How Sears Lost My Business

It looks like their math is bad as well.

594.99 + 10.00 + 49.08 != 719.08

Yeah, isn't that special?

A few months ago I ordered a new washer and dryer from Costco.com. Got a great deal, free delivery, and the delivery guys showed up on time and hooked everything up for me just like the website said they would. If you're ever in the market again, give Costco a shot.

Ah, damnit! I never even *thought* of Costco.

Maybe I should just ask on my blog *before* buying next time? :-)

Yeah, +1 for Costco. I purchased my fridge from them and was going back for a washer and dryer, but a local dealer (Judd and Black) were having their 67th year anniversary (a.k.a. we need a sale to push business). I almost purchased there but the sales guy told me to wait a week till the Judd and Black home show. I could get another 200 off the price. Its nice to meet a sales guy that is actually looking out for your best interests.

we had good luck with getting appliances (washer, dryer, fridge) from home depot.

Don't go for the Sears credit card either. I made that mistake once, and even after it was paid off, they kept sending me invoices for $0.00 and tacking on monthly late fees, putting marks on my credit report, etc. Took lots of hassle to resolve.

I think their computer system dates to the Soviet era. -m

I can read your entire address, both phone numbers and all the parts of your credit card details which you have really *not* edited out properly.

slightly "smudged" Gmap point to underline my point.

I've done my share of big-brand retail e-commerce consulting. Anyone familiar with large-scale web 2.0 / SOA architectures would be surprised how badly integrated older systems tend to be. If a company hasn't successfully refactored their whole commerce / supply chain system, the couplings tend to be very loose and very error prone.

Don't blame the software -- Sears is *not* better offline.

Coincidentally, I happen to be in the middle of an interesting "delivery" issue with a dryer my landlord ordered. A week and five calls with Sears later, I still do not have the dryer. The calls, in order, were: delivery confirmation, delivery cancellation due to backorder, backorder resolved, request for new date, and finally, calling to find out that the dryer was now scheduled for November...

So, I cancelled the order, but my landlord went down to the store again and they managed to convince him that the November information was wrong and they have had it in stock the whole time. *sigh*

Okay, done complaining. I never liked doing laundry anyway /:0)

John: Cool!

Luckily my address is already a matter of public record, thanks to the FAA.

I'm surprised how many times I have called the customer service of large companies and heard the customer service rep say their "computer is slow today."

I wonder if they're just making excuses, or has the company really not upgraded their computer system in 10 years??

I admire your willingness to make major purchases via the web, site unseen.

I'm older than you, but, honestly wouldn't consider parting with my hard-earned cash for a major appliance without seeing it, in person.

The other factor with appliances is service. Even though it's "Sears", will the local store service the appliance? I bought my appliances from a local store with a service dept. They've come out to fix things when needed, and always been quick to respond - specifically because I bought the appliances, there.

Sorry, how-sears-lost-my-business.png seems to be broken, can you please fix it? :)

Your order was viewed as fraudulent, and since the merchant has to pay the full costs for orders that turn out to be fraudulent, they cancelled.

It sounds harsh, but with the credit card companies unwilling to do proper validation of cards, and with all fraud costs dumped onto the online merchants it makes sense to cancel iffy orders.

On the last system I used, you scored badly for things like, IP address not matching geolocation of order. IP address previously used in fraudulent order etc.. Score too highly and the order gets cancelled. It was the difference between a 7% fraud rate and a 0.7% fraud rate.

Remember that even if you are who you say you are, if you turn around and say 'I didn't order that', immediately the money will be taken from Sears, together with an extra handling fee, typically $20 or so. The credit card company does no investigations, they simply take the money back and demand a signed slip from the merchant. Since online sales have no signed slip, the credit card company knows the merchant will never get that money and that's the end of the story for them.

"What is this, 1997 or 2007?!"
It's the credit card company fault. They could give their customers a validation token or similar device, but they don't want to, and as long as they don't pick up the bill, they never will.
I think the only thing they've done is a pin number (voluntary) in a website which is worse than useless.

They whine about 'identity theft' but it's just an excuse not to fix their card validation problem.

I have lots of reasons to not do business with Sears, especially in there automobile shop.

