So why exactly would I buy something from Sears again?

[wmartin]

I just got in my on-sale pry bar set and some other stuff.

First time Sears order, their website is absolutely horrendous.

Inside the giant box, which was addressed to me, is a Made-in-China pot being sent to someone in Illinois.

Perfect. Now I have to mess around with returns and the like.

 

[Zelatore]

Chinese pot?

I didn't know they were into that market. I thought it was still one of the few we did well here in the US. I hear Mendocino county is going gangbusters.

 

[wmartin]

Maybe people in Illinois don't know any better, although I expect that Chinese pottery *and* Chinese smoking material are both made out of a combination of asbestos and formaldehyde.

 

[nine4gmc]

Chinese pot?

I didn't know they were into that market. I thought it was still one of the few we did well here in the US. I hear Mendocino county is going gangbusters.

Um, as far as buying something from sears, I just bought a set of four tires this morning. They had the best price in town, great service and there is a sears in almost every city that will warranty them if there is a problem. You had a bad experience buying from a website, it happens every day on a lot of websites. Buy in store, or online and pick up in store so they can handle any problems on site. jm$.02

 

[wmartin]

I can return stuff in about 5 minutes on Amazon, plus I've probably ordered a couple of hundred things from them with nary a problem in getting the thing I ordered.

Right now I'm on a chat window which is currently taking more of my billable time than all of this stuff cost (both the right and the wrong order).

 

[NC-Fordguy]

I just got in my on-sale pry bar set and some other stuff.

First time Sears order, their website is absolutely horrendous.

Inside the giant box, which was addressed to me, is a Made-in-China pot being sent to someone in Illinois.

Perfect. Now I have to mess around with returns and the like.

The time you spent on this post, you could have likely resolved the issue

 

[Super Sport]

The time you spent on this post, you could have likely resolved the issue

You haven't ever called Sears, have you?

 

[wmartin]

The time you spent on this post, you could have likely resolved the issue

You'd think.

I'm still on instant chat. I've been posting between missives.

Hang on. I just got a hot update. They'll do something (who knows what???) within 8 days. No contact information, no clear idea what to do. I guess I'll just stick this thing in the garage and then get on the phone in 8 days after nothing happens.

Good God.

They did tell me that it was delivered (the box), though.

 

[Outlawmws]

Your not talking to a human being, your "chatting" with a computer!

 

[Super Sport]

You'd think.

I'm still on instant chat. I've been posting between missives.

Hang on. I just got a hot update. They'll do something (who knows what???) within 8 days. No contact information, no clear idea what to do. I guess I'll just stick this thing in the garage and then get on the phone in 8 days after nothing happens.

Good God.

They did tell me that it was delivered (the box), though.

Good luck!

I once got an extra item along with the item I ordered. I felt bad for the other customer, because this thing even had a sticker with their name on it.

After having dealt with Sears personally several times, and hearing stories from others, I decided it wasn't worth the hours of time I would waste trying to resolve an issue that wasn't even my problem. Their customer service is awful, and dealing with them over the phone for anything is more painful than slicing off fingers with a razor blade.

 

[wmartin]

Your not talking to a human being, your "chatting" with a computer!

I doubt it, although no doubt some of the responses are canned. It's taking too long, although it's possible that Sears uses a rack of i386 PCs to do their work.

Even with the increases in computing power, Indians are still cheaper than the equivalent CPU.

 

[wmartin]

OK, so the current deal is that they'll send me a return sticker, I then get to take the package to a UPS pickup. They'll then return my money.

No pry bars for me.

Seriously, this is the worst customer service I've ever seen online.

 

[thesilverone]

sears rant of the day - CHECK

 

[The Ratchet Man]

OK, so the current deal is that they'll send me a return sticker, I then get to take the package to a UPS pickup. They'll then return my money.

No pry bars for me.

Seriously, this is the worst customer service I've ever seen online.

You should've told them to send a courier to pick it up. You just have to request it in a demanding tone. I've had it done twice on seperate items. I'm not traveling and wasting my time for their mistake. Drop it at the doorstep and the problem is theirs.

 

[Polski-Chevy]

OK, so the current deal is that they'll send me a return sticker, I then get to take the package to a UPS pickup. They'll then return my money.

No pry bars for me.

Seriously, this is the worst customer service I've ever seen online.

I'd take your returned money to Harry Epstein and get the whole lot of Wilde striking pry bars, but that's just my opinion...
http://store.harryepstein.com/c/PryBars.html

Good luck either way

 

[oldtools]

Wash your hand. You might get lead poison.

 

[CWP1616L]

There's somebody out there who ordered a pot and is wondering what to do with a new pry bar set.

 

[jjjrmx5]

There's somebody out there who ordered a pot and is wondering what to do with a new pry bar set.

LOLZ.

I just blew coffee threw my nose LOL'ing.

Damn that hurt.

Sears website = epic fail. Not new news, sadly.

