To make a long storie short, I purchased a Kenmore washer and dryer from Sears.
The delivery process has been a coomplete shambles.
The thing that really gets my goat, I buy a hign end product from what I always considered a classic “AMERICAN COMPANY”. Yes I relize where they are built.
But WTH-edoubletoothpicks is with their customer service 
I find my self talking to a foreigner from God knows where, to try and get a appliance delivered, from “MAPLEWOOD MN” to “COTTAGE GROVE MN”.
Foreign call centers save us money on the front end, but God help you if there is an issue.
The cable guy installed the new X1 Xfinity box here and he was even joking about calling a fricking foreign country for support. He had to call them for each box a couple times.
Just another reason to buy products from a local independent dealer, they have a lot on the line and want to take care of the customer. Wait until you need service, that is a disaster as well.
Yes, all SEARS deliveries are that way… 
Had their home improvement program install 2 new exterior doors for us some years ago. Installers were not told of a few things the salesman had promised, and a couple small issues with the screen doors the customer service was a pain in the butt to try to get anything. Finally resolved them on my own. Too bad, the doors are fantastic, but when you pay a premium price I expect all other aspects to be spot on as well. Will never buy big ticket items from them again.
I had them come to my house to install a new engine in my 14 year old riding mower that was burning oil…. they did it “FOR FREE” 
I was impressed 
We export manufacturing, now we export customer service?
Not for this, Guy..I’ll go to my grave supporting; “American jobs for Americans!”
The only good thing with Sears anymore is the return policy on their hand tools.
This is the fall-down point for almost every product these days. It isn’t the product, it’s the customer experience. You can deliver the best product in the world and it can work flawlessly. If, in the process, you create a bad customer experience, the product becomes irrelevant.
Grouse
Lets all face the reality, GOOD customer service is a thing of the past. There are small pockets of it, I use independent shops whenever possible. I like it if I have an issue that I speak with the same guy that sold me the item.
We just bought a new washer and dryer from Warners Stellian-not really mom and pop but locally based none the less. Very happy with their customer service. Delivery was on time and they installed the new ones. Price wise they were competitive as the units were on sale.
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Lets all face the reality, GOOD customer service is a thing of the past. There are small pockets of it, I use independent shops whenever possible. I like it if I have an issue that I speak with the same guy that sold me the item.
Agreed. You have to visit smaller owner/operator businesses and hope the owner is working because they are the only ones with a vested interest in the business and incentive to provide a quality customer experience. Look at most of the kids these days. They walk around with their heads hanging down looking at electronic devices instead of interacting with other people. I don’t wonder why they don’t act much better when they get a job. Pretty obvious the way people are raising kids these days. Not all but certainly enough to be an issue.
BTW I agree that Warner Stellion does a great job.
I always like when you go to pay for a appliance you get hit with what type of warranty do you want with that. Since when do appliances not come with warranties? Is it going to break before I get it home? The warranties start sounding more like Im just prepaying for service that will be needed on the appliance.
Last appliance I bought from Sears the buying experience was terrible. Kinda thought I should of brought a gun with for protection to. Appliance pick up was behind the mall out by the dumpsters. Had to go up to a unmarked door, push the button and wait. Wasnt sure if I was picking up a appliance or buying crack. The appliance still is working great but Ill never go back to Sears again.
Always buy local and always buy from small businesses if you can.
The service will be 100x better than any big box store. Yes, you may pay more for the product up front, but they are not getting rich at this price and will generally do whatever is in their power to help you.
Small business all the way. urine on the big corporations!
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Lets all face the reality, GOOD customer service is a thing of the past. There are small pockets of it, I use independent shops whenever possible. I like it if I have an issue that I speak with the same guy that sold me the item.
Agreed. You have to visit smaller owner/operator businesses and hope the owner is working because they are the only ones with a vested interest in the business and incentive to provide a quality customer experience. Look at most of the kids these days. They walk around with their heads hanging down looking at electronic devices instead of interacting with other people. I don’t wonder why they don’t act much better when they get a job. Pretty obvious the way people are raising kids these days. Not all but certainly enough to be an issue.
BTW I agree that Warner Stellion does a great job.
I was up at the cabin and ran out of nicotine gum so I went to the small grocery store in Nevis. It was a high school kid at the counter, texting on his phone. He informed me they didn’t sell the gum and jokingly I said that’s too bad,I’m getting a little jittery, without looking up from his phone he said-wow, sucks to be you. That’s parenting.
Sorry to get off topic!
I agree with Warner Stellion, bought a fridge there. Good experiance.
eek
the “kids” working in our family business are OUR kids
pretty sure they are aware that if they ever said “sucks to be you” to a customer … well, it would suck even worse to be the knot-head who just said that to a customer
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The only good thing with Sears anymore is the return policy on their hand tools.
Yeah, they replace- if they still make it, with one of worse quality than the one you broke initially. There is nothing worse than being half way around the world and having your new replacement tool break the first time you use it. Especially when the original lasted 20 years! 
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Lets all face the reality, GOOD customer service is a thing of the past. There are small pockets of it, I use independent shops whenever possible. I like it if I have an issue that I speak with the same guy that sold me the item.
Same words I usally abide by,I tried something outside the box and “whala” look where it gets me.
Just a tad of embaresment here
The thing I find especially galling about customer service these days is the “No Big Deal” attitude. No matter what gets #ffed up, the retailer thinks it’s no big deal as long as the EVENTUALLY get it right. The customer’s time and headaches are of no concern.
And 90% of the time, just because they got it wrong, doesn’t mean you get put to the front of the line when it comes to getting it right.
