Sears Vent

[bluehende]

Just have to vent a little about todays trip to sears. It probably doesn't help that I am not a big sears fan. My wife and I had been to the eye doctors and needed new glasses. My wife had heard they have good prices at sears optical so we decided to check them out. Our normal place is just a few doors away. After checking the price at our normal shop we went into sears. Their best price was double what they are selling them for next door. Same exact frames. STRIKE 1

Next we had seen a lot of racks with a big 75% off sign. Upon closer examination the sign read

up to 75% off

My wife and I had split up with her going to the womens section while I went to the mens section. Between us we had probably checked a hundred items. Not one was more than 50% off. STRIKE 2

During our sojourn we went by the two doors. At one door I am accosted ( I believe this is the correct term with no exageration) by a women selling any home improvement. First it was siding then she went on a whole list of home repairs asking if I needed them while following me around the store. I finally asked her if she would get in my back seat if I went to my car or could I get away from her that way. I should tell you I'm a smart a**. So you guessed it I go by the second entrance to the store and guess who is there. The home improvement people. Since the store was virtually empty I couldn't blend in with the crowd. She made a beeline for me starting with the same script word for word. That brought out the saracasm in me. I look at her with all seriousness and tell her if she asks me about one more home improvement project I will run screaming from this store. Now all I want to do is get my wife and run screaming from this store. Now you guessed it. I actually have to leave the store by the exit guarded by the first saleswoman. As I am leaving her posse (there were actually 3 at each door) starts to come over to me. So I start the script to my wife (whom I might say is looking to hide due to my antics) and play both parts of the impending conversation. I almost cann't hold it in when I hear her say to her associates "HOW RUDE".

STRIKE 3 And I'm outta here.

Now for the final question...Lets take a poll to see when the next time I will be in a Sears?

 

[pjrose]

How awful! I would have gone straight to the manager's office. It would have been interesting to see if the annoying home improvement person followed you there.

I went once (and only once) to Sears' optical department. I had a discount coupon from the newspaper in hand. I also noticed lots of signs with various special sales. The salesperson seemed more interested in her nails than anything else, but I went ahead and tried some frames. I picked some potential frames, and asked the person to price them. She came up with something higher than the sale price that was right above the rack with those frames. When I commented, she said she was giving me the coupon price. Well duh...can't we assume I want the least expensive price, whether it's today's sale, coupon, anything else?

 

[Lawlar]

Cramer and Sears

Remember when Cramer was telling viewers that Sears was going to be the next Warren Buffett stock? He kept telling everyone to buy at least one share.

The Sears here in Santa Barbara is really trashy, even though it is in a nice location.

 

[tlwmkw]

Can't be any worse than Wal-Mart. Always too crowded and disorganized- can never find anything and the only people to ask look at you as if you are from another planet. We have had some truly horrific experiences there and don't go any more. It's not worth saving a few cents.

 

[BSQ]

Kinda how I feel about Macy's.

 

[Kona Lovers]

Here, when we walk through Sears and Macy's (both in the same mall), there are so few people I honestly wonder why they're still open in our city. We haven't purchased anything from Sears in so long, I can't remember when we did. The only thing we buy at Macy's is off the substantial percentage-off racks.

Marty

 

[teachingmyown]

I like Sears. Always have. I shop there often enough that if they were to fold I'd be unhappy but not often enough to keep them from folding based on my purchases. Like everywhere else I shop, I find incredibly good prices there -- sometimes -- and not so great prices other times.

I've never had a complaint about their customer service, everything I've ever purchased from them has shown great quality, plus they employ really nice Tuggers (like Shaggy!). That, combined with what Snopes confirms as a great policy when it comes to their treatment of their military employees all work together to keep me returning.

It's too bad you had an unpleasant experience. I'm glad you found a safe place to "vent" and I hope you understand why I felt a similar need to balance the issue.

 

[pjrose]

I like Sears. Always have. I shop there often enough that if they were to fold I'd be unhappy but not often enough to keep them from folding based on my purchases. Like everywhere else I shop, I find incredibly good prices there -- sometimes -- and not so great prices other times.

I've never had a complaint about their customer service, everything I've ever purchased from them has shown great quality, plus they employ really nice Tuggers (like Shaggy!).

I DO like their appliances - everything we have is Kenmore, and it's all lasted for many trouble-free years more than the average life for the particular appliance.

Perhaps it's the apathy of many employees (there and elsewhere) that's the problem.

