggest that you gather all of your paperwork together and file a small claims lawsuit against Sears for the interest that you've been wrongly charged. We believe that this will get the fastest response. It sounds scary, but suing big corporations in small claims court can be fun and easy.

If small claims court isn't your thing, or you feel it isn't worth the (modest) court costs, you can also report them to the BBB and your state's attorney general. Sometimes that does get Sears' attention. Not often, but sometimes.

Anyone else have any suggestions? We'd love to hear about tactics that work with Sears, if you know any.

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 )

My experience working at the big K is over! Thank god. I can say, what everybody says about working there is true. It is a horrible place to work.

First the enviroment. It sucks. It's dirty. I NEVER worked where I was hired for (Customer Service). I instead worked "MISC-UTILITY", also known as runner, or "the Coach's Bitch", where I was asked to do illegal things, such as:

* Cleaning crap (literally crap) off the walls without gloves or other safety and health gear
* Working Freight Elevators (that broke down frequently)
* Handling spent and leaking batteries without proper safety equipment
* Running compactors and balers
* Working with chemicals that could probably sterilize a cat

The management? Don't get me started. We call them coaches because "we're a team!" Ha! The bureaucracy is bull. They care more about the bottom line than the safety of their employees. Case in point: I had a severe asthma attack while cleaning Infants/Softlines. I went to the coach to tell them that I was not able to complete my job. She called me a liar. She then sent me out to go collect shopping carts...hello?!

When I came in today, I was confronted my the head coach, who told me that I had signed that I didn't have a medical condition that would affect my job. I assured I didn't, as long as I was working customer service, or working in a section, and that if I knew I would be working the stockroom and pushing carts, I would have never applied.

The workers. Most of them are drunk half of the time. The other half are just jerks. They do nothing, and hurt the bottom line more than anything, and they are gods to the coaches, meanwhile I work my ass off and get barked at for not being good enough and not "showing enough initiative in my work."

Furthermore, after I had put in my 2 weeks notice, they refused to schedule me. Now, there are 2 ways to have off of work, "NO AV" or not active or "OFF" requested time off. On my normal working days, it said "OFF." Great, made them look like gods. It makes me look like crap. To corporate it looks like I put in my 2 weeks and then took vacation, and it makes the store look generous enough to give it to me.

I said goodbye to Sears Holdings for good tonight. When I left, the coach on duty asked me if I was ever going to visit again. I think you can all infer my answer to that.

It looks like you learned an important lesson at an early age, Patrick. Kmart sucks.

This past weekend, I purchased a $1300 dishwasher from Sears.. They delivered it Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after order. Great! However the dishwasher that they delivered was defective, I immediately called the store where I purchased it, and spoke with the Sales lady.. She told me that Sears has outsourced their customer service to a company called OneSource and that I that she couldn't help me..

I called OneSource and was put on hold for over 3 hours. After talking with 11 different people (yes 11!) I was told that they couldnt help me and that I would have to arrange a pickup through the store to get the exchange. I called the store back and talked to store manager Olivia, she told me that I would have to talk to the sales girl, talked to her, she said she couldn't help me and that I would have to go back to OneSource.. I spent 2.5 hours in the store talking with various managers, no resolve and no assistance whatsoever.

I left the store upset and bewildered as to why I was told that they couldn't arrange a pickup. Mind you that Sears came and took away my old PERFECTLY FUNCTIONING dishwasher, as the new dishwasher was an upgrade for the remodel of my kitchen.

I called Sears Executive customer service who listened to what I had to say, and then transferred me to delivery department, delivery department told me that it would be until July 1st before they could get an exchange out here. In the meantime, I can not wash dishes except in my bathtub upstairs because the hot water had to be turned off to the kitchen sink and that the garbage disposal leaks water without the dishwasher lines connected to it.

I told delivery that their answer was completely unacceptable, and that I wanted some sort of resolution other than "I'm sorry" ... the answer I got was to be transferred BACK to OneSource... OneSource told me that she was "so sorry for the inconvenience" and that she would have to create a case for me and that the best they could do was offer me a pitiful $75 gift card...