In the span of one house remodel:
– Appliances delivered after pre-purchasing them 2 months earlier so that we were assured they would be ready when the kitchen was done. And they show up with an electric stove instead of the gas stove we ordered.
No problem. We’ll just order you a new stove. 4-6 weeks. I didn’t take it very well.
– Custom shower base, ordered and waited 3 weeks for delivery. It arrived in a crate that looked like a Sherman tank had run over it. Entire corner busted off.
No problem, we’ll just order another one for you. 3 more weeks. Again–and this will be a recurring theme here–I didn’t take that “solution” very well. So after extensive discussion, I was promised in writing that a new one would be delivered in a week with extra packing to insure this did not happen again.
New one arrived and–wait for it–it too was broken. I didn’t take it very well. This time, neither did the store manager, who personally called the vendor and do you know what they said? Sorry about that. We’ll have a new one to you in 3-4 weeks. 
No, really! Knowing fully that this was strike 3, he still said it. Both the store manage and I laughed at them out loud right there on the speaker phone. It was awesome. After some negotiation, it was agreed to that they would ship it out next day air at a cost of $500 just for the shipping.
The store manager also refunded my purchase price and said he would simply refuse to pay the invoice due to the poor customer service. I told him that while I appreciated the gesture, I would much rather pay full price and the get what I paid for, when I was promised it.
– Custom cabinets arrived after waiting 10 weeks. Wrong color. No, really.
Again, the song is always the same. Sorry ’bout that. We’ll rush new ones to you in just 2-4 short weeks. Ummm, that’s not going to work for me. How about 2-4 DAYS. Days are better than weeks when it’s you that screwed up.
After some negotiating we agreed to 2 weeks. Sadly, there could be but one outcome… Cabiets arrived, right color, but sink base had somehow changed sizes. Oh my aching buttski…
– Finally, took the American Standard toilet out of the box to install. Leaked like mad. Much time spent diagnosing the problem, turned out to be cracked inside the toilet’s trap. Call American Standard. Ohhhhh, sorry. That model is now out of production due to unforseen circumstances… We can send you another model, no problem.
Ummmm, big problem. The toilet matches the two sinks, which are already installed with faucets that match the $600 shower/bath faucets that are now installed.
So customer diservice says, and this is classic, “Would you accept a full refund?” 
No, really, they said it.
I always laugh when retailers bemoan the lack of customer loyalty these days.
Grouse
Grouse, I’m pissed off after reading that! It’s unbelievable!
They arn’t isolated incidents either, I’m sure everyone I know and everyone you know has a similar story. There is such a sense of entitlement out there, no work ethic, just there for a paycheck, nothing more. Very frustrating
Getting all worked up!!
Grouse you need to see a voodoo doctor BC you got some bad mojo right now, or you took on the headache of generaling it yourself which can be dangerous too.
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Grouse you need to see a voodoo doctor BC you got some bad mojo right now, or you took on the headache of generaling it yourself which can be dangerous too.
I like to think that I’m essentially taking the Cosmic Karma bullet so that things can go well for others. It’s kind of like I’m throwing myself on top of the “bad [censored] happening” gernade so that others may live.
Grouse
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Grouse you need to see a voodoo doctor BC you got some bad mojo right now, or you took on the headache of generaling it yourself which can be dangerous too.
I like to think that I’m essentially taking the Cosmic Karma bullet so that things can go well for others. It’s kind of like I’m throwing myself on top of the “bad [censored] happening” gernade so that others may live.
Grouse
Nope, they got you and they will get the next guys also.
Grouse
would you please walk two to three steps ahead of me for the next few months ?
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Grouse
would you please walk two to three steps ahead of me for the next few months ?
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The only good thing with Sears anymore is the return policy on their hand tools.
Very true and I like most of my craftman tools. But I’ve replaced my 1/4 inch ratchet 3 times in the last few months. To the point where I’m looking at Snap on Mac or SK just so the thing lasts awhile.
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The only good thing with Sears anymore is the return policy on their hand tools.
Very true and I like most of my craftman tools. But I’ve replaced my 1/4 inch ratchet 3 times in the last few months. To the point where I’m looking at Snap on Mac or SK just so the thing lasts awhile.
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Grouse
would you please walk two to three steps ahead of me for the next few months ?
Ha-bloody-ha. That’s very funny. I would think you would appreciate the fact that in a cosmic sense, I soaked up all the bad mojo output for an entire 3 month period. Thus ensuring that nothing bad happened to anyone else, anywhere, because it was all happening to me.
It will interest you to know, that Mrs. Grouse and I are planning to build a new house. So, basically, what this means is that you will have a cosmic “Get Out of Jail Free” card for the entire construction period.
I’ll PM you my address so you can send me a thank you gift. I like really good Bourbon. Yes, I’m well aware of the irony. Believe me, I’m all about the irony.
Grouse
Am embarking on a new business venture (and it’s just gettin’ to the point of scary), so can use all help I can get … thus I much appreciate your sacrifice to the cosmic Karma balance
a good high quality Bourbon just happens to be my sippin’ choice too
would welcome the chance to share one sometime
Take your proverbial lemons and go make some juice man. Walk into those stores you bought all your stuff from and use the bathroom thus linking your karma to their sewer lines causing backup upon your exit, and then while waiting your 2-4 weeks for all your stuff to arrive take a short trip to Illinois or wherever you can catch an Asian carp and give it a nice long kiss causing a rare fungal epedemic to decimate the populations and to help rid IDO of any more AIS posts from BK
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