Sears sucks

[underpants]

I have a family member who is retired from Sears. That line "Sears sucks" in "Bull Durham" always cracked him up. Really his retirement and health plan is pretty outstanding.

Anyway our dryer needs a service call. It's still under warranty. We bought it for 70% off at a store closing last year.

First I call the only number I could find on the receipt and could barely understand the person's I talked to. Actually I called the delivery number first and they gave me the number to service but they had the last number wrong. When I called the wrong number it was something called "The MENS room" which I'm pretty sure is a sex chat line or something.

When I finally made the appointment the first available date was August 27th. 2 1/2 weeks from now!??!!? Wow.

[unblock]

1. you called a sex chat line, but it was all sears' fault. mm hmm. ok. i believe you.

[Wounded Bear]

3. I think you may have missed the most important part of his post...

[unblock]

4. the sex chat line was not the most important part?

whaaa?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

23. The important part: a sex chat line, and can't get an appointment ...

... for two and a half weeks? That's gotta hurt!

[underpants]

29. Hey!

It was one number off. The repeated the number back to the first person I spoke to and they said it ended with a 6.

"This call will cost between 99 cents and $4.99 per minute..."
Me: Jesus Sears is going to charge me for the call?
"Welcome to THE MENS ROOM where men can meet and talk..."
Me, ending the call as fast as possible.

I googled it and saw that she gave me the wrong number. No, I swear!

[MineralMan]

2. The store closing should have been your first clue, I think.

Sears is on its way out, and has been for some time. You may have to bite the bullet and call an appliance repair outfit to come in and fix your dryer. You'll have to pay for the repair, of course, but the option is to wait for the warranty service until someone shows up, and who knows how long that will take?

Warranty and repair services are cost centers for companies. So, when the companies are failing, that's the first place they look to cut costs. Why would they care? They know they're failing, so long-term customer satisfaction is of no concern to them any longer. Sears sucks. That's why.

[hlthe2b]

5. I'm really sad to see Sears fold, but it seems to be a given...n/t

[MineralMan]

7. Sears did not have to fail. It missed chance after chance to hold onto

it's place in the retail industry. It made terrible decisions at several points in its recent history, and now is doomed. There is no way, now, for it to recover, unfortunately.

I've been following the Sears story since its founding in the 1890s. I have catalogs for every decade from 1897 right up to the last big catalog it issues. It's the history of modern retailing in this country.

Sears' first mistake was to try to move into brick and mortar stores everywhere, while still doing business by catalog. Its second mistake was to drop the catalog in favor of the brick and mortar operations, right at the time that Walmart, Target and other stores were taking off. It's final mistake was to ignore the Internet.

Amazon has won the retail war. There's no going backward. Sears is done. Completely done. It's model no longer exists as a viable business model.

[Submariner]

12. Is Craftsman hand tool quality and lifetime warranty still a thing?

As high school kids crawling under the hoods of our Dad's 1960s era Chevy and Ford, having a Craftsman ratchet and socket set and a bunch of open end/box end wrenches was a big deal.

I mostly see Snap-On trucks around nowadays.

[MineralMan]

14. Well, pretty much all of the tool companies are shifting

manufacturing to China. Craftsman tools were always good, sturdy tools. They also were built heavy and strong, so they lasted well. Many auto mechanics, however, preferred the Snap-On and Proto brands for their lighter, thinner construction. They also had lifetime warranties. Craftsman tools were the favorites of people who were serious about their hobbies. Pros, not as much, although many professional mechanics did use them.

[underpants]

25. As I posted below Sears sold Craftsman last year

To Stanley Black and Decker. They are now available at Lowe's which means even less foot traffic at Sears.

[MineralMan]

27. Yes, well, the brand had degraded a great deal by then.

I wouldn't buy Craftsman hand tools these days, frankly. Fortunately, I have a full tool box, and am now 73 years old. I will not need any more tools.

[underpants]

24. Sears sold Craftsman last year to Stanley Black and Decker

which has put them in Lowe's.

[redstatebluegirl]

15. We gave up on our warranty on our Kenmore fridge.

I called a local guy who fixed it for $50. My guess is Sears would have said the warranty was bad and it would have cost me $150.

[MineralMan]

16. Yes. Problems with refrigerators are either cheap to repair

or not worth the cost. If a simple part replacement can fix it, that's good. Otherwise, it's time to junk it and get a new one.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

6. What i wouldn't do for a milieu where Sears and Pennys was alive and well, and

I could once again watch kids make a Christmas LIST from flipping it's pages.

