In a perfect consumer world, perhaps brick-and-mortar stores would price-match their own websites. Perhaps front-line employees would be permitted to use their own judgment once in a while. In this perfect world, it definitely would not be cheaper and easier to purchase an item for in-store pickup on your smartphone while standing in the store. [More]
sears
CSR: Buy Some Window A/C Units From Sears While You Wait For Sears To Repair Your Central Air!
By 7.20.11
This week, the temperature in many parts of the country has been cranked up to “broil.” We all know what that means: air conditioner breakdowns on a massive scale. Veronica’s sick, elderly parents purchased their central A/C from Sears four years ago. When she called up Sears, they told her that they could send someone to look at it at the end of the week. That wasn’t acceptable to Veronica: it was 103 damn degrees out there. [More]
Sears Apologizes For $69 iPad Mistake
By 7.19.11
Sears is still stinging after a third-party seller on Sears.com stirred up a hornets’ nest of angry discount-seekers by advertising 16GB, WiFi iPad 2s for only $69. [More]
Free Shipping On Adult Novelty Fur Elephants At Sears
By 7.11.11
Tipster David notes Sears.com appears to have added some adult items to their online catalogue, resulting in some unusual search results. Is this “the softer side of Sears?” [More]
How A Sears Promotion Gobbled Up $25 Of My Money
By 7.8.11
Kenneth isn’t quite sure what to do. He bought enough men’s clothing items at Sears to trigger a deal giving him a restricted $25 gift card to Sears. Hooray! Only when he came back to return some of the items, the card’s value was deducted from his refund, forcing him to spend $25 more at Sears than he had ever planned to. [More]
Sears Keeps Pushing Back Dishwasher Delivery, Charges When You Get Sick Of It
By 7.1.11
Perhaps it was unwise of Robert to order a dishwasher from Sears and expect to eventually receive a dishwasher. But his local Sears managed to do even worse than that. After they delayed his order six times, he had enough and canceled it. So, naturally, they went right ahead and charged his Sears credit card for the much-delayed, never-delivered dishwasher. [More]
Sears Takes Four Appliances Back, Refunds You For One
By 6.10.11
By Sears standards, maybe Benjamin was lucky. More than two months ago, he bought two washers and two dryers from his local store to go inside a coset. When they didn’t fit in the appointed space, he sent them back under the rational assumption that Sears would credit him back for the purchase. This was an incorrect assumption. [More]
Even Sears Doesn't Know What It Sells Anymore
By 6.9.11
Sears might be doing an okay job with adjusting to doing business in the 21st century if they weren’t stuck with a pesky brick-and-mortar store network. Maybe. When John returned a malfunctioning dehumidifier to his local store, he wanted to exchange it for a working one. He couldn’t, though, because the item was out of stock. Logical enough: dehumidifiers are popular in the summer. Yet he was able to go home, order the item online, and pick it up at the very store he had just been told was out of the item. [More]
Have 342 People Died From Storms Lately? Sears Can Help You Clean Up!
By 5.2.11
Devastating storms have ripped across the country in the past few weeks, leaving at least 342 dead and entire blocks and houses demolished. As a home appliance retailer, what’s your first thought? That’s right, targeted upsell. Several of our readers have sent in this email they got from Sears which says “Affected by the storm? Sears can help you clean up,” and then displays the wet vacs, chainsaws and generators you can buy. The 10% off Sears water extraction service could come in handy, but the email struck some of our readers as being in poor taste. [More]
50-Year Sears Customer Vows 'Never Again'
By 4.29.11
Nicholas in California has shopped at Sears for his entire life. His parents shopped at Sears. His grandparents shopped at Sears. Now, after a recent experience, he says he won’t ever shop there again. What kind of experience would drive a customer to say that? He copied Consumerist–and his entire e-mail contacts list–on his letter to Sears. Spoiler alert: it involves incompetent customer service. [More]
Sears, This Is Why No One Likes You
By 4.27.11
In-Store pickup for online orders from Sears is such a promising concept. You order something, pick it up a short time later at your local Sears store, bring it home, and enjoy your new and properly functioning appliance, tool, or gadget. Seasoned Sears shoppers and faithful Consumerist readers know that things often don’t work that way. Today’s exhibit: David, and his fight to get Sears to sell him a functioning toaster oven. [More]
Unhappy With Sears' Service? Please Do Not Threaten To Blow Up The Store
By 4.26.11
We’ve probably all been driven to the point of anger by horrendous customer service. Some of us have probably even said things in the heat of this anger that we didn’t mean. But in a day and age when taking a photo on a plane is considered suspicious activity, you can’t just go threatening to blow up a Sears because you’re ticked off. But that’s exactly how the police ended up at the house of an 80-year-old California man over the weekend. [More]
Sears Sues Maker Of Sex-Enhancement Spray Over "DieHard" Name
By 4.14.11
For decades, Sears has been using the trademarked brand name “DieHard” on its car batteries and auto parts. Now the retail relic has filed a trademark infringement suit against a company that makes a sexual enhancement spray under the same name. [More]
Former Sears CEO's Compensation Tripled In 2010
By 4.12.11
Back in February, the Sears Holding Company named Louis J. D’Ambrosio, formerly of IBM and of Avaya, its new CEO. As the company continues to struggle for profits and relevance, the Associated Press determined that W. Bruce Johnson, interim CEO from 2008 until this year, got a huge raise in 2010, which more than tripled his pay. For what? Not improving customers’ satisfaction with Sears, if our mailbox is any indication. [More]
Sears' Inept Service Has Left Me Without Heat For Over Three Weeks
By 4.12.11
Jeff bought the boiler for his home from Sears with a Master Protection Agreement, thinking that, should the very necessary piece of hardware conk out, it would be fixed in a timely fashion. Alas, when said boiler did turn useless last month, Jeff found out the awful truth. [More]
Big Box Stores Pushing To Tax Amazon Sales Nationwide
By 3.18.11
In recent years, retailers have been successful in getting a handful of states, including Illinois and New York, to pass laws requiring Amazon.com and similar e-tailers to collect sales tax on products shipped to those states. Now, with the backing of super-sized chains, there is a full-on push to get these laws on the books in every state that collects sales tax. [More]
Day 7 With No Heat Or Hot Water: Thanks, Sears
By 3.18.11
Jim’s boiler from Sears broke, and he’s been without heat or hot water since. It’s not the middle of winter, but he lives in New England, where it still gets friggin’ wicked cold at night. How long ago did the boiler break down? It’s been more than a week. [More]
Sears Delivers New Stove, Ends Family's 6 Weeks Without Cooking
By 3.15.11
Remember Ian, whose family was stuck with a series of defective Kenmore stoves and hadn’t been able to cook at home for six weeks? He reports that Sears delivered a new stove to his house on Saturday, and this one seems to be actually functioning. So far. Hooray! [More]
