As you can tell from the title of this post, I am a bit frustrated at Sears. Again.
I am a huge fan of Sears’ Blue Tools Crew’s expanding tool catalog, and order regularly from Sears’ online store. Because of this, it is possible that I am more likely to encounter ordering and payment issues than less frequent customers. In any case, I am very, very frustrated right now, and I imagine others are as well.
This is what happened… Sears was holding a Midnight Madness sale last night, starting at 5pm. As part of the sale, tools were discounted by 10%. I logged on around 12am ET, and started flipping through my catalog, adding items I both needed and wanted to my cart.
For the next 45 minutes or so, I had followed my normal shopping routine – add item to cart, check for products specs on the web, compare pricing, decide to buy or save for another time, add next item to cart, and so forth.
At 12:55am, I started to checkout. I then noticed that Sears was offering free 30 day trials to its “Shipvantage” subscription shipping program. After reading all of the legal fine print, I decided that I didn’t want to bother with the trial at this time. At this point, it’s 1am ET. I go to follow through the checkout process, and BAM, the bottom-line price jumps up. It appears that instead of expiring at 5am CT, the Midnight Madness sale ended at 12am CT.
So that’s my story, and why Sears lost out on a very large tool order. Some of the items I need more urgently will be ordered ASAP from other vendors, and a few tools left on my wishlist will be saved for the next Midnight Madness/VIP/Friends and Family/Buy More Save More sale.
I could have placed the order anyways and fought for the valid discount to be applied afterwards, but Sears’ online customer service can be just as “hit or miss.”
Adding to my frustration, Sears’ website still shows the 10%-off promotion prices when browsing the tool catalog. Then, when you add the tool to your cart, the promo price disappears.
Setbacks like this aren’t enough to stop me from shopping at Sears, but they do make me think twice sometimes when looking for tools that are available elsewhere.
Here is a lesson for Sears’ web team that sets the activation times for promotional sales like this one – 5 am does NOT equal 12 am.
For what it’s worth, I suppose that I can be partially blamed for missing out on the sale. I haven’t been burned by Sears for a while, so I let my guard down. Well, this incident will serve as a reminder.
Check out this encounter with Sears:
February 26, 2010 – I place an order online with searsoutlet.com for a Gladiator storage cabinet. I receive an email confirmation (with a charge to my credit card), text message and phone call, stating that the item is ready for pickup.
February 28, 2010 – I arrive at the Sears store (regular retail location) and am told that my item is no longer at the store and they can’t honor the price that I paid. I convey my unhappiness and ask to speak with a manager. I am told that the manager is in an “important” meeting and doesn’t have time to speak with me. After a considerable amount of time, I leave, as I’m getting nowhere with the salesman.
March 1, 2010 – I call the Sears customer service line and am told that there is nothing they can do and I should just deal with the store (note now, I cannot get a call back from the store and the Sears Outlet service line is disconnected).
March 2, 2010 – I call the Sears customer service line again and speak with a different representative. This person is more helpful and calls the Sears store on my behalf. I am told that I will receive a call momentarily from a manager.
March 4, 2010 – I call the Sears customer service line again and am now connected with the manager from the Sears store. I demand that they honor the price that I paid (the charge is still on my credit card) and I’m told in a rude way, that it’s not their problem if the website sold me something that isn’t in the store. I told him that someone needs to take accountability and that I received a phone call FROM THE STORE saying the item was there and ready to be picked up. I tell the manager that he NEEDS to give me the product that I purchased. He makes a comment and hangs up on me. 45 minutes later, he calls back and asks for my credit card number, as there is nothing further that he can do and he will just credit my acct. I tell him no, I will take this up with their corporate office. He makes a rude comment and hangs up on me again!
March 5, 2010 – I call the corporate office and speak with a nice representative, who starts a claim for me and takes down all the information. She calls the store, calls me back and offers to give me a $50 credit and honor the price of the item, if I can find it on clearance from the searsoutlet.com site. She also states that according to the store manager, my credit card has been credited back. I tell her that I never gave them my CC #, so how could they credit my card back. She says she will get back to me after the weekend.
March 12, 2010 – I call and leave message, no word from Sears.
March 19, 2010 – I call and leave message, no word from Sears.
March 24 & 26, 2010 – I call and leave message, no word from Sears.
April 1, 2010 – I call and finally speak with someone. I am told that a check has been issued weeks ago, I should have it in hand and the matter has been finalized. I tell them, I have NOT received a check and I STILL want the item I paid for. I am told they will get back to me.
April 1-30 – Many calls, no replies… No check
May 5, 2010 – I am told that a check has been sent (apparently they had the wrong address the last time) and the case was closed.
Well, here I am on May 10, 2010, no reimbursement, no product, no compensation (what ever happened to the $50 card for “my troubles”) and nobody at Sears held accountable. This is the absolute worst service I have ever encountered! I guess my next stop will be the BBB or one of those News “We’re on your side” deals. All I know is after this, I’m going to be the biggest pain in their ass ever!!! Which is too bad, considering I, along with my family, have been loyal Craftsman hand tool purchasers and have thousands upon thousands of dollars invested in Craftsman tools.
So, you aren’t alone in your wonderful Sears experience.
I have also had my share of hit or miss experiences with Sears.
About 6 weeks ago Sears was offering an online only price of 699.99 for a Craftsman Tool Chest Combo. The Combo was 50% off the normally priced 1399.99. I wanted to purchase the item at the store, so I called and was told that Sears will honor the online only price.
