Good "Old Fashioned" customer service, from SEARS!

[mikeceli]

Sears. Yeah, I know lots of formerly USA made tools are now third-world sourced. And their tool catalogs and tool departments are just a shadow of days gone by.

But, Sears Parts and Service is hard to beat. A while back, I stripped a part, inside a Craftsman "click" type torque wrench, I bought in the 1970's. Sears Parts Department still offered the replacement part! At a reasonable price.

Today I was replacing the handle and fuel lines in my 1996 2 cycle Sears Gas hedge trimmer , w/ new SEARS parts, (can't even buy 2 cycle in cali, anymore).

I had some questions on the fuel line routing and saw a "Any problems with this tool call Sears ???-???-????" lable on the tool. I thought, fat chance THAT telephone number is still in service.

I dialed it an a TECHNICALLY KNOWLEDGEABLE guy answered quickly and told me exactly what I needed to know!

Thanks Sears!

 

[kams1973]

I'm glad you shared that story. I've had a good experiences with Sears parts and service myself. People whine, moan, and ***** about Sears, but they still do some things right.

 

[mikeatrpi]

Agreed, I've used them before but its been a while. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[ecotec]

the vast majority of my socket sets and combo wrenches are craftsman (some armstrong). i figure i will be buying craftsman until the sockets and raised panel combo craftsman are not made in the USA anymore.

when my wife shops at the mall, i shop the sears tool section. the warranty keeps me going back. it really is a good deal.

 

[billymade]

There are good people that work @ Sears; when I was there... I tried to help as much as I could... DESPITE how messed up the company is and is setup! There are people who do care and try to do a good job; unfortunately, it seems that the company itself is so screwed up.... problems are endemic to the system, no matter how hard you try to help as a employee! Part of it is a classic retail issue: many times you cannot make people happy no matter how hard you try; I tried hard and occasionally, was able to make someone's day and help out, this is what made the rest of unhappy customers more bearable! I used to say: welcome to sears, welcome to hell! Gallows humor; it helped to try to blow off steam working at such a dysfunctional company... as the saying goes, you can't fix stupid but you can try!

 

[MoToys]

Sears service, parts, and repair is a good arm of the company.
In all areas the management is local and cares about what is going on.
I have nothing but good experiences with them.

 

[W650Mike]

Well stated Billy.

Bad corporate leadership can jade even the best intentioned individual. I find that most of the time, the employee wants to help but can’t due to boss/policy/availability/etc.

Unfortunately, we more often hear and dwell on the ******* employee who is going to be an ******* wherever they work.

 

[billymade]

I've known my share of a##### and Jerks who worked with me @ Sears too... however! LOL!

 

[woody 73]

I am reminded of a story in my town of long ago (in the 60's); an elderly woman went into the department store and wanted to return a bad shirt. Well the young salesman told her he could not give her a replacement shirt or her money.

The women started screaming down the house and it just so happened that the man running the store overheard the whole conversation. He quietly walked over and told the salesman to give her a new shirt (end of story).

As the woman left the store the salesman told his boss that the reason he could not give her a new shirt or her money in the first place was because she bought the shirt from the stores competitor across town!

I guess times have changed but it is still nice to hear a good story coming from sears.

 

[Buckgnarly]

Just had a good experience myself last night.....An in store pickup order never showed up on my email, yet my Paypal was charged. Got two women (with that nice southern accent no less) on the line and had it figured out in no time.

Turns out the email to pick up was sent to my seldom used gmail account. No clue why (the Sears internet service/website is a WHOLE different story) it happened but those ladies got it figured out in no time!

 

[sumner52000]

Went to sears last night to pick up some line wrenches for my brother and trade in an old bent extension. They had little clips holding every wrench on the hooks. When i found what i needed i had to get someone to unlock it for me. Are all sears like this now or just in the dreaded Durham.