A couple years ago my van battery went dead overnight and I had to jumper the vehicle to get it started. In choosing the battery and price I wanted they said there would be a battery test fee of, I think, $17.50 as part of the costs. I told them to not test the battery then, that is was old and dead and wouldn't take a charge. They said that some "program" they had at that time required the test fee whether I wanted it or not. So with my van in their shop, not running, I didn't have time to argue and told they to go ahead. This, and a few other weird situations with Sears auto service, has led me to not consider their "service."

It may be the CC company's fault, but that doesn't absolve Sears of poor customer service--they should have contacted me, not left me hanging!

I had a similar experience with Budget truck rentals. I rented a truck online and when I went to the office to pick it up I found out that the branch office had closed a week earlier! And I rented it online three days earlier (after the branch office had been closed).

Some companies just don't get this whole internet thing...

Problems with a washer ordered through Sears? Been there, done that. http://tinyurl.com/38a6vn

Whether the problem originated with a credit card company or not, somebody could have picked up a phone to solve the problem. (Sears or the credit card company.) With my order, literally within five minutes of my placing the order with Sears, my credit card company's fraud prevention called to verify that the order was genuine. (I'm not sure how many fake orders for appliances are shipped to a card holder's billing address, but....)

The message I would personally draw from, "We had a problem with your order so we canceled it" is, "We don't want your business."

"It may be the CC company's fault, but that doesn't absolve Sears of poor customer service--they should have contacted me, not left me hanging!"

And who are you? The contact details for you are the ones *you* gave in the order they now view as fraudulent. They don't have access to the contact details the credit card company has, and the credit card companies check of the card number does not validate the card address or telephone number (yes seriously they don't even validate the address).

They also don't know why it was rejected, you score an -8 say, and they don't know if you're a Russian hacker with stolen credit cards, or someone whose signed up for 50 credit cards and is going out in a blaze of debt glory. All they know is the credit check companies software (they usually buy this service in from various third party insurers) says too risky to sell to.

There is no fix for this for Sears, they don't know what to ask you even if they rang you on the number you gave (which they can't validate).

It really is 100% the fault of the credit card companies. They refuse to validate the card details in a way that makes them liable for the reverse charge.

Shopping sears.com is a horrible horrible experience and I will never do it again.

I hang out on the avsforum(s) and was ready to buy a LCD HDTV. Sears had this vizio model that had been getting great price/quality reviews and it was on sale for $100 off, plus if you signed up for the website email list, aka spam you weekly offers list, you could get 15% off any purchase.

So I went ahead and did the order but I was told over the phone, as I hadnt gotten the info for the 15% yet mailed to me, that they would credit it back to me after the fact.

This process went on for almost 4 weeks. Calling various reps, trying to get the $165 credit back to my debit card, everyone telling me they "did it", "its processing", "it may take 3-5 days", this went on for weeks.

That was when their computer service was even working, as half the time their systems were down.

Finally some wiz on their staff realized as it was a online/phone order, but a instore pickup, that I would have to be credited via the store, and not the website.

I call the store, they have no record of the purchase anywhere and arent sure what to do... wonderful...

thankfully the assit manager called me back a few hours later stating he figured it out, and that within days my credit would show up.... phewwwww

what a hassle, never again.

Yet another person screwed by Sears... I have a years-long litany of reasons to avoid them: from cars as mentioned by a previous commenter, to appliances and appliance repair, to being ignored by in-store associates doing paperwork instead of helping me. The lesson learned is to simply stay away from them, it's a waste of time and money.

I'm done with them. Kmart is similarly tainted now, I'm simply hoping they will go chapter 7 and let someone else use their real estate for more productive purposes. Too bad, because the Craftsman brand has been pretty good for me.

Got my washer from Sears few years ago, the timer was broken right after the warranty, paid $200+ to fix it, and the first technician didn't do his job right. Not worth the trouble.

I bought a wall A/C from Sears about 18 months ago. I was quoted an "approximate" $99.99 installation charge. Once I got the unit, I called both Sears recommended installers and was told $219.99. Quite a bit more than $99.99.

I spent 45 minutes on the phone with Sears and they credited me $75 for the difference. Wrote a nasty letter to a VP but never heard back.

