Sears’ problems deepen, no end in sight
When it comes to Sears Holdings (SHLD), Eddie Lampert may be too smart for his own good.
The billionaire hedge fund manager, who rescued Kmart Holdings from bankruptcy protection and then used its reorganized stock to take control of Sears in 2005, has proven that he’s great at spotting undervalued assets, but less good at running them. In the case of Sears, Lampert seems to have overlooked a few basic rules of retailing: Carry the right merchandise, keep stores clean and well furbished and train employees to take care of customers.
Instead, Lampert has focused more on financial engineering: Cut costs and use the extra cash to buy back stock. That formula worked for a while, but it has clearly run out of steam, as Sears’ announcement this morning shows. The company said that falling sales at domestic stores would cause fourth quarter profit to come in well below analysts’ expectations. Even Sears’ ace in the hole, the value of its real estate, is shrinking amid a broader economic downturn. There is not much relief in sight. The National Retail Federation said today that it expects retail sales to increase 3.5 percent in 2008, the slowest pace in six years.
The news pushed shares of Sears down $6.28, or 6.5 percent, to $89.89, a 52-week-low in morning trading.
Sears, which had a war chest of $3.3 billion at the end of the last fiscal year, said cash and cash equivalents would total $1 billion as of the end of its current fiscal year in January. (The results exclude Sears Canada.) That amount could be less, depending on how much stock Sears bought back in the days following Jan. 11. So much for Sears using its cash pile to make a transformative acquisition, as some sanguine observers had predicted. Given the current state of affairs, it remains unclear whether Sears will continue to pursue a $6.75 a share deal for Restoration Hardware (RSTO).
Though equity analysts have cheered the company’s aggressive stock buybacks, Sears no longer appears to be getting much bang for that buck. Despite a 12 percent lower average share count, Sears is expected to report fourth quarter earnings of $2.59 to $3.48, representing a 36 percent to 53 percent drop compared with the same period last year. With cash dwindling, buybacks cannot continue at their current pace, one reason why Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter downgraded the stock this morning. (Goldman Sachs also downgraded the shares.)
One thing that Sears has on its side is time. In addition to its cash reserve, the company has a $4 billion as yet-unused revolving credit facility, according to Creditintel, a credit research firm. That means Sears can continue to limp along for many quarters before running out of money. For those still hoping that Lampert will ultimately solve the Sears puzzle - by either crafting a deal or turning the business around - it’s worth noting that Sears, in its release this morning, blamed its problems on “unfavorable economic conditions, such as a weak housing market and consumer credit concerns.” As bond analyst Carol Levenson, of Gimme Credit, put it, that “pretty much covers everything that might effect a retailer except the weather” — everything, that is, except the management itself.
According to Better Business Bureau, Sears has a satisfactory record with the Bureau.
Isn’t it ironic? Full BBB report can be viewed here: http://xiy.net/UEV
I am a former employee of Sears teleservice dept in Tucson, AZ. I will be the first to agree with people who have had problems with repairmen being very late or not even coming at all.Many times when I scheduled appts, in the back of my head, I wanted to scream out “this is probably not going to happen, you’re going to take the day off of work and sit around all day and call us back twice as upset and all we’re going to do is reschedule you for a day two weeks out and that’s the only option you’re going to have.” I would never use their repair services (they are also outsourcing many of these customer service positions now as well) The second department I worked in there is called “Rapid Resolution.” What that is is a dept just for people with Warranties or “protection plans.” The sole purpose of this dept is to provide some very generic troubleshooting all in an attempt to solve your problem over the phone so they dont have to send a repairman out to your house for free. Kind of shady considering they are trying to talk you out of actually taking advantage of a service they bent over backwards talking you into paying for.
We Have had problems with our 27″ Sony wega TV for over a year now, that we purchased at SEARS. We did buy the “Master Protection Agreement” with it and what a hassel. Call SEARS for service, you wait weeks to a month. When they finally do show,and haven’t cancelled, they look at you as if you have the problem not the TV. Service says its fixed and they order a part. Why order a part if they “claim” it’s fixed? Wait for the part, it comes broken. Call service wait another two weeks to a month for somebody to show up and say,” Yup, it’s broken I’ll order another one.” Wait weeks again for them to show up to try to fix it to no avail. They replaced the same part 4 times. This goes on and on. The last service call I was told by the Tech the TV needs to be replaced there is nothing they can do with it any more. Now it is a battle with SEARS just to get it replaced. SEARS told me on the phone there is a process they must go through to get the replacement, wait 24-48hrs. Well that was 216 hrs ago. Just yesterday I am told to wait another week and the TV “might” be replaced. What happened to customer service? Where does the consumer stand anymore? I paid SEARS, with the purchase of the “Protection Agreement”, to give me all these problems and headaches. SEARS has just lost another one.
Every product,company should have a uniqueness that distinguishes from other such products or companies. What is the uniqueness of Sears..nothing I can see !!
As a former employee at the Kmart HQ in Troy, Michigan (before and after the purchase of Sears), I tried to stay loyal to the company even though they outsourced my job not once but twice. However, the customer service for Sears has caused me to never shop there again. I recieved a tent for Chrstmas in 2006. The first time I set it up while camping, one of the poles broke and the fabric of the tent ripped. I contacted customer service and was informed that since the tent had been purchased more than 30 days prior to the product failure there was nothing they would do for me. I asked them if was I supposed to set my tent up in a michigan winter just to make sure there were no defects with it. Of course, every person I spoke with said they would have to speak to someone above them and of course, nothing was every done to resolve my issue. Nobody ever returned a call or email to me about my complaint and I got stuck having to buy a new tent.
What’s ironic is when I worked for Kmart, I was in the quality control department. My job was to test items before they went on the shelves to make sure they were durable, safe and going to be satisfactory to the consumer’s expectations. Towards the end of my time there, there was an obvious lack of concern for the quality of what was being sold. Items that shouldn’t have gone to the store did, just so they could be sold. Some items even posed potential hazards to children. By that time, stopping these items from reaching stores was out of my hands. It still saddens me that the priority of these two stores, with such a great history, became money and not customer satisfaction. But, with that many expensive salaries to pay and that much middle management to support (but not listen to), I guess customer satisfaction isn’t an issue as long as we keep shopping there. I just pity my former employees that moveed to chicago to stay with the company are going to have to be there again through another financial mess. 6 years of holding my breath waiting to be let go for good was enough time for me, I turned down an offer in Chicago because I was sick of the cloud hanging over me. They’re going to be doing it all over again as Sears continues to fail. But, they’re the little people in the company so they don’t really matter anyways.
To Kevin L., the ‘Manager’ at Sears Holding Corp.,
Kevin, you flatly deny that SHC installed ’spyware’ on users computers, and you go on to state that ‘Members joining MySHC … are not tracked’ (paragraph 3), but then in the next sentence you specifically state ‘You can only become a tracked member…’. This is double talk - you say no one is ‘tracked’, and then you admit that some people are being tracked. You contradicted yourself.
