A reason to support Sears..

[Junkman]

Ponder this about Sears.......

Amazing when you think of how long the war has lasted and they haven't withdrawn from their commitment.

Could we each buy at least one thing at Sears this year?

How does Sears treat its employees who are called up for military duty? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up.

Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years.

I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution. I suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves.

Pass it on...

Decided to check this before I sent it forward. So I sent the following e-mail to the Sears Customer Service Department:

I received this e-mail and I would like to know if it is true. If it is, the Internet may have just become one very good source of advertisement for your company. I know I would go out of my way to buy products from Sears instead of another store for a like item, even if it's cheaper at that store.

This is their answer to my e-mail:

Dear Customer:

Thank you for contacting Sears. The information is factual. We appreciate your positive feedback.

Sears regards service to our country as one of greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they bear at this time.

Bill Thorn
Sears Customer Care

1-800-349-4358 1-800-349-4358 1-800-349-4358 1-800-349-4358 Please pass this on to all your friends.

Sears needs to be recognized for this outstanding contribution and we need to show them as Americans, we do appreciate what they are doing for our military!

Verified by http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp

 

[Printer Mike]

I have heard this before. Good point!

 

[blue dog]

Thank you Junkman!

 

[arizonaadam]

All Sears needs to do to get my business is offer american made tools and decent customer service. They have failed so poorly on the second point that I don't even want to walk in a store. Glad they treat service members properly, though.

 

[SnowBlaZeR2]

I have always bought my tools at Sears/Craftsman when available. It's good to know they do that.

 

[SnowBlaZeR2]

All Sears needs to do to get my business is offer american made tools and decent customer service. They have failed so poorly on the second point that I don't even want to walk in a store. Glad they treat service members properly, though.

I would suggest you contact some one about that. Every Sears I've been in has had good enough customer service, most great. Not really the place for your personal complaints about your store.

 

[Blue Gator Six]

That is good to know. I like thier products, but not all thier prices. This does help me want to buy there more.

 

[little d]

Thank you junk man, it gives me at least a little faith in our society.

 

[Rixter58]

Thanks for this post. Good to see positive items once in awhile.

 

[jpoe]

I will buy some tools just for that.

 

[fflintstone]

Sadly, due to Chinese tools, I will be shopping there less and less. I used to have pride in Craftsman hand tools.

 

[dankicksass]

Sears isn't as bad as Walmart in my book, but it's close. Outside tools, I don't go there. Inside tools, their customer service is awful and the quality is becoming polarizingly inconsistent. Their websites are unusable, their coupons don't work and their shipping is the worst on this side of the planet I've ever come across. But hey, they're good to their full-time employees so I guess that's nice. I appreciate the troops, what they do for this country is unmatched by their compensation; what the company does for the very few soldiers whom received benefits before deployment is good, but how many people will that bring through the door? Ultimately the company is driven by profit; the people who own the four little letters SHLD demand more of it every quarter.

EDIT: FWIW, I supported Sears tonight. Bought some shop accessories I wanted and some shiny rocks for an old lady.

 

[Skin]

i think the sears/kmart customer service is awesome but thats me. I've had at least half a dozen phone conversations over the last few months and each time have had a very friendly rep [based in the US as well]. Same with email. Infact i dont think they've ever said "no" to one of my requests. Theres some good guys that are in forums i can contact directly as well that will help out if something is strange, like not getting credited for a rebate or what have you.

never had a problem with their coupons either. site could be better but they are trying to improve it. My biggest beef is the default search allowing for far too many things to come up under a vague search phrase.

shipping has likewise been fantastic. Lately i've been getting stuff overpackaged. Like a box of wrenches in another much larger box with tons of packing peanuts.

if they just keep their tool contracts fulfilled with USA stuff....

 

[gatewaysysop]

Sears isn't as bad as Walmart in my book, but it's close. Outside tools, I don't go there. Inside tools, their customer service is awful and the quality is becoming polarizingly inconsistent. Their websites are unusable, their coupons don't work and their shipping is the worst on this side of the planet I've ever come across.

This x2.

I'm glad that what little shopping I do there in some way supports some fraction of those serving our country and I don't begrudge them that. Still, with as much stuff is going Chinese, I'm hard pressed to shop there even if I want to. I blew about $150 on sockets I'd been missing, to flesh out my sets before they either change the look (again) or move production off-shore, but other than that I really have no clue what else I would want to buy there anymore.

 

[mad57]

Well i personally like sears craftsman tools, i have brought them dozens of tools back that my father had bought when he was young and they replaced them no questions asked with a brand new piece, other than the semi retired lady punching the clock at the tool desk giving me a blast about bring in too many things at once there top notch, and to hear they support our troops the way they do even better.

 

[abrahamfh]

I will buy some tools just for that.

I will do the same, in regards to customer service, no tool that I have ever purchased from sears has ever failed.

Maybe I am not using them as I should , but I have never had to find out what it would be like to return or exchange something.

