Great sears customer service!

[Tjc]

One of my screwdrivers snapped and needed to get a new one, they ddnt have the one so they let me choose one to equal value, 1n and out under 5 m1n! also supr1sed to see mostly usa stamped tools!

 

[Toymeister]

As a corporation Sears probably ***** as bad as some report, however, customer service is done by people and if the staff care enough to give good customer service than it certainly reflects in goodwill.

My kid works at Sears in shipping and receiving. During his down time he rebuilds ratchets. He tells me that about 10% of the rebuild kits do not meet his personal quality standard and he tosses those. Untold dozens of customers are saved the hassle of a bad rebuild by this little thing. Customer service is all about the little things.

 

[rj-oz]

Is this a joke or what?, I have had to re-order a few items which were either damaged or wrongly supplied by Sears in the first place-this is an international order too btw., OK now this is twice my order has been mysteriously cancelled by this bunch of hopeless dumbasses, and when I enquire what has happened, I get every excuse known to man or beast by the dummys manning the international customer care terminals, these people deserve to go broke, absolute sh1t service by an organisation gone hopelessly wrong

 

[SVTKEV]

no international bashing of american companies will be tolerated here!!

 

[willyk57]

I just had almost the exact same experience at Sears. I had two precision, straight blade screwdrivers that were well past shot. When I took them in to warranty, I discovered that Sears had changed the sizing measurement and the part numbers. I found the two from the current stock that were closest to the old ones and went to the counter. I explained to the gentlemen working the counter what the deal was with the part number and he said if I was happy with the new screwdrivers he was too. Warranty complete.

Best,
Willyk57

 

[rj-oz]

no international bashing of american companies will be tolerated here!!

I didn't expect to receive defective USA made products either, I ordered what I thought was quality USA made and got sh1t instead, you would think these asse's that pack international orders would at least check the orders before shipping defective sh1t out half way around the world, no wonder Taiwanese and Chinese products are in your stores now, I can buy all of these down here easily but thought I would build a quality USA made toolkit -big mistake.

 

[fm2176]

The only bad thing I can say about my local Sears is that a girl (who usually doesn't work the tool section) wouldn't let me exchange a broken ignition wrench. She told me I needed the entire set to exchange it. Of course, I rarely break stuff nowadays as I only have one vehicle to maintain and no projects.

The last time I exchanged a lot of tools, I walked into a Virginia Sears and found most of what I was looking for. I couldn't find one punch and wanted to make sure I picked the proper ratchet for an older 1/2" drive (I like to use the part number to try to avoid confusion on the part of the clerks), so the clerk went to the respective aisles with me and tried to help. He ended up giving me an entire set of roll pin punches and a low profile ratchet. Needless to say, I was happy.

 

[Hootbro]

I didn't expect to receive defective USA made products either, I ordered what I thought was quality USA made and got sh1t instead, you would think these asse's that pack international orders would at least check the orders before shipping defective sh1t out half way around the world, no wonder Taiwanese and Chinese products are in your stores now, I can buy all of these down here easily but thought I would build a quality USA made toolkit -big mistake.

You poor thing. Sorry they failed you equally like the rest of us state side.

 

[rj-oz]

Ha, what about this little gem, I bought the 176pc and the 82pc 6 pt sets, I had one peeling socket out of the 176 set and two 5/8 instead of an 11/16 (in a sealed pack too), when I informed the international turkey desk I was told they couldn't just change one or two sockets out of these sets and recommended I return both, and they would re-pay my postage costs and give me a 10% discount also--fer crying out loud, I live half a world away in OZ, shipping 35lb's of steel back to them costs at least $140--STUPID OR WHAT?, all this nonsense for $10 worth of parts?--absolute incompetant bunch of TURKEYS !!

 

[Jagmandave]

How are you all breaking screwdrivers?

The only way I've ever broken a screwdriver was using it as a pry bar or a punch, and if you're doing that should it be replaced free?