On Sept. 14, I ordered the Vintage Estate 3-in-1 Sleigh Crib from SEARS.COM for my baby who is due Dec. 9. The order was scheduled as a store pick up for Sept. 21, the day came for me to pick up the crib but I never received an e-mail conformation, so I called the store, they checked their computer and said that the order had been canceled. I never canceled that order, so apparently there was something wrong in the system or something. So I call Sears.com, the customer service rep. said that my order was stuck in processing, and that I would have to cancel and reorder. I didn't want to go through the hassle so I told her that I just wanted my money back. So she completely canceled the order, and told me that my money would be put back on my bank account in 3-5 business days. 3-5 business go buy (Sept. 28) and I didn't receive my money, so I call, speak to another CSR, she said, the cancellation didn't go through, so she made another cancellation. I wait another 3-5 business days (Oct. 5), and NOTHING, so I call again, spoke to a different CSR, once again, she told me that it takes 5-7 business days for my money to be put into my account, that's B.S., but I wait another 2 days just to see if does get put back, and NOTHING!!!! At this point I'm so pissed, so I call again Oct. 10, and demand to speak to a supervisor or someone of higher authority who may be able to do a little more than a CSR may be able to do. So the supposed supervisor that I speak with said she will be able to override any other cancellation requests made and the problem will be fixed but I will have to wait another 3-5 business days before I get my money, so I say okay, fine, I'll wait. Oct. 17, TODAY, no money. So, today I called and was told that they can't help at this time because their computer systems are down. How in the world is all of SEARS.COM down!?! The CSR says to call back in 45 min.-1 hr., okay. But I'm so mad right now, I don't care if their computer systems are down, there is someone there that can assist me in someway. So I call right back and yet again, demand to speak to a supervisor, or their supervisor's supervisor, ANYONE that will be able to help me!, so I speak to a lady named Kelly who gets my order number and says she will be able to override everything get me my money back, THE SAME THING THE OTHER SUPERVISOR SAID!!, except Kelly says that it will only take 2-4 business days to get my money back,....whatever....fine, so I ask for her direct # and her manager's #. What else can I do but wait, I don't know who else to speak to, or what steps to take...I feel like I'm working harder than they are to get my little $202 back, it can't be that challenging for Sears to credit my money back.

Tiffani like I noted in my post you may want to get a hold of the store where you were supposed to pick up the item.

It seems its something weird about their system, and web orders picked up needed to charged back instore. Id calling them and at least give it a shot. Took me a month to get my refund, but they did it in a couple hours, and it posted to my bank in a few days.

I have usually had good luck with Sears; however I have never used their online "service". I go to the store location to do my business.

Thanks for the heads up on this!

Yeah Sears really dropped the ball on this one. If the credit card company thought the sale was fraudulent and declined the transaction, Sears should have told you that and your credit card company should have contacted you as well.

I just went through something similar with Staples. Visa flagged the sale as suspicious and called me within 5 min of clicking submit. Unfortunately Visa still screwed up and declined the transaction even after I said it was ok. Staples sent me an email shortly after that and called me first thing Monday to let me know there was a problem with the sale. After their third attempt at using my Visa it finally went through. If Visa hadn't screwed up I would have gotten my order on time. However at least this way everyone involved attempted to contact me and keep me informed. Sears could learn a lesson from this.

Sincerely, Jeremy, Sears saved you a lot of time, money and grief by cancelling your order.

We bought a Kenmore brand washer and dryer three years ago-- on the recommendation of Consumer Reports-- and both units are complete duds. I did a little research and found out that there's a class-action lawsuit for the washer; it's one of those high-efficiency Calypso models. It likes to tear up my towels and spit up lint blobs on my dark clothes. Unfortunately, I cannot participate in the suit because I never paid anyone to attempt to repair the thing. I did my research beforehand and found out that it had numerous design flaws and was unfixable.

When the dryer broke just 14 months after we bought it, it cost us $200 to have the thing fixed. (It was $450 new.) The repairman told me that he wouldn't touch the washer so, when it inevitably stops working, he wished me the best of luck disposing of it. He also told me that Bosch and LG are the brands to buy now.

My parents had Kenmore appliances for 40 years or more. Clearly, these new products aren't my parents' Kenmore. Sears has lost my business forever.

Jason K, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!! I went to the store where the crib was supposed to be shipped, and canceled there. Finally, the process is going through, it's just ridiculous that I had to do their work in finding out what the problem was. But thank you again, and of course I know never to buy anything from Sears.com again.

