Water Heater - Paper Towel Test (Sears Rant)

[Harry Palmer]

My family was always a strong customer of Sears (my grandparents bought a two story house from them), but I don't shop their very much any more. The tool warranty is worthless and I get better tools at Lowe's and tools of the same quality at Harbor Freight. They recently advised me they were lowering my credit level on their card since I hadn't used the card in a while. Not a big deal for me since I always have trouble finding something to buy. The salespeople are part time workers who know nothing about what they are selling. In some departments (appliances) they work hard for their commissions, but once they sell you the item you can't get any help. I figure the company will be closed before next year. Reminds me, I have a gift certificate to spend which my son gave me last year.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Had a mysterious box show up about 2 weeks ago addressed to the old owner I bought the place from 12yrs ago. Not knowing where the person moved too, and nothing on the address label, I opened it up and read the packing slip. Turns out its from Sears and was a $3-400 replacement 'Control and display board' for a fridge. Call Sears Parts Direct, tell them what happened and give them all the numbers off the packing slip (order, cust, tracking, etc) and they can not find the order..? Anyways, offer to print return label and drop it off with UPS but get told to simply write 'Not at address, Return to Sender' on it so I did...


Yesterday the box shows up at my house again with a new UPS label from Sears with the same old Name and Address as before :duh:

So, I have a replacement control and display board for some kinda fridge if anyone needs one..

 

[Qapla]

What do you expect when you are dealing with K-Mart - it is true, they are not the Sears they used to be - especially after they were bought by K-mart.

 

[tjkubota93]

Had a mysterious box show up about 2 weeks ago addressed to the old owner I bought the place from 12yrs ago. Not knowing where the person moved too, and nothing on the address label, I opened it up and read the packing slip. Turns out its from Sears and was a $3-400 replacement 'Control and display board' for a fridge. Call Sears Parts Direct, tell them what happened and give them all the numbers off the packing slip (order, cust, tracking, etc) and they can not find the order..? Anyways, offer to print return label and drop it off with UPS but get told to simply write 'Not at address, Return to Sender' on it so I did...


Yesterday the box shows up at my house again with a new UPS label from Sears with the same old Name and Address as before :duh:

So, I have a replacement control and display board for some kinda fridge if anyone needs one..

That's really bad. (On sears part)

 

[ultrarunner]

Sears was my one stop... for me the big change is when the catalog went away.

Just yesterday I was checking a $50 sump pump I bought in 1985 through catalog and it has never missed a beat...

Lots of Sears and Craftsman around from 30 and 40 years ago...

 

[newbury]

I've just recently made two purchases from Sears. They had been, up to about 10 years ago, one of my first stops for tools etc. The local store was usually packed on weekends and busy all weekdays.

But I'm sure they are going down hill. In May I bought 4 very nice round point shovels for $5@, today I picked up a pair of 4 ton car jack stands for $24, cheaper than HF. Both times when I went to pick the stuff up at around noon the parking lot was EMPTY. They are hemorrhaging. I need to map out the hardware section for their final fire sales.

 

[farmer2009]

Not surprised so many are having trouble at Sears. I broke the jaw on a 5/16 ratchet wrench. Took back to the store (1 hour away). Was told I had to return the whole set and wait for them to ship in a replacement because that style wasn't stocked anymore. I left went to Lowes and bought a nice set of Kobalt ratchet wrenches.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I've just recently made two purchases from Sears. They had been, up to about 10 years ago, one of my first stops for tools etc. The local store was usually packed on weekends and busy all weekdays.

But I'm sure they are going down hill. In May I bought 4 very nice round point shovels for $5@, today I picked up a pair of 4 ton car jack stands for $24, cheaper than HF. Both times when I went to pick the stuff up at around noon the parking lot was EMPTY. They are hemorrhaging. I need to map out the hardware section for their final fire sales.

I bought a pair of those 4t stands too.. $22 online w/ free shipping.

 

[mark02tj]

I go to Sears once a year - on Black Friday. I always comb the ad for good tool deals and head over. I'm not one of those "get up a 2 a.m. and hit the sales" people - I basically sleep in, have some breakfast and will be at Sears sometime around 8:00 a.m. And everything that I've got marked is still usually in stock.

Like others, I don't know how they're hanging on. When I first started wrenching (37 years ago!) Craftsman tools were top notch and they stood behind them. Now, it seems like they try every little trick to not honor their warranty. I took a ratchet back several years ago and was told their policy had changed on returning stuff. I told him that the policy when I bought THAT RATCHET was that I could take it back to any Sears store for a replacement and they would honor that regardless of their policy at the time. It took a couple of minutes but they finally said to go get a new ratchet off the shelf.

It's probably too late for them to save themselves even if they tried to go back to their old ways, policies and quality.

 

[TractorGuy]

On the up side the last lawn tractor I purchased from them I got at half price. Walked out among the lawn tractors out back and saw a brand new last year model with the gas cap missing, dead battery, and seat switch unattached. I asked the salesman what the deal was with it and he said they were backed up and it was waiting to be fixed so they could sell it. I asked him to see if the manager would discount it as is. It was only a $999 unit and they sold it to me for $499 and threw in a new battery. Came with new warranty which I never needed for anything. Took all of 15 minutes to attach the seat switch and install the new battery and I was off mowing.

Gave it to my daughter after I bought a used Craftsman zero turn. Had to put a new carb on it for her is the only repair ever done other than regular maintenance.