If you use prybars for prying, and punches for.....well, punching, you won't break your screwdrivers....I'm just syaing.....

As for our Australian brother, incompetance knows no boundaries...... and I agree that rules bound companies usually fail eventually, from their own rules.

I'm sure the Sears experience varies greatly with the location and quality of the employees more than anything. Our local store is usually pretty good, tho they suffer from a real lack of help, I know far more about their tool selection and location in their own store than they do, and getting a warm body just to ring up my purchases can sometimes be a real challenge. If they'd pay more than minimum wage I might try to go to work there, since I'm retired now. But there's no way I'm going to spend all day on my feet for less than $10/hour.

 

[Hootbro]

Ha, what about this little gem, I bought the 176pc and the 82pc 6 pt sets, I had one peeling socket out of the 176 set and two 5/8 instead of an 11/16 (in a sealed pack too), when I informed the international turkey desk I was told they couldn't just change one or two sockets out of these sets and recommended I return both, and they would re-pay my postage costs and give me a 10% discount also--fer crying out loud, I live half a world away in OZ, shipping 35lb's of steel back to them costs at least $140--STUPID OR WHAT?, all this nonsense for $10 worth of parts?--absolute incompetant bunch of TURKEYS !!

What can I say, there are ***** working there.

I bought a 81 piece 12pt socket set online and received 1ea 8pt socket. They also wanted me to return the whole set for a $3.50 socket. "APOO" in India could not understand that it was not worth my time and gas money to return a whole socket set and wait for a exchange.

Also had another small order where a socket was missing and they wanted me to wait at my house all day while the UPS drive gets around to inspect the bubble package envelope. I kindly explained to them that missing a whole days wages at work for a $4.00 socket was not in the cards.

 

[billymade]

rj-oz, for that type of thing; you might try contacting Danaher/Apex directly (the oem who makes craftsman tools), there should be sheet inside your tool set that lists all of the tool included in the set... there should be contact info there for customer service issues. Unfortunately, it is very common for the tool sets to be missing tools or have quality control issues. Craftsman, while made in USA are not top tier tools; the quality control issues have been a ongoing issue fro a long time....

I wonder if this Apex tools phone # in Australia would work?

Australia
+61-2-6058-0300

http://www.apextoolgroup.com/contact_us/index.cfm

Worst case scenario; I'm sure one of us here on the board, that lives in the USA could do the swap for you at our local Sears store... and send it back to you.

fm2176, the reason they wouldn't exchange your the individual ignition wrenches, are not sold in the "open stock" individually... .they are only sold as a "set". They maybe able to order the individual wrenches through the catalog; have them call the catalog for a warranty exchange, see if they can send it to your house. Also, if you are not getting the help you need; ask for a manager and go from there....

 

[G_P]

I had a craftsman #2 phillips where the shaft would spin in the handle. I went to swap it and they were out of the normal length ones. Clerk asked if the longer one would be ok and when I said yes he gave me a 24" or so long driver!

I have plenty of standard phillips screwdrivers so getting the extra long version free was real nice!

 

[camarotoolman]

Its usually up to the clerk, try ot get a college kid, part timer etc. They usually don't care what you get. stay away from the middle aged men, they are usually company, by the book types. Early week days are the best, cause they aren't busy. Get what you want yourself in the racks, so all they have to do is check it out. The clerks are just like everyone else, some are cool, some are a-holes. Unfortunity the worst 1s are at my local store.

 

[willyk57]

It is about time to drag this one back up to the top for a little while. I figure that there are enough people beating up on Sears and Craftsman that those of us who do get good service need to keep the banter even.

I walked in to my local Sears to warranty a RP ratcheting wrench that was excessively stiff and would not engage. I barley made it to the tool counter when the gentlemen working the counter ripped the wrench out of my hand and almost ran past me to find the replacement. I thought we were going to have a problem when the only replacement he could find was a polished wrench, but after a little more looking and some rearranging on the racks he found the correct replacement. Back to the counter to run the exchange, only then did he actually look at the wrench that i brought in. He was surprised how stiff the ratchet was and though the return was a no brainer.