Your welcome tiffani!

Sears sucks. When my fiance and I bought our dryer from Sears, they showed up with the wrong plug. We hit 4 Sears in the Metro area to "get" the plug exchanged for the correct one. Every store out of stock. Every Home Depot. Every Lowes. Target, Walmart, K-mart didn't carry it.

Finally, found it at the local hardware store, down the street. Learned a good lesson there.

Wow...you too...I'm not alone. I bought a stove a couple of months ago....I wanted the cheaper one....just cooking for me...So Sears hangs a carrot - spend over $399 and get $65 rebate for free shipping. Great I think..better stove, almost same price. So I also get a special "10%" discount at check out. Don't ya know this invalidates my $399 by $10. I had "sucker" on my forehead right. I'm sure the bean counters have instructed them to find a way to screw us. So I didn't realize this until I sent my rebate form in. Despite being enraged with them and spending 45 min. on the phone with crazy people...i resubmitted my rebate request and threatened to sue for mis-advertising. We'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted.

Sears Sucks all right! We bought a fridge and almost a year to the day it died. We called an independent repair service(not Sears)and were told the defective part had likley been leaking freon throughout the year in such a small amout it would'nt be noticed. The entire part was also encapsulated in a plastic housing and not damaged. The repair man said the entire part would have to be replaced. we contacted Sears and were told the warrenty had ended a few weeks before, there fore we could purchase an extended warrenty for alittle under $300.00! When did appliances start lasting for a year? Didn't buy the extended warrenty,that will be the last purchase from Sears and now K-Mart for me!

I am having my first child in March and recently ordered the Vintage sleigh crib from Sears to have it delivered to the store. The web site didnt say a thing about it being out of stock or on back order. About a week and a half went by and no word as to when it would arrive. I asked my husband if he would call and find out what was going on. Then he told me that he just recieved an e-mail saying the order was "cancelled". No real reason given just cancelled.
I thought that sears was a reliable company since it has been around for years. I guess not.

Just had a bill issue with Sears. I had purchased 2 items on Nov 25 and returned 1 on Nov 30. Meanwhile I received my statement. I called on Dec 6 saying I wanted to pay and would verify the correct amount ($142.01 - 84.79. I was told I would have to pay the entire amount and my next statement would show a credit. Or I could pay the minimum and then 24.65% interest. It had been 6 days! I said there was no reason for Sears to gain interest by holding my money and asked to speak to a supervisor. The operator hung up on me!
I called back, and asked for a supervisor. After about a 5 minute wait someone came on the line and said I could pay the amount I thought I owed pending an investigation because they had not yet gotten verification of my return - AFTER 6 DAYS!
So now I'm off to Sears, receipts and copies in hand, to pay this bill. Love spending the gas money!

I ordered a Kenmore Ultra Refrigerator instore for $1572 + $279 for 3 yr extended wty. on Dec 10, next day they had the same model for $1499 + 10% online discount, I went to the store for a price match but they said we can't match sears.com price, but they said you can order it using store to web (Basically they have internet pcs in store) so I cancelled the store order which had a confirmed delivery for 12/14 and placed my order online - BIG Misatake.
After the order no email nothing, I call them everyday and they keep saying " IN PROCESS" they haven't charged my credit card but now seeing online the earliest delivery date is 12/22 (for a new order)
One rep said your order is mixed up with another order as it was showing another email id - How the heck can that happen, talked to the supervisor after 25 min wait and he said everything is fine keep waiting.

Not sure what to do I had to delay my move to the new house by a week due to this.

Any suggestions ?

So after about 6 calls to Sears lasting average of 30 mins, every call they say your order looks good, keep waiting, I am on the 6th call waiting for the supervisor and I get the cancellation email (maybe they got fed up with me) and 10 min after that viola I also get an email response, saying sorry for your frustration but we can't help you as your order was cancelled, and the verbiage was same as for other shoppers " Maybe it was something to do with the item not in stock, or maybe the card you used, we are not sure so we will just cancel the order please give your money to somebody else we have enough"
On the other hand I liked the refrigerator and didn't want to go through the search again so went in Sears store ordered it and they delivered it next day, I was telling this to the associate who helped me in store and she said "ya, it has happened to me before and I just ordered it again"
This was the last major purchase from Sears no more.

