Thread: Sears sure has changed, for the worse!

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I haven't had any problems with their Craftsman handtool guarantee, but I lost my respect for other Sears tools long ago. For a floor jack I have found the one at Costco to be a great value, $95 for a low profile, high lift jack that performs well.

I know I had a problem with one of thier torque wrenches that would not stay calibrated and they would not replace it. And I had some life time rechargable flash lights that the battery's went bad in and they would not replace those either.
Kurt

I'll stop in occasionally - but their tools are getting too dam' expensive for what they are. I bought a set of Gear Wrenches from them - supposedly guaranteed for life. Sure they are - just send the failed ones back along with your receipt and pay postage both ways and new one will appear. I ended up taking those two wrenches to Lowe's - no problem except you have to turn them over to change direction - but they do work better. I still like my Snap-On's best. Then there was that almost new 2T jack that got replaced with a HF that doesn't let itself down automatically..................

My garage door openers are Craftsman - one stripped a nylon gear - photo attached below. By the time I got it home from the repair center, my wallet was $30 lighter for a $125 opener:

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

I'm retired and have nothing better to do, so I just might be parking my butt and sign in front of the local Sears store for a while. Or, maybe I will call the local TV station "Troubleshooter." I'm not giving up that easily.

Don

When I lived in So. Cal. in the late 60's there was an older Mexican gentleman that had always wanted a new Continental. He was finally able to buy one, but it seems the dealership had it more than he did as something was always going wrong. It was a "lemon" and Ford wouldn't do anything for him so he loaded it on a trailer behind a pickup with a large lemon sign on the car and drove all over the place. I saw him on numerous occasions. I guess it finally got to him so one night he he managed to get it on the front lawn of the Ford assembly plant in El Segundo, I believe, and set it on fire. He got in some trouble with the local cops, but Ford gave him a brand new Conny.

It's not just limited to Craftsman. I have an old Snap-On trans pressure gage - bought the set about 25 years ago - and the high pressure gage needs a re-calibration as it's low by 20 or so pounds. Snap-On sent it back with the response that they can't re-calibrate the gage since no one does that anymore, but I can buy a new one for about $86.00. And here I thought that Snap-On was a lifetime warranty.
Lost faith in Snap-On hand tools years ago when they took so much metal out of the broach of the wrench that when you pull on the wrench, it feels like it's cutting you hand. Switched to Matco without regret.

I bought 2 of those plastic gears for less then $30. I figured since I had to replace one of them I might as well keep a spare for the other one just in case. Odd thing is the other door got opened just as mush as the broken one BUT the one thing I did notice the good opener doesn't close as tight. I figured the gear stripped because of tight I had it closing && it might not be a bad idea to put a little grease on them also....joe

Originally Posted by IC2

I'll stop in occasionally - but their tools are getting too dam' expensive for what they are. I bought a set of Gear Wrenches from them - supposedly guaranteed for life. Sure they are - just send the failed ones back along with your receipt and pay postage both ways and new one will appear. I ended up taking those two wrenches to Lowe's - no problem except you have to turn them over to change direction - but they do work better. I still like my Snap-On's best. Then there was that almost new 2T jack that got replaced with a HF that doesn't let itself down automatically..................

My garage door openers are Craftsman - one stripped a nylon gear - photo attached below. By the time I got it home from the repair center, my wallet was $30 lighter for a $125 opener:

well after read this i reading this i do not feel so bad about the snap on P.O.S jet wash and just two more payments i will be the owner of a rusty jet washer that need to be gone thru turn table needs to be rebuilt and will not clean much and to think it only costed $10000. i told them on the first one i would not take it the door was welded on but not inline with the cabinet unlatch it and the door would fly back from the big bind to get the door to latch i had to lean on it with my body weight i am a 230 lb small guy so they took that one back sent me number two jet washer that had parts busted off and the side push in .the track that rolls out turn table run out of the washer on a table. that was 3/4 lower then it should have been so if you have a engine block on it they way it came from snap it off it would land on the floor after talking many time about this snap on told me they would take it back but i would loose money on it .i told them i would be happy not to pay on it any more... so... they said they would report me and then pick it up.. so i got it busted off in my back side... i can say i do not think its paid for its self. i had some big money deals go side ways .if its under 200 bucks i chalk it up with the way things are like my $3000+.worth of doctor bills for welding a $75 job and one for $700 that Doc put two shots in me and made a phone call we just keep rolling

Just like Jerry said.Find any kind of proof of purchase and then you got them by the short hairs.

Dan is like me, he tosses receipts as soon as he gets home. Don is the bookkeeper in the family and has files for everything he has ever owned.

It's such a shame that America has turned into such a throwaway society. I have some old sockets and wrenches that I bought from Sears probably 40 years ago and they still work great and the chrome is thick and tuff. The ones I bought recently from them are not made as well and the finish starts to chip off after several uses. It's not only Sears, but I have a Snap On 3/8 drive rachet that was slipping under torque and they "fixed it" by putting new guts inside. But that didn't really correct the problem and they said they are only obligated to fix it one time.

Just the other day Dan and I went into the marine store where we both worked at one time, Dan needed some wiring supplies to do his car. When I started there in the late 80's that store had 25 employees.......each department had a head, shipping had two people, the office had a secretary, etc. The manager at that store told us they now run the store with 2 people per day..........one opens at 9 and is alone until 1 pm, then the other one comes in and works until close.