The entire exchange took less than three minutes. It was one of the best and probably the most entertaining exchange I have done. No questioning, no hassle. Craftsman is still a good option for back yard mechanics and will always have a place in my tool box.

Best,
willyk57

 

[RedFordTruck]

]Its usually up to the clerk, try ot get a college kid, part timer etc. They usually don't care what you get. stay away from the middle aged men, they are usually company, by the book types. Early week days are the best, cause they aren't busy. Get what you want yourself in the racks, so all they have to do is check it out. [/B] The clerks are just like everyone else, some are cool, some are a-holes. Unfortunity the worst 1s are at my local store.

This. I kinda know when the "experienced" people are working and when the temps are working. Go in when the less experienced people are working and you can choose your tools off the shelf and all they do is scan them at the register.

 

[thehazmatguy]

Its usually up to the clerk, try ot get a college kid, part timer etc. They usually don't care what you get. stay away from the middle aged men, they are usually company, by the book types. Early week days are the best, cause they aren't busy. Get what you want yourself in the racks, so all they have to do is check it out. The clerks are just like everyone else, some are cool, some are a-holes. Unfortunity the worst 1s are at my local store.

When I was in college I worked at Sears - not the tool department though. Exchanges are generally up to the clerk. So, if the customer rubbed me the wrong way then the return was by the book. If the customer was cool then they'd get the best deal I could swing them.

Also... I worked in the draw vs. commission areas and I can't remember the specifics. But, I think the tool department was paid a "low -ish" hourly wage and then they get a small commmission for the tools they sell. On an exchange they would get paid a commission for the new tool. So, they get paid extra to help you. The commissions are small but those pennies add up.

 

[thehazmatguy]

This. I kinda know when the "experienced" people are working and when the temps are working. Go in when the less experienced people are working and you can choose your tools off the shelf and all they do is scan them at the register.

I would say that my experience was different as someone that worked there. At first, I did all of my exchanges by the book. The longer you work there, you find out that if someone calls a manager then they get what they want... getting a manger involved usually just wasted my time. So, after I worked there a while I learned to just give somone the best deal I could so I could move on to another customer.

Unless... the customer was a jerk. Then it was by the book. And, the sales people know the "good managers" so if the customer was a real jerk, we'd call the manager that we'd know would back us up and be a hard nose about the rules for returns.

 

[Jcc76]

How are you all breaking screwdrivers?

I'm sure the Sears experience varies greatly with the location and quality of the employees more than anything. Our local store is usually pretty good, tho they suffer from a real lack of help, I know far more about their tool selection and location in their own store than they do, and getting a warm body just to ring up my purchases can sometimes be a real challenge. If they'd pay more than minimum wage I might try to go to work there, since I'm retired now. But there's no way I'm going to spend all day on my feet for less than $10/hour.

This is something that has always bugged the hell out of me! When I was a lot younger, I used to work retail in a software store that was about the size of a Craftsman tool department. I was only a part-timer, but I knew the location of just about every type of computer/software product in the store. I mean, you're working in the store for hours on a particular day, shelving stock, doing inventory, helping customers, etc. How can a store clerk NOT know where everything is?? I can see if it's his first or second week on the job, but even then he should be pretty knowledgeable by the end of that period!!

I was in a Sears about a month ago looking for Versatrack fixtures because the display rack was out of stock. I asked this clerk, who looked like he was about 19, with that crazy f***ed up hair that kids wear nowadays (you know the type that makes them look like a human carrot?). He told me he had no idea what Versatrack was.

He was literally standing with his back to the Versatrack display. After I pointed out this fact, politely, I asked him if he could check back stock for me. His response:

"Oh....yeah, you know, I think I remember what that was. Someone else came in earlier and asked me to check, and I did, and I didn't find any for that guy, so I don't think there's any more in there."

Then he went back to flirting with the young female clerk at the cash register.