 

[kywildcat]

I did my part on Saturday......got a nice 14 drawer tool chest on sale. It won't be until today or tomorrow, but I can't wait to start transfering tools!!

 

[NUTTSGT]

While I applaud Sears for supporting the troops, I hate their website and the fact that so many tools are made overseas.

I truly believe the latter is due to being purchased by Kmart.

 

[SuperSocket]

I buy most of my tools from there. I'll try and avoid "made in china" as much as possible but in the end of the day, pretty much everything is made there

 

[Garagedoorsdaventry]

My local store supplies alot of hand made tools at great quality for my garage work, I'm quite lucky actually as not many of these stores exsist anymore

 

[TheGrooveking]

Thanks for the info, this improved my support of Sears by 1,000%.

TheGrooveking

 

[GeorgeH]

I buy most of my tools from there. I'll try and avoid "made in china" as much as possible but in the end of the day, pretty much everything is made there

I always found it funny that "we" gripe about our tools from China but some one is buying them just like "we" continue to support China by buying just about everything else that is Chineese made without complaint.
I also try to avoid anything not American made but it is impossible now days.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Sears's website is pretty darn good, the parts lookup for appliances, air compressors, mowers, whatever, is awesome. The one thing I DON'T like about the web site is that when you go to look for an item, lets say "multi-meters" you get not only what Sears sells, but stuff that other companies sell that are marketed thru Sears. They are trying to be like Amazon, they fulfill their product orders, and pass the orders for other items on to the actual seller to fulfill. If I wanted to buy a multi-meter from Joe' Electronics, well, I'd go to Joe's Electronics dot com and buy it.

Thats probably my one complaint with the web site.

Store service is dependent on the area in which it is located. If in a good area, a decent neighborhood, people with more money, and more savvy about their world in general, the store is more top notch. If the store is located in an area where the customers are more likely to be lower income, less educated, the "rougher" neighborhoods, then the store tends to be the same way. This is true of Wal-mart also. I shop at a Wal-Mart in one of the most affluent counties in Georgia, with a huge percentage of well educated, intelligent residents, and this Wal-Mart is in a planned city, and the difference between it and another one I also shop at about fifteen miles away (both being equi-distance from my house) is like night and day.

Charles

 

[20V'er]

Most of the stuff in my toolbox has Craftsman stamped on it. But after the last few more complicatied items I bought there have failed or broken, I made a self imposed new rule.

Buy nothing from Sears that has more than 2-3 parts.

Socket: One part
Wrench: One part
Screwdriver: Two parts
Ratchets: No new ones and actually replaced most of the common ones with used Snap On stuff
Power tools: Not a freaking chance

My rule seems to be working for me.

 

[Falcon67]

I buy a lot of Craftsman stuff and it works well for me. I get good service at the local mall store. The guy I usually talk in the tool department to is named Tim , so it must be all right.

 

[bazzateer]

to flesh out my sets before they ...... change the look (again) (

You buy sockets based on how they look?

 

[bill9860]

Wonderful what Sears i doing for the called up reservists. I had not heard that.

Sorry to hear that Craftsman is going Chinese. My luck with Craftsman tools has been good. Never had to return one (Have not had to buy any for a long while either except for a new cordless drill). Still have a 20 year old corded drill and circular saw that still answers the call. Have yet to have a wrench, screw driver ratchet or socket fail. Customer service for me has been great but isn't tool related. Bought some shelving where a bracket was cut wrong and some hanging wall cabinets where a piece was missing. They just opened another box, gave me the parts I needed and I was off. I did have the receipts as they were recent purchases.

 

[brveagle]

I go to sears whenever I can for any bits and pieces that I need.

Nice link. Thanks for posting.

 

[denis4x4]

I worked in the Sears warehouse in 1959 and after doing my active duty reservist gig, they put me in the hardware department at $2.00 per hour and a 1 percent sales commission. I can match every negative post about Craftsman tools and pass along stories about customers that abused the guarantees and bitched about the prices back then. Anybody remember the Dunlap series of tools that Sears sold to meet the imported tool prices? First time I was called on the carpet by management was after I told a customer that was exchanging an abused 3/4" ratchet that we had a nice line of hammers that would be more effective than his ratchet! I admit to having an attitude towards those customers that abused the Craftsman warranty.

 

[Concrete B]

Cool, good post. I quite enjoy sears and never have trouble with service. I shop there first when I need a tool, even if it's not their produce (say...dewalt). If they maintain fair pricing I'll keep going. I will also make known why I support them next time I'm there.

 

[Concrete B]

While I applaud Sears for supporting the troops, I hate their website and the fact that so many tools are made overseas.

I truly believe the latter is due to being purchased by Kmart.

I thought Sears owned Kmart. Either way, Sears is struggling, and they will do what it takes to remain viable. The story, if I remember correctly is Kmart was bankrupt and sears bought them for the value of the buildings and land. Then, real estate crashed, and they lost tons of value and money, now they are struggling to stay afloat.

 

[mpire]

Yeah lets support sears. Woo hoo. Worst customer service on the planet.