 

[flathead74]

Maybe its just luck, but my experiences with Sears have been really good lately. Once I figured out how to navigate the awful website and how to combine sales, coupon codes, and Craftsman Club specials for maximum savings, I have managed some very reasonable deals. The people I have dealt with in the two stores I go to (Kansas City) have been great to deal with. I think most of what is wrong with Sears is coming from the top. I wish Eddie Lampert would find another concern to run into the ground.

 

[W650Mike]

The clip locks are getting fairly common in TX.

 

[posaune]

I'm glad that you had a good experience. Mine was somewhat less successful.

Yesterday I broke the pull starter rope on my trimmer so I looked up the part online to see what I might need. They had a rope "kit" available so I thought I'd get that instead of trying to fab it up with stuff I had lying around, especially since the kit was only $4.50.

But wait - $8 shipping?!? On a 16" piece of ROPE?

Frustrated with the idea of paying $13+ for a small part on an $80 trimmer, I checked local inventory (within 100mi): nothing. How about within 100mi of NYC since I work there this weekend: nothing. Okay, within 100 of Pittsburgh (my parents): nothing. Within 100mi of my in-laws in Louisiana: nothing. Within 100mi of work in L.A.: nothing.

REALLY? So where DOES it exist? That annoys me. I think I'll use my own stinkin' rope.

 

[billymade]

The website has been a nightmare; they are putting locks on everything now.... an attempt to reduce "shrink" but then it makes it harder to get the product, always hard to strike a balance between ease of access and shrink through theft.....

 

[Buckgnarly]

I'm glad that you had a good experience. Mine was somewhat less successful.

Yesterday I broke the pull starter rope on my trimmer so I looked up the part online to see what I might need. They had a rope "kit" available so I thought I'd get that instead of trying to fab it up with stuff I had lying around, especially since the kit was only $4.50.

But wait - $8 shipping?!? On a 16" piece of ROPE?

Frustrated with the idea of paying $13+ for a small part on an $80 trimmer, I checked local inventory (within 100mi): nothing. How about within 100mi of NYC since I work there this weekend: nothing. Okay, within 100 of Pittsburgh (my parents): nothing. Within 100mi of my in-laws in Louisiana: nothing. Within 100mi of work in L.A.: nothing.

REALLY? So where DOES it exist? That annoys me. I think I'll use my own stinkin' rope.

Gotta wheel and deal! Free shipping this weekend, look at the top of the website, use code MEMORIALDAY. I'm sure they could exclude parts and other stuff though!

 

[-Brent-]

I'm glad that you had a good experience. Mine was somewhat less successful.

...

Frustrated with the idea of paying $13+ for a small part on an $80 trimmer, I checked local inventory (within 100mi): nothing. How about within 100mi of NYC since I work there this weekend: nothing. Okay, within 100 of Pittsburgh (my parents): nothing. Within 100mi of my in-laws in Louisiana: nothing. Within 100mi of work in L.A.: nothing.

REALLY? So where DOES it exist? That annoys me. I think I'll use my own stinkin' rope.

You know, I JUST faced this, too, with Sears online. This was for a 7.99 lock. The website wouldn't accept my zip code so I called in and got the same - a jacked shipping charge, FOR ONE CAM LOCK. I checked all over the mountain west and no dice. Waterloo's link lead me to Sears too... so, I paid it. That was my idiot tax for the week.

 

[-Brent-]

Gotta wheel and deal! Free shipping this weekend, look at the top of the website, use code MEMORIALDAY. I'm sure they could exclude parts and other stuff though!

Ouch, therein lies the rub.

 

[posaune]

Gotta wheel and deal! Free shipping this weekend, look at the top of the website, use code MEMORIALDAY. I'm sure they could exclude parts and other stuff though!

Oh no, I have gotten quite good at getting deals on tools from Sears, but this is only from Sears Parts Direct. I don't see any place there for coupon codes (though, unless I read it wrong that free shipping for this weekend is for orders $99+ anyway).

 

[Buckgnarly]

Oh no, I have gotten quite good at getting deals on tools from Sears, but this is only from Sears Parts Direct. I don't see any place there for coupon codes (though, unless I read it wrong that free shipping for this weekend is for orders $99+ anyway).