The next day I went to Sears to make the purchase and was told by the sales associate that the price would not be honored. I spoke to the manager and he also said the price would not be matched. I explained that I had called the previous day and was told that it would be matched and the managers response was “tough luck”. At this point, had I received an apology, I would have just went home and purchased it online. However, I didn’t get an apology nor any show of concern or compassion for being told the previous day that the price would be matched.
When I got home, I instead called customer service and explained the rude treatment I received at the store by the manager and was offered an additional 20% off. So I ended up purchasing the Craftsman Tool Storage Combo online and got it for a price of $560.00.
Obviously I was very satisfied with the outcome of this experience because I paid $560. for the item that was regularly priced at $1400.00. I saved $840.00.
I think that at the corporate level Sears does want to satisfy their customers. It’s the store level employees that can care less about the customer.
I too have had major issues with ordering on Sears.com and picking up in one of their stores. On one transaction (which had a discount tha they bungled) I somehow ended up being charged 25% NY state sales tax – that is right 25%! Not a single one of the dopes at Sears realized this until I pointed it out…
They still owe me about $19 reimbursement, guess I should get around to hassling them again. Sears.com customer service always says go to the store, store employees say that I bought it online, I have to get my refund from Sears.com.
What an awful mess that company is!
IndyEngineer, I kinda have a story like yours with a good for me ending,.
I ordered a 4 gal pancake air compressor with a craftsman club (RIP) discount and picked it up at the store. No problems at all with the process. Got home and unpacked the box, only to discover the plastic cowl was cracked. Took it back and asked for a replacement, which they brought out. As the warehouse guy set it down, you could hear the sound of a loose nut rolling around inside the tank. LOL, I told the clerk that I didn’t want that one either, so they called the manager over since they didn’t have anymore 4 gal units on hand and the next shipment wouldn’t arrive for 3 weeks. Manager offered the me the 6 gal unit for the price I paid so I took him up on the offer. Of course they discovered shortly thereafter that they didn’t have any 6 gal units in the warehouse, and that I would just have to wait for the shippment to arrive in 3 weeks or get a refund. I just opted to wait since I was getting a brand new 6 gal unit for a price I’ve never seen even on craigslist. It did arrive a few weeks later and I’m happy, but the whole situation just seemed very avoidable.
As an aside, 3 tools dept clerks were hanging around me adn talking the entire time, even though it was a Saturday and the tools section had plenty of other customers around the department. Sears is really hanging on by a thread–if Lowes started carrying a bigger selection of hand and power tools and got their instore inventory even 75-80% of what Sears stocks, I don’t think Sears could stand a chance.
I have noticed that the inventory is not that accurate at all with that website. I dont know what the real issue is, but i went in looking for a chalk reel they listed as having in one particular store (where there were 3 available), and neither i nor the store clerks could find it. They tried to say it was a different product than what i wanted (though they clearly looked completely different, and they both saw the website listing!), which was funny but sad at the same time…i ended up finding it at a different location but learned my lesson about those guys for help.
Shawn,
If I were you, and I have been, call your credit card company and refute the charges. Its a relatively easy process. They get your side of the story (which seems pretty darn thorough) and will probably mail you something to sign and send back to them. Let the credit card company pick up the pieces and deal with Sears.
Example, just last week I got lunch at a sub shop. I was charged $75.55 for one $7.55 sandwich! I called the sub shop and no one there knows what’s going on. I call the credit card company (actually my bank since it was a debit) and they took care of the rest. The only problem was it takes a couple weeks for the monies to be placed back where they belong.
I had a mixed experience with sears.com. I saw a couple of inexpensive tools online during a Midnight Madness sale. Total sale was around $120. I completed the order at 11:45 PM PDT o 4/18/10. But the 5-15% discount I was promised never showed up. So I knew if I didn’t complete the order I would not get whatever sale price I should get. And I wanted the tools anyway. So I completed the order and picked my tools up the next day at the store. Then I called the online number and asked about my discount.
The e-mail offer, which I kept, said they would honor the sale “valid online only 5 p.m. CDT 4/18/10 thru 5 a.m. CDT 4/19/10.” So I was hours before the deadline. They said they would send it to the right people and get back to me. …
A few weeks later I called back to find the offer was refused because I “didn’t order during the sale time”. They checked their logs and verified I had completed the sale at 1:44 AM (must be CDT and still before 5AM). So they sent a note to the back office and asked me to look for a credit on my credit card.
So yesterday, 11/3/10, I called and started the process again. They were polite but couldn’t help me ( at first). I refused to go away. When told there was nothing they could do I explained I had made and offer and I had excepted it and they had not come through with their end of the deal. So “What are we going to do?” I said this a number of times. After escalating to a supervisor I finally got someone who looked it over and said they would give me 10% back. Assuming this is true I’m happy with the deal.
However, getting the offer which they are legally obliged to give me was like pulling teeth. Good thing I had my e-mail and the confirmation page. Shame on them for making me go through this. I asked how this could be prevented in the future and was given the online feedback form as my only recourse. I have filled that out explaining my problem and we’ll see if they get back to me.
Wow, that’s quite an ordeal.
Shopping at Sears.com a lot, I’ve found that if a discount does not appear in the shopping cart automatically or at checkout, then yes, getting it applied after the order is already placed can be incredibly frustrating.
I have found that as last resort, a BBB complaint or credit card dispute is sometimes the only way to have them follow through with a valid refund.