Sears faces tough test this holiday season

 Well lets see there costumer service is just plane bad. Also I got laid off and went through a divorce some years back, so I got behind on my sears card payments, those people were so rude. They basically (no not basically but actual words were I was a low life scum) well guess what this low life scum hasn't set foot in your store since except to exchange tools I have already purchased.

 Which brings me to Craftsman, they used to be the tool. I'm a carpenter and I bought anything craftsman I could, Craftsman used to mean quality, then they moved to mexico, which not only disappointed many of us carpenters but the quality suffered also. Everytime I try and turn something in I get a run around, thats thats tools, boots or bags (Nail bags for you non carpenters), I spent 120 on a pair of boots they lasted 2 months, and I was told to bad the soles are all that is guarenteed, I said I didn't care what was guarenteed if I pay $120 I expect something to last more then 2 month (I can get wal-mart boots that last longer for $40). The lady said to bad , her manager said too bad, it wasn't until I started asking customers around the store what they thought, that they gave me a new pair and apoligized.

 So I really feel bad Sears is having a hard time, maybe they should realize there costomers are there paycheck!!!! 

Sears has become Kmart.  I don't shop Kmart.  Yes, all their tools are now made overseas, so why should I buy Craftsman?  The last Craftsman drill I bought I had to return.  I tried to buy a Kenmore dishwasher this year, couldn't get waited on.  So I bought at Home Depot where I did get waited on.  Went to Sears auto to buy a new battery and again couldn't get waited on.  Sure did at the Cadillac dealer.  I don't feel sorry for them.  They made their bed, and it's time to lie in it.

Once upon a time, when I worked there in the early 80's, their motto was, "the customer is always right", (yes, they were the ones that started that slogon), not anymore.

well Sears has a funny way of showing that they want business - 2 days before black Friday they cuty my $4500 credit limit to $100 (i only had $72 on it) - so I went to Best Buy and bought that new plasma TV we wanted - their loss!!!  When I called, the company they "apologized for any inconvenience" but did nothing to remedy it!  Looks like all my big purchases will be at other stores from now on!

Customer Service is terrible.  Quality has gone in the tank.  Their Credit Card business is designed to fleece the user.  Who do you contact if there is a problem?

This is a ship with no one at the helm listening to the alarms.  I deeply regret they are dying as they have been an American Institution for over a century.

I could do a better job running the company but the Board of Directors has their mindest on cut, cut, cut.  If you cut out everything then you are nothing more than say Wal*Mart.  Now you are competing against a well run machine and you are coming from behind.

They should focus on the things that made them great in the first place.  Have a credit program that is affordable and does not penalize you for using it.  Have good quality items - go back to the good, better, best program of the 1960's.  Back your products.  I can buy crap at Wal*Mart and if it breaks I can take it back and get more crap.  It used to be that I could break a Craftsman tool and Sears would back it - immediately.  Finally there is customer service - OK not at Sears but then if there were maybe they would have customers once again.

Unlike Circuit City, I've never really had a bad experience at a Sears store, no matter what I was buying. Unfortunately, when they turned into "K-Mart II" I stopped shopping there.

I know that most, if not all, of their merchandise is manufactured by someone else ("Kenmore" is just another name for "Maytag", or whomever they're contracting with at the time), but I didn't know they had sent the Craftsman line to Mexico...hmmph.

Sears is a dinosaur and should be extinct.  They have a cumbersome, confused and outdated business model which strives for (but never reaches) mediocrity.  They have horrible customer service and are too arrogant to honor their warranties.  They just do not get the idea that they exist for the customer and not the other way around.

I haven't shopped at Sears for yrs., mainly because of terrible service, and being given the wrong information about a product, and had to return it it, only to get a major run around to even do that.  It wouldn't hurt my feelings a bit to see them go under. 

I was a loyal to the Kenmore brand until I had Sears out to repair my Kenmore washer.  They charged me over $300 for a part I did not need.  (A new washer would have been about that much money.) I called to complain and got no where.  I wrote a letter to the head of Sears and received a letter back with an 800 number I could call to get a $30 gift card.  $30!!!!  I spent $300 how does $30 make it all better???   Shortly thereafter, my dishwasher died and I went to Best Buy and bought a Frigidaire.

These companies in trouble always blame the economy or housing starts, etc.  It is always easier to blame someone else for your problems instead of looking in the mirror.    

It does not surprise me that Sears is going down the tubes.  I purchased several of their "high-end" Pro applicances 10 months ago.  I have had nothing but trouble since, and their customer service has got to be the absolute worst I have ever dealt with. 

The "heirarchy" at Sears is impossible to navigate.  You call their phone numbers, and get told you've got the wrong number.........and to call another number.  You call that number, and are told the same thing.  And the story goes on and on an on and on.  What one Sears representatative tells you one day is completely different by the very next day.  You never get the same person twice, and they can't get their stories straight.  I even called their "Blue Ribbon Service Department" at Corporate Headquarters to no avail.  They were absolutely rude on top of it!!