$75 doesn't pay for my time to HAND WASH my families dishes in the fricking BATHTUB for the rest of the month until which time as sears can get off their lazy butt and bring me a non defective dishwasher... They also told me throughout all of this that they were unable to bring back my old dishwasher because they destroy them moments after getting back to their delivery facility!

Even executive customer service has let me down on this one! Can Consumerist help!?

That sounds like a tough situation, Sean. We're becoming convinced that Sears is nothing more than some phony storefront facades with a few long distance phone lines connected overseas that are in cahoots with some shady warehouses that deal in wonky merchandise. We don't have the highest hopes, but you could try launching an executive email carpet bomb which could perhaps get the attention of an employee who is competent and cares about your problem. Since you have already spoken to Executive Customer Service, you may as well try their CEO at alewis1@searshc.com. Otherwise, we suggest taking that $75 gift card and buying some paper plates and plasticware.

(Photo: jritch77)

About two weeks ago I called around my neighborhood in Brooklyn looking for new tires. I called Sears Auto, and since they had the lowest price on what they called a "good, reliable" tire, I drove to the store in Elmhurst, Queens, nervously, with a bum tire.

After waiting to speak with a customer representative, I told him that someone had put a screw in the sidewall of my tire, that I knew it was unstable to drive on, and that I wanted to buy four new tires. I told the rep what price I was looking to spend, but I was sad to see on his computer screen I was pretty much getting the poorest quality but cheapest tires in the place. After walking around a bit, I noticed that there were all sorts of sales going on, and after I asked if it was possible to get a better set for the same price, he looked, and I could.

Two hours later I received a call that they couldn't get one of the bolts off of my tire. Again, after some discussion, I told them that I would rather just have the one dangerous tire replaced, and that I would have another dealer take off the "renegade bolt-" Sears Auto didn't want to be responsible, which I guess I can understand. Although I never got a call to let me know if that one tire was changed, I wandered back to the shop after an hour and saw my car was ready. However, after I paid $99 for a new tire, I noticed, in the pouring rain, that it was much bigger than my other tires. I heard the mechanics in the garage saying something to the extent of "just drive off," and pointing at me. When I saw a nearby mechanic, I grabbed him in the rain, and he agreed that they had installed the wrong size tire.

Although they never apologized, they said that they would "take care of the problem," and thirty minutes later, when I was in the Sears Auto waiting area, the customer rep came to me and told me that they didn't have my size in stock (what a surprise), but they could put a different speed-rated tire than the ones I had already on the car. When I told him that the thought of different-rated tires on my car made me uncomfortable, he told me that he did have a Bridgestone, but that now I would have to pay $115. I told him that they should eat the $16 for putting the wrong tire on my car, and I begrudgingly told him to put the Bridgestone on.

When they were finished, the rep asked for my credit card to bill me an additional $40- bringing the total to $139. Turns out the $115 he quoted me didn't include service. What made my jaw drop was that when I protested the higher price, rather than apologize or bargain with me or do anything to remedy the situation, the manager said, "If he doesn't want to pay it, put the old (dangerous) tire back on." All I said was that I thought I was being taken advantage of. There was literally no discussion between anyone at Sears and I. They put my old, broken tire back on, and they handed my keys back to me with an attitude.

I wouldn't believe it if it didn't happen to me. Just to give your readers a head up that big auto chains can seriously mess up. I've read putting the wrong size tire on a car is a serious violation.

Best,

R

First order of business, R, is to make sure you didn't get charged at all by Sears Auto. You left with your original damaged tire, so no money for them. Second order of business is to learn how to change a tire to the spare. WikiHow has an easy to read article here. It'll suck to change a tire in the rain, but less than it sucks to waste three hours of your life having Sears Auto screw around and screw up.

(photo: madmolecule)

From the AP:

Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail consulting firm Davidowitz & Associates, said he thinks Lampert will need to dramatically realign business units — and even consider shutting down the discount Kmart brand — if the retailer has any hope of remaining viable to the American consumer.

"It's going to get a lot worse," he said. "Given these results, I think Lampert really has to now face up to major, major store closings."

Sears is in the midst of a high-stakes restructuring aimed at reconnecting with customers and reinvigorating atrophied same-store sales, which have fallen for the past nine consecutive quarters. The company is also searching for a new CEO.