Things sure have changed in the retail world.

Don

I guess Sears no longer uses the catch phrase"Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back" welcome to the new way of doing business in America.There was a time a Kenmore washer and dryer would last 30+ years,now if you don't buy the "extended warranty protection" they will crap out after the first year,I found out the hard way same with a Kenmore vacuum.The Sears K-Mart merger is a mistake,I won't shop at either one anymore.

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Just the other day Dan and I went into the marine store where we both worked at one time, Dan needed some wiring supplies to do his car. When I started there in the late 80's that store had 25 employees.......each department had a head, shipping had two people, the office had a secretary, etc. The manager at that store told us they now run the store with 2 people per day..........one opens at 9 and is alone until 1 pm, then the other one comes in and works until close.

Things sure have changed in the retail world.

Don

Don, in recent years I think customer service has gone down because so many people were layed off and these companies are now seeing that they can "get by" with minimal employees. That does wonders for employee moral . That decrease in moral is often unfortunately passed on to customers. I am not in retail but I am an inventory manager for a truck rental company. A couple years ago they cut our inventory office from 24 people to 14 to cover a 1/3 of the country. Our daily conversations with the dealers (who we knew very personally) have turned into "I'm sorry you are who?". The trouble builds from there. I could go on, but I really did not want to thread jack.

Speaking of jacks I am sorry for your troubles. I know you do not intend to buy another jack, but Harbor Frieght has a aluminum low profile jack for about 70 bucks that is not the most sturdy thing in the world, but has worked for getting under a low car and much easier to throw around the garage than my heavier floor jack.

[QUOTE=Itoldyouso;416175] I have some old sockets and wrenches that I bought from Sears probably 40 years ago and they still work great and the chrome is thick and tuff.

Same here, Don. I bought a lot of Craftsman hand tools when I got out of the Navy. That was in 1954 (no, that's not a typographical error, it was 1954) and I still have most of them. Fine tools. The reason I don't have all of them is that I'm the world's worst about using a wrench or some other item then laying it down somewhere under the hood, then driving off. Somebody else owns them now.

As cffisher (Charlie) mentioned, their power tools ...... not so good. Anytime I want to get good and mad I try to use my belt sander. That will usually do it.

BUT. That is not my main gripe about Sears. A company I had worked for for over twenty years very unexpectedly went out of business. I found myself with a newborn and a two year old, a new house on which I hadn't made even the first payment, and no job.

We sat down and wrote registered letters to all of our creditors and explained the situation. All of them were understanding and thanked us for telling them and asked us to keep them informed if we had to relocate.

Well, all of them but one. Sears.

I owed them about $600. They hassled the devil out of us with many phone calls. They also torpedoed my very good credit rating.

That despite my keeping them fully informed.

I HATE 'EM!

We paid them and everybody else off fully. Nobody lost a dime on us. It took a long time for us to get our good credit rating back

Thanks for this opportunity to rant.

Jim

I'll add a little fuel to the fire. When I was starting the build on the coupe I bought a compressor and other misc. items at Sears. The cashier said Sears offered a discount if I would apply (instant) for a Sears card, stupid I did it.

When the card arrived sometime later I noticed it was a Visa card,I thought it was supposed to be a Sears card, as I had had one in years past. I sent them full payment and told them to close the account. Next month a bill came showing full payment had been received,but had been late by 1 day and a late payment was due in the amount of 35.00 dol. I informed them I had no plans to pay the 35.00. After 5 years and lot's of heated discussions with collectors the amount due had grown to close to 300.00. Finally they quit calling .

No more Sears for me.

Yeah, you bought it at sears SUCKER... hence the ol phrase searsucker suit.

Sears used to be great. That is done. Kmart in disguise, indeed.

Crapsman tools are getting worse. The ratchets and screwdrivers are to be avoided. Their starter tool kits are ok for the weekend hobbyist, but not for buisness.

As for Snapon.. here is a tidbit you will like to know..

Go to Lowes and buy the Kobalt tools. They are made by snapon, and are a great bang for the buck.

The first time the (late) wife bought me a screwdriver set from sears, they charged her for the guarantee! OOOH, I was hot. Told her to go back and get a refund on the 'guarantee' or else return the tools. What a crock!

When I first got the house rebuit after the fire, I went in and bought some of their top - line huge towels. They were awesome, so thick you could only put one or two in with a load of wash. About ten years later, I went back to buy a new set, as the old had worn thin. They don't carry them anymore! Just those crap, thin, chineese made towels. They are much MUCH less expensive, but where do you go to get real towels anymore?

Something I found amusing when I tried returning the jack was a comment the sales associate said. I told her I thought Sears had a lifetime warranty on tools. She said " A jack isn't a tool!"

I began to see a real difference in the quality of their handtools some time ago. The sockets didn't have the crispness they once had and the rachets had PLASTIC levers to change direction. The old rachets had metal levers.

As far as service, there was a time when each department was staffed by a knowledgeable employee who could guide you through a purchase and project. That changed, and one time I went in to buy some plumbing supplies (does Sears even carry plumbing supplies these days?) and I asked the man working that area for some advice. His words to me "I wish I could help you out, but up until yesterday I was working in the shoe department!"

I think that was the beginning of the end for the Sears we all knew and loved.

Don