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Oh, by the way, KamberEdelson, the law firm that filed the class action against Sears over its website exposing customer’s purchase histories? They’re the same folks who successfully sued Sony BMG for selling all those DRM-riddled music CDs. Sears could be in trouble. [Washington Post]
Reuters reports a class-action lawsuit has been filed against Sears for its managemyhome.com site which allowed you to type in anyone’s name and address or phone number and get a record of everything they ever bought at Sears. The suit alleges that in doing so, Sears engaged in “unfair or deceptive” practices. Not too long after our post went up on Friday reporting on the matter, the purchase history feature was turned off. Sears said it had “turned off the ability to view a customer’s purchase history on Manage My Home until we can implement a validation process that will restrict access by unauthorized third parties.” Yes, a validation process, that would be good to have.
Want to see all the major appliances and repair services that your friends and neighbors… (and anyone else who you can look up in the phone book) have ever purchased at Sears?
Not content with having some of retail’s worst customer service, Sears has decided to wring out more dollars from its customers by jumping into the spyware game. Sears recently sent out an email inviting customers to join “My SHC Community” where they will have a chance to earn fabulous prizes and journal their online shopping experience. All you gotta do is provide your address and install a little ComScore program that monitors your every single step on the internet, from Sears to Myspace to your online banking, to your email headers.
I’m not actually concerned with receiving an extension on my warranty as I just purchased another 5 year warranty from Sears on my fridge. Which brings me to my point…
After WCVB in Boston did an investigation into Sears’ awful, awful customer service record when it comes to installation and repair of appliances (a category in which they used to excel), Sears has now apologized to its Boston customers.
As with many of the real life stories on your site, ours is filled with astonishment, confusion and anger. It began in August of this year and continues until today.
On Sept. 1 2006, I purchased a Kenmore HE2 Washer and Dryer from a Sears store located in Richmond, VA. These were full-sized units with the dryer stacked on top, and it was installed inside a utility closet in my kitchen by Sears technicians. I paid an additional $233 for a 5-year warranty for the washing machine.
As I will document below, Sears failed to live up to its warranty on multiple occasions, and because of this negligence my home has experienced considerable water damage.
Best Buy, Sears, and Circuit City all promise fast and easy in-store pickup for online orders and are willing to pay if they fail to deliver. Mouseprint scoured the fine print of each guarantee in search of loopholes.
Karen, a self-described, “Stinky Mom,” writes:
I have had nothing but trouble w/ my high efficiency washer – my house STINKS, my clothes STINK, my towels STINK and now my FAMILY STINKS!!! I think as a Mom you’ve had enough when the kids at school laugh at your son because his jeans STINK!!!! I’ve had Sears out a number of times (will get my service) records – and even had the senior customer service person who deals with this type of washer say “I’m surprised they haven’t recalled the washers, we get this complaint all the time”!!
The fact that Eddie Lampert isn’t even a CEO didn’t stop Herb Greenberg at Marketwatch from slapping the coveted “Worst CEO of the Year” award on him. Eddie beat out such unemployed luminaries as Chuck “Whoops” Prince, formerly of Citigroup, and Ed “I Hate My Customers” Zander, formerly of Motorola.
GE is recalling 92,000 microwave/oven combos because “door switch in the microwave oven can overheat and ignite plastic components in the control area, posing a fire hazard to consumers.” The CPSC knows of 35 fires caused by the overheating door switch, one of which set fire to the adjacent kitchen cabinets. Whoops.
According to a poll cited by the Chicago Sun-Times, Sears is the #2 holiday shopping destination this year (after Walmart.) So why can’t they make any money?
The New York Times has an article that attempts to diagnose what’s wrong with Sears, and it mainly focuses on their (ill-advised?) cost cutting strategy.
The deep discounts some retailers offered on Black Friday are biting them in the ass – they were too popular and can’t fulfill all the orders. Some are trying to scramble to offer alternative deals, but since they can’t compare, they smell like bait and switch… and now that it’s been almost a week, bait left over from last Friday sure don’t smell too pretty. Here’s what reader Ian has to say about Sears failure to sell him a TV at advertised price…
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Seems like we’re not the only ones noticing that Sears customer service can be as effective as a pile of pulsating wood pulp. WCVB5 in Boston runs a segment on the retailer’s faded glory and current woes at 11 tonight. [WCVB]
Reader Chris writes the CEO of Sears to let him know why he’ll never step foot inside Sears ever again.
Dear Mr. Lewis,
Part of 
