snowultra

so i went to sears a couple of days ago, and bought a mini-fridge. i pay for it at the price of a new product ( which its suppose to be ) then i get it home and take it out of the box and bottom is all full of white stuff, the side has 2 dents in it. so i take it back, and tell them that this was used--returned product. they give me my money back.

so i look around and see a mini-fridge on sale, so i buy it. then i take it home ( no dents, or white stuff ). i notice that my soda is not very cold. so i set it to 7 the coldest temperature, and i plug my thermometor, and leave it over night. well it never got below 58 degrees-------so i take it back, and they tell me. this was also a returned product, that they sold to me at a new mini-refridge price. so they gave me my money again.

i ask to see the manager, and show her they sold me 2 mini-fridges that where returned products. yet they charged me the price of a new fridge, and didnt work.
she tells me all she can do is apologize,and there is no way file a complaint, and what i want from her?

i havent been to sears in like 5 years, but i will never go back.

Willravel

Yeah, it's a crap shoot. Costco has good fridges if you like being among the soulless masses.

Dilbert1234567

a lot of companies do it. most people are idiots, the products they return as 'defective' usually work, they are just idiots. it is easier and more cost effective to resell them a second time in case they are good. i buy a lot of thing open box from newegg.com, 90% of them work, the remaining 10% i RMA with the manufacturing company, or return to newegg for a refund. newegg however does reduce the price. The dented one is crazy it is obviously damaged.

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uncle phil

well, what do you want? more money back? the lady gave you your money back and apologized, you won't shop there anymore, what else is there?

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Bill O'Rights

I guess a blowjob is out of the question.

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Mister Coaster

phil, the point is time spent and the hassle of going to a store 3 times and still not having a working mini fridge. Maybe snowultra is not out any cash, but there is value in time spent and frustration incurred.

Not only that, but the fact that snowultra has had a bad experience and has seen fit to post it here where lots of people will see it. Sears has done themselves a disservice because now several people will be less likely to go there in the future. All in the name of what? Saving themselves the hassle of returning the product to the manufacturer, who should be responsible for the defect in the first place. Of course, if the mini fridge in question is a Kenmore, they are probably stuck with the lemon anyway.

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Cynthetiq

c'mon at least a happy ending...

no?

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Crack

Sears is the kind of company without enough decency to even give a proper reach around.

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Sultana

I don't believe there is no way to file a complaint.

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maleficent

you can file a complaint -you write a letter to customer service, or the president of the company - and if you used your credit card, copy the credit card company on the complaint.

Don't say you won't shop there again because they've nothing to gain at that point - but there are avenues for complaint..

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Sultana

Yeah, and don't be afraid to suggest to them ways (reasonable) that they can regain your consumer trust and support.

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"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
At night, the ice weasels come." -

Matt Groening

My goal? To fulfill my potential.

Bill O'Rights

So...a blowjob is still out of the question?

__________________
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony

"Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus

It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.

Ourcrazymodern?

"blowing in the wind" but ROTFLMAO!!!

...have you retained your receipt?

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Psycho Dad

I thought her suggestion was for opening door to sexual favors from the Sears staff. All they can do is say no.

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Vincentt

Salesmen at Sears work on 100% commission. And mini-fridges are a total waste of time. We wouldn't even get a dollar for it, but people come in and ask a kajabillion questions about a 120dollar cheap mini-fridge.

Not sure what people would expect to get.

Sears actually prides itself on service, they are able to continue to charge higher prices for the same stuff because they have repeat customers. Write a message to sears corp, if you really want to get something.

Sears gave your money back twice, sounds good to me.

And mini-fridges in general suck. Don't buy one.

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debaser

I like Sears, they have good tools. Don't forget the Sears and Roebuck catalog made this country what it is today (not sure if that is good or bad).

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Daniel_

This is a very interesting discussion.

In Europe, the law was changed a few years ago to make it illegal for a company to sell you anything that had previously been paid for by someone else unless they made it clear that it was pre-sold and returned.

That means that the problem you describe could not happen in this country.

So the solution is easy - come and live in England.

Believe me, the staff at Tesco love blowjobs.*




*this may not be true...

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Sultana

If Sears well and truely sucks...


What they did twice is sell a used item while representing it as new. They are required by law to refund the money, so yeah...they didn't steal from him, but that's not the claim here.

I can totally understand the OP being upset, going through this kind of rigamarole wastes a lot of time, plus it makes you not trust the company and I should imagine would not encourage one to return to buy higher ticket items in the future.

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"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
At night, the ice weasels come." -

Matt Groening

My goal? To fulfill my potential.

Vincentt

I'm not saying don't be mad.

