About a week ago I decided that it was time to get a new washing machine. The old one had developed a problem that costs far too much to repair. So I headed off to sears.com to do some shopping.
Before long I had found a model that fit the bill. It was fairly inexpensive, the right physical size, and fairly uncomplicated (and without a ton of features we'll never use). I ordered it on-line including delivery and haul away of the old unit. About 15 minutes later I had an order confirmation number in my email.
Well, on Sunday night or so I got an ambiguous email from Sears saying:
Thank you for shopping at Sears.com. Unfortunately, due to either the demand for the item(s) that you ordered or the method of your payment; we were unable to process your order. Consequently, we will be canceling your order for the item(s) listed below.
That's right. They had to cancel the order but weren't quite sure exactly why. Assuming that it was an inventory problem, I went shopping for a different washer on Monday morning. I double-checked that the new unit (a tiny bit more expensive) was available for next day delivery. I ordered it.
I waited for a confirmation via email but didn't see one. I figured they'd call me on Tuesday to confirm delivery and didn't give it a second thought. But Tuesday came and went and there was no email, no call, and certainly no new washer.
I called them on Wednesday morning to find out what was going on. They guy on the line was able to find my order after much hassling with his computer. I asked why I didn't get a confirmation number. He didn't know. I asked for the number and he gave me that (so I could look at the status on-line myself). He then said that the order was being held up by the fraud department.
I asked him to transfer me to the fraud department so that I could resolve the problem--probably using a different credit card or something. After digging in for another minute or two, he changed his tune and told me that it was held up at the warehouse.
Okay.
I asked him what the escalation path was. He said he'd email the warehouse to find out. I asked to be included on that email but he explained that they only get a Subject and Body. There is no To or CC line, I guess. Whatever.
In the meantime, I had used the order number to look up the order on-line. It confirmed that I had ordered the unit and it was scheduled for delivery on Tuesday the 9th of October. (I was talking to him on Wednesday the 10th.).
I decided to give them another day to pull their heads out of whatever orifice they were stuck in and deliver my new washer.
As you've probably guessed, nothing else happened. So I called again on Thursday (yesterday) to find out where the hell my washer was. I explained the whole story to the new customer service representative and pulled up my own order on the web site. It looked like this.
Still.
Yup, that was taken on Thursday the 11th, two days after it was supposed to have been delivered.
After some back and forth, she put me on hold to check with a manager. After a few minutes, she came back and explained that this was a "bad order" and had to be canceled and re-issued.
I asked what made the order "bad" and she said "well, it's been here for days and nothing has happened!" (as if it it should have been obvious to me). She went about canceling the order on her slow computer while I considered how much effort and time I'd already invested in getting a replacement washer.
When the time came to re-order the washer, I asked her if I could still get next day delivery so that I'd have it today. She said she didn't know and couldn't guarantee anything.
It was at that point that I said I'd look at local options instead. She actually seemed a little surprised!
Last night we stopped at the local Western Appliance on the way home from work, picked out a better washer that costs less than either unit I tried to get from Sears, and scheduled it for delivery on Monday.
In summary, if you're in the market for a new appliance, don't try giving your money to Sears on-line. They haven't figured out how to take it yet.
What is this, 1997 or 2007?!
[As as amusing postscript, the order appears to still be in their system. I can get to it on the web. I wonder if I'll ever see a charge on my credit card. If so, I''ll have to invoke the magic of a charge-back.]
Posted by jzawodn at October 12, 2007 04:52 PM
It looks like their math is bad as well.
594.99 + 10.00 + 49.08 != 719.08
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.
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.