The company said its troubles were due to the soaring cost of gas and food leaving less money for would-be customers to spend at Sears and Kmart. It seems that these customers are also defecting to warehouse stores and buying in bulk: Costco isn't having any problems — their profits are up 32%.

Sears Holdings swings to 1Q loss on slumping sales [AP]

(Photo: Joseph Hoetzl )

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.

The Top 10 Most Admired Companies Based On Quality of Products Or Services:

1 Anheuser-Busch
2 Nordstrom
3 Medco Health Solutions
4 John Deere
5 BMW
6* United Parcel Service
6* Adobe Systems
8 Fortune Brands
9 Procter & Gamble
10 Herman Miller

The Top 10 Least Admired Companies Based On Quality of Products Or Services:

1 Molson Coors Brewing
2 Amtrak
3 Dollar General
4 US Airways Group
5 Family Dollar Stores
6 Constellation Brands (Arbor Mist wine)
7 WellCare Health Plans
8 Amerco (parent company of U-Haul)
9 Northwest Airlines
10 Sears Holdings

What companies do you admire?

Best & Worst: Quality of Products And Services [Fortune]
(Photo: *nomad* )

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

This advertisement was in the Sunday paper in Northern New Jersey. I was in sore need of some garage storage and so was happy to see that Sears was offering all garage storage at 50% off. After heading to the Sears at Paramus Park Mall and picking the units we wanted (none of which were closeout) we were told that only the cabinet pictured was ringing up at 50% off and that all other units (under the same brand-name) were on sale for 20%. We showed the ad to our salesman, who read it and understood it to mean that all garage storage was half off.

He called the manager to confirm. The manager, Edna, said that the ad clearly indicated that only the pictured cabinet was half off and that we would have to pay more for the other units. I explained to Edna that without the benefit of her explanation a person at home would understand the ad to mean that all storage was half off and accused Sears of deliberately making the ad ambiguous to draw in unwitting customers. She conceded that it was reasonable for me to understand the ad to mean all garage storage was half off but refused to honor it.

I believe that the ad is incredibly misleading but wanted you guys to take a look and see if you agree. The ad is good until through Tuesday. Just wanted to warn others out there not to fall for the same trap.

Your site does consumers a great service. Keep on fighting the good fight.

Best,

Nazar

We have scrutinized the entire advertisement page and we can find nothing that would indicate that the sale applies to pictured items only. Unless the word "all" has some alternate definition, we are afraid you are the victim of false advertising. We can't say that Sears did this intentionally but at the very least, the manager made a mistake. We recommend filing a complaint with the attorney general's office in New Jersey. Here you can find the form needed to file the complaint. Maybe Sears will soon realize why ALL customers are shopping elsewhere.

"I've been reading the Consumerist for a long time and I absolutely love it. I'd like to provide some insight about my job, as a manager at Kmart, and what I've learned about the company since the merger."

1. The cashiers and service desk people are not properly trained.
The turnover in this area is astronomical, and we usually stick them out there with little to no training. So when they don't know about prices, sales, special offers, or even how to deactivate EAS tags, it's not their fault; they probably don't know any better.

2. We have a very small budget.
This is why you can never find anyone in a Kmart. The few employees you may encounter are running around, trying to put out product, marking things down, and resetting counters. Customer service should be the most important thing, but it rarely is.

3. The mystery shop is king.
Our bonuses, raises, and pretty much everything else are dependent on our mystery shop scores, not how many complaints we get or how hard we work.

4. No one gets their performance review anymore.
The store manager is, in so many words, instructed to not rate people too highly because they would get raises, and the company can't afford that. So the manager rates them a 2 out of 5, skips the review part of the process, and the employee gets nothing. It's not about their actual performance. It's all about saving money.

5. We still don't know what to do with your stimulus check.
We got an email around the time of the press release, and a few flyers, but we would probably give you a blank stare if you came in with your check and wanted your 10% extra. A black hole exists between corporate and the front line managers, through which little information passes.