If you want something, you gotta call sears corp.

They sold a returned item, not a used item.

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Mister Coaster

Yeah, but having been returned, its probably not working correctly. Maybe some people return things when they simply don't want them, but reselling defective merchandise is just stupid. What are they trying to do, resell resell and resell until they get the schlub who simply is too lazy to bring it back? Bad business in my book.


debaser
Maybe 100 years ago, but times change and so did the company.

Vincentt
So... fuck the customers unless they are willing to pay for a bit ticket item?

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Psycho Dad

When I went out and started my mower this morning, I remembered that it was a return. They did not tell me it was a return, but it was damn near half price. I know that I have seen a lot of mowers and weed eaters and such at Sears clearly marked returns. I suspect a good many of those are from fuckers that put it on their Sears card (which I suspect is easier to get than a gas card) and mow their yard then take it back claiming it defective.

I'd suspect that were a Sears store selling returned merchandise without letting the consumer be aware that it was a return it is a store manager policy and not a corporate one.

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EaseUp

Someone still goes to Sears?

The last few times I went to Sears, the customer service was abominable. When I finally spoke to a clerk, in the process of requesting a replacement part for a tool, he didn't give a rat's ass whether or not the part was the correct one. His philosophy was "You can always bring it back if it's not the right one."

My response was "How about looking up the correct part number so I don't HAVE to come back unnecessarily?"

That was the last time I shopped at Sears, since it was about the third time I'd had a bad experience with their so-called help. Oh, I just remembered--the part in question was a typwriter ribbon.

That should let you know how long it's been.

Willravel

Some work for salary some work for hourly, and some work for hourly + commission. None work on commission only.

777

This discussion is great, but one thing that we're forgetting, is that this took place 5 years ago And since I've been Sears employee for over a year selling kitchen appliances, here are somethings that are going on:

We never sell used merchedise as new any more. It's checked out by a technician after it's been returned, and if it still works, then it's placed on the sales floor at a reduced price with a yellow tag that informs the customer why it's at a reduced price. Items that are discontinued also recieve this yellow tag.

Yes, we do work on commision. We make 4% from the selling price of the appliances sold, as well as 10% on extended warrenties, and 8% on installations. For example, last night I sold a customer a Trio refridgerator, with a 3 year Master Protection Agreement. The fridge sold for $2200 and the warrenty for $280. So I made (4% of $2200 is $88 plus 10% of $280 is $28) $116 from that sale. Also, we will help customers on a first come, first served basis. So if a person asking for a mini-fridge arrives before the person that wants a Trio, then the big ticket customer will have to wait

A few changes have happened in the last 5 years. One would be that K-Mart managed to pull themselves out of bankrupcy and bought Sears in the process, and Wal-Mart coming out of nowhere and taking the top spot as the #1 retail store. So some changes have taken place. The most notable would be a 15% percent restocking fee that's applied on a lot of returned merchise. The guide line regarding when it's applied, is that when the product is defective, the wrong style/color was delivered, or the sales person ordered the wrond one, then the restocking fee isn't applied. If the customer changes their mind after it's been purchase, or the Super Bowl is over and they want to return the big screen the following day, then the fee is applied. Personally, I hate these fees.

Regarding the OP, I'm sorry this had to happen. Measures have been taken to make sure this doesn't happen again. And we all hate making errors that cost others time and money. If you had been one of my customers, I would have offered you a new mini-fridge, that we would inspect before you took it home. And apply a discount of at least 10% on top of that.

If you guys have any other questions or comments, then be sure to post them, or PM me

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Vincentt

When I worked at Sears I was on 100% commission. In fact, last time I went there, the sales floor was the same as ever only even more competitive.

Only electronics is on hourly + commission, appliances are 100% commission.

I understand that a customer wants to know all about the mini-fridges or the freezers.
However, while talking to a college student for an hour about a 100 or a 120 dollar fridge, a person will miss out on actually making money.

What do you feel about the person who goes to a restaurant, orders a soda and sits there all day taking up a waitresses table and crippling her tips?

Try to see things from the 'evil' sales persons side of view.

I should note that like 777, I was very good with my customers.

I had 100% survey ratings.

If I was talking to the mini-fridge guy, I would give them my full attention. And tell them what ones were good or bad.

[For those wondering, if the freezer is the little box in the top of the fridge part it is going to suck. Pay a little more, get one with a separate freezer.]

However, there are 3 (sometimes more) sales people on the floor, and the some people are looking at mini-fridges and some are looking at the Trio (one of the biggest commission items) you just don't want to ALWAYS get stuck with the lower end shoppers.