They also cancelled my fathers pension after he was retired. He only worked 36 years for Sears. He didn't earn it or anything.

Then they cancelled his health insurance. He now pays out $2000 a MONTH for health insurance. He used to pay a couple hundred.

Personally, I hope Sears and Kmart burn in hell. Bunch of greedy bastards who will **** you in the end.

 

[mpire]

They have screwed all their employees.

Its not bad employees, although everyone that seems to work there now is a complete idiot.

The corporate heads are the ones driving the company into the ground. Amazing how Sears bought a bunch of unused stores from Kmart when Kmart was in bankruptcy. Then amazingly Kmart has the cash to BUY SEARS. So now Sears Holding AKA Kmart is in charge. They fucked everyone who worked for the company and the guys at corporate got rich on that deal. Extremely dirty backroom deals going on there.

 

[texasmike74]

I will probably get blasted on this because I am a newb but, while I applaud Sears for offering the benifits to people that get called up to active duty, what about people that serve but don't work for Sears. Last time I checked, Sears only offers a military discount on their Portrait Studio....

 

[MyKingdom]

I will do the same, in regards to customer service, no tool that I have ever purchased from sears has ever failed.

Maybe I am not using them as I should , but I have never had to find out what it would be like to return or exchange something.

I'll second that.

Nice to hear what SEARS is doing for are Men and Women that are serving and protecting our Country, for us to be able to do what we do.

Thank You

 

[bw77]

I have no problem with Sears customer service in regard to refunds and returns at the store.

But I do have a problem with the quality of customer service via phone or email. I find they give me wrong information about half the time. Current issue - I bought a 10 piece wrench set from sears.com, it's missing one wrench. Due to mis-handling of the request by sears.com, it took me 10 days to get the missing wrench on it's way to me. Last person I spoke to at sears.com gave me the 800 number for Apex/Danaher, I called and they said they would send me the missing wrench in 5-10 business days.

I get the feeling that Sears customer service has high turnover or poor training or both.

 

[BUSHMAN2]

Folks be careful of offshore tools and equipment.

If your life depends on it not breaking, do not buy cheap no-name imports from China...

I know of two people who both lost their front teeth when chain/tow strap broke under load.

First lad was standing in truck engine compartment when lifting chain snapped, breaking his jaw. Read really fine print on store bins when buying chain as it will clearly state not to be used for lifting for a reason.

Second unlucky lad was pulling a stuck vehicle from a snow bank when nylon tow strap snapped, whacking him hard enough to knock out his two bottom teeth ($2,000 dental bill).

Same goes for cheap abrasive wheels which will break in two, sending grinder or cut saw bouncing across shop floor, or in my case ripping/tearing down my left leg.

 

[Groovy]

Good post good to hear some + things. The Sears store near me I go to soo much that all know me by first name and when I buy a gaggle of stuff and swipe my credit card the lights dim. I was in there at 4 AM on black Friday my first time succumbing to that. I bought a slew of stuff including a couple dog bone wrenches, standard and metric, dewalt saw blades, a snapper snow blower pic attached, a Krieg pocket hole jig, a mini wet vac and a replacement hose set for my 15 year old 16 gal wet vac on and on until my wife tackled me and wrestled away my wallet and helped me fill my pick em up. She told me I was never allowed to go Black Friday shopping again...My plan worked PERFECTLLY.

My Dad always used craftsman stuff that is good enough for me however I realize it is not the same anymore and I do buy a lot of Snap on stuff and stick with the Pro series craftsman stuff. I also buy Swiss made wood working tools and the folks at Rockler love me too. I will not stop buying at Sears anytime soon.

 

[matty d]

I love Sears. I have good memories browsing the tools with my Dad. I was just there after Black Friday with him. It's one of the 'things we do'.

I am a homeowner and like to putter around the house and garden. Sears is good for that. Im not rebuilding and engine or making a new addition to the house etc.

Craftsman products arent that bad! Of course we wish everything was made in the U.S., but thats like asking to raise the dead right now at least.

I like C3 tools. I have the trimmer and blower. I will buy the inflator too. Good stuff.

If you want stuff real cheap, look at searsoutlet.com. If you dont mind driving the next town over, you can get stuff at a great bargain.

Sears is not a perfect website or store system. You have to know when to use the coupons and know when the deals are going to happen. Joining Craftsman Club or Sears Rewards may help. You get some money (gift card) after you accumulate points. I found out that if you want to save money, you CAN but you have to be real proactive and patient about it.

As far as taking military personnel into consideration, Sears has 10% off days for service people, police, fire, military, and even hospital workers. This happens every several weeks, not just around Veterans Day! I am a hospital worker and have saved at least $20 this way.


Go Sears!

 

[arizonaadam]

Thanks for your opinion. Where would I be without thread police?

EDIT: A bunch of others have offered their opinions about Sears. You better get back over to this thread and set 'em straight.

I would suggest you contact some one about that. Every Sears I've been in has had good enough customer service, most great. Not really the place for your personal complaints about your store.