I Pit Sears Outlet

[bump]

@Skywatcher

Sears Outlet is still a thing?

Yeah, there’s an appliance/hard goods one not far from where I work, and a clothing one a little farther away.

Thing is, getting appliances from them is essentially buying either an overstock, or a return item.

Sears Surplus (now Sears Outlet) back in the day used to sell a lot of catalog overrun items- they’d buy them for the catalog sales, and then what didn’t sell through the catalogs went to the surplus store, along with a lot of refurb stuff and catalog and store returns.

So occasionally you could get some GREAT buys on stuff like tools, calculators, and other small electronics, or stuff like winter boots.

The clothes were mostly awkward sizes or crap that nobody wanted because it was ugly as sin.

[Mr.Duality]

The decline of Sears has been going on for a generation or more. Never buy anything from Sears (Craftsman) that has a gasoline engine. Worst example: About 20 years ago I had a Craftsman snow blower which was only 4 years old and there were no spare parts available for it! A neighbor had the same experience more recently.

My Mom has a Sears vacuum cleaner which is a lemon.

[Morgenstern]

The Most-Hated Major Company? It’s at the Mall

Sears wins award - most hated company.

[carnivorousplant]

Sears made Craftsman tools, very, very good.
I thought they used Briggs & Stratton engines.

[jz78817]

@flatlined

Never EVER buy appliances from Sears. NEVER! Way back in the day, Kenmore was a good model which would last for years and years. Not any more. Now those very expensive machines don’t last past their 1 year guarantee. If you buy the extended warranty, and who would think that you need to buy a 3 year warranty on a machine that is supposed to last at least 10 years, the techs fuck around and you have to spend a year going to the laundromat instead of washing your clothes. Then when the techs do fix it, it breaks again and then you are out of the warranty.

“Kenmore” machines have practically always been made by other companies. Most of their laundry appliances have come from Whirlpool and Frigidaire. Ovens/ranges by GE. in fact I’m not sure Sears/Kenmore has ever manufactured any of their appliances.

@Anne_Neville

Fortunately, the oven was not made by Sears, it’s a KitchenAid.

Which was most likely made by W.C. Wood or Whirlpool. There are honestly very, very few large appliance manufacturers in this country. Whirlpool is the giant, GE still makes a lot, and of the imports they’re mostly LG and Samsung. With a handful of European brands here and there.

edit to add: Not GQ, but I’ll cite anyway: Appliance411 The Purchase: Who Makes What?

[Wednesday_Evening]

Our 11-year-old refrigerator and washer/dryer came from Sears, back when they were our go-to place for appliances. No problems with delivery and the appliances are still going strong (knock on wood).

We bought a range from Sears 8-9 years ago. The range was/is fine, but when installers #1 came, they refused to take the old range (which they were supposed to) and mis-installed the range so that it was leaking gas. At least when you call customer service complaining about a gas leak they respond pretty quickly. Installers #2 came out, fixed the connection and said, “Do you want us to take away your old range?” Yes please! Still, I was pretty annoyed about them not originally taking the old range like they were supposed to.

I have heard enough recent horror stories about Sears from friends and acquaintances that I am never buying an appliance there ever again.

[Morgyn]

@Anne_Neville

Fortunately, the oven was not made by Sears, it’s a KitchenAid. Mr. Neville picked it out because it was well-reviewed online. We’re also not planning to have Sears Outlet install it. I told Mr. Neville we are never buying anything from them again, and he said it was about a factor of 2 cheaper there than anywhere else. I told him, sometimes there are REASONS why some stores are cheaper.

Isn’t that an example of false economy?

Tell him that getting something cheaper doesn’t do you any good if you can’t use it.

[Flyer]

@lieu

Back in the day Sears really was the ‘go to’ place for quality, no frills appliances, tools, hardware, etc. I’m not sure exactly when that perception and reputation started to decline but I first became aware of it here on this board when they started to get pitted with some regularity and with some troublesome accusations that didn’t seem to merit much of a counter arguement. Then I came across mention of further problems in the paper, online, etc. Nowadays whenever I need something that would have been in their product line Sears isn’t even a consideration. I’ll need to read an equal amount of good press before I’ll trust them again. What a shame… it had to take an extreme amount of bad business protocol to destroy the completely solid reputation they’d long established for themselves. Whoever the CEO was that initiated the decline was a complete moron and they and the public both are the worse for it…

If you had bothered to read my earlier post, you would know the CEO’s name and why it’s happening.

