Complaint Review: Sears

Reading the Sunday sale paper on the morning of February 17th, I perceived what I thought to be a good deal on a television set. I looked at the back of the paper to see when the sale started. Cool...It starts on Feb. 17th. So, I was certain that I would be able to get into the store to and buy a set.

RIGHT!!! It was about 11 am when my sister and I walked into a Sears store. We went directly to the electronic department. First of all, it took the sales people about 20 minutes to realize that we were waiting to be helped. Then we proceeded to ask for the television set that was on sale. "Out of stock, Ma'am," was the reply I received.

"Fine. Call another store and we will pick it up," was my reply. We were told that all of the Sears stores were out of stock. By this time I was furious. How could all of the stores be out of stock of an item that has only been advertised since that morning.

To make a long story short...after two phone calls to the customer service dept., I receive a "copy" of what appears to be a raincheck. However, in order to use the raincheck, I have to pre-order the item with my "Sears" card or drive all the way down to the store and prepay in cash. Then ,as if I havent waited enough, I have to wait until April 19th to give the gift that I intended on giving since Feb. 22.That is really unfair.

I really hate when consumers get dupped by false advertising and I think that if more people spoke out about these misleading advertisements, the retailers would think twice before doing it.

I will tell you this...I will no longer shop at Sears. I will tell whosoever will listen about the incident so as to make certain that they keep their guard up and stand up for themselves regarding such practices. As for the raincheck I was issued, I wont use it. Drive 40 miles to prepay for an item I should have had months ago and then drive out again to pick it up? (Because not only did they give me a hard time about issuing a raincheck. But, they added that I had to use it in the same store that I originally went to. I was visiting my sister in Chicago that day).I rather give my money to a company who knows that my purchases help keep their doors open. Sears...look at what is happening to KMART!!

Ruth
Joliet, Illinois