[Iggo]

22. Yeah, I'd like to be ten years old again, too.

[underpants]

26. Circling items and folding over the corner of the page

My brother and I every year. Never got the Evil Knievel bike though.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

35. Omg. Years of memories.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

8. Sears is going out of business so slowly it's like they're trying to make it look like an accident.

[samnsara]

9. Same thing happened to me! Bought a StainlessSteel fridge from sears..french doors the whole thing..

..bought it only 5 years ago then one day it just quit. I called Sears...THREE WEEKS OUT they can come see what needs to be replaced and then ordered. OH HELL NO! The one thing that really gets me is when appliances or electronics dont do what they promise to do (like work!)

So I went to Lowes and bought a new Samsung Black Stainless fridge with the Family Hub, internet, tv, all the bells and whistles. Cost almost 3 times what my SS fridge was in bought from Sears.... but I LOVE it!

[kimbutgar]

17. My last sears kenmore refrigerator's inside lighted burned and melted down

Only had it 4 years. Went to Best Buy and brought a Samsung which was delivered within 3 days. But I did buy a stove 2 years ago which is ok but shuts down if I have 3 burners and the oven on. Have to pull it out and plug it back in.

Was in sears yesterday looking for a replacement doorbell. The place was like a ghost town. This will be their last year in business.

[mercuryblues]

20. have you tried to

flip the lever in your fuse box, instead? It would beat having to pull the stove out.

[mikeysnot]

10. When the time comes I will write

about my experience from the inside to what happened to sears.

It starts with Ayn Rand and ends with vulture capitalist Eddie.

Critics were writing about the downfall of Sears as far back as 1989.

The last Chicago Sears store closed last month. Every appliance in my house was bought there along with 60-80% of my tools.

[lunasun]

30. One night our family was the only shoppers on the floor we were on in a Chicago sears store

And that was on a Friday night (payday) and quite a few years ago but memorable .....
Knew then the future
Locally I think they still have appliance outlets in the burbs and a Garfield ridge store or maybe that's gone too not exactly looking for them because the last time I went in one it resembled a warehouse clothing lots store imo ( shades of how Kmart can inventory when closing)
If I want to sift through random items I'll go to a thrift shop
Please do post when u can tell

[mikeysnot]

32. Waiting for things to change

I have been writing it in my head for 20 years now.

[lunasun]

34. Sorry you know you are just waiting on it . I was being layed off for five years before it happened

Just knew it but not when . Hope to catch the post when it comes online
Headquarters Illinois not just stores

[mikeysnot]

37. HQ is a ghost town....

[lunasun]

38. Last one gone - please Turn out the lights . Sad for Illinois/ Chicago in a way . Sears's Tower and

all that history here
and the big HQ in HE .
I have a friend at discover card hq they split long ago from sears & that campus still has a lot of activity n suburbs . Wonder who will take that ghost town once the Sears hq lights are off.

Do remaining store folk still get commission ? That vacuum In the aisles hard to sell now I bet
all sad

Pls report when you can maybe in Illinois forum too ?

[Thunderbeast]

11. Very busy time for repair techs

I have a fridge that is failing. I was given a two week appointment by a local independent shop. Hot summers are bad for refrigerators on the edge.

[underpants]

28. I figured that since it was a warranty call that moved me back on the list too

That's pure cost to them.

Oh the guy I talked to made it very clear - if the problem is lint in the vent it'll cost me $79. If it's the dryer itself (it is - I checked the lint trap and vent) it's covered.

[CentralMass]

13. Well this is ancient history but in 1986 I bought a Sears Kenmore heavy duty washing machine

It survived 3 active kids and outlasted my marriage of 30 years.
It never required a repair except when i dropped something heavy on the selector knob and broke it. I went to the Sears part store to get a replacement and the new knob was actually better (all metal) then the original one. The washer stayed with the house when we sold it in 2016.

[sarcasmo]

18. With the downfall of Sears I think you're lucky even getting a service date.

[safeinOhio]

19. Don't know if they would honor warnity

But Kenmores are made by Whirlpool You might one of their repair men(or women).

[ooky]

21. I never forgot the riding mower and home service contract I bought from them.

A wheel mount casting broke in the first month I had it. Just crumbled into sand. It was at least a dozen calls and two and half months before they showed up to fix it. That ended my association with Sears forever. Absolutely the most horrendous customer service I have ever experienced anywhere.

Sears does suck.

[Doreen]

31. K-mart in Olympia Washington went out years ago.

Sears in Olympia went out about six months ago along with the K-mart and sears in Centralia and Chehalis. I miss them both. Sears was not doing bad and people shopped there because they had better quality than Walmart. K-mart on the other hand was going down years ago. I still shopped there instead of Walmart. I hate and loath Walmart.

[crazycatlady]

39. I think when the Sears stores close has to do with terms of their leases

Mine's closing pretty soon. The K-marts are still around. I won't miss them as they're always a dump.

[sl8]

33. Are executives that are foolish enough to still shop there known as Sears sucker suits? n/t

[ProudLib72]

36. So what was that number you called again?

I got a print out of Don Jr's phone calls over the last month. Gonna do a little comparing...