6. When you call the 800 number, you're talking to an outsourced call center employee.
They email your complaint to the store manager, who probably already talked to you before you left the store. You will never talk to a district manager or someone in corporate. So you might as well take the 10% discount we give you in the store for complaining, because you won't get anywhere with the number.

7. We hate Sears just as much as you do.
When we have to call them, they are just as rude to us as they are to you. There is no corporate culture, no meeting of the minds...and we can't use our employee discount at 90% of their stores.

8. Sears credit cards are HORRIBLE.
Corporate pushes them on us and sends us nasty emails when we don't get so many applications per customer. We are forced to ask you to fill one out. Upper management and the cashier receive a (very) small commission on every approved application, but the only reason we ask is because we have to.

9. The stores are dirty because they don't give us money
...to replace fixtures, the leaking ceiling, the horrible bathrooms, or even decent cleaning supplies. We scrub shelfs with window cleaner because we aren't allowed to order new fixtures or take anything off the shelf that might actually clean anything. That costs money, you see.

10. Corporate just restructured the Loss Prevention position.
Most of our security personnel, who had been with the company for years, were terminated. This is a huge liability problem for our employees and our customers. Expect higher prices in the future as people steal us blind.

Hope this helps,

A Very Disgruntled Manager

(Photo: Getty)

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.

Best Buy's boldest claim is that the FCC "has not claimed any express authorization from Congress to enact the Labeling Rule, and none exist." In other words, they claim the FCC doesn't have the authority to force retailers to label all analog TVs with warnings that they will need a digital converter after to receive over-the-air broadcasts after February 17th, 2009.

Additionally, the company claims that its violations were accidents and not "willful" as described by the FCC, and that the FCC's report contained errors, such as listing a model that doesn't exist.

"Best Buy: FCC has no power to fine us over analog TVs" [Ars Technica] (Thanks to forgottenpassword!)

RELATED
"Sears, Best Buy, Wal-Mart And Others Fined For Not Warning Consumers About Analog Obsolescence"
Best Buy's Response [Ars Technica]
(Photo: Getty Images)

Sears, Robert E. Lee Sued For Dressing Room Peep Show [Style Weekly]

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.

Nick writes:

My mother has always been a Sears customer. She regularly shops there at least once a week. Recently she purchased a beautiful winter coat on clearance, at a price of $35, marked down from $150. She was so excited to have found the perfect coat to wear next winter.

A week later she goes in to see the same coat, different size at $15. So my mother naturally wanted to get some kind of reimbursement. She brings in the never worn coat and the original receipt. She explained to the associate that she wanted to return and repurchase it. After the return is completed, the associate explains that my mother "could not repurchase the coat because of store policies."

That obviously made no sense to my mother because somebody else was going to buy it at the same lower price. My mother explained her story once more, then asked for the manager. The manager also said my mother couldn't repurchase it. My mother was not angry, just confused. She watched as another associate took the coat away from the counter and bring it into the back.

My mother then asked to just cancel the return, so she could just keep the coat, all she wanted was a coat for next winter. Working in retail, I know how simple the "post void" would have been. The manager explained the coat had to go to the "return processing center," which made no sense to my mother who saw a dress on the floor she returned the day before. My mother at that point was mad. She just wanted the coat!

She approached several associates on the floor asking them where the "return processing center" was, nobody knew.

Finally she asked where the returns go, the answer from several associates, "right back to the floor."

Do sears employees find pleasure in torturing customer?

If we were you, we'd try to kick this complaint upstairs to the bigwigs, although we have to warn you that Sears rarely responds. Here's some contact information you might want to try.

(Photo:nelsonminar)

Name: Christina | Address: [redacted] | City: Tulsa > >| State: OK | Zip: [redacted] | Country: USA | Day Phone: [redacted] | > >Evening Phone: [redacted] | Email: [redacted]

I am disgusted about the service that I have received from your workers. I know that sears doesn't care about its customers nor does it stand behind its worthless products that it sells. I will not waste more of my time explaining this to you for the 100th time, you should be able to look at my account and clearly see that your stupidity and lack of customer service is my problem.

I have been waiting two weeks to get a water heater replaced. I was supposed to get a call yesterday and didn't. I was supposed to get it installed today and didn't. Big surprise, you don't care! I want you to reimburse for the water heater, the permit, the warranty, and to be compensated for the stress of not having hot water for three weeks while you did nothing. While no one called me, no one did anything. I will contact my lawyer, I will report you to the BBB.