I've had approximately 30 service calls on the Kenmore Pro double ovens I installed last January.  I have had three separate sets of ovens installed----none of them work!  And their technicians cannot fix them.  You are told to sit at home from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and wait for a service person to show up.  You can't even work in your yard because they call before they come.  If you don't answer, they don't show up.  So, my husband and I wasted all of our vacation/sick time waiting for Sears repair to come and fix our ovens.  They were never able to fix them!!!  By the way, we had 3 "no shows" during that time where we sat and waited, and no one showed up.

I called the store and spoke with the appliance department manager.  He asked me, "What do you want me to do?  We only sell them; we don't fix them"

After all of the service calls I encountered, I begged and begged for my money to be returned.  The last set of ovens that Sears delivered resulted in the glass in my  cabinets being broken and my brand new wood being gouged.  The delivery men were clumsy and ran into things.  They took no care while in my home. I'm still waiting for Sears to pay for that damage.  The delivery man  wouldn't even give me a number to call to report it. 

I finally had my local TV station get involved.  That seems to have helped. 

I will never step foot in a Sears store again.  They don't know how to treat their customers, and they don't care.

I have worked for them in the past, and the reason I left them: Eddie Lampert and the new attitudes he brought. Why? He's not a business manager, He's a hedge fund manager. After he took over, he, in my opinion, tried to run it like a hedge fund. You can't do that. I can go on as it's over the 1 year time frame to talk about anything there, but, I'll leave it at that. If he doesn't learn how to run a business regardless of who he hires to run it for him AND listens to good advice as well as change not only the way the company's run, including the attitudes of all upper staff on down to store managers, Sears may fall, and believe me, I told managers where I worked that this could happen, but they didn't listen, and weren't going to. On to sales associates, they are not properly trained, partly due to management, but the way the training is done. You don't get experience selling, from a PC training session, you get it by doing, and if you have a knack for it, you succeed. They also let go very good sales people, which was a big mistake. I can rattle on and on, but no need.

Sears still has a lot of potential to rise above this all, if they are willing to humble themselves and go back to basics, be true to where it all began. Sears can get through this. The question is, are they willing to?

Well I don't doubt that Sears could go under.  Their customer service is Terrible.  We had an awful experience buying appliances several years ago, were double and triple billed, could never get anyone to listen to our issues, and it took months to adjust.  We tell family and friends never to shop there.  Their products may be okay, but their after-purchase attitude stinks royally !

Sears deserves whatever it gets. Their customer service is absolutely the worst. They are the poster child of what is wrong with traditional American retail. The y survive on their laurels only!

I myself prefer Sears and Kmart over Walmart.  Especially since Sears has the military in their mindset.  I have never had any problems returning anything at Sears or Kmart.  I can't stand Walmart and their employees where I live.  They don't want to help you at all.  I went to Walmart and had to stand in line because they only had 3 registers open and they never opened anymore.  I went to Kmart that same night (yeah I paid more) and didn't have to wait as long (I got into a newbies lane, lol.)  Anytime a line started to form they opened up another register.

Yep Kmart and Sears are my stores of choice the service is so much better.

I am not surprised at all that Sear's is in trouble. I called their catalog dept. about the possibilty of sending a wedding gift to a couple since I was having surgery and could not attend the wedding. When the Representative told me they could not put a card in the gift to say who it was from I declined to proceed with the purchase. Well guess what, they sent the gift anyway and charged me for it. When I complained it was oh well, we got our money and there is nothing you can do about it. I would sue but it was a $60.00 charge and they know you cannot hire an attorney to dispute such an amount without paying more than it is worth, in fact I am sure they count on such things. I ask for them to review their tapes of our conversation but they refused. Good riddance to bad rubbbish.

The last few times I have been into Sears the customer service was non existant, fast food trash was on the shelves, the store had little in stock that I wanted and I swore I would never be back. And the employees stood around talking about what they did the night before using all manners of profanity (time and place for everything boys, dis aint it) I get better service and customer appreciation from people on E Bay, and I never see them face to face.