 

[nine4gmc]

There's somebody out there who ordered a pot and is wondering what to do with a new pry bar set.

surf the kitchen forums, I'm sure someone has a sears rant going on about the pry bars

 

[Brownsfan]

Why not just go to the store and buy them. I have had the store match online prices before. I guess unless you live too far from sears.

 

[Super Sport]

There's somebody out there who ordered a pot and is wondering what to do with a new pry bar set.

Any body else remember when a member here posted a thread about getting a weed wacker instead of the tool set he ordered? A few days later another member posted about how he received a tool set instead of a weed wacker.

Sure they screw up once in awhile, that's to be expected. It's their customer service dealing with the problem that really needs fixed.

 

[Skin]

In my half dozen or so experiences Sears has great customer service over the phone and I also get to talk to people in the US. The problems come in the form of email and their online chat program which seems to be done overseas. The internet has made people very anti-social. Even though people may have a huge headache dealing with said online communication and may spend days talking back and forth with some monkey off in the third world they wont make a simple 5 minute phone call to a pleasant CSR.


Also for what its worth all my online sears purchases have been fairly painless. Well packaged (sometimes overboard) and I've gotten everything I've ordered. Everyone will have their problems. Amazon has sent me crushed, mislabeled, and incorrect items before as well. Most recently I had to repair a poorly manufactured patio table because they (Amazon) weren't set up to mail replacement fasteners. Got a hefty discount out of it in the end but still. Most people wouldn't even go through the lengths to get that.

 

[Hootbro]

Any body else remember when a member here posted a thread about getting a weed wacker instead of the tool set he ordered? A few days later another member posted about how he received a tool set instead of a weed wacker.

Sure they screw up once in awhile, that's to be expected. It's their customer service dealing with the problem that really needs fixed.

I remember that. I got the impression the second guy that posted about receiving the weed wacker instead of the tool set was screwing with the first guy more than anything.

 

[RCStocker]

WHY? Because for $199.99 you can buy every 1/4" and 3/8" drive chrome swivel they make. That is around 45 pieces. They are on sale. I have been using them for 50 years and they are like new. I have SK, Mac and Snappies in other locations on the farm but the C man have never failed. They still will give you a new one without a question. They still work and if you buy the sockets in sets you can get them for $1 each or less

The 154 piece set is on sail for $79.99 right now if you buy it on the internet and pick it up in the store. There is even free shipping on that set if you don't feel like going to the store. It is a very good back up or truck set. I picked up a used one for $40 with all but 2 pieces. I had those in a bucket. Many good reasons. You can be a total Prat or Dolt and they will still exchange them.

 

[Dieselbutterfly]

I feel your pain.everbody has their opinion and mine is sears *****.

 

[wrh3]

The few times I have had an issue, I have called and ended up speaking with someone in India that has been assigned an American name and the results have always been the same- my blood pressure goes through the roof. So now, I just file a BBB complaint and wait for someone in their BBB case office to email me and see how they can correct the issue- this has always worked with the best results IMO. My time is too valuable to get through a language barrier and training issues

 

[NC-Fordguy]

You haven't ever called Sears, have you?

As matter of fact yes I have. It was painless process not worthy of posting on this or any other message board.

I also once simply returned the wrong merchandise to the store. That too was painless and also not worthy of posting on a message board.

Perhaps this web site needs a sub forum where folks can post up about the incorrect stuff they got from Sears, Amazon, the auto parts store, and perhaps a sub forum where folks can spout about the fouled up order at mcdonalds drive thru or vent about dominos took longer than 30 minutes to deliver a pizza

 

[Hootbro]

The few times I have had an issue, I have called and ended up speaking with someone in India that has been assigned an American name and the results have always been the same- my blood pressure goes through the roof. So now, I just file a BBB complaint and wait for someone in their BBB case office to email me and see how they can correct the issue- this has always worked with the best results IMO. My time is too valuable to get through a language barrier and training issues

BBB is self regulatory trade organization. Anything Sears does for the BBB is at their own leisure if they so choose to act. I have found them in most instances to be worthless if the offending business chooses to not reply or deal with them as they have no statutory authority to do anything other than threaten to expel the business from it's membership roles.

 

[wrh3]

True, it doesn't work for every business but it has with Sears IME. I usually get a follow-up to my complaint within a day or two.

I have another friend who works in sales for a software company and his bonus is based on metrics that include open BBB cases......guess what he does ASAP? Satisfy the customer and close those BBB cases.

 

[Hootbro]

True, it doesn't work for every business but it has with Sears IME. I usually get a follow-up to my complaint within a day or two.

I have another friend who works in sales for a software company and his bonus is based on metrics that include open BBB cases......guess what he does ASAP? Satisfy the customer and close those BBB cases.

I got a question for you. Do you actually check BBB ratings before spending money with said business or after the fact when there is a problem?

I can can count on one hand with more than a couple fingers to spare of people I have known that actually check BBB ratings before engaging with said business.

 

[wrh3]

It really depends on the purchase. If I am buying a car, I check. If I am spending a few hundred dollars on tools, no.
But, after dealing with off-shore customer service and reading where Stuey and some others had better luck by way of BBB compaints, I decided to try it......and for Sears it works, IME- YMMV.