Instead of blindly being a mouthpiece for your misguided management, carefully read the following links:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2008/tc2008018_783080.htm?campaign_id=yhoo
This is serious stuff, Kevin. Installing spyware without adequate disclosure is ‘Computer Rape’, and its just incredible that Sears Management has sanctioned this kind of behavior.
I know that SHC Management claims they did disclose that Spyware was installed (see link three above), but what really ticks everyone off is that the management hid the disclosure, in legal talk, deep (eight (?) paragraphs) in the disclosure. This kind of legal talk really adds insult to injury and makes your customer base sour even more to your underhanded behavior.
Shame on you, Sears!
As a longtime employee of Sears in the appliance department, I would like to offer my two cents as well.
Sears has grown too big for its own britches. Everything is handled by top level management with no disregard for the climate, area and surroundings of every indivindual Sears store.
Scheduling is determined by a computer algorithm, and never takes into account local events or weather. Many times there are six people in one department with no customers. Not a good use of money.
Marketing efforts are misleading. From signs on appliances (who always show the white (cheapest) price even when you are looking at a stainless steel model; to those FREE Delivery ads (with 399 purchase in small print). By the time the customer grasps the concept and has their bottom line, they are off to Lowes to buy.
We are over-scheduling our delivery drivers, and service people. I cannot tell you how many sales we lose because service doesn’t show up as scheduled, or they cancel at the last minute. Those customers who have spent a vacation day will not tolerate this. Just like they won’t tolerate the fact that we cannot be more specific in our timing of scheduling other than to say “Between 8am & 5pm”. That is just not good customer service.
Installation is a joke as the installers are not easy to deal with and the “MIDDLE MAN” that Sears has now employed to handle these issues doesn’t do their job.
The telephones. Every time I call my local number to get my schedule I end up at a Sears store in a different state, after being transferred 2-3 times. This is not streamlined, this is frustrating.
We have created so many departments that no one talks to the other. Every time I try to recify an issue, I need to call multiple centers, many times, and in the end my manager must sacrifice her right arm to make it right for the customer.
Give the sales, service and delivery back to each individual store to manage. Let each store become a well functioning entity so that we can help the customers.
And more importantly, when the district managers come into the stores, have them talk to the sales people on the floor with out the managers nearby. This is where you will find out what is working and what is not; this is where creating a good relationship needs to begin.
And, just in case you don’t know this, too. Onnce you get employed at Sears it is nearly impossible to get fired. I never call of, never show up late and have had the same paycheck for 4 years. I have seen people not show up for 4-5 days, show up late more often than they show up on time, steal sales from each other and just simply have no respect for anyone they work with/for…and they are still employed there.
And for you customers, when you buy from someone in Appliances, they are paid ONLY by comission. They get NO base pay. (Electronics and Lawn & Garden are part comission) Please come back to the salesperson you dealt with if they gave you good service…they deserve to reap the rewards of their efforts.
Here’s a worm’s eye view of Sear’s problems. Sears has become to big to manage itself properly. It is solely and purely a company that manages itself from the top down. There is absolutely NO input from the bottom up. EVERY operational decision is made by upper level manager’s with ZERO input by lower level managers and employees. If a company wants to know what’s going on at the street level of the company, what better people to ask than those that interface with the public and can see where there is waste, inefficiencies, short comings, and abuse than at the lower levels where the work is ACTUALLY accomplished. I am a manger at Sears in the home improvement division. We are more worried about which pens to buy in the office than to figure out how to make more money at the sales level. Our advertising and customer incentives have changed dramatically (not for the better)and it shows in our day to day operations. Sears cannot attract top grade talent anyone because of its misery pay plans and employee incentives. It has become old and slow instead of quick and nimble. There is no decentralization in management and the company doesn’t even have an employee suggestion box. If an employee has an idea that could make the company more profitable or save it big money in operating costs how can that idea ever get to a decision making level? The simple answer is, it cannot. Sears wouldn’t want to compensate an employee for that great money saving idea either. It is really pretty sad what Sears is/has become considering it’s storied history. Sears has lost sight of it’s customer satisfaction goal. Now it is about money instead of customer relationship that business prizes so highly. I love this company but Alwyn Lewis and Eddie Lampert are milking the very life giving juice out of it.
Kmart is awesome! Sears is wonderful, as well. I would imagine that anyone who shops in a retail store of any kind, has had an unpleasant experience from time to time. I would also imagine that if all this country has left is Walmart and Target (as far as strictly mixed merchandise is concerned) we will see prices raise considerably along with a lowered standard of customer service. (And please, let’s be HONEST here - anyone who has shopped at a Walmart KNOWS that their customer service is “nothing to write home” about!) I find it extremely amazing that people will stand in lines 15 people deep at a Walmart to save 20 cents and not even break a sweat, but if there are 3 people in front of them at a Kmart, all hell breaks loose - I just don’t understand this kind of thinking. That’s why the United States is the best place to live in the world…we all have options, so why disparage and belittle Kmart and Sears? Think of all the employees that work for Sears Holdings and how terrible this must make them feel?
#1 In defence of Sears appliance Quality…ALL American appliance quality has gone down since 1979. The day & age of the 30yr old appliance IS gone!! WHY? Well competition is one thing…there is GE,Whirlpool/Maytag & Frigidaire! These three Co.’s constitute some 12 brands that I can think of & more that I’ve forgot.
We,as consumers,are part of the problem…We want to spend less for our goods SO the appliance industry accomodates with Mass Production. In about 1985,the field rep for Frigidaire told me they built a new factory to build they refrigerators.
He told me that factory could produce 100,000 refrigeraots a year and the hole plant could be run by 7 people!
You can’t do this without a drastic reduction in quality!
In the defence of the appliance industry,our Federal Government(in it’s infinit wisdom)al la EPA has set standards for water & electricity usage that are in a word rediciulous!
Why is our government telling these Co’s how to build appliances when they haven’t got a clue? Because WE said “Save the Planet” Don’t use R-12 in our refrigerators,use LESS water to wash dishes & clothes. Well…WE got what we wanted!! My 1978 dishwasher used 6.4 gals of water per load,my 2000 dishwasher uses 2.4gals of water! Try doing that in your sink & get your dishes clean!
A front load washer of ANY brand uses so little water that they NEVER rinse properly(IMO) hence smells & mold are problems.BUT WE’RE saving the planet and you get CHEAP Appliance rather than inexpensive!
#2 Sears Employees…Again WE as consumers want to pay less for our goods so corporations accomodate by employing 3 minimum wagers rather than paying a living wage(and giving raises) to one realy good associate that knows the DEFENITION of customer sevice rather than just how to spell it.
Customer service costs Quality People just like quality appliances costs MONEY!
