Complaint Review: Sears

The issues you had dealing with the sales associate are pretty typical. This is not the sales associate's fault, but the consequence of aggressive company policies.

Sears sales associates are required to ask every single customer to sign up for a Sears card. They are also required to ask every customer to purchase protection agreements. Associates are graded on how many credit card applications, protection agreements and accessories they sell per month. As mentioned earlier, if they do not meet their quotas (a.k.a. "metrics), they are written up and ultimately fired within a couple of months.

The aggressive sales tactics the associate used, including showing you the most expensive items first and trying to close the sale that very day, are taught in training. Most sales associates hate employing these tactics, but they are pressured by management into doing so.

Also, you mentioned earlier that you made much more money as a car salesman than this associate does, at 1-4%. While this commission percentage would be true of sales associates in certain departments who also earn a small base rate, this may not have been the case with the salesman working in appliances. In the appliance department, sales associates typically make straight commission with no base rate. There are times when sales are slow and they take home only $20 a week. They often have to fight like hell to get a small check, and they have to eat just like the rest of us.

The sales associate is the victim of a horrific employment obligation that forces him to pressure you into signing up for credit cards, purchasing the most expensive items, buying unnecessary attachments, agreeing to protection agreements, and buying the items that very day. If he does not follow through, Sears will discipline and ultimately fire him. While it is easy to blame the sales associate because he wears the face of the organization, you might want to turn your attention to the company and its horrible policies. This would not only benefit consumers, but also employees who suffer under this kind of management day in and day out.

not knowing who is responsible. Who is lying and who is telling the truth. Well the fact is, Sears is the responsible party. Sears is the one who sent out the sales consultant who most likely made numerous misrepresentations, at no fault of the sales consultant. He (as I did) was just presenting to you what he was trained to do. Once the sales consultant has made the sale, the order is turned over to the Production Dept, who then finds some father/son team or in the case of one of my kitchen sales, husband/wife team, to come in as the "installation crew."

Now that you have a sales consultant, project manager, subcontractors and installers, Sears has successfully created the 3-Ring Circus. Sears is the entity you entered into an agreement with, Sears sold you one thing and you ended up with something else. Sears made the misrepresentations by and through their contract, their sales consultant, project manager and whatever company they subcontracted out the job. Sears sales consultants are trained to communicate to the customers the good ole false sense of security saying "satisfaction guaranteed or your money back." Contractually Sears should be bound by this. Create a paper trail of your requests for your money back, that you are not satisfied and that the product and installation is NOT to your SATISFACTION. Write a letter and send it certified. CONTACT YOUR BANK AND REQUEST THAT THEY RETRACT THE CHECK FROM WHATEVER COMPANY YOU ISSUED THE FUNDS TO. Not sure if the bank has the ability, but you may be able to dispute it and it is possible to retract the funds. Possible, but definite. I don't know enough about your situation, but it is worth a try. I bet you'll get their attention if you do recover you money.

I did in-home sales for Sears selling kitchen remodeling/refacing. I have a report on this site entitled "Sears Aka Sears Home Improvement Products Sears Refusal to Pay Me Wages and Earned Commissions Oklahoma City And Tulsa Oklahoma." As for how they do their employees in the store...my Gawd it sounds frightening. It also sounds like the employees are pressured to do whatever it takes to make a sale, whether it be aggressive, pushy or just out right dishonest for fear of losing their job. After my short tenure with Sears, I have learned of the type of organization not to associate with. Sears is disgrace and I am disgusted that even for a short time I was a part of their organization.

Sears is taking customers day after day, left and right. Of the customers I sold kitchen remodeling/refacing to while with Sears, the majority were nearly retired or already retired couples looking to do something special to their home with a new, beautiful, updated kitchen adding value to their home. These people worked all their lives, put back some money for something special, only to have Sears rob them. These customers signed up for kitchens costing an average of $22,000 to 28,000. I quit Sears before most of the kitchens I sold were completed because it quickly became apparent that the representations, commitments, guarantees, quality of product, superior service, and speedy completion of these kitchens were all untruths. These customers probably spent a good part of their savings for their new kitchen only to find out that Sears snatched up their money and never looked back. Much less make any attempt to make it right.

Not only should Sears be exposed for their deceptive tactics and practices, but moreover Sears should be under CRIMINAL INVESTIATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are deceiving, stealing, conning, and robbing honest, hardworking customers. Sears should be held accountable to the highest degree!

If we do not get a monthly quota of credit applications, we're fired. If we do not sell a monthly quota of extended warranties, we're fired. If we do not sell a monthly quota of installations, we are fired. He was just trying to stay employed, like I and so many of my coworkers.

I don't understand .... YOU told the company that you won't ever do business with them ever again and put your card in the shredder .... and you are wondering why they "won't give you the time of day"??

First, why do you want them to contact you at all if you don't want to do business with them ever again?

Secondly, after your little tantrum, why do you think the company should be required to deal with you further?

It sounds like Sears is doing exactly what YOU wanted them to do -- to never do business again.

I'd have to agree with Cory and Mary. It does not seem as if there is any rip-off here. You seem to be complaining about a salesperson who actually wanted to try and help you.