I work at sears and let me tell you they have the worst delivery people. Almost everything gets damaged and take at least 2 times to get right "if you're lucky"

I tried to pay my Sears credit card online on it's due date. After registering online, a prompt popped up saying that it would take six days to verify my information. Of course by that time I'd owe a hefty late charge. Of course I could pay with an online check for a outlandish fee of $14.95. I decided to drive to the store and pay it in person. Having to wait six days before I can PAY somebody is outlandish. I read that they may be going out of business soon. Great. I certainly won't miss them and I'm truly sorry that I did business with them. GOOD RIDDANCE

Sears has dysfunctional Customer Service. Never buy an appliance or item that may need service. You get forwarded to an unsupervised Recovery Dept. They hung up on us several times, put me on hold for most of one hour, returned to laugh at me as they were telling me to call a bogus number.
They made appointments and nobody showed up. Two months of constant calling them with no results!! This Recovery dept. at 800 690-5650 with VP Reuben Vidair (?) will cost you.
NEVER AGAIN SEARS!

This is why you never buy an appliance online

2 Years ago I purchased a 15" Craftsman Wood Lathe because it was a good deal. Once I received it I did not put it together for 6-7 months. Once I put it together I tested it out and everything worked fine. I continued to use it with minimal use. Right after the one yesr warranty ran out the variable speed control would not work. I checked with the local Sears Service Center. They told me they did not repair it at that location but that they would send it out to the main Service Center for Sears but I would have to pay the shipping. Since this item weighs about 100lbs. I asked where the main service center was. It was about 50 miles away. I asked if I could drop it off myself and was told no.

I went home and called Sears Service and asked if I could drop the item off instead of shipping and was told yes. I asked for the phone number of the main Service Center. I called there and told them what I had and could I drop it off. They said yes.

I drove up on a Saturday as they are open 7 days per week. When I dropped it off I was told they do not service this product. I told them I had called and was told they did and explained that it was one of their products (Craftsman). Was told again they did not service this product. I was told that I would have to bring it back on Monday so their Technition could look at and see if he could service it. I asked why I couldn't leave it as it is a 50 mile ride, they said fine. I also had to leave a $30.00 deposit for a diagnostic fee which was alright by me. Was called on Tuesday and told it was repaired and ready for pickup. Drove up on Saturday only to find it was not repaired. Was told they do not repair this tool. Was told it was an In Home Repair only and I would have to call Sears Service and schedule an appointment. I was not happy but said ok. I then asked for my $30.00 credit since they did not repair the item and was told no. I asked why and was told it was a Diagnostic Fee in case I did not approve the repairs. I told them that I want it repaired and they said they don't repair this item. Againg they said no. I asked if I scheduled the In Home Service would I get a $30.00 credit on my service and was told no that is a different division.

Bottom line I paid Sears $30.00 to tell me they do not work on or repair my Craftsman tool at the repair center.

This is one of many issues I have had with Sears over Warrant, Service or Pricing. At one time my garage had $10,000.00 worth of stationary power tools, I am slowly getting rid of them and replacing them with other brands. Sears has lost me as a customer.

Rusty O.

I used to work for SEARS. It was my 2nd job I ever had.I moved to florida after arranging a transfer of stores, however the store I transferred from suddenly lost ALL of their HR people.
After several weeks of being told "we want to hire you but can't until your file comes in from the other store", I called my old store. I left a nasty message saying that they were effecting my well being and they needed to get their heads out of certain orrifices and get the file to the new store.
The following week I received a phone call with a start date.

Beyond this issue, I can speak from experience that SEARS is declining. It started with the change in return policy, and continued with the decline of quality in their private label products. Kenmore used to be an American Icon, now its filling more landfills than homes in the USA.
Bottom line is, that SEARS forgot who signed their paychecks really, beyond the stamped signature that may appear on them. The customers drive the business. The customers sign the paychecks. Keep the customers happy, revenues increase. Upset the customers, revenues decrease, company goes belly up. A fine example of this basic business premise is Circuit city.