We buy stocks in these corperations in 401k’s,IRA’s etc and expect hugh dividens so corp’s trim costs by trimming customer sevice.
Where do I come into this picture?
29yrs in appliance repair services so I have a rather unique perspective. I’ve watched the degradation of quality appliances in throw-away microwaves etc. built over seas & sell for $50.00 yet a service call costs $60.00 & we loose money at that.Quality people are paid off in the form of early retirement rather than teaching the next generation HOW to be a quality person.Then there replaced by ignorant minimum wagers who might want to learn but have no teachers.
WE GET WHAT WE PAY FOR!!!!!
I started working for Sears in 2001.
The glory years of Sears were long gone, said my veteran coworkers.
But for some reason I really fell in love with the company. I’ve always loved history, and after a year or two really just fell for them.
I worked in almost every department of the store, from marketing to commission sales to management, and I’ll tell you, I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world.
That being said, ever since the big “merger” in ‘05, the company seems to be cutting back on the employee base and the service is just terrible.
Its hard as a manager to put your neck on the line to try to keep people working hard for minimum wages. Its just difficult.
I read all these comments and it just breaks my heart that folks have these experiences all across the country with this company.
It just shouldn’t be that way. Period.
My suggestion, honestly, is to close about a quarter of each arm of SHC and take that money and hire people in who will want to work for decent wages.
I know it sounds difficult, but all the training they’ve stuffed down our throats the last few years just might stick if you give the employees the time and tools to WANT to help the company.
I’ll end by saying that I fell out of love last fall with Sears and finally moved on to another field of “didn’t finish my college degree”-style employment opportunities.
Like a girl you broke the heart of, there’s always going to be a little part of you that wants to see her doing well.
The few times I have set foot in a Sears store in recent years were not bad experiences. The salespeople were helpful and knowledgeable, and the inventory seemed to be fine. Sears’ biggest challenge is finding a way to stay on my mind - I seldom ever think about going to a Sears store. Home Depot, Target, Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, and other “big box” retailers immediately come to mind when I need to make a major purchase. Too bad, because when I was a kid in the 70s, Sears was THE place to go for just about everything. I recommend that Sears do something different than the competition, rather than try to be everthing to everbody the way they were years ago. As another poster said, retailing is not rocket science (I used to work in retail myself); what works well for the successful stores can work for Sears too - IF Sears gives customers a reason to come back and experience it. Unfortunately, if the company doesn’t do something drastic pretty soon to counteract the falling sales, it’ll be headed for the same fate as Montgomery Ward. Wake up, Sears management!
Latest news about Sears: “Sears Holdings Corp. plans to reorganize into several companies in another bid to pull the ailing 121-year-old retailer out the doldrums, according to a report published Saturday.
The restructuring could create separate units to manage Sears (SHLD, Fortune 500) real-estate holdings and run brands such as Diehard and Craftsman, the Wall Street Journal reported.”
Sounds like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Where is a plan to get back to basics, like the problem with customer service that has been demonstrated with post-after-post below? Even the spyware issue is still out there, clearly it has not been laid to rest by the Sears “Dear Customer” letter that was cited, as there are many posts below that bring it up.
Problem #1
I called Sears Home Repair to work on my A/C.
I paid with my Sears card. Due to a mistake in Sears billing department they were sending everything to an address I never had. Calling them on the phone did not get me any closer to being able to pay my bill.
Sears credit turned it over to a collection agency. I had to pay my bill through a collection company to get it paid off. That cost me an extra $140.
#2. The local contract Sears is run by a family who have no idea what business attire means.
“Pop” is a slob with a “T” shirt that does not cover his hairy belly. When asked to help with a service problem he says he’ll call but does not. I tried to get his help 3 times on a problem with my new refrigerator I bought there but no help from him. When you enter the store you’ll find him perched on a stool by the register.
#3. I bought a refrigerator from the Sears contractor store. It began making very loud knocking noises within weeks. Service came out and said there is nothing they can do since it did not make the noises while he was there. I recorded the noises as he asked but that was no good. He said he could not fix it. After several visits he quit coming out when scheduled. Calls to customer service ended up getting me directed to offices in California, Oklahoma and Illinois. Sears did extend our warranty by one year. We try to ignore the noise now.
I needed dish washers and ranges for 2 rentals. I bought them at Lowes. I had problems with one of the ranges, called Lowes and they came out quickly with a replacement range. Clean store, clean employees, everything happens as expected, very responsive service, follow-up calls from their customer service to find out if I am satisfied.
Sears is a dinosaur. Extinction is slow but sure.
Their Allstate cars and motorcycles were nice, back when Sears and Roebuck was a good company.
Thanks for the heads up. I`m going to cash any and all of the gift cards I have asap before they lock the doors of all Sears stores.
I tell you everyone sure likes beating up on Sears. Like Walmart the great company which has been fleecing America is so great. I have shopped at Sears for 25 Years and yes Sears has changed. Maybe not for the better in many ways but I still find what I need. Sometimes I wish they had more cashiers but if you ask and be patient you will get help. Every complains about Sears Credit but, When was the last time you where at Target and they asked you the same thing Sears does.” Want to Open a Target card today” Sounds just like every other retail which does the same thing. The top brass more then likely makes to much. Gold Sacs CEO just got paid some crazy bonus. You do not hear any complaining about why anyone should make that kind of money.
As a current Sears associate, let me chime in here with what I have read concerning customer service.
It does not exist anymore, anywhere.
Period.
Why? In an effort to cut costs, all retailers hire people who could care less what you buy or why- not much motivation to do so when you are being paid minimum wage.
I don’t agree with this at all. But I will say- Sears TRIES to be customer focused, but you all don’t realize how much Sears gets ripped off by customers. If anything, they should be less nice with customers, IMO.
Associates are always around and willing to help, and perhaps if the gentleman many posts down who reviews our stores department by department could learn how to spell ratchet and wrench, he wouldn’t have much trouble in stores…
Concerning another thing he said- if you are in the store when we close, and continue to loiter- that is nothing short of disrespectful and selfish. Of course you are not gonna get great service at that time! How would you feel if someone kept you from clocking out consistently? You’d be irritated as well!
Folks, I am mostly venting here, I am just tired of hearing how ‘bad’ Sears is. If it’s so bad- go join the 30 minute checkout lines at Wal-Mart, since they are SO much better…
Sears will go down. I used to buy alot of stuff at Sears. I redid my kitchen about 3 years ago with all of their appliances. BIG MISTAKE. I have nothing but problems with hald of them, numerous service calls. Sears does not have a customer service department and does not care about the customer after the sale. They are only there when you make the purchase. Once the sale is done, see ya. I went so far as to write a letter to this idiot who is the CEO. I did not even get a response. I vowed never to buy anything from Sears again. Their service is non-existent, their quality is gone and their stores will follow.