As for the Sears Card, one advantage of these "store" cards is that they do usually have offers of 0 interest for anywhere from 6 Months to a Year for major purchases. If you could pay it off in that time that actually becomes a better deal. I know that the place you bought it from has this offer on their card, and if their sales associates were on the ball they should have mentioned this to you.

It also does not seem like this Sales Associate was forcing you into the most expensive items. You even state that the dryer he showed you was the "standard size", it could be a case of he was just trying to show you that one and go from there.

sears sucks period. I worked for those scam artists and wouldn't ever work for those worms again even if they paid me $25.00/Hr.

First, I'm sorry that you are so disappointed that you actually had a salesperson in a store that wanted to HELP you. What did you expect? If you enter a store, you are expecting to have someone there to help you, if not most people will complain that they were not waited on. This young man sounds like he was very attentive to you and simply was offering you all the possible discounts he could. For one thing the Sears Charge Plus has a program that you give you interest free for 12 months!
As for Lowes not asking you about a credit card...I'm sure if the manager of that store knew that their employee did not offer you a credit card they would not be very happy. Its part of the job.

First in you headline you say, quote "...wouldn't give me the time of day once I(told him) I put my sears cards in a paper shredder...". Then in your post you rant about "I told him we just bought a house, that we used to have a sears card and it went into the paper shredder blah blah blah..." Then after you said he wouldn't "GIVE YOU THE TIME OF DAY" yet you go on to say "He started pressuring you to into applying for another sears card" and then you state "He the deceided to walk me over and began showing me the most expensive appliances...." Again, that doesn't sound like he "wasn't giving you THE TIME OF DAY. Now what we really have here is an aggressive salesperson. I really don't see a ripoff or a problem with that. What do you expect him to do? Show you the cheapest items on the floor? He would be a pretty poor salesperson if he did. All things aside, I hate sears for many reasons including the fact that I worked there years ago. Had a sears card for 20+ years and because of their poor business practices, I too cut it up, stopped buying from sears and have purchased tens of thousands of dollars worth of goods and appliances from home depot that I would have bought at sears. But that's just me.

First in you headline you say, quote "...wouldn't give me the time of day once I(told him) I put my sears cards in a paper shredder...". Then in your post you rant about "I told him we just bought a house, that we used to have a sears card and it went into the paper shredder blah blah blah..." Then after you said he wouldn't "GIVE YOU THE TIME OF DAY" yet you go on to say "He started pressuring you to into applying for another sears card" and then you state "He the deceided to walk me over and began showing me the most expensive appliances...." Again, that doesn't sound like he "wasn't giving you THE TIME OF DAY. Now what we really have here is an aggressive salesperson. I really don't see a ripoff or a problem with that. What do you expect him to do? Show you the cheapest items on the floor? He would be a pretty poor salesperson if he did. All things aside, I hate sears for many reasons including the fact that I worked there years ago. Had a sears card for 20+ years and because of their poor business practices, I too cut it up, stopped buying from sears and have purchased tens of thousands of dollars worth of goods and appliances from home depot that I would have bought at sears. But that's just me.

First in you headline you say, quote "...wouldn't give me the time of day once I(told him) I put my sears cards in a paper shredder...". Then in your post you rant about "I told him we just bought a house, that we used to have a sears card and it went into the paper shredder blah blah blah..." Then after you said he wouldn't "GIVE YOU THE TIME OF DAY" yet you go on to say "He started pressuring you to into applying for another sears card" and then you state "He the deceided to walk me over and began showing me the most expensive appliances...." Again, that doesn't sound like he "wasn't giving you THE TIME OF DAY. Now what we really have here is an aggressive salesperson. I really don't see a ripoff or a problem with that. What do you expect him to do? Show you the cheapest items on the floor? He would be a pretty poor salesperson if he did. All things aside, I hate sears for many reasons including the fact that I worked there years ago. Had a sears card for 20+ years and because of their poor business practices, I too cut it up, stopped buying from sears and have purchased tens of thousands of dollars worth of goods and appliances from home depot that I would have bought at sears. But that's just me.

First in you headline you say, quote "...wouldn't give me the time of day once I(told him) I put my sears cards in a paper shredder...". Then in your post you rant about "I told him we just bought a house, that we used to have a sears card and it went into the paper shredder blah blah blah..." Then after you said he wouldn't "GIVE YOU THE TIME OF DAY" yet you go on to say "He started pressuring you to into applying for another sears card" and then you state "He the deceided to walk me over and began showing me the most expensive appliances...." Again, that doesn't sound like he "wasn't giving you THE TIME OF DAY. Now what we really have here is an aggressive salesperson. I really don't see a ripoff or a problem with that. What do you expect him to do? Show you the cheapest items on the floor? He would be a pretty poor salesperson if he did. All things aside, I hate sears for many reasons including the fact that I worked there years ago. Had a sears card for 20+ years and because of their poor business practices, I too cut it up, stopped buying from sears and have purchased tens of thousands of dollars worth of goods and appliances from home depot that I would have bought at sears. But that's just me.