Sears faces tough test this holiday season

Do they celebrate Christmas? We only shop at stores that acknowledge the Christmas season.

Sears guarantees all their employees who are called for military duty   the difference between their military pay and their Sears salary so it is less of a hardship on the employee andtheir family.Unlike other companies who illegally hire replacements,Sears goes out of its way to guarantee the GI's returning have their old or a better job.Yes,I shop Sears because of this policy.Ask the place where you shop if they are as "American" in comparison to Sears.

Everyone, please buy something at Sears this holiday season. Even if it cost slightly more, they are a company with a big heart. When one of their employee's is deployed to Iraq, they continue to pay the difference in wages for two years. This can and was verified, so support the troops and support a company that's for America. Even if its a small item, if everyone purchases something, it will give back the goodness they have been providing. God bless everyone and Sears.

This is one of those stories about modern America I just don't understand.  I am cleary very old at 46.  It always befuddled me that Wal Mart was so popular.  Why would anyone shop there when there was usually a Sears store (or even K Mart) nearby.  I can't say how much I hate shopping aat Walmart.  Service, selection, cleanliness, always bad.  At Sears, you can't always find everything, but the experience is so much better.  I own almost all Kenmore appliances.  I have never in 20 years had problems with any of them (I know we are big time overdue for a refrigerator, washing machine and dryer, all are nearly 20 years old).  I have never had a problem returning anything.  I once got a full refund on a year old mower.  Try that at Lowes, Home Deport (another store I hate), or Walmart.  Service is worth a lot to me.  Next time you stand in line at a Walmart for 20 minutes to save $1.98, ask yourself how much you time is worth.  And what if God forbid you have to return something there.  Walmart is a perfect example of getting what you pay for.  You may pay slightly less, but you get a lot less in return.  And, are you really paying more at Sears?  I advise anyone to check their prices.  2 of my 3 TVs are from Sears as they were the cheapest on sale.  Gotta love Sears.  Here's a vote for service and quality, 2 words rarely heard (positively) anymore.   

I tried shopping at Sears online last year and had so many problems with the web site I just gave up. The reason I don't shop my local Sears store is it's location. It's tucked away in a Mall that use to be the thriving downtown area 100 years ago and frankly it's a pain to get to. With so many speciality retailers out there Sears may need to regroup once again and quit trying to be everything to everyone and stick with it's strong points like tools and appliances.

I preferred Sears back when you could order from their catalog!

Old School Rules!

Yeah, I went to Sears this past Saturday. Augusta, ME. What a dump!!! The aisles were non-existent, as was the door on the handicap stall in the ladies' room. What a pleasurable experience. I think I'll stick to the smaller stores closer to home.

I have always been very satisfied with the quality of Sears appliances. Anytime I have bought something from Best Buy it has broken down.

This is a capitalist society.  I have shopped at K-mart 27 times in the last month (double coupons).  Out of 27 trips, 21 of my receipts have errors (some up to 5 items).  Their customer service STINKS (I have been called a liar when one of their meat items was not marked correctly).  When I have tried to remedy their other errors (always in their favor) with CS I have been verbally abused and other insulting body language (rolling eyes, etc.) I hate to say this, as K-mart is an American institution of sorts -- but they lack integrity and deserve to die.  Sad, very sad.

Of all the retailers, I really hope that Sears makes it.  With a little more creativity, I really think that they could be the best department store in America and in the world.

Pray for a Sears "Christmas miracle"!

Of all the retailers, I really hope that Sears makes it.  With a little more creativity, I really think that they could be the best department store in America and in the world.

Pray for a Sears "Christmas miracle"!

I worked at sears around the time they merged with K-Mart. They treated us employees really well before that, but then they started taking away our discounts (we couldn't use our discount and a coupon, just had to pick one and the coupon was sometimes more) They also stopped having an associate in every department, just cashiers that were responsible for two or three departments. I worked in a commisioned department and they cut the percent commision we got. Not only that, but they started selling appliances and other stuff from commisioned departments at the K-Mart down the street for a little cheaper so people would go there and buy them, so we were screwed out of our commision.

Also, K-Mart employees got a discount at Sears, but we couldn't get a discount at K-Mart. They also changed a lot of brands and quality went down.

If empolyees aren't happy, customers won't be either. I quit and went to work at a Hilton, which treats its employees so great that I kind of wish I still worked there.

Sears lost me as a customer more than 20 years ago, when their auto department tried to convince me that i needed a new axle to go along with the 4 new tires. And back then, finding a cash register that was open so that i could hand over my money was a challenge, and finding a cashier who could make change was difficult.

their support of the military is commendable, but they still won't get a penny of my business.

There are more than a few problems with Sears. The only way you can find help in Sears is to walk out of the store with the item and have the security buzzer go off. They also continue to sell things at a higher price than Carson's or Penny's. The service dept. is no longer served by Sears employees, they contract it out-cost us over $400.00 for a simple rotar routing-unreal. The Sears/Kmart store combinations will not take a Kmart gift card at all-was told that I needed to go to a regular Kmart. They deserve to go out of business, just wish Kmart hadn't hooked up with them.

Hmmm....

Sears has not been one of my favorite stores.  I do go through from time to time and I do get smaller items there from time to time.  I am concerned that there will be a massive lay-off of workers there at the beginning of 2009.  Sears is just having a time trying to keep-up with the competition!  They still seem old and outdated in their stores, and the old time feel just feels old and not nostalgic.

Wal-Mart is taking over and should gobble up more and more as we shop there.  There will be no need for malls soon since Wal-Mart and Target will become Malls to themselves!  Mervyns is gone....and Kohl's is in there somewhere.   Unfortunately...the beginning of 2009 looks very ominous for these kinds of stores.  Discounters is where everyone will be going in 2009 unless a miracle pulling of the 'rabbit out of the hat' takes place.  Soon we'll all be dressed in same black outfits made by the same manufacturer.