I HAVE BEEN SHOPPING AT SEARS SINCE THEY USED TO PUMP ANTI-FREEZE OUT A 55 GALLON DRUM INTO THE CUSTOMERS CONTAINER. IT IS SO SAD TO SEE THAT SEARS K-MART STORE IN WHITEHALL PA. WITH SO FEW CUSTOMERS.
Dear Customer,
We appreciate your feedback concerning the various news stories that have been published over the last week mentioning Sears Holdings and possible violations of customers’ privacy..
First, it has been claimed that myshccommunity.com was using spyware to obtain your information without your knowledge. We wanted you to know that not only are these allegations false, Sears has taken a number of steps to protect your privacy and wants to assure you that all information you may have shared with us remains confidential and safe.
Members joining My SHC Community through the website link or general email are not tracked. You can only become a tracked member of the My SHC Community if, as you are signing up to join, you receive an invitation from us to install the software. These invitations are generated randomly and, by design, only a small percentage of the Community has been invited to participate. Users are free to decline to participate in the tracking functionality and still be a member of the Community.
Second, it was reported that it is possible for users to obtain information about other customers concerning the type of appliances customers purchased, the brand of the appliance and if the customer maintained a protection agreement on the product when registered on http://www.managemyhome.com.
We wanted you to know that we take our customers’ privacy concerns very seriously. As a result, we have turned off the ability to view a customer’s purchase history on managemyhome.com until we can implement a validation process that will restrict access by unauthorized users.
The purchase history functionality was added to provide you with easy access to useful information about products you might have purchased from Sears. Customers told us that it was a helpful feature for working with the other tools and information available on the site.
We can’t stress strongly enough how committed Sears Holdings is to protecting our customers’ privacy.
Kevin L.
Manager
Sears Holdings Corporation
Kmart will not survive on part-time employees, poor merchandise instock and management that are too worried about thier own incentive bonus plans than the company as a whole. The stores are nasty, filthy. A friend of mine works at one and she says that management will not let them fix things such as broken toilets, leaking roofs and nasty 25 year old tile floors. Put some fulltime employees back in, put them on a commission pay scale and watch the monies start rolling in again for Kmart and Sears. Eddie Lampert and his cronies should be ashamed that they are not listening to their people in their stores. I pity the lowly Kmart workers who have no support from thier managers above store level.
I’ve had two very pleasent visits to Sears. One at Thanksgiving, very intentive saleperson with lots of people around who helped me find the tool on sale. Ended up buying more than I had planned on . That’s the purpose of sales right?
The next time was two weeks ago, I was looking for a glass top stove. Found one I liked at Best Buy @ $650. went to Lowes to compare, same stove # $600. Then went to Sears, same stove again @ $550. on sale with a $50 mail-in rebate. None at the warehouse so they sold me the one on the floor and gave another 5% off and 12 mo. no interest. They wapped it in plastic and loaded it in my SUV, neighbors helped me carry it in to the house. Both stores were clean and had everything I was looking for. Maybe people should chill out a little, all the major retailers are having trouble. Wall mart is looking more & more like a flea market and the quality of their stuff is quite low.
Any way Sears has been bad but I do think they are doing much better.
Sears decline started years ago when they stopped being Sears and changed to become just like all the other department stores. It seems as though they are deliberately running the business into bankruptcy. There may be some gain for the execs if they do that.
Their management is incompetent. When you buy a gift for someone online for someone who lives in another state they cannot even pick it up because the person picking it up needs the credit card. You buy something online and get a confirmation that it is ready to be picked up. When you travel to pick it up and after they search for 30 minutes they tell you they do not have the item. They lose sales and they lose customers. Is this any way to run a business?
Where does the buck stop? The executive management of Sears needs a complete overhaul. They missed the boat when they did not convert their catalogue operations into selling via the internet. Do you know anyone who received a $5 coupon for wating over 5
minutes at merchandise pickup? The downturn of Sears can be traced back to former CEO Brennan. The old time executives,before leaving the company raped the company and walked away with cash in hand. On top of that the morale of their employees seems to be at an all time high. No benefits means no productivity. There also does not seem to be any level of responsibility in their command structure. If there was accountability to responsibility wouldn’t they have shaken up their management? It seems all that happens is that they get rid of their employees, cut out benefits and cut operational costs. As a retailer they are defunct. They no longer have the acumen of a customer orientated businessman. Is Eddie Lampert, as a hedge fund manager. buying put options.
Is he hedging his portfolio? When it comes to Sears Holdings all investors need to hedge their investments. You too can make money on Sears Holdings as the stock price goes down, down,
and further down.
Your own fault. Everyone who OWNS STOCK is responsible for the deplorable condition of all services in the US. The execs are just trying to please YOU. It’s the new American dream: let me sit on my giant ass and get rich doing nothing. Now your neighbors (and maybe you)are losing their jobs and houses - AND YOU’RE STILL NOT RICH FROM THE STOCKS YET! What went wrong?! Ponder THAT for a minute.
I can’t tell you how times I’ve had to take off from work to have a tech come to my home to fix an appliance, only for the tech to turn up late or without the right part or without the training to fix the problem. I personally would be willing to pay extra for a service contract that guarantees excellent service! After reading all these comments, it appears others would do so as well!
Remember When?
I knew the focus on customer service had died at Sears when they removed the Candy/Snacks counter that used to prominently sit in the middle of an isle at a Sears store. I guess that was back in 1982 ~ 1985?
I bought an expensive vacuum cleaner for my daughter in December, 2006. I have yet to receive the $70 rebate for the online sale price. Even sent a letter to Hoffman Estates (Sears Holding Company) where customer service suggested I send my complaint…nothing! That company is a dinosaur…I will never step foot in there again!
maybee if the hedge fund managers who bought sears would take less “golden parachute” money and actually try to run the company instead of caring about their own stock otions that might help.!!!!???
the Bush administrations focus of approving trade agreement and reducing quality of goods hurts too.
Online Privacy’s Call to Arms
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2008/tc2008018_783080.htm?campaign_id=yhoo
I agree with Louisville. The trend is lean and mean. The store’s are getting lean, and the customers are getting mean. Walmart is the same way. I stop in for a few things but need to wait 30 minutes at one of the three open registers. Self-Check ? Forget it. Backed up with people hoping that scanning their own merchandise will give them a few extra minutes in their day. It doesn’t.
lol no one is trying to install spyware on your computers, if you are refering to the sears.com for my home data center tool. that has absolutely nothing to do with installing spyware hahaha it was a glitch in there system that allowed users to see what you paid for a stove etc and has since been tunred off…… someone needs to lay off the coffee ~~~ wait o look behind you is that the men in black aHHHHHH~~~
Well, I too am saddened to see that I am not the only one that has experienced wrotten customer service at a Sears store. I travel all over the continent for my employer, and I have visited stores in CA, NY, FL, SD, ND, WA, MA, OH, and several other states. All Sears stores, regardless of location, have one thing in common - poor/no customer service.