Mini-fridges were HORRIBLE, the customers would always take a ton of time, and buy the cheapest one... then sure enough return it, taking even more time. If you buy cheap crap, it is going to be cheap crap.

Just remember us salesmen get nothing but shit. It is worse then being a waiter. Enough people have done the waiter or waitress thing, people sympathize. No one likes the sales men.

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Mister Coaster

All good points, Vincentt. But a salesman or waiter HAS TO take the good with the bad. Sure, the mini fridge customer or soda sipper may be frustrating, but there are also customers that waltz right in, point to the most expensive item and say "Give me 2 of those."

All things considered, I'm not pointing the stink-eye on the salesman in snowultra's experience. A good salesman deserves a commission, and if they spend time with me, they deserve it. It's more the general policies employed by Sears for selling stuff that they know is broken.

Then theres the aspect of if there is a particular item (or line of items) that are consistently returned or generally pieces of shit to begin with, maybe they shouldn't be selling the item at all. I work for Whole Foods Market, and if we get enough complaints about a product, we stop selling it. If the company changes their recipe, and it no longer is any good, we stop selling it. If all mini fridges suck, maybe its worth the few complaints of not having them at all compared to the low commissions, high return rate and general dissatisfaction connected with that them. This is a decision that is made not by salesmen, but the higher-ups, who are probably already making a half million a year or more, and could care less about one salesman's low commission, or one customers bad experience. THATS the problem.

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Vincentt

The problem with Sears is the competitive nature of the commissions.
While your back is turned another sales person can really screw you over.

The sales team has often worked at Sears longer then the managers involved. So even when you are talking to 'the manager' you aren't talking to the person in charge.

I worked part-time, I always gave my customers my schedule so they could come back and see me, or know when to call to get me. Still, sales will go missing.

I recall one of my customers calling and specially wanting to talk to me. Their fridge was delivered and the guy scratched the floor. I hadn't gotten the credit for the sale, while I was not at work someone else rang it up. The customer even specifically said, "Vince was so helpful."

It breads negative feelings. So the salesmen will become high stress, and that cut throat nature (avoiding certain customers, etc) is only going to be bad for people.

---

However, If you go to Lowe's or Home Depot, you don't get the same level of information. At Sears they will know because they have to. They will look out for you too, call when stuff goes on sale, try everything to get and keep the sale. (If it is a good one)

---

If you want to avoid getting screwed, you need to really talk with the salesman. Tell them what you want, and be nice. It is the same as being nice to the people serving you food. Be nice and you'll notice better service.

Use their name when you talk to them. I will go dig in the storage room for Jim, but I'm not going to do that for customer001.

Try to talk to the same salesperson, we appreciate this.

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World's King

My grandmother bought a washer and dryer at sears in the mid 70s.


She has never paid for another one. Every time it breaks they either fix it or replace it.

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genuinegirly

Ooo I like the British law that Daniel mentioned.
Seems like the only way to see to it that this kind of an issue doesn't happen again.

About writing a letter of complaint:
they may or may not listen to it. If it takes 3 seconds to write, and roughly 40 cents to send, they're most likely going to respond. My buddy complained about a stale bag of chips, and the company sent him about 50 coupons for free bags of chips. I assume that Sears cares enough to do something similar.

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flat5

..

ItWasMe

It's common for me to sit for a couple of hours, twice a week, at the restaurant in our small town while I'm working on my writing. I try not to be a pest, so I don't stay long if it is busy. And I always make sure I tip well and bring a bag of M&M's. I bring M&M's to the local gas station when I gas up, too. The attendants feel appreciated (I hope). And if another car or two drive in the same time that I do, I'm usually the first one they fill.

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Bill O'Rights

You are wrong. Well...partly wrong. Yes...some do work on salary. And, some do work for hourly wages, while some do work for hourly plus commission.
However...when my wife worked Human Resources at Sears, there were those sales people that worked on commision only. Only in the appliance department, and they were the best. They had to be, for obvious reasons. And they were extremely cut throat. The best of the best brought in some serious bucks. Most...couldn't hack it.

__________________
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony

"Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus

It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.

Psycho Dad

Reminds me of when I was a kid working in a car dealership. There was a mechanic that I really admired. He was a good guy, honest and although he cursed a lot was genuine. His best friend was the sales manager and the biggest prick I have ever met in my life. I asked the mechanic once why he was friends with this guy and he told me "People just don't Mike". He added "Mike has to be an asshole or he couldn't do the job that he does as well as he does". I still see assholes every day it seems, but that discussion made me realize that people may not always be what they appear.

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Commander

I know a slut that works at sears

she sucks!! but you have to make her,best way is to take her panties down and spank her butt then let her up..