The rent-to-own business is an extremely profitable one: who wouldn’t want to collect more than three times the list price of, say, a computer? So it’s interesting but not surprising that troubled retailer Sears is now entering the lease-to-own market in a partnership with the existing rent-to-own company WhyNotLeaseIt. [More]
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Hope You Didn’t Want Any Of Those Mother’s Day Deals Sears Offered, Then Took Away
By 5.9.13
Easy come, easy go is especially easy in the times we live in where an email can be sent with a click and just as easily, hastily retracted. Sears apparently sent out a bunch of emails to its Shop Your Way rewards members with an “extra special” VIP Mother’s Day set of deals, and shortly after, sent another saying some people weren’t ever supposed to get that email, or those deals. [More]
Sears Sales Associate Vents About All The Problems He Has With Store
By 4.29.13
As regular readers of Consumerist know, we get a lot of complaints about Sears, covering everything from delivery and installation issues, to service and maintenance, to its rewards programs. Today, we hear from a Sears sales associate who details all the many ways in which he thinks the once-great retailer is going wrong. [More]
14 Months After Delivery, Sears Still Won’t Actually Install Dishwasher
By 4.18.13 — Updated: 4.29.13
Lots of people happily hand-wash their dishes because they don’t want a dishwasher. That’s not the case for one California man, who has washed his dishes by hand for more than a year even though he wants and can totally afford a dishwasher. In fact, he, um, had a dishwasher the whole time. It’s just that when he bought it from Sears, they sort of half-installed it and wandered off, and he couldn’t get anyone at Sears to help him. [More]
The Smartphone Killed The Department Store Portrait: Photo Company Closing All Locations
By 4.5.13
Your mother would yell at you to pull a comb through your tangled hair, tuck in your brother’s shirt for the third time and your dad would awkwardly stand behind everyone with his hand on your mom’s shoulder. It was family portrait time, and for many Americans, it happened inside a department store. But one company that operates thousands of locations in mostly Sears and Walmart stores announced it’s shuttering its shutters for good. [More]
You Really Don’t Need To Pay $70 For LPG Conversion Kit Delivery From Sears (Or Anyone)
By 4.2.13
Matthew bought a gas dryer, but needed one that runs on liquid propane. He only discovered this after installation. No big deal: you can get a little tiny converter, which fits in a small padded envelope. Or would, if Sears were willing to mail it. Which they are not. [More]
Worst Company In America Round 2: Walmart Vs. Sears
March 28, 2013
Let the next round begin! Now that these two retailers have a taste for blood, it’s time to sic them against each other in WCIA Ball Pit of Doom and Generalized Anxiety, But Mostly Doom! [More]
Meet Your Worst Company In America Not-So-Sweet 16!
March 27, 2013
Last week, 32 terrible titans of industry stepped on to the blood-stained mat of WCIA Death-and-Dismemberment Arena, but only 16 remain in this bestial battle royale to take home the treasured Golden Poo. [More]
Worst Company In America Round 1: Sears Vs. JCPenney
March 22, 2013
To mark the halfway point in the first round of WCIA, we bring you this fight between two department stores that are wildly adored… in an alternate universe where it’s still 1985. [More]
Sears Takes Issue With Best Buy’s Same-Day In-Store Pickup Claim
By 3.11.13
When we recently spoke with a Best Buy executive about what could set it apart from its competitors, he talked about the ability to order online and pick up in-store the same day, saying “You can’t do that from anybody else.” The folks at Sears would like to disagree. [More]
Need To Change The Sears Order You Placed 15 Minutes Ago? Tough
By 3.5.13 — Updated: 3.6.13
Do you think there’s even a remote chance that you might need to change your Sears order after the fact? Then you should go to a physical store and place your order there. Heather was told that she needed to perform that bit of time travel if she wants to cancel her mattress order before two weeks have passed. She noticed a problem fifteen minutes after the order went through, but because the order had been placed, she can’t do a darn thing until after the proposed delivery date, March 15th. [More]
Sears Saves The Day When Self-Cleaning Oven Fails And Whirlpool Shrugs
By 2.20.13
A few weeks ago, we shared some photos that reader Susan sent us of her new Kitchenaid oven. Its new-fangled self-cleaning system was pretty terrible at a key function: actually self-cleaning. “So… every time you want to clean your cool new oven, you’ll be scrubbing it yourself!” she wrote. That’s not a very good feature. [More]
Sears/Kmart Shop Your Way Rewards Program Not Very Rewarding
By 2.14.13
Stuey made a big purchase at Sears and ended up with a huge stack of Sears/Kmart ShopYourWay rewards points to spend. Well, that he could theoretically spend. The problem was that he couldn’t find anything he wanted that was available, didn’t come bundled with things that he didn’t want, and was eligible for purchase with rewards points. What could he do? That’s not very rewarding at all. [More]
Sears Parts Direct Has A Different Definition Of ‘Rush Delivery’ Than I Do
By 2.12.13
Mike needs a part for his home’s heating system. He lives in Georgia, so the cold weather isn’t as urgent an issue as it would be if he lived up north, but it’s still necessary. He needed rush delivery, but instead Sears didn’t even notify him when the part went on backorder. After two weeks, it finally showed up. And by “it,” we mean “the wrong part.” [More]
The Sears Coupon That’s So Restrictive, It’s Convinced Me To Shop Elsewhere
By 2.6.13
Consumerist reader Cliff recently received this coupon for $5 off any purchase of $25 or more from Sears. Seemed generous enough of the retailer. That is, until he looked at the manifold restrictions put on the offer. [More]
Sears’s Definition Of ‘In Stock’ Differs From Reality
By 1.28.13
Matt needed a new refrigerator, and he needed one quickly. Well, his tenant did, and he needed to pay for it. He saw that Sears had one available for immediate delivery, and even advertised on their site that they could help consumers out in appliance emergencies. Sweet! Only their definition of “in stock” differs from the real meaning of that term. The refrigerator isn’t in their warehouse. They can’t deliver it. They’re waiting to get more from the manufacturer, and have to leave Matt and his tenant in limbo. [More]
Former Sears Employee Attempts To Explain The Shipping Gang’s Apparent Distaste For Boxes
By 1.24.13
There are some retail processes and procedures that no matter how often we write about them, we just can’t wrap our heads around the logic behind them. If there even is any, of course. That’s why we were happy to hear again from our friend, a former Sears employee who just so happened to work in order fulfillment for the company. He wrote in to shed some light on why the company would ever ship something without a box. [More]
Sears Apparently Saving On Shipping Costs By Sending My Item Without A Box
By 1.23.13
Here at Consumerist HQ we’ve seen more than our fair share of items that have been ridiculously over-packaged, which while it’s a wasteful, silly exercise in shipping, it’s probably preferred to receiving a battered item. Consumerist reader Hui has a bone to pick with Sears’ shipping gang, as the company just can’t seem to find a simple box to send his items in. [More]