Examples:
* Walk into the Irving, Texas store and ask for an “inch pound torque wrench” (model 45281) in the tools department. The counter help there is principally hispanic teenagers that speak poor/no English. Two sales people tried to help, but kept wondering off. After thirty mins, and even asking for the store manager to help, I finally left, and purchased something from eBay. The store management never came to see what the problem was.
* Brand recognition. All men that I know think of one thing when you say, “Sears” - they immediately think of Craftsman tools. Why in the world would the management want to stock any other brand name other than Craftsman on their shelf? Get that KD, that SK, and that awful Challenger brand off the shelves! It only hurts Sears name and brand recognition when you stock other names in the tools department.
* Walk into the Columbus, OH store (just south of town) and ask for 3/4″ Wratchet Extension (model 4440) - the teenager behind the counter will give you that “deer in the headlights stare”. No one could figure out what I was asking for. Again, I left with my money in my pocket.
* Walk into one of the Seattle, WA stores, and notice the Washer/Dryer Sales People goofing around and tossing a toy football back and forth - during normal store hours!
* Electronics - universally, the electronics department in ANY Sears store is simply horrible. Example: try the Cambridge, MA Sears store - product wires on the floors, tables with returned electronics lying around, carpets dirty, and a sales person standing around watching TV. I would venture a guess that the Sears Electronics department for all stores have a high rate of product loss - theft, product destruction, etc.
* Shoe Departments - The Valley View store in North Dallas wont keep the shoe department clean. Why are all the shoes and their boxes on the floors instead of on the racks? Further, why do sales associates at this store refuse to help customers at the strike of 9PM? Is there some kind of company policy that states that at 9PM, registers close, and any customers trying to pay for murchandise are run out the doors with a pitchfork? I have had some of my most deplorable experiences at this store.
I have tried on several occasions to cancel my Sears card, starting back as early as 1994, but the Credit department wont close the account, even after writing three letters. Is there a policy that specifically states that an account can not be closed?
If Sears management wants to turn this sinking ship around, then: 1) get rid of the part time help; 2) ensure that all employees can clearly articulate colloquial English; 3) Clean up the stores - dont remodel them again - just clean them up - sweep the carpets, and polish the lenoleum - get rid of the ugly scuff marks, and replace the broken/torn tiles; 4) Implement training programs for each department - ensure that a tools sales person knows the difference between a wratchet and a socket, and that a clothes department sales person knows the difference between a sock and a shoe. 5) Strengthen the name - Sears still has Craftsman - push Craftsman, and get rid of the competition. Also - dont cheapen the Craftsman brand - doing that will destroy whats left of Sears.
Finally, get the Sears management to start shopping in WalMart. Teach the store managers that WalMart is their chief competitor. Teach them to notice the clean appearance of the typical WalMart store, how WalMart sales people (and ultimately all employees) will stop what they are doing and help a customer, and finally, that the various departments in a WalMart store are normally always kept clean - I never see shoe boxes and shoes lying around on the floor in ANY WalMart store that I visit anywhere in the USA.
The Sears Internet site is fast, but faulty - it does not reliably show product pictures when a product is selected.
Stop the sloppy/faulty work typical of disinterested contractors, and get caring loyal employees back into the ranks - if you dont, your a dead duck!
To the earlier posters.
1) Its not their inventory control, but how well they maintain the data within the system. And of course how well they maintain their systems. If you think that they’ve just cut people on the floor, think again.
Equate K-Sears with Montgomery Wards.
2. Spyware. Google Sears and Comstock and Spyware. You’ll see the articles. Seems that the only place Sears didn’t cut corners is at the top of the food chain but have instead hired incompetent idiots.
This article is right to the point. Last Sunday I went to Sears to buy a treadmill and found the most uninterested seller I have seen in my life. The experience was terrible, I told her I will never buy anything from Sears in my life. I am also going to spread the word of my experience to as many people as I can.
whoever on here said sears installing spyware NOT cookies DUH, needs to check THEIR facts first. sears DOES install spyware, see the link from CA, or DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH.
Sears deserves it. I closed out my elderly mother’s credit accounts, and Sears had the most predatory rates of any of them. I’m through with sears.
I loved KMart and shopped there until the NEW Corp started closing stores..yet the customer base could have been salvaged if the merchandise line had expanded on the lines that the store had always carried …instead it was in panic that KMart tried to imitate WalMart. It was the wrong imitation…no-one seemed to have checked to see who was switching to WalMart and why…we were given a poor imitation of a type of store many have found they don’t really like….too bad the old KMart is no longer here….please! don’t mention service, because it scarcely exists, with surly employees who forget where their paycheck comes from, and a hodge podged display system for the goods…WalMart has a better employee attitude AND much cleaner aisles and vital displays but shoddier goods with each passing day…I like Kmart brands and suffer myself to enter the store here to buy them, but only if the desirability of the item is greater than the stress of having to deal with the employees….since this is true in the cities of Huntsville, Birmingham and Auburn (in Alabama), I generalize this problem to other stores as well, and am angry that a corporate directive has not focussed on service. I have loyalty to businesses that treat me well, which means screening and TRAINING of employees, from store manager down to the shelf stocker!! SEARS TOO HAS FALLEN BUT MAINLY IN THE TYPES OF MERCHANDISE OFFERED AND SUFFICIENT FLOOR PERSONNEL….THEY NEED TO HAVE DONE SURVEYS OF MERCHANDISE SOURCES IN ANY SPECIFIC AREA AND TO TAILOR THE SEARS STORES’ PRODUCT LINES INDIVIDUALLY TO A LOCATION! ANY SEARS STORE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE LIKE EVERY OTHER.
I have a house full of Kenmore products.my yard tools and equipment all are Sears. I dont go to Sears anymore,they lost my trust. I found a penny inside my Die Hard battery after a Sears tech worked on my car. My son took his car to have it checked out before he drove 1500 miles on vacation. They pulled the vacuum hose off the back of his carburetor and
tried to sell him all sorts of services. Sears latest, that they are using spyware to monitor your personal information, is the straw that broke the camels back. I shredded my Sears Card, and will never have another. This once proud company is now acting like a bunch of crooks. They made their own bed, I hope bankruptcy looms in the future for them. Sears home repair, and parts stores are a total joke. You always see 7 or 8 people waiting for 1 or 2(if yourlucky) Sears employees. The next Sears product that breaks is going in the trash. I’m gone to Lowes or Home Depot.
To John in Queensbury, NY - the spyware issue from the Sears ‘MyCommunity’ site is being well documented and perhaps added to a class action suit against SHC for privacy issues. Do a google search on “sears mycommunity spyware” and you’ll see it.
I’ve provided a tinyurl link to the CA Security Advisor blog post that opened the issue.