[Mr.Duality]

@carnivorousplant

Sears made Craftsman tools, very, very good.
I thought they used Briggs & Stratton engines.

Briggs & Stratton is about the lowest quality you can get these days. The company has been cruising on its reputation and failing to innovate for a very long time. Kohler and Tecumseh are preferred by knowledgeable people. Craftsman is known as “Crapsman” in the lawn care industry.

[carnivorousplant]

@Mr.Duality

Briggs & Stratton is about the lowest quality you can get these days. The company has been cruising on its reputation and failing to innovate for a very long time. Kohler and Tecumseh are preferred by knowledgeable people. Craftsman is known as “Crapsman” in the lawn care industry.

Damn.

[Morgyn]

@Flyer

The reason that Sears is in such financial trouble is because Eddie Lampert is a real estate guy, not a retail guy. I’m not sure if he deliberately set out to drive Sears into the ground, but the effect is much the same.

I think he would be much happier if Sears was entirely reduced to a collection of empty lots. Then he would be willing to actually do something with the company.

As I recall, he’s also an ardent Randist, and has been running the company accordingly.

Ah, yeah. Here’s the reference.

You know, with all the examples of how following Randist philosophy just destroys companies and states, you’d think people like Paul Ryan would get a clue and dump the whole pile of crap. Instead, the worse things get, the more in love with Rand they seem to be.

[Anne_Neville]

@Morgyn

As I recall, he’s also an ardent Randist, and has been running the company accordingly.

Ah, yeah. Here’s the reference.

You know, with all the examples of how following Randist philosophy just destroys companies and states, you’d think people like Paul Ryan would get a clue and dump the whole pile of crap. Instead, the worse things get, the more in love with Rand they seem to be.

Aha! Now it all makes sense!

And these people want to run the government like a business. Seeing the way they run their businesses, I shudder…

[Anne_Neville]

THE TRIM IS HERE!!! I’m totally amazed.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Sears’ suppliers don’t trust them any more.

[Anne_Neville]

And now the people who we were going to have install the oven claim that they don’t do that any more.

ARGH. This oven is clearly cursed!

[Morgenstern]

Anne, get all prices for installation in advance. The last time I dealt with Sears they sent 2 guys to install a cooktop and an oven. When they were done, they wanted $600.00 more dollars for the installation because they had to build a frame for the oven to slide into.

[Haberdash]

I wish I knew someone who worked for Sears corporate who could give the inside story on this. This sort of story about Sears is exceedingly common all over the Internet – people order something and it never shows up, no one has any record of the previous conversation about installation, no two people ever quote the same price for any service, etc. It’s above and beyond the normal level of human error that you would expect from any large company, and what I really want to ask someone on the inside of it is how it could have been allowed to go on for twenty years – what is the corporate culture that says “we will NEVER fix our completely broken computer system that is destroying our company”? It’s perversely fascinating.

[usedtobe]

Remember the Discover card?

That was Sears.

Around 1980, Sears decided that the future was in financial services, not retail.

Retail went from “primary focus” to “cash cow to fund financial services”.

I was doing some serious remodel activity (DIY) and needed every penny - which is why I took a Sears card (the dishwasher is Kenmore).
It seems everybody who had a Sears card got an unsolicited Discover card.

[actualliberalnotoneofthose]

What is a trim? What is involved in installing an oven? I’ve never done anything except put it where it goes and plug it in.

[Morgyn]

Trim’s the stuff that hides the gap between the appliance and the cabinets. I think.

[Coriolanus]

@Anne_Neville

I’m just glad you dog-fuckers don’t own Lands’ End any more- I like Lands’ End, and I wouldn’t like to see you run it into the fucking ground.

I love Lands’ End. I love my Squall jacket (bought in an actual Sears before I left the US a few years ago).