Stupid SEARS Doorbuster Items!

[Mallard]

So I stood in line for an hour before the store opened, the doors opened and I was the second person in line for the Kenmore washer and dryer that was 50% off. Because I was so early, I was able to get delivery scheduled for the following Monday, December 1st.

 

The morning of December 1st I get a phone call from Sears...they're cancelling delivery and will can in 24-48 hours to reschedule. They never call.

 

I call on Thursday, Dec 4th and the person in India says they put me down for Friday the 5th and I would receive a call between 6 and 9pm telling me what time they will deliver. That call never comes.

 

I call Friday morning and the person tells me I am not scheduled and the earliest they can schedule me is Feb 27, 2009. (Keep in mind that the people buying this at 11am on Black Friday were given Feb delivery dates...sounds like I was put to the back of the line??) This person went on to tell me that I would need to call the store directly is Feb was unacceptable.

 

I spent all of my work day Friday calling the store and getting transferred around with no answers. I talked to 9 or 10 people who all transferred me to either an answering machine or a phone that nobody ever answers. Someone finally said they were marking it urgent and having their supervisor hunt down the appliance supervisor and having them call me ASAP. That phone call never came. (Before this I had also left 2 messages on an answering machine that said I would receive a call back within an hour...)

 

So Friday night I go back to the store. The guy says they're having a hard time getting everyone scheduled and he gives me a special number that's not normally given to customers. The guy schedules me for delivery on Sunday, December 7th and says I will receive a call between 6 and 9 pm telling me what time they will show up. THAT CALL NEVER COMES EITHER! I call them back Saturday night and they tell me to call back on Sunday.

 

I wake up Sunday and call the number, find out that I was scheduled for December 7th, except I would be waiting until 2009. After sitting on hold for 30-45 minutes I am told to call the store.

 

Five minutes later another lady calls me back and says she can get me in on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008.

 

This morning I receive a call from Sears. They're cancelling. Again. All the washers and dryers come through a distribution center in Columbus and supposedly they are out of stock. The earliest date they are expecting them is February 2009!

 

HOW THE HELL CAN YOU SELL A DOORBUSTER ITEM THAT YOU DON'T HAVE IN STOCK!? Of course they'll give you 50% off when they can hold your money for 3 months.

 

Maybe someone here works at the distribution center and can give me a straight answer.

[wnaplay1647545503]

Dude that sucks ass. I would be in jail by now.

[Cordell]

I'm so glad that I refuse delivery from these places. Sorry about your luck there Mallard.

[TimTaylor751647545500]

Wow, that's a very shitty situation. Even with 50% savings, all that hassle isn't worth it.

[Putty]

Fuck Sears for that.

[Guest GMoney]

Sounds like a ton of fun just to save a few dollars...

 

Another reason i do not even pick up the paper around thanksgiving.

[Putty]

Chic in line at lowe's on BFriday told me she waited a long time in line for that HHgregg 50% Frontload set to get in and find out they got 250 total for ALL the stores and the Easton location got ONE SET. That wasn't mentioned.

[Mallard]

Sounds like a ton of fun just to save a few dollars...

 

Another reason i do not even pick up the paper around thanksgiving.

If you consider ~$500 "a few dollars," then yes.

 

My washer was dying anyway, so at least I thought I was getting a washer and dryer combo for the price of the washer alone.

[sol740]

Bastards ...

[excell]

You can't just pick up a set?

[ForeverMaker]

I used to work for Sears in high-school as a salesperson (good job for that age) and their delivery system is one of the many reasons that the company is going down. Stock was always an issue and getting things delivered when the customer wanted was near impossible. You would work really hard on a sale then people would be pissed about how long it would take to get anything.

[dragknee66]

WOW. I was seriously going to wait in line for that deal too but couldnt get off work. Im SO happy you posted this, lol, Im sorry That would suck and I would be extremely pissed off if I was you as well!

[Mallard]

You can't just pick up a set?

Apparently they don't have any at the distribution center and are on backorder.

 

Part of the problem is the 1-800 numbers they have route you to India and those people can only look at their computer screen and say "Yup, I have you on the schedule." It takes wayyy too long to get a straight answer.

[excell]

Try this: http://consumerist.com/tag/sears/executive-customer-service/

[MrMeanGreen]

A VERY similar situation happened with me and Best Buy about the 60" DLP I bought on BF. After seven hours on the phone I dunno how many times (cumulative), they finally unfucked themselves when I spoke directly to the warehouse supervisor and they knocked $75 off. I got a $1700 TV for $925

[Dr. Apex]

This is why I don't bother with black friday, not worth the hassle as these deals are not what they should be a lot of times.

[Nitrousbird]

You need to go to the store you purchased it from directly and not leave until they make the situation right.

[coltboostin]

You can't just pick up a set now, then return it when the new stuff comes in?

 

Elaborated....

[944s2]

Try this: http://consumerist.com/tag/sears/executive-customer-service/

This is Badass!

[Benny]

Just go back to the store and tell them you want an upgraded washer and dryer since they don't have it in stock and the fucked up. Also that you wanted it delivered for free and right away and get it in writing. then tell them you will call the executive complaint line if they don't make you happy.

[Avenger1647545502]

Mallard, I *USED* to work over at that distribution center (Genco, on Crosswinds Dr. off of Georgesville, right next to the Dispatch printing center). That place was BEYOND fucked up for inventory control, and given the state of the company running it, I wouldn't expect it to be any better now.

Now.....chances are, there are plenty of that item physically in the building....but they aren't in the inventory system because nobody "recieves" items unloaded during another shift, so they get pushed to the side. When that shift rolls around again, they have no idea what this stuff is since it isn't where they left it, so the buck gets passed onward yet again. Usually, once this gets started it takes at least three days for the stuff to end up in the system. OR...somebody dropped a bunch of them and simply put a "hold" on the stow location rather than actually sort out the damaged pieces, thus leaving it for the next shift to deal with, whenever they feel like it, if ever...so the stuff is THERE, but it can't be picked until somebody actually goes down to look at it and sort out the smashed stuff from the good stuff, again not something that will happen quickly.

OR...they were there, and got shipped, but electronically "disappeared" between the warehouse dock and the store dock. Somebody at the store orders it, then cancels the order on the Sears end after has been sent to the warehouse already. It gets picked and shipped, since anything canceled after 2pm is the next days paperwork. BUT since the contract between Sears and Genco makes it Gencos fault for any mis-ships and Sears doesn't track their cancellations.... all Sears has to do is say, "Hey, you lost it, eat the cost." and some store dock worker has a piece with no paperwork, which then goes out the dock door into somebodies trunk. Usually it happened with microwaves and smaller stuff, but I absolutely KNOW that a $4500 riding mower disappeared like that.