Yes, I hate Sears. I used to love Sears for their Kenmore appliances. We spent thousands there, but whenever we ran into problems the customer services was subpar and the associates could care less. I hope Sears goes to hell b/c I can care less. They deserve to go down. Their crappy service and greed turned loyal customers like us to look elsewhere.
@John
Spyware means spyware - and the VERY WORST possible kind. Read for yourself…focus on the My Community method that Sears used to direct all users internet traffic, including secure sessions through ComScore as a proxy…scary stuff.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/01/searss_privacy_promises_broken_1.html?nav=rss_blog
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/01/class_action_suit_alleges_sear.html?nav=rss_blog
The last time I went to Sears in Phoenix was maybe 3-4 years ago. I tried to buy two pairs of jeans. I looked and looked and looked for a cashier or any help. No luck at all. So I just dropped the jeans and walked out, never to return. The last time I went to Kmart in Phoenix, the one lonely and overworked cashier had a very long line. Yeah blame the weather, blame housing slump, blame everyone EXCEPT MANAGEMENT.
Steve
over twenty years ago i had a sears credit account,paid it off and they closed my account.now they have the nerve to ask you when you purchase something mr so and so would you like to put this on your sears account.yea right,what sears account.i pay cash for my tools which is about all i buy from them.
I have noticed the few negative comments on here in regards to Sears is sadly what most ex-customers share.
They expect old school Sears to still be there, with tons of help everywhere. When customers started turning away from the Big Store, they had to change the way they do business as well, which includes minimal staff except in the departments that are absolutely neccessary.
That does not include clothing or shoe departments anymore. They assume you are perfectly capable of self-service, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering all stores are self-service now.
Don’t expect the service of Nordstrom in what has become the new Sears- a combination department/discount store.
Unfortunately, it seems that Sears in the U.S. is having a harder time than it is here in Canada. For the most part the service is better than the competition, reasonable prices and staff that have a positive persona and are helpful.
I do not know whether it is software or people who do know any better…
just one highlight: Sears sold me refrigerator, confirmed delivery did not show up called on the second day after the fact saying they do not have it. It took me weeks and numerous phone calls to get charge off my account.
They have more then software issues, not surprised about their poor results
Try and order somthing online from Sears. You get half of the order and when you call customer service they put you back on hold or just hang up on you. Great Customer Service !
I used to work at Sears back from May 04 to may 05, I learned a lot of things there early on in 04 but once the savior took over training had pretty much stopped in the store I was in. I still prefer to buy most of my stuff from them only because if you try and go to places like wal-mart to find something and want someone who knows where something is at, you need to walk around for 30 inutes looking for someone same with Lowes and Home depot is just a bunch of idiots. Target I must say is very knowlegable of what they do. But Kohls is also a good place to be shopping at. I wonder what ever happened to the good old days of when you had people in the stores to inform you of where to find the things you were looking for?
Sears Essentials was a bold attempt to compete with Target. Good concept, poor execution. Result - a muddled brand that can’t decide if it’s a Sears store with food or a gussied up KMart. Either one isn’t going to win against a Target store. Sears’ management really needs to get out to a Target store to see what really works. They also need to decide if they want to better serve their customer base. Part time help equals part time customer service - period. And they need to get their act together with their online shopping and billing. I will NEVER use Sears online again - they can’t keep their billing and prices straight.
When my father passed away Sears tried to sue his estate for an item that he returned a week before his death. The item was unopened and unused, and their computer system did not register that it was returned. It was a $4000.00 appliance. We had to deal with attorneys for months and a lot of grief on top of the family grief that we had anyway. My whole family is done with Sears.
The root of the problem is chasing for a quick profit by finanical engineering rather than the business itself - learn from Walmart or GE.
couple links on the spyware issue. also google it…
http://community.ca.com/blogs/securityadvisor/archive/2007/12/20/sears-com-join-the-community-get-spyware.aspx
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/03/sears_snoopware_disclosure/
4 years ago my father purchased an appliance from Sears for about $4000.00. He exchanged it for a different one and then unfortunately he passed away just before it was to be delivered. We returned it to the store and thought that everything was resolved, but then the worst of it occurred when Sears tried to sue my father’s estate for the cost of one of the appliances. Needless to say, they did not do their paperwork correctly and thought we still owed even after we returned the item. Sears attorneys insisted that we never returned the item. Because of their mistake they caused us so much grief during a very hard time for the family. Our whole family is done with Sears.
So sad to see an American retail icon falling into obscurity. When I was a kid, Sears was the place to get pretty much anything a middle-class family needed–the WalMart of the 60s and 70s.
Though we lived on an isolated farm in the upper plains, Sears–via phone ordering and free delivery to our local catalog outlet, was one of our primary sources for clothes, bedding, appliances, tools, toys, lawn and garden supplies, home electronics, camping equipment, and just about everything else our little town couldn’t offer.
In bigger towns a couple hours away, Sears was an actual retail center, filled with a vast selection of middle-range goods you could walk out the door with. To my Mom and Dad and every aunt and uncle I had, Sears was synonymous with middle-class achievement and “The Good Life,” indeed.
Now, Mom and Dad are gone and I’m the guy making many purchasing decisions for a family of four. A KMart store near our home in an older ring of urban development was recently converted to a Sears Grand–a kind of hybrid of clothing, toys, sporting, electronics, appliances, tools, drugstore, pantry items, paint, and bedding.
The merchandise and selection is all a cut above the old KMart, but my wife and kids have little interest in going there since a more stylish Target is about the same distance away.
Yes, I say, but Craftsman tools! Appliances! Custom-mix paint! Yard and Garden supplies! And all the same drugstore crap that Target has! But they remain unmoved.
I like going in a store that is so uncrowded and peaceful, wandering the well-stocked, uncrowded aisles and being offered help by multiple sales associates before I leave. It’s a pretty decent retail store–it somehow feels like Sears finally got the merchandise mix right, at least for our neighborhood.
But I fear for its future, because it has far fewer customers than stupid old KMart–in the same building!–ever did! A whole generation has come up not knowing anything about Sears. They can get a lawnmower or electric drill at Sears, true, but they can also get one at Home Depot nearby.
I feel the ghosts of my mom and dad, my aunts and uncles, wandering through the aisles of Sears Grand, admiring the selection and taking it home. I could not save my beloved relatives from the hand of time and the arrival of the Grim Reaper, and I fear that one sentimental man’s loyal visits to good old Sears cannot save her inevitable decline now, either.
To everything a season, and it appears that early winter is coming on for Sears.
Sears was my first job and my family
was loyal for generations. I still shop there, but the service terrible,
and I have had to refuse damaged goods
because of overseas shipping. K-mart is
even worse! They need to wake up. The
brand is suffering
“can you be more specific of what you mean by spyware?”
here is the citation for the spyware claim
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/1630203
Today I went into Sears to buy a good quality dial tire pressure gage. What they had was identical in look, feel, and fake chrome to a piece of junk that I had just returned to WalMart.