Wish there was better news to report...but reality is setting in!

P. Snackenburg: Maybe you should attend a union meeting. My wife worked for Wally World for a while just for grinszzzzes and let me tell you - if ever a business needed unionized it is Wally World. They treat their employees like crap, pay them little, lie to them about all aspects of their work, and the list goes on forever. Then they sit back and collect gazillions in profits every year by practicing those tactics plus other objectionable behavior such as; purchasing merchandize for pennies on the dollar manufactured in sweat shops by child labor in foreign countries while touting their products as being American made, misleading advertising, poor work conditions in the facilities of the manufacturers they do use, inferior quality constructed products and the list goes on.  Then they have evidently convinced a lot of shoppers that they are always cutting cost, slashing prices, and looking out for they the shoppers. Hog wash! Wal-Mart, when it is all said and done is no cheaper than any other retail store in town. You say you don’t believe that? Then perform this experiment for me if you will; go to your local Super Duper Wall World and price all the groceries in their food section that you normally purchase from them. Then visit all the other food chains in your area and price those exact same goods. When you think about the hassle, the long lines, the grumpy employees and etc. the question is – was Wally World really that much cheaper? If you are an honest person your answer is going to be NO it wasn’t. Even after practicing all their deplorable tactics they really aren’t, when it is all said and done, any cheaper. How then do their competitors, who do not participate in the use of poorly constructed foreign goods, the use of sweat shops, the use of child labor and etc. manage to provide the same goods at a comparable price and pay their workers a decent working wage? Because they care about their customers and their employees and they know how to manage their business. With their asinine profits Wal-mart could and should pay better than they do but it is because of uncaring individuals such as your self that they don't. One would think the Obama democrats, with their redistribute the wealth scheme, would be all over Wal-mart insisting they redistribute the wealth but I doubt if they will even utter a protest. Go ahead and continue to purchase inferior Wally World products if you wish to but don’t bad mouth organizations who help the down trodden achieve a better station in life by insisting their employers pay them a decent working wage and provide them as safe a work environment as possible.

What they should be discussing, is that Sears now handles its accounts through CitiBank.  If you're two days late, CitBank starts harrassing you with phones calls - dozens a day.  It is horrible.  I will never shop there again.  I grew up going to Sears, but NO MORE.

Since K-mart purchased Sears it has gone down but if you think about it honestly – is shopping at Sears really that much of a worse experience when compared to other retailers. I still purchase merchandize at Sears but not like I use to. Their employees, in my experience, are no ruder or more unknowledgeable than any other retailers employers are. Has anyone tried to find a employee at Home Depot Or Lowes and if you have could that many of them answer your questions with any knowledge what so ever. Wal-mart is no better either. Sears prices are still in line with most other retail Stores too. The problem with Sears is the problem most American retailers have - they haven't a clue as to what they are doing! Period! When we lose the Sears, the J. C Penny's, the Mervyns and etc. then all we will have left is discount outlets like Wal-mart, K-mart, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Home Depot, Lowes and etc. Is that really the type of stores we want to shop at and the quality of merchandise we wish to purchase? I think not!

I echo alot of the other views. I bought a Plasma TV from sears and used their credit card which had a no interest deal for a couple of months. I initially did not even know that there was no interest, I just paid the min every month. When I was notified that the free interest was up I totally forgot about it. I then got a new bill with the interest added. I called Sears and asked them if they could retract the additional finance charge and also told them that I would make the payment in full without interest at the next cycle. Well they were not accommodating and said that the time limit for interest free was up. So I cancelled the card and our family has not shopped in a Sears store for over two years. If ye must fail then suffer ye consequences.....

sears if you are listening go back to mail order catalogue as well as online store.  use just in time inventory system based the edwards demming model case study on the japanese car market in the 1960's and voila you are still in business.  dump the brick and morters.  kmart will live through good and bad times , has a niche market with the martha stewart products which could be expanded for appliances.  you should honour me at your next board meeting because i just saved the brand Sears for you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well... to me, the biggest fault Sears has now-a-days is their return policy.

Forget about how long you have to take items back, it's the 15% re-stocking fee they charge you on virtually EVERYTHING in the store.

If you buy a $1,000 washer & dryer combo and you cancel the purchase within 30 seconds of signing your credit card slip, they will STILL charge you $150.

I have not purchased anything in Sears since they instituted this ridiculous re-stocking fee and I never will.

When I was growing up, we bought everything at Sears, but they have really fallen. 

It's sad to see such a giant fall, but they seem to have forgotten what customer service is all about.

What sold me on Wal-Mart happened years ago.  Had bought a Brothers electric typewriter from them.  Something broke.  Went to a repair shop listed in the Yellow Pages that repaired Brothers typewriter.  When I got there I was told they don't "bother" with little home-type typewriters.  Could pack and mail it to some shop 100 miles away.  I mentioned this incident to a friend; she told me to bring it back to W-M.  I said I couldn't because it was two years old and I didn't save the receipt.  She said "Bring it back!"  O.K. what did I have to lose.  I asked to speak to the manager, got half way through my story and he said "Go and pick out another Brothers and bring it up here."  I did and when I asked how much, he said "Nothing.  Thanks for shopping Wal-Mart." 

K-Mart was a different story.  Try exchanging a pair of brown shoelaces for a pair of black ones, or a sweater for a different size.....  Had to fill out a form yea long and thought they were going to ask for a copy of my birth certificate.  Never returned to them again.  Plus, I don't like the fact that K-Mart is the only department store open on Thanksgiving.  Hope they pay their employees double time though I doubt it.