Ah yes, I did not even read the fine print...they always get ya!.

 

[GoBlue]

Sears is one of the very few left that when you call...you get an AMERICAN speeking ENGLISH. They have always gone out of their way to make me happy...always.

 

[SIDECAR BOB]

I'm glad that you had a good experience. Mine was somewhat less successful.

Yesterday I broke the pull starter rope on my trimmer so I looked up the part online to see what I might need. They had a rope "kit" available so I thought I'd get that instead of trying to fab it up with stuff I had lying around, especially since the kit was only $4.50.

But wait - $8 shipping?!? On a 16" piece of ROPE?

Frustrated with the idea of paying $13+ for a small part on an $80 trimmer, I checked local inventory (within 100mi): nothing. How about within 100mi of NYC since I work there this weekend: nothing. Okay, within 100 of Pittsburgh (my parents): nothing. Within 100mi of my in-laws in Louisiana: nothing. Within 100mi of work in L.A.: nothing.

REALLY? So where DOES it exist? That annoys me. I think I'll use my own stinkin' rope.

tried to get some replacement parts for a cordless impact gun , springclip and a couple thrust washers they wanted like 16 dollars to ship it and no I couldnt get it in the store......everything would have fint in a standard envelope at 32 cents .....

 

[justanengineer]

For those paying shipping on parts, why not pick it up in store for free? Thats what my parents do, or rather, they order/pay for it and I pick it up.

Sears and Craftsman are definitely tops in my book regarding customer service with few companies that come close. I have bought several Craftsman boxes without keys in the past for cheap to flip. On every one of them I simply call up the 800 number, speak to someone in English, mention my name/Craftsman club account and tool buying history, and I get free keys! No other company has ever given me free keys for a box, and Sears/Cman has sent me probably 7 or 8.

 

[itsvegas]

The website has been a nightmare; they are putting locks on everything now.... an attempt to reduce "shrink" but then it makes it harder to get the product, always hard to strike a balance between ease of access and shrink through theft.....

they only have them on the ratcheting wrenches here at least. but even harbor freight has there ratcheting wrenches locked up too.

 

[SIDECAR BOB]

For those paying shipping on parts, why not pick it up in store for free? Thats what my parents do, or rather, they order/pay for it and I pick it up.

Sears and Craftsman are definitely tops in my book regarding customer service with few companies that come close. I have bought several Craftsman boxes without keys in the past for cheap to flip. On every one of them I simply call up the 800 number, speak to someone in English, mention my name/Craftsman club account and tool buying history, and I get free keys! No other company has ever given me free keys for a box, and Sears/Cman has sent me probably 7 or 8.

They would not allow that to happen, I tried, event tried to get the store to order it too and was a no go . Always have had good luck in the past as far as warrenty items and Craftsman tools but the parts thing really don't work similar incident with some washing machine parts 8 dollar part 14.00 dollar shipping no you cant pick it up is what I was told

 

[DARKSCOPE001]

Im glad you had a good experience in sears. I usualy have good sears expereinces Ive actualy only had 1 or 2 bad ones. Never had a problem waranteeing a too. Altho I still dont understand why they dont sell or give repair kits especialy for guys like me who engrave and put a dot of nail polish on their tools. Oh well. Ive always had good luck with sears

The two times I have had a bad time with sears was with some young kid who didnt respect his job and could give two poops less about tools. Bought myself one of the premium grade ratchets last night and the gf got me the pro bottle opener.

while im scanning my card and compleating check out he picks up the ratchet and procedes to spin it over. And says to me "craftsman ratchets are nice!" I agreed and said yea 84 teeth and still US made. At this point he could give a **** less and continued spinning it over. Then when we got to the bottle opener his eyes widened and was like "YEA! Thats what im talkin bout!" I was like wtf? why do you get excited over a bottle opener and not a ratchet. and the customer would be the last person to tell.