I worked for Sears Holding for about ten years. It is a deplorable employer and Kmart's purchase of Sears has not helped Sears at all. At the Kmart side payrolls were cut in half and there was a push to hire as many part time workers at no more than 15 hours a week . They took fulltime people and put them at 30- 34 hours a week. The districy manager wanted people fired and applauded managers which would report firing people. (very sick).This statred a couple years ago. Sales did not rise they fell on that poor decision. Then Kmart had a yearly evaluation for hourly employees which attributed store sales to hourly people getting raises. Many people could not even get .05 cents. There were stores operating with no store manager and other more experienced managers left the company in droves. Before I left I watched a district manager throw a fit on the sales floor in front of customers  because the one cashier had a water at the register. (They are not allowed drinks but the out of six air conditioners in the store only one was operating properly.This was in southwest Florida and the temperature outside was near 90) The employee was a middle aged woman who was going through menopause and the district manager, a female herself, told her to go to the doctor and get a pill. Three customers walked out the door while watching the unprofessional behavoir. This person has no knowledge of leadership and how to create excitement for the business or company. It was ruling by fear and intimidation. The customer service is substandard but you cannot have a poor work atmosphere and expect a positive and productive work enviroment. It is sad to see Sears Holding run by a man ( Eddie Lampert) who is more concerned in making a name for himself.  But they are where they are because they quit caring about the customer and long ago the employee (who also would be a customer).  One of the problems with Sears was their contracted repair services or delivery services which were horrible. My neighbor waited 3 weeks to get her air conditioner serviced while it was in the middle of summer. They ended up having an air conditioning company replace the Sears bought unit which was not even five years old. They have never bought anything from Sears since. I liked Sears' clothes, and shoe department but I quit going there after watching the parent corporation treat my fellow employees with such disregard. I do not plan on spending anything at either store for the holidays. It doesn't matter what deals they may or may not have. And where they end up is the end result arrogant executives who haven't a clue on what being a merchant is really about. This company also wastes so much money in signing and trying to reinvent themselves instead of investing in people on the front lines. Having sales help that are talented, competent and appreciated could have gone along way.

The name on the sign outside the store doesn't matter to me.  Let's see, buy product A at Sears for $50 or pay $40 ANYwhere else.  Hmmm ... tough call.  

I never saw so much mis-information in all my life.  Some of you people just like to gripe and forget the facts.

First, Craftsman hand tools are made in USA by Danaher Tool Group.  There is a factory in St. Louis, right up the road from me and I know several folks who work there.

Second, Sears does not run its credit card.  It's your bail-out buddies Citibank.  If you have a credit card problem blame Citi, don't blame Sears.

The worse thing that happened to Sears was being taken over by KMart. Sears reputation for quality and service disappeared. Even with sale prices, their appliances are still more than the competition. Craftsmen tools aren't what they used to be.

I worked for Sears from 1996-2002. Laid off in 2002 due to restructioning of its management and support management on the store level, I witnessed the company "reinvent" itself more than once. Company officials seemed to keep asking itself--"Who are we" and "Where are we headed"? From my own observation(s) the company seemed rudderless at times. The company's core is it's Hardware/Lawn and Garden, in addition to Appliances. However, the company kept on drilling into its salesstaff to focus on Electronics and Clothing, especially whenever a new Best Buy or Kohl's opened nearby. Much to the dismay of the company, competing with these two bohemuths was next to impossible. Sears let the Best Buys and Kohl's get the best of them. More selection/better product/better trained sales people.

Should Sears be allowed to fail? Sure!! Not out of spite, but it would be their own doing.

Focus Focus Focus....on the 21st Century buyer, not on ideals from the late 19th Century.  

After 36 years of service, and dedicating the best years of my life to Sears, I had to leave because I could not work for such inexperienced and ignorant management staff anymore.

Managers at Sears were people I would look up to and respect. They gor rid of ALL of them and brought in young college graduates that think they can change the world, and they have no clue about the business and especially how to treat their key employees.

They pay peanuts and get monkeys to do a job that requires mechanical experience, outstanding customer skills and a sense of dedication that it's unheard of today. That is why Sears is going under! along with their idiotic management staff.

Yes, I am very sorry to see my old company crumble into dust.

That's a shame

I see everyone comparing K-Mart to Wal-Mart, but what about Target? Their prices are always competitive with Wally World and cheaper than K-Mart, plus the stores are clean, easy to navigate (no clutter in the aisles) and have a "universal" design where you could stop in any store from coast-to-coast and no exactly where to find something. There always seems to be enough employees around, and they all appear comfortable with their jobs; they are also easy to find with their red shirts, which don't appear to be company issued. Seems like management in one company knows what they are doing!

I never had a Sears Credit Card or any problems with billing but I have had a problem with Customer Service the 3 times (in 30 years) I have tried to buy something at 3 different locations. I did try their catalogue years ago (thinking I would avoid the rude service of a live employee.........that was a disaster. The service is terrible, if you can even find someone to assist, items advertised have never been in stock but they don't tell you that until after you have paid for it and gone to the rearof the store to pick it up, the "surprise" look you get when you object and want your money back. The overpriced items are shoddy and cheaply made etc....etc... I agree with the comment "they made their bed, let them lie in it" They have gone down and down for years, they need to give up the ghost and let stores who believe in service with a smile move onward and upward, they will be the ones to survive a recesion.

Hi,

My friend worked at Sears, was accused by a known liar of "standing too close" to her, HR woman bumped it up to flat out sexual harassment- but she never said that.  Sears management woman gave him 30 days to 'improve his work' then fired him in two weeks anyway.  this after he worked 70 hours a week to improve by jumping through their hoops.  He is married and has a child.  Let him go just like that.  I used to buy a lot of Craftsman tool.  I will NEVER buy Sears products again.  Craftsman?  You mean you are targeting men?  I will not buy Craftsman tools again.  They don't treat men right but want us to buy their tools.  Screw that.