*********** a Retail Store

[KenB]

[RANT]
Sure, the economy is tough and there is lots of competition from the Internet and the likes of Wal-Mart and Harbor Freight. But, when Sears (or Lowes or Home Depot) finally go under, it will be mostly suicide. The following is a recipe for self-destruction. It may take awhile to cook, but eventually it will be done.

Retail Management – Worst Practices

- Have few or no cashiers.
- Have more staff processing returns than ringing up new sales.
- Process returns at sales registers, so new sales have to wait.
- Make cash registers difficult for customers to find.
- Require cashiers to answer incoming phone calls, so new sales have to wait.
- Ask cashiers to solicit various personal information from customers, slowing down the checkout process.

- Do not post product prices, requiring customers to seek out staff for this information.
- Make sale price calculations difficult to understand.
- Be sure widely advertised on-sale items are hard to find or not in stock.
- Always have different prices online and in the store.

- Encourage prolonged discussions among staff on sales floor about work schedules.
- Involve as many staff as possible in work schedule discussions.
- Instruct staff that taking inventory and re-stocking shelves is more important than assisting customers.
- Staff the sales floor with people who know nothing about the products on sale.


I'm sure you can think of other behavior that I have forgotten to list.
[/RANT]

Can you tell I was at Sears recently??

Ken

 

[HandyManny]

Boy oh boy!! That sounds exactly like my experience every time I enter a Sears.


On the other hand, nothing ticks me off more than walking into a small privately owned store and getting ignored, but watched very carefully and suspiciously. Then when you have a question or need help they seem not fully willing to want your business. Have had that happen when trying to support smaller shops. I'm talking maily about a certain small gunshop/indoor shooting range that existed or still exists off of Dartmouth Ave and Santa Fe St in Denver. Yeah the shop with the sign on the door saying to support the little guy, not Walmart. I'm also talking about another gunshop/copshop off of South Parker Rd that closed recently. Ma and Pa shops can compete in areas of customer service and product knowledge, but some simply just don't, and are over priced too.

If I'm going to get ignored as a customer, why pay full price for it? I can go to walmart and get greeted at the door and still get a better price. Even if only 2 out of 32 check-out registers are open at any given time.

 

[rsanter]

kill a retail store
just look at what sears is doing, that have wrote the book on it

bob

 

[Danglerb]

I think the problem at Sears is that at some level in upper management someone is trying to drive the company under. People that hate Sears for some reason, but still work there, and kind of passive aggressive work at destroying it from within.

Train new employees that poor customer service will go unnoticed, but slip up on handling a return and get raked over the coals.

 

[sammerdog]

Up here in the mid-West, we're lucky to have this thing called Menard's. Family owned competitor to HD and Lowe's. Exact opposite of everything you're describing, except the last line regarding the staff's product knowledge - a little hit and miss there, but the kids will do their best to help.

Growing chain, they're doing it right, their tool selection is a litte more entry level, but it's not painful to shop there like aSears, HD, or Lowe's.

 

[krehmkej]

While Sears continues its slide into K-Martyrdom, I have noticed the exact opposite trend at the local HD stores, where staff are available and seem anxious to actually help.

 

[Intel]

They killed the sears hardware by me so now I have a sears greatland. Was going in to pick up some tools. Nobody was around to check me out in the hardware section so I went to the register. Not bad only one person in front me.

Sears Employee : "Do you want a sears card you save 15 dollars"
Customer: "Sure sign me up"
*employee pulls out old paper form which he proceeds to fill out*
*she punches in information and then after 2 minutes it finds that he already has a sears card*
SE : " Do you want to put this on your existing sears card"
Customer "I dont have it on me"
SE : "We can just search for it"

Then they finally opened up another register for me to get through.. 10-15 minutes of my life gone due to them trying to get another credit card. Would think if they were smart they wouldn't want to sell them.

Random Discover card fact. Did you know you can still pay your discover card off at a sears service desk even though they haven't been owned by sears in years. One of Discover's most expensive services that they can't get rid of because people refuse to pay by mail or online.

