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On February 9 I placed on order over the phone with Sears for an item that costs several hundred dollars. Minutes later, I called them again to change the place of delivery for the order. Here's what happened:
1. Instead of being able to make an edit for the delivery location, they have to cancel the entire order.
2. I said to them, please don't charge my credit card again for the same item. They reassured me that it is no big deal and that the money would be credited back to my credit card.
3. I notice that the amount available on my credit card is much less than I imagined.
4. I phone the credit card company and discover that there were two purchases made to Sears for the same item. Sears did not credit the cancelled purchase back to my credit card.
5. I phone Sears several times to find out what is going on. As always, the person answering the phone has to connect me with a customer service representative. They tell me that the order was processed and that the cancelled item is being shipped across the country. They then inform me that money can't be credited back to my credit card until it reaches it's destination in several weeks time.
6. One of them helpfully forwards my issue to Sears credit department to credit my money back without making me wait so long.
7. After making a call to Sears, I have to painfully extract information to the effect that whoever is in charge of such matters at Sears credit department decides against doing so in my case, until the item reaches it's destination across the country in several weeks time.

Sears sucks.
#sears customer service #sears sucks #sears system
  • Profile picture of the author Rikki_Fawkes
    So are you saying Rain Man's quip should've been "Sears sucks," not "Kmart sucks"?
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    • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
      Originally Posted by Rikki_Fawkes View Post

      So are you saying Rain Man's quip should've been "Sears sucks," not "Kmart sucks"?
      I don't have much experience with Kmart one way or the other.
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      • Profile picture of the author Rikki_Fawkes
        Originally Posted by thunderbird View Post

        I don't have much experience with Kmart one way or the other.
        I will say Kmart sells my cereal cheaper than any other place and has pretty good deals on Pop Tarts from time to time.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by Rikki_Fawkes View Post

      So are you saying Rain Man's quip should've been "Sears sucks," not "Kmart sucks"?
      Interesting little factoid! Kmart and sears had a bit of a problem. A guy bought kmart. Know what happened NEXT? WANT TO GUESS!?!!?!?!? HE BOUGHT SEARS!!!!!!

      Kmart, Sears to merge in $11B deal - Nov. 17, 2004

      So sears IS KMART!

      Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Rikki_Fawkes View Post

      So are you saying Rain Man's quip should've been "Sears sucks," not "Kmart sucks"?
      Lol, seriously, Sears owns Kmart.
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      • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
        Originally Posted by yukon View Post

        Lol, seriously, Sears owns Kmart.
        KMart owns Sears.
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        • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
          Originally Posted by thunderbird View Post

          KMart owns Sears.
          You're right TB, Kmart bought Sears, but I really just wanted to let you know in your last post, the one I quoted, you forgot to include Sears Sucks! :p

          Terra
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        • Profile picture of the author yukon
          Banned
          Originally Posted by thunderbird View Post

          KMart owns Sears.
          Ok so I had it bass ackwards, both stores still suck.

          The last Kmart I was in was the Myrtle Beach, SC store, it was like a ghost town, with things for sale that made Walmart look good. Have you ever seen the electronics dept. of a Kmart? It's like stepping back into 1982.
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    Ya know, my wife told me that Sears and K Mart were owned by the same company and I didn't believe her.
    Of course, that doesn't fix T-Bird's problem of corporate responsibility. The runaround they are giving him (and any others in similar situations) is rediculous.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by KimW View Post

      Ya know, my wife told me that Sears and K Mart were owned by the same company and I didn't believe her.
      Of course, that doesn't fix T-Bird's problem of corporate responsibility. The runaround they are giving him (and any others in similar situations) is rediculous.
      YEP, around 2004. It was kind of freaky. I mean a teetering company that was STILL paring things down bought ANOTHER company, etc...? INCREDIBLE! BUT TRUE! Sears USED to be a WILD success story, etc... They sold to parts of the country that otherwise would have NOTHING, and were the farmer, rancher, handyman, lower class, and middle class version of macy's! And MACY'S used to be a LOT bigger!

      I watched a documentary once about how sears got started! It all started because of some jerky businessman. (This is from memory from one hearing, so forgive me if I am a little off)He decided to not accept some high end watches. Sears, who worked at the railroad, struck a deal, and accepted delivery, and tried to sell the watches. Having successfully done so, he tried to go in that business. He eventually got his own watchmaker, went into coats, clothing, medicines, etc... Anyway, it just kept growing such that perhaps ANYTHING available in the early twentieth century could be bought at sears.

      TODAY, it is little more than a small department store with tools.

