On Black Friday, Sears offered free installation on select Kenmore dishwashers in the form of a rebate coupon. The coupon is pretty simple to understand as far as these things go–buy one of the listed models, and Sears will pay for the installation. According to William, however, the listed model that he wanted remained out of stock only for the duration of the coupon. When he asked Sears to honor it the next day, they agreed to–but then after he bought the dishwasher they told him he had broken a nonexistent rule and therefore had voided the coupon. [More]
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Whoops! Sears Isn't Offering Too-Good-To-Be-True TV Deal
By 11.26.09
Sears stuck its drumstick in its mouth by apparently sending out an email advertising a ludicrously amazing Black Friday deal: a 54-inch 1080p HDTV for $399.99. Chris forwarded us this message from Sears in which the company backs away from the deal and offers a boring one in its place. [More]
Customer Finds Sears' Free Delivery Isn't So Free
By 11.23.09
Intrigued by a free delivery deal, Danielle ordered a dishwasher from Sears, but the retailer only reimbursed her $75 of the $81.19 fee.
Top 10 Crappiest CEOs (According To Their Employees)
By 10.27.09
Glassdoor released its report of the 50 lowest-rated CEOs as determined by employee reviews on its site. I scractched out all the companies you don’t care about and ended up with this list of the 10 Crappiest CEOs (of consumer-facing compaines) (according to their employees)…
You Will Not Escape Toys R Us This Christmas
By 9.15.09
One good thing about the bad economy: There are plenty of empty storefronts in malls across the country, and the owners are more than happy to rent them to short-term tenants during peak seasons. And, this year, you can add Toys R Us to the usual gang of Halloween and Christmas stores that pop up suddenly in your local Simon, and disappear in the night a few weeks later. Jeffrey and his posse are expected to open 80 temporary stores next month, along with new toy sections in 260 Babies R Us shops.
Another Sears.com Security Hole Discovered
By 9.2.09
That Sears website exploit we posted about a couple of weeks ago was funny, mainly because it seemed more embarrassing for Sears than a true security risk. However, an independent security researcher had also discovered a more significant issue with the site—it allowed for an unlimited number of gift card verification attempts via an external script, so a criminal could use the site as a brute force method to identify valid gift cards for Sears and Kmart.
Sears Caught Selling "Grills to Cook Babies" Thanks To Poorly Built Website
By 8.21.09
Yesterday a reader sent us a pretty funny screen capture of a Sears product page with a suspicious category description (see above). By the time we got around to checking it out, Sears had corrected the error. It turns out, however, that the real problem was the Sears website was built in a way that lets anyone mess with the category descriptions.
Update: Sears Says 'We Got No Mosquitos'
By 8.12.09
Sears says there’s no Mosquito device at any of their locations. The person who picked up the phone at the Sears our reader complained about said there’s no high-pitched whining or buzz noises going on by the entrances or inside, intentional or otherwise. She had read the buzz about the complaint “on Twitter” and sent several “young associates” to check it out and they found nothing out of the ordinary, besides, of course, the plastic humanoids frozen for all eternity, forced to display an ever-changing array of affordable and sensible garments. A commenter says he thinks the real culprit is a cheapo CRT monitor:
Updated: Customer Thinks Sears Blasts High-Pitched "Mosquito" To Ward Off Teens In Store
By 8.12.09
UPDATE: We called the Sears in question and they say there’s no high-pitched ringing going on at this store. They didn’t install any Mosquito devices and they aren’t having any malfunctions right now that would cause such a ringing. The woman who picked up in women’s apparel said that in response to what was being said on Twitter, they even sent out some young associates to check out all the entrances and they didn’t hear anything.
Sears Finally Delivers Air Conditioner, Follows With Barrage Of Phone Calls
By 8.7.09
Remember Eric, Fleur, and their epic air conditioner ordeal? When we last spoke to them, they were AC-less, hot, cranky, and reaching out to the Internets for help. Now they have their air conditioners, but only after a stunning show of disorganized solicitousness on the part of Sears.
Sears Won't Deliver Air Conditioner Until Customer Pays Fee Sears Forgot To Charge
By 7.24.09
Eric wrote to us this week with a tale of such epic dysfunction while trying to purchase air conditioners from Sears that there’s not much we can add to it. Inside: Imaginary deliveries, super-secret New York City surcharges, and the hazards of daring to order anything over the phone.
Craftsman Doesn't Have The Ability To Cancel A Duplicate Order
By 7.23.09
Reader C.W. is wondering why Craftsman (which is part of Sears) doesn’t have the ability to cancel a duplicate order. Especially since there appears to be a “cancel” button on the website.
Sears Customer Service Runaround Results In New Sander
By 7.13.09
Can we tag a story “above and beyond” if the customer service cycle is so screwed up that it eventually works out in the customer’s favor? When jpodbuild tried to get his Craftsman sander repaired or replaced, he couldn’t get anyone on the phone who could actually help him—eventually he would end up back at the first number he’d called. He decided to show up in person and let the store manager handle the phone calls. New sander!
Sears: Lose Your Job, Keep Your Purchase, Forget The Debt
By 6.29.09
Acknowledging that skittish consumers are still unwilling to buy big-ticket items, Sears tomorrow plans to unveil a bold new guarantee: if you lose your job after charging a purchase worth $399 or more to your Sears card, the retailer will credit 1/12th of the purchase price to your account for each month you are unemployed. If you stay jobless for one year, the debt is entirely forgiven, and the appliance is yours to keep.
Sears Settles With FTC Over Spyware Charge
By 6.5.09
In 2007 and 2008, Sears invited select customers to join the exclusive “My SHC Community,” which involved installing an app that would monitor online browsing in exchange for $10. The app was called spyware by researchers and the FTC, because the data it collected on customers included “details from their online shopping, bank statements, drug-prescription records, video rentals, library-borrowing histories, even the names and addresses of their e-mail correspondents,” as well as “data about the users’ computers, printers, and other devices.”
Maytag Refers You To Sears Repair, Then Claims Sears Repair Isn't Authorized
By 6.4.09
Consumer affairs columnist (and my former colleague) Dan Higgins stumbled upon a well-guarded secret—the real reason the Maytag repairman has nothing to do. It isn’t because the appliances are so reliable. No, apparently it’s because Maytag dispatches Sears repairmen to make warranty repairs, then refuses to reimburse customers because Sears isn’t an authorized repair provider. At least that’s what happened to this nice elderly lady.
Buy American? Sure, If You Can Afford It
By 5.27.09
Is it possible today to buy U.S.-made goods in mainstream, reasonably-priced stores? The answer, ABC’s John Donvan learned while reporting a “Nightline” story to be broadcast tonight, is a rather emphatic “no” when it comes to clothing, and otherwise “maybe.”
Sears Pays $10 In Coupons For Your Email Address
By 5.19.09
Max wants to know why he hasn’t received the $10 gift certificate that the cashier at Sears promised him for turning over an email address to receive marketing messages. We contacted Sears and found out what’s actually going on.