 

[HandyManny]

Up here in the mid-West, we're lucky to have this thing called Menard's. Family owned competitor to HD and Lowe's. Exact opposite of everything you're describing, except the last line regarding the staff's product knowledge - a little hit and miss there, but the kids will do their best to help.

Growing chain, they're doing it right, their tool selection is a litte more entry level, but it's not painful to shop there like aSears, HD, or Lowe's.

Give them another 5 to 10 years when they get too big for thier own good, if they haven't gone under by then. They'll be just like the other big-box stores.

Though I do agree with what krehmkej said recently about Home Depot. They do seem to be with the program recently.

 

[Islands62]

Sears service is pretty terrible, but there are a few associates at my store that know their stuff (at least know their stock). I don't get hassled for returns, warranty and price match, and no one bothers me continuously when I browse.

when I was a kid my Mom actually was management at Sears. She ran the Home Improvement dept., then managed a store and then was a local executive, so I really spent a lot of childhood around a Sears and around Sears people. It sad to see it kind of fall down. I still go there almost robotically for simple tools and appliances.

 

[Cubby]

Up here in the mid-West, we're lucky to have this thing called Menard's. Family owned competitor to HD and Lowe's. Exact opposite of everything you're describing, except the last line regarding the staff's product knowledge - a little hit and miss there, but the kids will do their best to help.

Growing chain, they're doing it right, their tool selection is a litte more entry level, but it's not painful to shop there like aSears, HD, or Lowe's.

I can't agree more. I look forward to my cross border trips to hit Menards in Grand Forks and Fargo.

And don't get me started on Sears! Their tool section is pretty much non-existant outside of garage door openers, shop vacs, and cordless drills! And I have to check out in the electronics department. No help at all either!

 

[vette-kid]

We have a few REALLY good sales clerks at my local Sears (as in they actually try and be helpful), but as a rule, its sad to say you are correct. I have one to add to your list of ways to kill a retail store;

when someone places and order (in person at the store), make no effort to follow up with that order or inform the customer as to the whereabouts of their $1000 order! I ordered a tool box in February and the only way I have gotten updates (ie: delayed expected arrival dates) is when I call to bug them about it. If they tell me it will arrive on the 10th, Then I expect a call on the 10th saying one of 2 things..its here come and get it, or there has been a delay, sorry for the inconvenience it should now be here sometime before xxxx



I feel better now

 

[HandyManny]

I don't believe for one second that the upper level managment is trying to destroy Sears because of their dislike for the company. Sears is their bread & butter. They are however destroying it due to one simple thing....Severe mismanagement of the company and professional incompetence. That does it every time. I doubt it's anything intentional.

 

[T56 Impala]

The Menard's in Naperville Illinois had a great tool selection. Jet, Delta and a few other big name woodworking tools. I got my Pre-Coleman, Sanborn compressor there. They were well organized and always had people at the register. Thats the good.....

The bad? WAY over priced. The employees basically REFUSED to help a customer. When they did, they were completely clueless. Prices were poorly displayed and they NEVER had a sale item in stock. (Unless it was either broken, missing parts or the display.) You had to have a passport to get anywhere near the good lumber. They never had a good cart for lumber when you did manage to get to it. All they had were shopping carts. They also carried as much cheap Asian/India tools as HF.

I have found ONE sears that is decent. It is the ONLY one I will ever go in again. Our HD and Lowe's here are pretty good. The HD is a bit on the dark side though I understand they are installing a new lighting system in all the existing stores that need it. The Lowe's is well stocked, the people are friendly and willing to help when you can find one that is. The usually only have 2 registers open though.

I stopped shopping at wally world when Sam died. I walked in one a few years back and turned around never to step foot into one again. I try to shop in smaller stores when I can. I usually find them to be a lot less friendly though. I don't understand why.

Okay, so I added to your rant. Now what?

 

[-B-]

sears is Kmart like it or not that is what it is now.