Sears used to have a real franchise in quality tools - I would automatically buy Sears. Now I look carefully before I buy. The next step is to not bother to look there at all.
Case in point—I went in to buy a lawn tractor 1 month ago. The store manager was much too busy helping a lady buy a $200.00 christmas tree to even look up and acknowledge that we were waiting. Went the next day to a small Sears store in the town next to me. The last tractor they had was sitting outside ready to be sold. When I asked when they could deliver I was informed that “oh we don’t deliver”. When I asked just how he thought we could get this home he decidedd to ask the manager. He came back and said that there must have been a “mis communication” and that in fact they could deliver this item in two days. We were instructed to go inside to another saleman who would know how to fill in the sales order and after asking this manager again about delivery we were told that they could not deliver the tractor in to days to my house 3 miles away—but that the tractor would have to go from this store to a warehouse about forty miles away and then delivered back to me but that would take two weeks! We told the sale guy who was missing some teeth that we were not interested. The manager, knowing this was the last tractor in inventory had the machine on sale but didn’t even come out of his office to try and accomodate us. We have been buying all of our appliances at Sears for over 35 years and have decided that we will take our shopping elseware.
The greed on Wall Street is front and center and I take offence to it.
Sears/K-Mart just will never get it. Our local stores are disgustingly dirty and disorganized. The price better be good just for me to enter the parking lot.
I am a current employee of Sears and I have seen the company on a decline since Kmart. One of the biggest problem is like Dale of Los Angels said not keeping old and experience employees. I have seen several experience employees leave Sears and go to Home Depot, Lowes, and WalMart because of pay. The majority of the time the pay is as small .50 cents more a hour. It doesn’t make any since to loose a trained employee for .50 cents a hour. The leadership at Sears are focus more on extended warrantees; than the product. I have been told countless time the warranty is more important to the store. I have 9 yrs with the company and I just put my two week notice in. I care for Sears but poor leadership is killing the company. I can’t work for a company that puts its employees and customers second and third to warrantees.
I was a big Sears customer but in the last year I have only been in the store once and it discouraged me from coming back. There are no clerks on the floor to ring up sales and to keep the sales floor presentable. The store in my area has devoted 1/2 of it’s clothing sales floor to Lands end but the land’s end products never go on sale and the customers who usually shop from the Land’s end catalog are not the customers who buy clothes at Sears. Instead of catering to their loyal, longtime core customers they are catering to a customer who does not shop for clothing at Sears. The rest of the clothing departments resemble a thrift shop. The merchandise is crammed into a small space, the merchandise is poorly or not displayed at all. In contrast the Land’s end boutique in the store resembles a department from Nordstrom with woodgrain shelving, carpeted floors, beautiful displays. The management is making a mistake by slighting their loyal core customers in favor of the Land’s end customer who never shops at Sears
Enter My SHC Community SPYWARE into any search engine, and you will see that they rape you blind. Not just sears content either. All your internet activity is monitored.
That being said, I just returned product in the store on Saturday, at 10am. Not an associate to be found for over 30 minutes. The one person I did find at ~30 minutes said “I can’t help you” and walked off.
At ~45 minutes, and being the first in line, an associate finally showed up… there were eight people in line. Even at that windfall, the associate was a waste of flesh.
Finding employees hasn’t been a problem at my local Sears location, but forget trying to figure out if an item is in stock, several items are not available for pick-up at the store and must be delivered along with a hefty delivery charge, instead of having it shipped to the store to be picked up, there are lessons to be learned from Wal-Marts free site to store service.
As a former employee, I was continually frustrated by the antiquated infrastructure. Old computers that won’t support sears.com, or give accurate delivery times during peak traffic times drives away lots of buyers during busy sales days, reducing store revenue.
I was a loyal customer of Sears for many years as well. You can basically find all your needs there. However, I have had so many negative encounters with their customer service and sales reps that I vowed to never again shop at Sears. I have never been more dissatisfied with a department store. I guess the universe tends to unfold as it should!
The media is making blood sport of Eddie Lampert and taking cheap pot shots, but not much more than that.
Why not look at a couple of basic facts such as that Sears has a stronger balance sheet than almost any retailer out there, ie more cash, less debt, etc?
How about the fact that Sear’s 3.5% SSS drop is much better than Kohls 11%, JCP 6% or Targets 5%.
It would seem to me that Eddie has taken a money losing operation, made it profitable while cutting back debt & shares, and perhaps even starting to close the gap on companies like Macys, Bonton and many others.
Food for thought.
Don’t put all of Sears woes on Mr Lampert It started before under the mis-management of Ed Brennan who spent 1 Billion on the failed store of the future.Management was told “we no longer need inovators we want implementors” Mr Lampert needs to re-hire a team of inovators
Retail isn’t rocket science and if the executive ‘talent’ can’t figure out how to get more than one cashier working the check outs when the line is 15 customers deep, it’s time to give the execs. their 3-4 times comp. & bonuses as severance for their ‘leadership’ in running the company in to the ground. Hopefully they’ll take their severance and retire and not end up somewhere else to run another company in to the ground.
The rank and file can get equal low paying jobs at other retailers. It’s not as if they will lose their pension (gone a long time ago), retiree health care (long gone) or other valuable benefits.
Just shoot Sears Holdings and put it, and us, out of our misery.
Their internet site Sears.com is the absolute worst. I bought appliances online and they first could not deliver what we ordered. Their systems are always “down” when you call trying to find out what the hell is going on with your order. According to their customer support, there is no manager to talk to. When you cancel your order, they take a month to credit you back. They are a complete disaster. With more and more business moving to the internet, I predict they will fail as a business very soon.
Having had the misfortune of patronizing Sears’ White Plains store, I cannot disagree that they are neglecting the “store” (pun intended) and focusing on financial gymnastics. It is impossible to find an employee not on break who speaks anything other than broken English. The employees do not know where major departments such as appliances or underwear are located.
Shopping at Sears has become an exercise in total frustration, which is why, in my opinion, their sales are declining.
There was a time when Sears stood behind their product and repaired or replaced what they sold. Now the repair centers are regionalized. If I take a product in for service it its sent to another state for repair. Thus the promised date is at minimum two weeks from drop off. Even worse is the competence of those doing the repair. After keeping a generator two months it was returned in such poor shape that the motor had to be replaced. A lawn mover left for a tune up was returned to the repair facility leaking oil with a plastic bag around the motor. And yes they tried to return it to me just like that! Between the lousy customer service, deminished product quality, and incompetent repair service it is just better to purchase elsewhere. It’s sad because Sears was once a great company.
john,
to answer your question about spyware:
goto http://www.myshccommunity.com/Home.aspx
join and install their software. you’ll find out what jim meant about spyware from sears mycommunity.
