Ever have trouble with Sears appliance sales?

[horseshowmom]

Today was the third time over the last couple of years that I've gone in to Sears to buy an appliance that was on sale only to be told that they were out of that item but that they had the next higher priced item in stock (today was a washer, and the one they had was $50 higher).

I can understand this happening, but it's odd that it happens every time. If I order one (which I can do), I either have to pay delivery charges or come back and get it again (we live 50 miles away). I'm starting to wonder about bait and switch.

On our way home, we went through a small town where there's a small Sears that is indepedently owned (not a company store like the one we went to in the mall). We pulled up, walked in, found the washer on sale, paid for it, and had it loaded in about 10 minutes.

Interestingly, I had asked for the number to this store while still in the mall to see if they had what we wanted. After staying gone quite some time, the associate returned to tell me that they didn't have it in stock either. I decided to check anyway - glad I did...

 

[airtime247]

I used to work in a Sears store around 13 years ago when I first started college. I worked in their electronics department. At least when I was there, they were really careful (and very clear to us) not to bait and switch. First I want to say that I HATED the job so I don't want to appear to defend them out of some kind of company loyalty. I'm just telling my observations from working there.

There were a few problems with sale ads. First, not every store carries every item. We were a smaller store and didn't have many of the items people would come in looking for from the ads. We could order the items but the customers often had us call a nearby store who stocked most of the items.

Another problem is that if the items were in stock, they would often sell out quickly (in the first day or two of a sale) when an ad would come out. This would upset a lot of customers too.

Where you might see the appearance of bait and switch is more from the individual salesperson. Honestly, the items that go on sale are generally only 1% commission. They (formerly we) would love nothing more than to move you to another item to earn more commission. Price generally doesn't have as much to do with what they may push you to as commission percentage. Often, a comparable or slightly more expensive item can easily be 3-7% commission.

I can see this happening at any store where the employees are primarily paid by commission though, not just Sears. As a company, they were very reputable but it is the "feast or famine" conditions employees who earn no hourly wage (only commission) are put in that should give you suspicions about what you are being told.

Hope that helps!

-steve

 

[Galahad]

We generally buy all of our appliances at sears and haven't had a problem. Recently we bought a dishwasher. It was delivered and installed quickly. I got a call two days later that said our dishwasher was in and when did we want it installed. I was concerened for several days they would try to double charge us but they didn't. Probably just a paperwork snafu.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I had problems once. I had a water heater that had a problem which I purchased. It was guranteed for something like 8 years and the water heater ran out one week BEFORE the warrenty ended. They gave me a hard time and refused to do anything until I said, "can you give me your corporate head quarters number?" SUDDENLY, everything changed and I got my water heater AND I got part of the instillation paid for. The salesmanager confided to me after that no way do they want a letter or call to corporate.

I think that is your solution.

 

[bicker]

I either have to pay delivery charges or come back

In a real bait-and-switch situation, the company would have no intention of satisfying the advertisement. Generally, a reasonable expectation when a retailer runs out of a sale product is that they give you a raincheck -- a promise to honor the sale price at a later date. That seems to be what they're doing.

 

[Kermit]

We frequently buy appliances at Sears on sale, but we always plan to pay to have them delivered (actually, many times the sale includes free delivery), so we've never had that problem. From what I understand, our Sears doesn't keep many appliances in stock at all. They have a very small storage facilty, and I don't blame them. Square footage in a mall is expensive. They'd rather pay to have a delivery truck from a warehouse bring them all the appliances they need to deliver each morning.

 

[horseshowmom]

The salesperson seemed very nice and straightforward, but I had to wonder about that after she told us that the smaller store didn't have any in stock either. Of course, it turned out that they did, and we bought one.

After some polite discussion, they offered us the higher priced washer at 10% off, because today's ad was going to have it for that same 10% off between 4-6 p.m. We agreed to that, but they came back and said that they couldn't do that after all. It seems like it would have been worth their while just in customer relations.

By that point, we decided to just do something else. We're kind of stuck, because we live in such a rural area that it's hard to find somebody who will come to work on our appliances if we have a problem. Sears does that which is why we wanted an appliance from them. I'm glad we got it at the other store. From now on, we'll go there.

Either way, we got our washer, but I do think I'm going to write a letter to the corporate office. I left yesterday fully intending to file a complaint with the BBB, but since I've already bought a washer, there's really no way they could rectify the situation at this point.

 

[bicker]

I'd go with your gut feel, that the salesperson is nice and straightforward. It sounds, perhaps, like the sales folks may not be authorized to bend the rules that much (probably due to past abuses). I wouldn't hold that against them. Since it is such a long drive for you, and since in-stock availability is so important to you, you'd be better-off in the future confirming availability before making the long drive, thereby giving them an opportunity to serve you in a manner comparable to how they serve their local customers.

 

[mom2boys]

Never had a problem with Sears. Did you get the saleperson's name? I would definitely call the general manager of the store. I would also contact someone at the district level. I feel especially bad for the independent guy who almost lost a sale because of the misinformation your were given.

 

[horseshowmom]

I feel especially bad for the independent guy who almost lost a sale because of the misinformation your were given.

That bothered me a lot too. I can understand all of the rest, but she was "supposedly" calling the other store and being told that they had none in stock.

It was actually her manager who offered the 10% off the higher priced item and then retracted it.

In the future, I'll probably only deal with the independent store if at all possible. If I do have to go to the other one, I'll call ahead and put it on my Sears card if they have it. I just prefer to write a check instead of putting things on a credit card if I can avoid it, but if I do a phone order I will at least know it's there when I get there.

 

[LadyyRedd]

I used to work at Kohl's and we used to have problems with advertised items being out of stock and people would get upset with us. The biggest problem was that ads were done months in advance by the corporate headquarters and many times, it seemed to be an item that was already popular enough to be selling without the advertisement. Of course, we ALWAYS offered a raincheck, but we also let customers know that we did have other models in stock. Of course, we did not work on commission, so it did'nt matter to me one way or the other whether they bought another model or waited for the raincheck item to come in.

Kimya