HD got rid of the bad top management that was driving them under to Chrysler, now HD is on the rise again.

Lowes is headed to the bargain bin segment of big box stores .

Very few restaurant and big box stores employ auditors for CC and customer/ retail service this is what some are headed for a major downfall.

 

[Mike83]

Up here in the mid-West, we're lucky to have this thing called Menard's. Family owned competitor to HD and Lowe's. Exact opposite of everything you're describing, except the last line regarding the staff's product knowledge - a little hit and miss there, but the kids will do their best to help.

Growing chain, they're doing it right, their tool selection is a litte more entry level, but it's not painful to shop there like aSears, HD, or Lowe's.

I like Menard's. Low prices and lots of rebates. Staff is dumb as rocks though.

Look up John Menard sometime and you may rethink shopping there. Not because he is the richest man in Wisconsin, but how he got to be that way. Horror stories of how he treats employees, environmental law violations, tax trouble, etc.

Here is something I found on John Menard:

Menards, with more than 200 stores in 11 states, has $6.6 billion in annual sales. John Menard, who launched the business in Eau Claire in 1962, has an estimated net worth of $5.2 billion, making him the richest person in Wisconsin. Yet he apparently gives little to foundations or charitable organizations. A letter writer to Milwaukee Magazine told of how the store refused to even donate lumber to an employee Eagle Scout's project, to build bird houses for a local nature preserve.

John Menard can be, Nohl wrote, "cruelly demanding with employees." That's putting it mildly. Some examples:


Menards managers must sign agreements in which they consent to being personally penalized for things that go wrong. For instance, having 15 carts in the parking lot draws a $10 fine. And they must pay $100 per minute if they open late.
Managers are forbidden from building their own homes, as protection against the possibility that they may steal building materials. And private investigators have been hired to check whether employees who undertake even minor home-improvement projects are using pilfered supplies.
Eldon Helget, a Menards lumber yard manager in Burnsville, Minnesota, felt he needed to build a new home to accommodate his wheelchair-bound daughter. So he accepted a demotion with a $15,000 salary cut. When John Menard learned of this deal, he fired Helget. And then, when another lumber yard offered him a job, Helget had to go to court to get out from under a Menards contract clause that barred him from working for a competitor for a year.
Menards is aggressively anti-union. Norm Baumann, a former assistant store manager in Wausau, said he was made to attend a day-and-a-half-long seminar about fighting unions. "If a person had ever worked at a union shop, you couldn't hire them," Baumann told the magazine, adding that he once had to fire two promising management trainees because they had worked in high school as baggers at a unionized grocery store.
Dissent or disagreement of any kind is not tolerated. Steve Faber, a former store manager in Iowa, said he suddenly began getting negative reviews and was ultimately replaced (he was offered a lower-paying job but quit instead) after he questioned a new rule requiring managers to pay a $200 deductible if a delivery driver they hired was in an accident. (I'm not making this up.)
According to former store manager Scott Bropst, Menards once deducted $2,000 from the bonus of a manager in North Dakota, on top of reducing his pay, because he put in just 35 to 40 hours -- not the required 55 -- when his wife gave birth to triplets, two of whom eventually died.
Menards has a long history of being an environmental scofflaw, paying at least $3.8 million in fines since 1976 for ignoring or violating state law. In 1997, John Menard was caught using his own pickup truck to haul ash contaminated with chromium and arsenic to his home, to toss out with the regular trash.

 

[Chris Adams]

All the complaints are valid.
None of the explanations as to WHY these things happen are valid.


Spend time in middle management in a large chain and you will understand why every one of these things are a fact of life.

Too complicated to post in a forum, but in simple terms, the Manager of the unit is responsible for 90% of the complaints.

The middle management (in this case, the guys who hire/evaluate/train the managers) are not judged/paid/promoted on anything but store compliance with orders from the top.

So the top brass come up with some idea, maybe a good one, maybe a stinker, then the middle management guys interpret to the managers in the field, who then disseminate it to the store.
Seems simple but is not.