Providing customer service is the key to turning Sears around. I’ve purchased everything from a sewing machine to a lawn mower and there is always a hassle.
I have stopped buying clothes at Sears for numerous reasons–the dressing room is dirty and run down with broken/missing doorknobs and no climate control, the Lands End selection is never replenished, and sale prices do not ring up correctly in the register. It all adds up to a dismal shopping experience.
I haven’t shopped at Sears for years. It seemes that there are too many other stores which offer the same, or better, merchandise and everyone has their deep discount/”one day” only sales. I did buy my washer & dryer there and experienced excellent cusotmer service when I had delivery problems (they had dented the washer and the dryer had an electrical problem-they delivered a new washer and upgraded the dryer to the next model up). However, there was nothing about the rest of the store which excited my interest or drew me in.
Sears USED to be the place to go to get things…but now that walmart is national there’s not that much of a real reason to go to sears.
What I see is departments chunked together that could probably be sold off to other chains. No one I know of needs say tools, a tv, an eye exam and their taxes done.
Shopping is no longer a “browsing” experience. People have the internet and can find out REAL information on products rather than the conflict of interest from a salesman/women. People know what they are going to get and they get what they want and leave.
Sears needs to get down to the basics of good customer service to once again dominate the market. A recent experience with the Auto Center for a warranty tire concern (not Sears fault) left me concerned since I knew more than the “expert” behind the counter and was showing him how to handle the problem. It was handled to my satisfaction, but I was left with the feeling that the sales person was ill trained to handle my problem. This is an area that really needs to be addressed. I love my craftsman tools and can get lost in the hardware and tools section for hours, but the sales department needs help with basic customer skills.
I could list horror stories from the tool department of my local Sears store that read like a comedy of errors. But i won’t bore you since you probably have experienced some of them yourselves.
Sears is a prime example of old-school inflexibility that will spell its doom unless things change.
I was looking for luggage to give as a Christmas gift and went to Sears. I could not believe the cheap junk they were trying to sell. It was pathetic. Another iconic American brand that has gone down the drain
I used to enjoy going to Sears. I stopped a few years ago when there weren’t enough people to check you out of the store. What’s the point of going in when you can’t get out? I see this in a lot of other retailers as well. They’ll likely end up the same way.
The real problem is that these companies are run by quick buck artists who don’t know how to run a a company. Only dress it up to flip it to someone else.
Sears lost me as a customer when I brought my car in for its annual inspection. The car failed and I asked the Sears car department to fix the car. When I returned I had a bill for the repairs along with a new sticker stating I had flunked the reinspection.
It all comes down to the customer. They have no idea what service is. They advertise you to death, but that is not service. Their help is down-right rude, unprofessional, and unhelpful. I have some broken Craftsman tools and I won’t take them back, because I dread even setting foot in the place. Come to think of it, I never will again, no matter what they do. They treat the customer like garbage. I predict the stock will fall like a rock, the same as Ford. Do we see a pattern here? It will be a joyous day when companies like these two get bought out or go under.
I used to be able to buy craftsman handtools and know they were made in USA and of good quality. I can no longer do that. Even their “Craftsman Professional” brand has made in China crap tools in it. I was about to buy some pliers before I realized that they were Chinese. If I want to buy Cheap China crap, I’ll go to WalMart or Costco. I made a trip to sears to buy quality tools you dumbasses! You will never be able to compete at the low end , your only hope is to maintain your integrity at the high end.
Don’t bother with Sears Auto for tires- you’ll be lucky if they can work on your car in less than 4 hours, and if they do, you will probably need more parts than you knew you had:
Check: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/sears_tire.html
It’s hard to buy anything in the stores, too- no one around that knows anything.
The atmosphere in the stores is horrible, the morale is down, cost cutting customer service is not the answer. What we realized 3 years ago is finally coming to fruition…you can’t just talk about customer service, you have to provide it, with cashiers, sales help, and support. We are so bogged down with tasks it is not even funny! What they don’t realize is that without customers, the tasks are for nothing, kind of like the management that runs the company. It’s time for the flowery speaches to stop and bring in people who understand how to run a retail organization, otherwise get out and let someone else run it.
I agree that the cost cutting has hit. I’m a huge Lands End fan, owned by Sears. I went to purchase large cotton T-shirts at Sears… sold out in fact they still had shorts and summer apparel, no winter apparel. This was in October when most retailers had their winter apparel on the shelves. Leave Lands End alone, take the brand out of the stores before they screw them up too!!!
It’s sad to Sears possibly go the way of Gimbels or Woolworths. I have always bought Sears Craftman tools for over 20 years. Recently I have not set foot in one of their storesint a while. They are beset by not having the merchandise in stock and then you have to run the gauntlet of surly employees who don’t care anymore. It took my local store 3 months to get some of the 100ft black craftsmen hose in stock. Totally unnaceptable!
They need to clear out the upper management that keeps pinching pennies and get back to basics. And also can those lousy employees, they run off customers also.
Unless Sears updates it’s 25 year old inventory software they will never be able to provide good customer service. They couldn’t run catalog because they couldn’t tell if they had inventory and now they are using the same software to sell over the internet. Merchandise is never where they think it is.
Sears lost me as a customer starting about 15 years ago with decaying customer service. Agree with Jo Anna in Houston…I wanted to buy high $$$ stuff at Northridge CA store. No sales associates at check-out counter so I would leave without buying…Sears Leadership: Your chickens have come home to roost and I’m glad…I was once a very loyal customer (I loved Craftsman tools and would heavily spend), but your (stupid) short sighted cost cutting policies of getting rid of experienced higher paid older employees didn’t pay off in the long run, now did it???
can you be more specific of what you mean by spyware? technically a ‘cookie’ could be considered spyware, and there are few sites out there that don’t install cookies. is this something that you discovered for yourself or did you hear it from someone and are now trying to report it as fact? personally I don’t know about this, true or not, but I hate ‘me too’ style comments with no supporting information or facts that could be checked into by others.
I’m not surprised that Sears is in trouble. Four years ago it was my #1 choice for clothing - now Iwon’t go in the store. The mechandise is tangled, the dressing room is across the store instead of being in each department, and you struggle to find a cashier - forget about finding help on the floor!
Throw into the mix that they are trying to install spyware on users computers via their myCommunity program.
The only extended warranty we ever bought is for a Sears snowblower. When the friction plate broke, my husband called for a tech and told the scheduler to have him bring a replacement friction plate. That tech’s truck ended up in a snowbank. The tech the next day had no part but ordered one. The wrong part was then sent from their parts division in Dallas. The scheduler said they would re-order. Next day the tech called and said he’d put through an emergency part order. He’s due back tomorrow morning but no part ever arrived last week.
I’ll probably end up contacting the Better Business Bureau & Wisconsin Trade & Consumer Protection and try to get our warranty payment back. When I was a kid, Sears was a fine company. Now it’s really pathetic. If it folds, so be it.