 

[nightnurse613]

My husband buys Craftsmen tools and I like their Kenmore appliances however, we had a real bad spat with them over a dishwasher rack which they wouldn't replace under a maintenance agreement. The tines started rusting and breaking off and they insisted that the replacement was cosmetic so, we don't shop there enough anymore for them to survive on our business. My husband said it best when he said that when Sears bought KMart he thought KMart would get better not that Sears would get worse!

 

[laura1957]

We have a "locally owned and operated" Sears about 1/4 mile from my house, and a Sears within a mall an hour's drive away. Since the "local" Sears does NOT have to follow the same rules we always drive up to the mall. Very happy with the mall Sears in both price and customer service. Not all all happy with the local. They do not have the same return or service policies as the company owned stores, and many people I know have been burned by them - I don't expect them around much longer.

 

[DaveNV]

I DO like their appliances - everything we have is Kenmore, and it's all lasted for many trouble-free years more than the average life for the particular appliance.

I used to sell major appliances at Sears, during a brief period of "what the heck was I thinking?" in my younger days. I've forgotten most everything I learned, except that Kenmore appliances are made by other companies specifically for Sears. As I recall things at the time, washers, dryers, dishwashers, freezers, and refrigerators were all made by Whirlpool. Stoves were made by Hotpoint or Westinghouse. Microwaves were made by Kitchenaid or Amana. It's been enough years that things may have changed, but it explains why you can usually interchange parts made by those companies to repair your Kenmore appliances. And it may be why things tend to last a long time.

As to the original poster being assaulted by salespeople, commission sales at Sears are hard driven by management, and the salesperson never, EVER has sales high enough to get management off their back. That was one of the main reasons I left there - I couldn't satisfy the demand of the management team, despite setting sales records in my department. That doesn't excuse the rude treatment OP received, but it may explain why it was such a hassle.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, how many stores have you been to where you can never FIND a salesperson? That's one of my personal pet peeves about many retail stores these days. I'd rather have to redirect the attention of an aggressive salesperson, than wear myself out trying to locate a salesperson in the first place. This is especially annoying at places like Home Depot or Lowe's, where I expect to find knowledgable salespeople. Seems I rarely get both.

Dave

 

[Kay H]

I have not bought a sears appliance in many years. I had no problem with their appliances but had many problems with their repair service. Saved myself an ulcer by switching where I buy my appliances/

 

[AwayWeGo]

Sears Fixa-Fixa-Fixa.

I had no problem with their appliances but had many problems with their repair service.

Some years ago, a neighbor lady's garbage disposer conked out. She fiddled with it herself, but couldn't get it going. She called Sears service.

The service guy scolded her a bit for trying to fix the disposer herself, then declared the disposer dead. "Motor is burned out," he said.

So our neighbor bought a G.E. disposer & got a family member with know-how to install the new disposer.

When our neighbor told that story to The Chief Of Staff, The Chief Of Staff said, "If you still have the old disposer, let me see if its motor is really burned out."

The Chief Of Staff brought the old disposer home, put it all back together, & got me to connect it to a power cord. When she plugged in the cord, the "defunct" disposer started running. To the neighbor lady, The Chief Of Staff said, "Whatever was wrong with it, it's not a burned out motor. See?" she said as she plugged it in again & it started running again.

That caused the neighbor lady to get seriously grumped off at Sears appliance service. She phoned Sears, told the story, & demanded sears pay for the G.E. disposer that she bought only because the Sears guy said the motor was burned out on the old Sears disposer.

Sears did not pay for the G.E. disposer, nor for installation of the G.E. disposer. But Sears did refund full payment fort the service call by the guy who declared the old Sears disposer motor burned out. And while on the phone with the complaining neighbor lady, the person from Sears said, "And would your friend who got your old disposer running again like to have a job working for us?"

However that may be, we like Sears appliances OK & have had generally good experiences with them. Our newish Sears dishwasher is head & shoulders better than our old Kitchen Aid dishwasher.

We've stayed in various nice timeshare resorts where the kitchens & in-suite laundries are Kenmore-equipped.

We like Sears appliances so well, in fact, that our preference for those spills over to the appliance companies who actually manufacture the appliances carrying the Sears & Kenmore brand. For washers & dryers, for example, we're just as happy with Whirlpool & Roper & Estate & now Maytag & Admiral & Kitchen Aid as we are with the genuine Sears Kenmore models, of which the others are clones inside the plastic & sheet metal. Shux, even the repair parts are interchangeable.

Sears was -- still is for all I know -- a significant minority stockholder in Whirlpool. That doesn't keep Sears from selling G.E. clones, etc., in various appliance lines, depending on what contract terms are favorable at the time. So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​