I purchased a washer/dryer combo from the local sears store on black friday( nov 28 ) I was told that they did not have either item in stock but they would have it in 2 weeks.
I picked up the washer about 2 weeks later, but no dryer. At this point I was told that the dryer was back ordered and would be available on FEB 28 of 09. I was not happy but the dryer matched the washer so we decided to wait. Feb comes around and guess what. The dryer was back ordered till the middle of APRIL. That will be 5 Months after I bought and PAID for the dryer. I talked to the store manager today and her response was that she could not help me. That was just the way it was. I have spent thousands of dollars at Sears, but no more.

I have been purchasing Kenmore products for 40 years. The first 30 were without problems, having a great customer service experience and solid product satisfaction.

The last 10 have changed indeed, and the last 3 have been disappointing to say the least. My trust in their signature products, customer service, warranty, shipping and follow-through are about on par with a shady used car dealership.

The price of a product is not the #1 reason for purchase. Quality, trust, positive previous experiences and follow-through are primary.

We have traveled full circle. It began with the mom-pop store that developed relationships first, built upon integrity and quality products at a higher price. We then traded these most important factors for similar quality products at lower costs by. We are now saddled with sub-par products at sub-par stores having sub-par experiences.

Dear Sears - Your customer satisfaction sales model is faulty. I will always pay more to buy honesty, integrity, quality and top flight customer service.

I made the mistake back in 1983 for working at Sears in the warehouse department I worked there for about two weeks and I was pulled into the warehouse department's office and told I was no longer needed with no other explanation. about three days later two men in suits came to my front door of my parents house I was 16 at the time, they said they are from the loss and recovery Department of Sears and wanted to search my parents house I told them, if you want to search my house bring the police with you! And that was the end of that of course I didn't take anything but ever since then it's been my policy to never ever shop at Sears that place has some really whacked out policies and after reading all this stuff 27 years later I believe my decision was correct %@#$ sears! I hope they do go out of business!

I have worked for Sears part time since 2002 when Kmart came along things went downhill from there.
June 2009 I stopped getting hours a few here and there I would like to quit but it would affect my Unemployment.
I worked 8 hours last month no hours in Sept-Dec.
They tell me "I'm a good worker they don't want let me go"
The center I'm assigned looks like a ghost town maybe 20% of the employees they once had. I do wish they would let me go I do get other employment but only as a temp when I get hired on with another company byebye.
BTW I tried transferring to another unit and they are BS as well.
The appliances are crap as is the service.
I'm looking foward to Sears going out of business it cannot happen soon enough.
I sound like a disgruntled employee but I used to like working for them lonnng ago.

I am embarassed to admit where I work - I truely care about customers and providing good service - but the corporate policies are the problem - this company typically schedules employees about 5 hours a week! Yes - 5 hours - and some people get less. The person who sold that appliance probably had 1 shift a week and had no way to call you. The call centers are located overseas. Corporate doesn't listen to anything the employees kindly suggest to make positive changes to provide service to customers. Management has become hostile and abusive - the entire company culture has become toxic and dysfunctional. Trust me - the people who work there try - they really really do - but we have zero power to change anything. It is completely demoralizing. Anytime we try to do something to help the company - we are categorized as whiners and malcontents and hounded and pounded from our jobs. The only thing corporate or management wants is for there to be credit applications that are approved and protection agreements sold - nothing else matters.

We went to the local Sears outlet in Alberta, Canada and "tried" to order to 2 storage cabinets. What we mean by "tried" was that the clerk behind the counter at first said her computer wasn't working and proceeded to give us the number for catalogue service. As we were attempting to explain to the clerk, that we already had the number for catalogue service, but that we wished to order in person, another clerk came along and found a working computer to take our order.

A few days later, we received an email saying that there was a problem with our order or our card. When we called to find out what the problem was, it seems that our credit card was CANCELLED, because we hadn't used it within a 13 month period.

We explained that this was an error on the part of Sears, because the last time we used our card was 12 months ago. That's when we were informed that Sears takes no responsibility for Chase, but they would provide us with a gift card for $20 - to be used on our next purchase plus the removal of the $3 "handling fee".

The part they didn't wish to discuss was the fact that we had several thousand Sears Points that had also been revoked and there was no way to recoup these points, unless we contacted Chase!

Unfortunately, we're still arguing with Sears, who has now agreed to credit our Visa card for $80, but keeps "forgetting" about our STOLEN SEARS POINTS!