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Originally Posted by thunderbird View Post

    On February 9 I placed on order over the phone with Sears for an item that costs several hundred dollars. Minutes later, I called them again to change the place of delivery for the order. Here's what happened:
    1. Instead of being able to make an edit for the delivery location, they have to cancel the entire order.
    2. I said to them, please don't charge my credit card again for the same item. They reassured me that it is no big deal and that the money would be credited back to my credit card.
    3. I notice that the amount available on my credit card is much less than I imagined.
    4. I phone the credit card company and discover that there were two purchases made to Sears for the same item. Sears did not credit the cancelled purchase back to my credit card.
    5. I phone Sears several times to find out what is going on. As always, the person answering the phone has to connect me with a customer service representative. They tell me that the order was processed and that the cancelled item is being shipped across the country. They then inform me that money can't be credited back to my credit card until it reaches it's destination in several weeks time.
    6. One of them helpfully forwards my issue to Sears credit department to credit my money back without making me wait so long.
    7. After making a call to Sears, I have to painfully extract information to the effect that whoever is in charge of such matters at Sears credit department decides against doing so in my case, until the item reaches it's destination across the country in several weeks time.

    Sears sucks.
    The only advice I could give you is to dispute the charge. This is unconscionable, but rather common. I had that happen with ME once. They are lucky they still had a customer. Had my mailman not known my habits, it would have been like a MONTH longer, and they would have received damaged goods. Goods they would HAVE to accept because I, NOT accepting them, would decline the charge ANYWAY! Reason? DAMAGED IN SHIPMENT, due to vendor stupidity!

    Of course, if you dispute the charge, it could affect all related sears accounts, and get you blacklisted for a time.

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
      Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

      <snip>
      Of course, if you dispute the charge, it could affect all related sears accounts, and get you blacklisted for a time.

      Steve
      I've already blacklisted Sears. Sears sucks. I've spent thousands of dollars on their products, and have gotten a lot of grief from them on more than one order (eg, products arriving all broken up). That was the last straw. Clearly something is really stupid about how Sears processes orders. Their system is rigid and allows for no adjustments of orders, even within minutes of making them. I called within minutes of making an order, to adjust a shipping address. For that they had to cancel my order, make another one, and charge my credit card twice. Yet, after cancelling my order, they're still shipping it across the country and refusing to credit back to my credit card for several weeks. Sears sucks.
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      • Profile picture of the author Rick B
        Thirty years ago I bought a game cartridge from Sears. I got it home and opened the package to find that there was no cartridge inside. Went back with my receipt and told them what happened. I said I'd be happy to exchange it for another identical game.

        Their response was that they get crooks like me trying to rip them off all of the time for software items and games. Absolutely no exchange or refund. I pointed out their sign in the store that said customer satisfaction guaranteed and they threatened to call security.

        Well ... that shoddy treatment has cost them at least $50,000 in sales over the last thirty years. It doesn't pay to call your customer a crook!
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        • Profile picture of the author seasoned
          Originally Posted by Rick B View Post

          Thirty years ago I bought a game cartridge from Sears. I got it home and opened the package to find that there was no cartridge inside. Went back with my receipt and told them what happened. I said I'd be happy to exchange it for another identical game.

          Their response was that they get crooks like me trying to rip them off all of the time for software items and games. Absolutely no exchange or refund. I pointed out their sign in the store that said customer satisfaction guaranteed and they threatened to call security.

          Well ... that shoddy treatment has cost them at least $50,000 in sales over the last thirty years. It doesn't pay to call your customer a crook!
          Yeah, GIVE ME A BREAK! I imagine that that kind of thing, ironically, happens at stores a LOT now! Many packages are EMPTY and sometimes they don't make it clear. OTHER times, it is usually just a LABEL! SO, iot could get switched by the manufacturer, distributor, dealer, customer, OR any of the SHIPPERS! And I have heard a LOT of stories about shippers, so it DOES happen!

          Ironically, the idea of a cartridge is because it is FIRMWARE, which today is really an anti piracy method! With software, theives care more about the license than they do the actual disk. Ironically though, there is ******NO****** way the store can prevent a license from being stolen. NO way! a person could take a box, go into a restroom, rip it open, copy down the number and do whatever with the rest. MOST software, including perhaps every MS product can be downloaded from the internet anyway. And the first to register usually wins. AND, in the ULTIMATE of ironies, if the product is sold, the LEGAL purchaser will be accused of piracy because they registered later.

          Yet another reason why I hate copyprotection schemes.

          Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by thunderbird View Post

        I've already blacklisted Sears. Sears sucks. I've spent thousands of dollars on their products, and have gotten a lot of grief from them on more than one order (eg, products arriving all broken up). That was the last straw. Clearly something is really stupid about how Sears processes orders. Their system is rigid and allows for no adjustments of orders, even within minutes of making them. I called within minutes of making an order, to adjust a shipping address. For that they had to cancel my order, make another one, and charge my credit card twice. Yet, after cancelling my order, they're still shipping it across the country and refusing to credit back to my credit card for several weeks. Sears sucks.
        Hey, I travel a LOT! A LOT! OK, I only spend about $6K USD to maybe $24K USD on airline tickets. **I** think that is a lot. About 2/3 of the time I get to fly first class if they provide it.

        Anyway, there is a place that I started ordering from like 2-4 times a month. My average order was about $170. Again, I was a good buyer, I could get a premium on every order. The average order took 1-3 days. I ordered from them primarily BECAUSE their turn around was so great. I NEVER had a problem! I ordered, I paid, They delivered! I NEVER ordered from home. NEVER! I found out about them in boston, and kept ordering.

        Well, one day my package wasn't delivered on the 5th day. I complained. You want to guess what happened? Go ahead, GUESS!!!!! Well, they decided to DELAY any orders where the billing and shipping addresses were different. Keep in mind that I was ordering for YEARS, and it couldn't be missed. If I were a crook, I would have to be an IDIOT! And living out of a hotel for YEARS? COME ON! I may be one of their best customers. They SAID I was! And they lumped ME in with everyone else when they made this change.

        Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
    After all this time, I discovered, after several phone calls over several days and many conversations with various Sears departments, that the order had never actually been cancelled on their end. Instead of telling me, they had been passing the puck around. Sears sucks.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    I shouldn't say this, and won't say the customer, but I recently heard of a problem. I said "That is not OUR concern, why don't they have the USER do it!?!?" Their response? The mainframe CICS cobol system is known to cost a MILLION USD to change just one field!"! Maybe SEARS has the SAME problem!

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
    I recently found out that Sears had never even cancelled the order. Finally someone actually cancelled it, after extensive dialog and sharing of thoughts.

    Sears sucks.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
      Man, TBird, I hope this isn't a refridgerator you're talking about here.

      I made the mistake of buying one from them in 2002 and by 2005 the thing stopped working. I called and they said it would be an $85 service charge to come out and look at it, PLUS parts and labor to fix it.

      I said, "What about the 5 year guarantee?"

      "That only covers the compressor" I was told.

      I'm glad I didn't buy my medical insurance from them, that's a fact...
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  • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
    I ultimately had to force a return of my money via a chargeback with my credit card company. This means that not only was my money returned, but Sears was fined which they certainly deserved. Sears sucks.
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  • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
    I'm still receiving Sears spam in emails despite repeatedly opting out. Now their emails have no opt-out option. Sears may have been a venerable shop in the past (my grandfather worked at Sears when it was a respectable business) but now it is a despicable entity. Here's some not-at-all surprising news:
    Sears, Kmart to close up to 120 stores after holiday sales slump - Los Angeles Times

    Sears/Kmart sucks.
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  • Profile picture of the author LeeLee
    A guy got shot in my Sears last week.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dave Patterson
      Originally Posted by LeeLee View Post

      A guy got shot in my Sears last week.
      What part of the anatomy is that exactly...?
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      • Profile picture of the author LeeLee
        Originally Posted by Dave Patterson View Post

        What part of the anatomy is that exactly...?
        A thanks should have done it but this really cracked me up.

        Actually right between the eyes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave Patterson
    Just for the heck of it I Googled it and evidently you're right.....https://www.google.com/search?q=Sear...K_enUS442US442
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    T-bird, agreed. Your story reminds me of the time I bought a Dell computer online. They called the next day to say it didn't go through and the rep wanted to know if I wanted them to try again ... to make a long story short, they charged me for 5 computers when I only wanted one, and they only shipped one. After months of trying to deal with them myself, I finally had to file fraud charges with my bank to get the 9 grand overcharge back.

    Sears sucks. Dell sucks.

    ...and Chinese made can openers suck. I had an American made can opener for over 15 before it finally gave out (I only know because I had it for the last three houses I've owned). Now, I've gone through 3 Chinese made can openers in two months, one electric and two handheld. You can't buy an American made can opener any more it seems. The one I have now I bought because it was NOT made in China, it was made in Taiwan...maybe it will last longer. Wish someone in government was smart enough to realize we need manufacturing brought back to America.
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