These guys are usually the problems, I checked out fine and its all fine and dandy you like a good bottle opener but that basicly said to me "I dont care about the customer or these stupid tools" Because when the boss tells grease face "Ok warantee all tools except abused" They dont really know or care whats abused. Its the old guys (and galls) that have been there for a long time that will walk with you and make sure you get what you want.

Thanks
Sean Scott

 

[chewy7]

Went to sears last night to pick up some line wrenches for my brother and trade in an old bent extension. They had little clips holding every wrench on the hooks. When i found what i needed i had to get someone to unlock it for me. Are all sears like this now or just in the dreaded Durham.

One sears south of me in Germantown, WI. has their wrenches and ratchets/ sockets locked up behind glass, and another Sears more east of me in Grafton has them all out in the open and not locked up behind glass. Go figure. The one guy from the Grafton store told me it depends if there is a lot a theft in their store is what determines if they lock the tools up or not.

 

[MOJoWales]

Sears in-store employees, tech/parts, older appliance service techs (new hires and policy changes lessened this IMO), have been outstanding in my numerous interactions and the tool warranty/replacement in particular is almost unbelievable in a good way.
Their on-line service and call center almost made me swear them off in spite of this. L-o-n-g story and made right eventually no thanks to help center and actually in-spite of them. My local Sears manager conceded that it is a known concern and being improved but the gist is that calling the 1-800 online customer support center is likely to create more problems than is solves in my humble opinion.

 

[B17E1943]

I think most of what is wrong with Sears is coming from the top.

Been that way for a long time now.

But wait - $8 shipping?!? On a 16" piece of ROPE?

I worked in the Service and Parts area of Sears for 8 years. Try standing at the counter day after day telling people it is $7.50 S&H for their 50 cent part. Imagine the looks you get and the abuse you have to endure. And who could blame people for getting pissed? It was and still is insane.

I finally had a gutful of the BS, low pay, the phone ringing off the hook, and their effing 3 penny raises. It's true! One year I got a 3 cent raise. How's that for incentive to work hard and smile at the customers? I should have quit right then and there; but apparently I am a masochist and stuck it out a few more years.

At least I made a few good friends ...

 

[housey]

I am reminded of a story in my town of long ago (in the 60's); an elderly woman went into the department store and wanted to return a bad shirt. Well the young salesman told her he could not give her a replacement shirt or her money.

The women started screaming down the house and it just so happened that the man running the store overheard the whole conversation. He quietly walked over and told the salesman to give her a new shirt (end of story).

As the woman left the store the salesman told his boss that the reason he could not give her a new shirt or her money in the first place was because she bought the shirt from the stores competitor across town!

I guess times have changed but it is still nice to hear a good story coming from sears.

Sadly, this story is often true.

A customer who is polite, reasonable and has been genuinely inconvenienced somehow, will actually recieve less "compensation" than a retarded monkey who can display aggression, even if what they are complaining about is their own fault. Alot of its due to the way the customer service/complaints rules are laid out in most retailers. Its not about "has the customer been unfairly mistreated/inconvenienced?", but instead its "is he customer happy with the outcome". And by happy, they mean not pissed off and going to have a punch on with you

 

[timesrgood?]

Been that way for a long time now.



I worked in the Service and Parts area of Sears for 8 years. Try standing at the counter day after day telling people it is $7.50 S&H for their 50 cent part. Imagine the looks you get and the abuse you have to endure. And who could blame people for getting pissed? It was and still is insane.

I finally had a gutful of the BS, low pay, the phone ringing off the hook, and their effing 3 penny raises. It's true! One year I got a 3 cent raise. How's that for incentive to work hard and smile at the customers? I should have quit right then and there; but apparently I am a masochist and stuck it out a few more years.

At least I made a few good friends ...

You see, it is the trickle down effect, if big business gets more breaks they will trickle down to you big raises like these. When they say trickle they mean trickle.

I never understand why people yell at the poor clerks behind the counter when it isn't their doing at all. I wouldn't last one day in that.