The company heads have no clue, but are sure they understand everything. They are SMART, QUICK and hard charging people. They come up with very good ideas, that TALK great around the table. Clever stuff, money making stuff.
Then they send the middle people out to instruct the managers. The middle guys are SMART, QUICK and were often store managers. Bright people with the eye to going to the top.

Then it gets to the manager.
The poor sod has been 'Peter Principled' into running a store, or is a fast tracker on his way to middle management, or is a 'tree hugger' a guy that topped out at 25, and now is 53 years old and trying to pay for the ski boat and his daughter’s wedding and way overmatched to the job.
The manager needs to be able to motivate, train, hell, parent his people.
The job is too big for most people.

The Fast Tracker may do a terrific job running the store, but his eye is on the next rung. He will have a great looking store, people greeting you, etc. but the long term training won't happen.
The promotion to the level of incompetency guy is struggling to do his job, is way overmatched, and is doing the best he can. It is not a very good ‘best’.
This is the most common manager.
The tree hugger is a guy that may have been good, once, but burned out, tired, lost interest, whatever, a decade ago. Not bad enough to replace, he’s a place holder, a time server. Store slowly crumbles.

So why don’t the sharp, capable, etc. middle guys find better managers?

WHERE???
About one person in 200 can manage a small store. About one in 500 can manage a big store and do it right.
The numbers don’t change, no matter what populist, socialist or ‘feel good attitude’ is thrown at the problem.
So you get lots of incompetent managers.

Being a manager is the most thankless, stressful and plain lousy job in the retail world, and that is NOT going to change.
It pays pretty good, but not as good as say a union plumber, who gets perhaps 1% of the stress, and works half the hours.

Notice I never mentioned affirmative action, equal opportunity, environmentalism, political correctness, OSHA etc. All of which make a manager’s life hell, and are examples of the government working to put the manager in jail and run the company out of business.
Retail stores **** because the poor SOB running it is doing what he can, and it isn’t enough.

 

[sammerdog]

I can't agree more. I look forward to my cross border trips to hit Menards in Grand Forks and Fargo.

The Menard's in Naperville Illinois... ...The bad? WAY over priced. The employees basically REFUSED to help a customer. When they did, they were completely clueless. Prices were poorly displayed and they NEVER had a sale item in stock.

I like Menard's. Low prices and lots of rebates. Staff is dumb as rocks though.

....actual results may vary.

 

[fourfeathers]

Up here in the mid-West, we're lucky to have this thing called Menard's. Family owned competitor to HD and Lowe's. Exact opposite of everything you're describing, except the last line regarding the staff's product knowledge - a little hit and miss there, but the kids will do their best to help.

Growing chain, they're doing it right, their tool selection is a litte more entry level, but it's not painful to shop there like aSears, HD, or Lowe's.

I like Lowe's too, usually, but you are right about Menard's being a great option. it helps that they hire by breast-size too!

 

[sammerdog]

I like Lowe's too, usually, but you are right about Menard's being a great option. it helps that they hire by breast-size too!

Dangnabitall! I was just going to post a reply to Mike83 in Wisconsin. He says Menard's is rough on employees. I was going to mention one of my Daughters worked there after her Freshman year of college and loved it for the summer, but now it's awkward.....


Sammerdog out.

 

[Mike83]

I was going to mention one of my Daughters worked there after her Freshman year of college and loved it for the summer, but now it's awkward.....
.

Maybe only the managers have it rough? Most of John's wrath probably doesn't make it to seasonal or lower on the totem employees.

 

[rsanter]

I don't believe for one second that the upper level managment is trying to destroy Sears because of their dislike for the company. Sears is their bread & butter. They are however destroying it due to one simple thing....Severe mismanagement of the company and professional incompetence. That does it every time. I doubt it's anything intentional.