 

[ed_v]

We typically buy a couple of thousand dollars worth of merchandise every year from Sears on average. Our last order was a nightmare.

My wife ordered me some New Balance running shoes (I don't run.. unless it's life threatening of course ) off of the Sears website. It told us they would ship the next day and should arrive in about three days after that.

Well the arrival day came.... but there was no shoes. We were never given a tracking order. My wife contacted Sears via the web and asked about where the shipment was at. We were told "We're not sure. The shoes were not in stock in our warehouse, so they are being shipped directly from a store".

We were told they didn't know which store had them or when they would ship, yet our credit card had been charged. It really wasn't a big deal. I wasn't in a hurry. Three weeks later I still had no shoes. After my wife complained on Facebook, we were contacted and given a refund.

What a mess!

Ed

 

[wmartin]

Perhaps this web site needs a sub forum where folks can post up about the incorrect stuff they got from Sears, Amazon, the auto parts store, and perhaps a sub forum where folks can spout about the fouled up order at mcdonalds drive thru or vent about dominos took longer than 30 minutes to deliver a pizza

The problem is that Sears would probably be 2/3 of the posts so far as I can tell.

It's one of the great tragedies of American retail commerce. When you consider what an amazing and groundbreaking place it was 100 years ago, they didn't deal well with the Big Box Store phenomena, and now they will end up being smashed into bits by companies like Amazon (that actually do a pretty darned good job at web commerce).

I admit that it was a good run. Maybe it's just a natural life cycle of any business.

 

[NC-Fordguy]

The problem is that Sears would probably be 2/3 of the posts so far as I can tell.

.

Based upon what? The postings here?? There's always bash threads here. This place is more of a bashing board than a tool discussion board. There's always a new flavor of the day popping up. With this being the internet I always take it with a gain of salt.

Bonjour I am a French model

 

[cheechi]

It's one of the great tragedies of American retail commerce. When you consider what an amazing and groundbreaking place it was 100 years ago

100 years ago people were still selling snake oil from one town to the next. I'd say it's not really changed much, it's just more distasteful now because of the shiny veneer. Amazon earned their success and they deserve it. If they fail, they will have deserved that also. American retail has always been a game of how can I squeeze out of more money from consumers. If you think Sears or any other retailer ever was on your side you're a damn fool.

I also had a long wait for an order with shoes from Sears. Pretty sure it was shipped from a store just across town. I usually order stuff in general weeks ahead of when I need it, but not everyone can afford to do that and nobody should have to do that really to make up for a ****** retailer. I ordered the pry bars and a chisel set to make it free shipping, even though there's a sears right across town. It's not convenient, but it's there and I go there sometime. I didn't need either tool immediately so why spend the gas to go out of my way?

To answer the original question, why still bother with sears? well for me it's just circling the good tools like a vulture waiting for a good deal. I have no loyalty to sears or cman, in fact back when kobalt was usa made I'd have chosen them every day and 6 times on sunday. I'm still mad that I couldn't afford more than what I got back then. Their current stuff is still pretty good, still better than the chinese cman, but I can't quite say its better than older USA cman.

 

[Ryf]

is there a kmart nearby? I order sears stuff through kmart.com and free shipping to store, I also know they carry craftsman pry bars in some kmarts. just saying... sorry about your pry bars... but at least you got a pot to piss in?

 

[Coach James]

You'd think.

I'm still on instant chat. I've been posting between missives.

Hang on. I just got a hot update. They'll do something (who knows what???) within 8 days. No contact information, no clear idea what to do. I guess I'll just stick this thing in the garage and then get on the phone in 8 days after nothing happens.

Good God.

They did tell me that it was delivered (the box), though.

Maybe they're not much help because they're stoned from smoking Chinese pot.

Coach

 

[Danglerb]

I buy stuff from Sears fairly often, they are convenient, cheap, and I can deal with the occasional screw up. I do from time to time get really mad at them, and it would be great if they got their act together, I just hope they don't fold. Think about all the Sears ex employees wrecking other companies.

They should outsource CS to China. When I buy something from China off ebay the vendor is begging me to accept their apology and a full refund or replacement if I am not totally happy with it.

 

[Loscaldazar]

Have a problem with sears customer service? Call their executive customer service and leave a message. I got $100 in giftcards for a botched $20 order....

 

[Kracin]

OK, so the current deal is that they'll send me a return sticker, I then get to take the package to a UPS pickup. They'll then return my money.

No pry bars for me.

Seriously, this is the worst customer service I've ever seen online.

holy ****, that is horrible man!!!

so you ordered something. some kid in a warehouse messed up, and now they are returning your money and paying for shipping for the bad item all in a matter of 30 minutes???

yeah that really ***** a lot... you should have gotten your item you ordered in the first place, but they did make it right, not much else you can ask for.. unless you wanted your package gold plated????




seriously though, it's funny how these threads pop up, complain complain complain, the person complaining gets taken care of like any other business would, and they still complain. sounds typical to me, oh well.