My Sears/Craftsman disconnect.

[indyokie]

Sears, I'll admit I grew up thinking they were a cheap brand. However, a freshman in college in 1989 I received my 1st credit card with Sears. I was glad to get the credit, figuring if I needed a tool to fix my car, I could buy Craftsman tools on credit and still get to work. ( that worked out ) and the tools I purchased worked well. Sears/Craftsman turned into a valuable brand to me. I considered Sears a good partner in my quest to have an awesome set of tools I moved up the food chain and into Craftsman Professional, and finally Craftsman Industrial tool sets to obtain 100% domestic & the fully polished sets of tools I longed for back when I was buying just the minimum original standard sets or unique tool.
Like many others I've witnessed the demise of their stores from destinations locations slide into "getto" retail. I often went into Sears for tools or to see new stuff in tools and left with jeans, sneakers, TV's, and appliances. The Craftsman brand which once I was proud to work towards owning, and wanting more of like others I've witnessed slipped to low or mid-quality imported / unsupported product.
Tonight I found my disconnect point with Sears, my account and any remaining value I attached. The wall cabinet I've purchased 11 times for $105.00 to $119.00 went on sale for $89.99. Having just recently purchased 2 at $114.00 ) I placed an order for another at $ 89.99 and reached out for them to honor their 30 day price protection. Pretty simple really - it's Craftsman product I've just purchased 2 weeks ago. I filled out the form and e-mailed it in, quickly an e-mail came back.... I was told they honor price matching on in-store purchases, but not on online only items.

How stupid is that ? This is their own branded product purchased online from their site, since it's the only place you can purchased it. Funny thing is I'm the guy who has returned a product, or asked for a refund only 3 times in all my life, ( from any retailer ) all within warranty or reason. Sears - this is the final straw. What value I had left with Sears just isn't there anymore.

 

[zendriver]

All of the things, like "price matching", will probably - sooner than later, flush Sears the rest off the way down the toilet, then you won't have to worry about it.

It's not going out on a limb, to proclaim, that the entire world had changed, since 1989 and expecting Sears to remain like "the good old days" is not very realistic.

If you no longer like them, you should move on, though it's hard to say where, since most everybody else is doing the exact same thing.

Good luck.

 

[yamaha0343]

It seems like the site and the store are run as two separate companies. Last time I was in the store, they wouldn't price match their own website. The cashier suggested I place a site to store order and pick it up at merchandise pickup.

I think there's still a lot of value in some of the tools themselves, but business wise, they're screwed.

 

[Contender54]

....they wouldn't price match their own website. The cashier suggested I place a site to store order and pick it up at merchandise pickup...

.

I had to do the same thing a few months ago at the Sears in Metairie.