I agree 100% with what you say here

in my experience, Quality comes from above. employees will rise up to meet the expectations of management and if they dont they will quit or be fired and they will be replaced.
if management is not demanding good service, and they are not following up to be sure it happens then they get **** employees like they have.
this is why you will get a good store and a bad store in the same chain and even the same area.
I have had **** luck with the local home depot over the past few years. store looks bad, employees dont help....etc
some change in management and ****!!!!...I go in there and the store looks cleaned up and I actually get some service from them.

a crappy store manager, a crappy department manager and you WILL have a crappy experience at that store

bob

 

[Stuey]

Notice I never mentioned affirmative action, equal opportunity, environmentalism, political correctness, OSHA etc. All of which make a manager’s life hell, and are examples of the government working to put the manager in jail and run the company out of business.
Retail stores **** because the poor SOB running it is doing what he can, and it isn’t enough.

Right, because environmentalism and OSHA regulations are terrible things? What the heck?

 

[rsanter]

OK
I have a RANT about sears...

there is a problem with the fact that they can look up you account information and make a charge to you account.
sounds convient but it is dangerious.

I have/had a sears charge. I only use it for major purchases there (like a refrigerator) when they are going to give you some deal or rebate or free delivery for charging with them. then I pay the thing off within a few months.

about a year and a half ago I get a bill from sears for about $400. my wife askes what I bought at sears.....nothing
so I call sears and tell them that the charge is bogus and I need to see where the card was actually swiped in the machine and I want to see the signature.
takes a few calls to deal with and the charge is taken off.

fast-foreward
about a month ago I start to get calls from a debt collector wanting almost $700 that I 'owe' to sears.
I say BS, that is fraudulent. I dealt with sears on that and the charge was removed. you need to send that back to sears and tell them to pull their heads out of their *** and fix it!
we cant
what do you mean you cant?
the group I work for has bought your debt so you now owe us.
I tell them that they bought **** because I do not owe sears and I dont owe them anything. you pull the original charge and show me that I signed for it and we can go from there.
we cant
you cant what?
we cant pull that information.
well call sears and get it!
we cant
why cant you? we do not have that information and we cannot get it from sears. we just bought the debt and so all we have is the information that you owe this.
but I dont owe this.
they tell me that I owe this untill I pay them and we will continue to hit your credit untill you pay us.
you cant do that!
we can and we will!

what a fine load of **** for SEARS to dump on me

bob

 

[bgott]

Most of the things that chap my azz have already been said. The one not mentioned is shopping carts in the parking lot! I noticed that Menard's is mentioned for fining it's managers for carts in the lot. They ought to do it everywhere! Here in Houston I think they get a bonus if all the carts are spread out in the lot. I beotched to one manager and got the " you can help keep our prices low by retrieving a cart from the lot when you come in the store" line and my reply was not very polite.

 

[WVU Tuba Dale]

I somewhat enjoy trying to find the "tool associate" at Lowe's. I usually go to someone not in the tool section, but close and ask if I can get help in tools. Then they all run around like chickens with their heads cut off looking for the tool guy way out back, out of reach of the intercom, and then I notice him sweating when he finally gets to me.

 

[Joelfke]

over here in central NJ the same is apparent at sears. Im only 22 and i ask simple questions about a wrench or ratchet and get a look like i asked about how a hybrid engine works..

also...is there a reason why EVERY SINGLE wrench and wrench set has a lock on the shelf?? i can understand sockets because theyre easy to steal, but a 1 1/2 combo wrench!? come on!? if i can steal THAT im going to sears more often...

this causes a simple small purchase to be made into a huge ordeal because i have to find someone to unlock it...SOMEWHERE...and then find someone else, usually the first person...to ring it up so i can pay...grrrrrr

 

[Rickster]

It was kind of mentioned above, but this is exactly why K-Mart went into Chapter 11. They were able to screw over all their retirees pensions, came back, bought Sears and now their screwing over Sears. Great corporate minds at work. They'll be taking their bonuses and leaving soon....

 

[Chris Adams]

Right, because environmentalism and OSHA regulations are terrible things? What the heck?