You don't deserve to be in business and hopefully someone will put an end to sears soon. DO NOT CALL ME!!! I refuse to get stressed out listening to your scripted, we're sorry, we're going to do everything we can to help you out because your important. If I was, I would have hot water by now. You may email your response, if you can not honor my request you can send this to the corporate office and have the president of sears look at it. if he wont, then we will settle this in court. I fully expect for you to do the right thing for a change and get my water heater out hear within 24 hours and mail my check for my trouble of buying from sears to begin with which I WILL NEVER DO AGAIN!

Where was this water heater purchased? Was this through your local Sears or over the water heater sales line? If this was purchased through the store, we at Sears.com would not have access to your order and would need to direct you to the store.

If this was purchased through the sales line, what phone number was used and what name would it be under? Did you get a reference number? We would need some kind of information from the order to get the order to pull up. I have even tried calling the installation department as well as the service line and your name or phone numbers did not bring up any results.

I personally have not seen this order and would like the opportunity to try and get this resolved for you. I also understand that you have probably heard that before and do not feel like hearing it again, but I would like to try to help you with this. Even if the order was placed through the store, if you call us, we could even help by doing a conference call to the store and to the installation department and try to figure out what went so horribly wrong and see what can be done to get your water heater installed.

Our number here at the water heater sales line is 800-877-6420. My name is Grant and I am here most evenings, minus Sunday and Wednesday. If you would like to give me a call, my extension is 10093. If I am on a call, you can leave your name and number with whoever you talk to and I can call you back.

At this point and after reading your e-mail, I do not blame you for being angry. If you feel like you need to pursue this further legally, I would need to refer you to the legal department at 847-286-8371.

I know you do not want more apologies, but I do feel sorry that this has happened and do regret the inconvenience that this particular situation

has caused you.

If you feel so inclined to ask for my assistance, please give me a call, or e-mail me back, I have marked your e-mail so I can take ownership of

any further correspondence and will do what I can for you.

Look for Great Ideas throughout the store and find Sears exclusive innovations from great brands like Sony, Kenmore, NordicTrack, Craftsman and Reebok.

Grant B. Sears.com Customer Care

You can not find my information because I have called you all a million times and told you my new number but nobody seems to want to write it down.

The old number is [redacted] The new number is [redacted] The cell number is [redacted]

This is suppose to be a replacement because the other piece of crap water heater I got from you guys broke AGAIN! For God's sake just look at your own website, nobody has anything good to say about your water heaters. Its all people who are mad because their water heater is doing the same thing mine has. They should last more than a year.

I don't know why you cant look me up by anything but my number, you had my name and address what kind of shitty customer service is this?

If you can give what I have asked for by all means, otherwise, you will need to forward this on to your corporate office because I will not be swept under the carpet. I will not be ignored, every day I go without hot water is one more day that I take the time to spread the word about how sears has treated me.

Sears replied:

Dear Ms. [redacted]:

Thank you for visiting Sears.com, we appreciate hearing from you.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide the information you requested via e-mail. We encourage you to contact our Installation department by telephone, at (800)859-6000.

Thank you for choosing Sears for your home service needs.

Sincerely,

Larry D Sears Holdings Corporation

Christina replied:

Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:28:21 -0500

I got a call saying that you can not find anyone to install my water heater which is suppose to be covered under my warranty that I paid for. This is unacceptable! I will not pay someone to install your piece of shit water heater and only be reimbursed $219. I have called 5 companies in the Tulsa area and the quotes they have given me have ranged from $500-$700 depending on what all they have to do. You are not going to get away with this.

I want to be refunded to total price of the water heater plus tax, I want to be refunded for all of my warranties, and I want the cost of installation. I will go to another company. I refuse to have anything to do with you ever again.

You can not do this to me, I have the warranty which guarantees you to replace my water heater and installation, not a portion of the installation.

And I don't want any stupid vouchers for sears!

Christina

Before you put on your lawyer pants, you might want to try Sears' public relations number: 847-286-8371.