Warning - Rant against Sears Craftsman

[DaveLewis]

I usually don't rant in public but this one has got me really hacked off against people that I used to like.

In Sunday's newspaper I saw an ad for a Craftsman 18 volt cordless drill at Sears at the excellent price of $89.99. I live some distance from the closest Sears so I checked out their web site because they allegedly do real time inventory control and can tell you if an item is in stock at your local store.

I wasn't surprised to learn that nobody in the state of Oklahoma had the drill in stock. (I suspect that its vaporware). Now the fun starts. I noticed that Sears carries a 19.2 volt cordless drill for about $10 more. It was listed as being in stock at my local store.

Sears has prominently advertised an out of stock policy for many years which states that if an item is out of stock you will be offered an equal or better item or a rain check. So I decided to test their policy by asking if I could get the 19.2 volt drill for the same price (89.99) as the 18v model. I wanted to pay for it over the internet and then drive into town to pick it up. That is a method of payment that is encouraged on the web site.

At this point I'm not surprised at what I learned. Mad, but not surprised ....

First off I learned that Internet Sears and Bricks and Mortar Sears - even though they link between themselves for products and inventory control - are apparently two different entities. Internet Sears does not do rain checks, nor do they do price substitution. To quote Larry Sitzman the CSR I corresponded with, "We generally will offer substitutions for large appliances, we do not extend the offer to tools."

Now this old Okie isn't the brightest guy around but I do know how to read English and I can't find a "yeah but" anywhere in the statement that says "We'll sell you an equal or better item for the same price if we're out of stock."

I may do a double dose of blood pressure pills tomorrow and drive into town and see what the idiots at my local store have to say about price substitution.

Having said all of that I'll go on record to say that Sear's written out of stock policy appears to be a scam. In reality I probably should be looking elsewhere for a cordless drill. Everybody else sells heavy duty or contractor's model 18v drills from Makita or DeWalt for about $175 and you get what you pay for ...

I've got a lot of Craftsman power and hand tools in my roll around box - they USED to be good - but I wonder if I couldn't do better elsewhere.

[osprey4]

So you didn't actually go to the store?

This "online is a different store" stuff is just a cop-out but not one exclusive to Sears by any means. Best Buy does the same thing. Ok, guys, if they're different stores, WHY do you sell stuff on-line and let me pick it up at the store?

I'll just add that I've bought Makita and have found them to be better than Craftsman.

The deal about the online and stores being seperate entities is legit. I used to work big-ticket hardware sales and later customer relations for Sears. They fall under completely different guidelines. Same for the catalog division as well.

I can tell you this, I never priced matched anything because it was out-of-stock. So don't be shocked if the store you visit doesn't honor that policy, especially as most Sears stores have moved away from trained salespeople to unknowledgable cashiers.

As to actual brands, the drill you are looking at is most likely built by Ryobi, though a few models were Black and Decker. However, it has been several years since I worked at Sears (college job), so manufacturers might have changed, though probably not due to Sears standard of fixed long-term manufacturer contracts.

Robert Richmond

[DaveLewis]

"I can tell you this, I never priced matched anything because it was out-of-stock."

So how did you deal with the po'd customer who shows you the policy statement in writing ? Tell them to take their business elsewhere ? Why have a policy like that when they obviously don't intend to honor it ? No wonder Sears is going (has gone) down the toilet.

I'm just a very literal minded PITA and get mad when people do everything possible to lawyer their way out of meeting their obligations.

[caddmannq]

Yup. They're on the downhill slide.

I bought a Craftsman drill (not cordless ) in 1973. It's a bit "loose" now, but after 30 years (!) it still runs strong.

So I bought a new one "just like it" last year. It's far from the equal of my old one, and showing signs of wear already. It'll be a real miracle if it lasts 5 years.

When my Dad passed away, I inheirited all his Craftsman tools: mostly bought between 1955 and 1965.

My kids will probably be passing those down to their kids.

It's just not the same world now

[8bit-freak]

b

[8bit-freak]

oo

[8bit-freak]

& stuff

[8bit-freak]

null-granular-+___♫Δο6♠9=441

[SPEEDO]

Last year someone gave my Father-in-law a Sears gift certificate for Christmas. Well he and I head for the local Sears in Augusta Maine to look for some power tools with gift certificate in hand.
After picking out a nice table planer we presented the salesmen with the gift certificate. To our suprize the salesman said sorry we do not accept gift certificates in this section of the store, Say What!
His explanation was that the tools section was a separate entity and the gift certificate could be used in the regular Sears store. Duh.
Needless to say my Father-In-Law told them what they could do with their gift cards and separate entity crap. What a way to do business. It wouldn't be so bad if they put a disclosure on the card that it could not be used for tools. No wonder their heading down the toilet...