I have seen a manager taken away in cuffs because a costumer spilled a bottle of Armorall.
I have seen stores closed because they were too close to a building that had asbestos. Not the dangerous fiber, the sheet rock. Once the idiot’s think they know something, it is impossible to educate them.
I have seen lawsuits lost for millions of dollars because over zealous OSHA inspectors made simple mistakes. I mean ***** simple.
Legal fees on one where the (OSHA )guy contaminated some milk cost 16 million before the judge tossed it out.
The idiot contaminated it himself, wasn’t bright enough, or probably, didn’t care enough, to learn to do the test. Shut down a distribution center for a year. Once the government gets in action it takes congressional intervention to stop it.
Been there.
This is California.
Regulations?
You have no idea unless you run a business here. Or why do you think places like California have record unemployment?
Read up a little.

 

[mag99]

Our Horrible Freight store is just like these descriptions. Cashiers answer phones, give directions, write rainchecks, etc..everything EXCEPT check out customers. Lots of the locals here are farmers, their purchases are tax exempt, BUT the manager has to approve, so the cashier calls for said manager, and everyone waits......and waits.

I have on several occasions, put down the **** I was gonna buy, and just left. I'm sure others have done the same.

Just wondering, are all the HF stores that bad? How 'bout yours?

 

[south pier garage]

While Sears continues its slide into K-Martyrdom, I have noticed the exact opposite trend at the local HD stores, where staff are available and seem anxious to actually help.

i went out of my way to trade at the local lumberyard until yesterday. then i went to home depot. and will not go back to the local store.

retail and restaurants don't understand. it's not one sale they lose, it's all of the sales which would have occurred after which they lose, too.

 

[south pier garage]

.... why do you think places like California have record unemployment?
Read up a little.

me no thinks rhode island anything like califon-ia - but we got it, too

 

[south pier garage]

......So you get lots of incompetent managers.

Being a manager is the most thankless, stressful and plain lousy job in the retail world, and that is NOT going to change.
It pays pretty good, but not as good as say a union plumber, who gets perhaps 1% of the stress, and works half the hours.

.....Retail stores **** because the poor SOB running it is doing what he can, and it isn’t enough.

not to be contestuous, because there are some valid points here, but i would like to ask:

how does the individual prepare himself for a career in retail management?

what constitutes "thanks" in a job?

have there been studies on "job related stress of union plumbers"? maybe different, but i'm sure that **** sometimes does decide to go uphill. and then i think we know who takes the blame for it!

i would fully agree with the last statement from the OP. but i would also like to add the caveat that perhaps the "poor SOB" may not have any training or experience to be doing the job he's doing.

and i think that responsibilty rests on the individual

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

[RANT]

Retail Management – Worst Practices

-I'm sure you can think of other behavior that I have forgotten to list.
[/RANT]

I rarely shop at Sears...usually just on Black Friday, but here are a few other things I've noticed at Lowe's and HD.

- Sale items not properly ringing up...i.e. wrong price

- Self service registers CLOSED! That always kills me when I see that...why in the world should a self service register ever be closed?! Is the computer on break?!?

- You go to make a special order on storm windows and the only person that is qualified or knows how to do that is on lunch.

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

I HATE Self checkout. I've seen prices wrong too many times. They have only one person running a register at Lowes (returns desk), or maybe two at Home Depot. They shut the self checkouts, when there isn't someone there to supervise them (break down, wrong price, etc). Why not just have that person run a register? I ask them where the hell is the employee discount button, since I am doing their job, checking myself out.


Now our Sears is good, (not as good as they were in the early 80's), but from the looks of the associates, I don't know if it is the economy, or what Sears is doing, but you can see the life draining from their eyes.

 

[econoaddict]

OK
fast-foreward
about a month ago I start to get calls from a debt collector wanting almost $700 that I 'owe' to sears.
I say BS, that is fraudulent. I dealt with sears on that and the charge was removed. you need to send that back to sears and tell them to pull their heads out of their *** and fix it!
we cant
what do you mean you cant?
the group I work for has bought your debt so you now owe us.
I tell them that they bought **** because I do not owe sears and I dont owe them anything. you pull the original charge and show me that I signed for it and we can go from there.
we cant
you cant what?
we cant pull that information.
well call sears and get it!
we cant
why cant you? we do not have that information and we cannot get it from sears. we just bought the debt and so all we have is the information that you owe this.
but I dont owe this.
they tell me that I owe this untill I pay them and we will continue to hit your credit untill you pay us.
you cant do that!
we can and we will!

what a fine load of **** for SEARS to dump on me

bob

I recently went through the same type collection, mine originated with an electric company and a bill for a month AFTER I moved out of a rental.

After many many "discussions" via phone and mail I ended up going in to an attorney for one of the free consultations. Basically he told me the collector had the burden of proof, I send them a tracked and signed for letter requesting proof of the original debt, ie the contract, bill and all associated paperwork and they have 30 days to produce it, which didn't happen of course.
Long story short, the collection company ended up actually calling me and saying sorry for trying to collect on a debt that can't be proven who owes it. They know exactly what lines to push and when to stop.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

After many many "discussions" via phone and mail I ended up going in to an attorney for one of the free consultations. Basically he told me the collector had the burden of proof, I send them a tracked and signed for letter requesting proof of the original debt, ie the contract, bill and all associated paperwork and they have 30 days to produce it, which didn't happen of course.
Long story short, the collection company ended up actually calling me and saying sorry for trying to collect on a debt that can't be proven who owes it. They know exactly what lines to push and when to stop.

Their main tactic is intimidation. The only time I've ever dealt with one is when I was in the old Columbia House record club back in the '80s. They came after me for a long time for a $12 bill. Never called, just letters. I think they probably spent as much in postage as to what they were seeking! In the end, they didn't get it either.

 

[south pier garage]

so i just returned from a saturday trip to home depot. i waited patiently for a guy to dig somebody up who could help me - he admitted right off he wasn't a power tool expert- but lacking anyone he did what he could. opened the box, tried another company's bit to make sure it was interchangeable, and could not have been more helpful and honest about what he did not know.

got to the register, and Cupcake came over and waived a coupon over the scanner and saved me $25. bitchen'. register girl offers extended warranty - "no thanks". register girl offers another 25$ saving if i open a charge card - "no thanks". register girl pushes second time about charge card - "you're ******* me off". register girl has to be asked a second time to put accessory bits in a bag.

does this transaction become a 'null & void' due to the help of one associate and aggravation of another? they were probably both doing their job. perhaps i am a bad customer - but i did spend $312.00

 

[Keep]

My Dad worked for Sears for over 45 years. Once Kmart bought them out (after Sears bought Kmart) things went down the tubes. He was lucky to retire when he did (He actually took an early out). Even He said that things went really bad with the change of ownership. They were even planning on selling the Sears tower (to Mitsubishi I believe)....

Up here where I am we are lucky enough to have a "hardware only" store at Sears they just took over the old Sears auto repair shop. Decent staff though selection is not what you get down there, its still my first stop when I need a tool.

 

[Bustawrench]

also...is there a reason why EVERY SINGLE wrench and wrench set has a lock on the shelf?? i can understand sockets because theyre easy to steal, but a 1 1/2 combo wrench!? come on!? if i can steal THAT im going to sears more often...

this causes a simple small purchase to be made into a huge ordeal because i have to find someone to unlock it...SOMEWHERE...and then find someone else, usually the first person...to ring it up so i can pay...grrrrrr

Exactly why I rarely buy tools at Sears anymore. The way they are going, they'll be a memory by the end of the next decade.

 

[Bustawrench]

- Self service registers CLOSED! That always kills me when I see that...why in the world should a self service register ever be closed?!

.

Because the self service register can't upsell you into a credit card you don't need at an interest rate that will make you hair stand straight up.............

but the human cashier sure can.