Trans_23
May 4th, 2009, 19:05
I bought a tool chest from Sears....well the e-mail to Brian, an assistant manger at Sears in Orland Park, IL explains it all.
Brian,
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Since I cannot seem to get anyone from your department to return my calls or give me any answers, I thought I would try the digital route.
On March 1 I bought a rolling 5 drawer tool chest and a 5 drawer ball bearing tool chest that sits on top of the rolling chest. They were not in stock and were ordered on March 1. On around March 6<SUP>th</SUP> someone called to say that my order arrived and I drove up there the following Saturday to pick them up. When I arrived, only the roller chest had arrived at which time I met you. You apologized for the inconvenience and deducted another 10% from the sale price which I received once I picked up the 5 drawer chest the following Thursday. Now, here is where it get frustrating.
On March 14, I took the 5 drawer chest out of the box and carefully stocked and labeled all the drawers with my tools. I even spent another $170 or so at the Orland Sears for socket and wrench organizers, magnetic labels, Craftsman drawer liners, etc. After getting it all set up and the unit pushed into place I stood back to admire my new tool chest and noticed that the top 5 drawer chest was leaning to the left. It was not built square. I asked a friend that had stopped over to look at it and he saw it also.
I dreaded the thought of emptying out all my tools and driving back into Orland Park to exchange my toolbox so on or about Wednesday March 18, I call the number on the card you gave me and talked to Brian H. who told me that I didn’t have to bring it in right away and that he would order a new one and the exchange could be made when the new box came in. He indicated that it was too late in the week for it to get on the truck but that I should get a call the following Wednesday (Mar 25) to pick up my new tool box.
Well, one week went by, then a second. Now we are into April. This is the part where shopping at Orland Sears will never again happen for me. I started to call the number on your card (708-403-xxxx) and the Orland Sears number from the phone book. Calling your number would get me a computer generated voice message telling me that someone would return my call within 60 minutes. Never happened. I did get returns on some of the calls well after the 60 minutes and usually after I had left the house. Another time I did talk to someone who said he was going to the warehouse to see if my order was there, then never returned (not for at least 10 minutes anyway). What you, at the Orland Sears, can be most proud of is when you call the public phone number and immediately get put on hold never to be heard from again. This probably happened 3 or 4 Times. Never even anyone picking up the phone to ask who I was waiting for. What great customer service. You all must be so proud.
To my surprise, on about the 23<SUP>rd</SUP> of April, I finally got a hold of a real person. I talked to Ralph who initially was reluctant to help and wanted me to call back to talk to Brian H. on Monday. I guess my story of woe made him feel for me and he called me back and said that another order was going to be put in for my tool box and that I should be hearing from someone in a week to come and pick it up. That was 10 days ago so tonight I called again and what do you know I got Ralph on the phone again. I told Ralph that I have not heard from anyone about when I should come and get my tool chest. He did remember talking with me and seemed baffled at the situation and took my cell phone number and told me he would get back to me when he found out what was going on with my order. Guess what Brian, that was about 5 hours ago. Does the Orland Sears still use carrier pigeons to send in orders? I would like to think the ordering system Sears uses is all computerized and the status of an order could be located with a few touches of the keyboard. I am beginning to think otherwise though. I remember when I was a kid, we had a Sears Catalog store in town. Though we were all Chicago Bears fans most of the kids would be wearing sweatshirts or jerseys from the San Francisco 49ers or New Orleans Saints because Sears couldn’t get a team sports order right if their life depended on it. It seems things have not improved over the past 30 plus years.
I have repeated this story many times over now to friends, family, and co-workers which is why I can provide a pretty accurate timeline. It is really laughable sometimes. I would think that especially at that store that the customer service would be top notch. I, and many others I know, avoid Orland Park like the plague due to the traffic nightmare it is. Especially on weekends.
I have always preferred buying Craftsman tools whenever possible because of the quality and reasonable price. I have always wanted to get a Craftsman tool chest also so this was all kind of like a mini-dream come true for me (yes I know it sounds silly). This whole experience has made me wish I had purchased somewhere else. I just can’t believe that two months after I made the initial purchase that I would be writing an e-mail to get what I paid for.
<o:p></o:p>
Regards,
<o:p></o:p>
Dan Jones<o:p></o:p>
Brian,
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
Since I cannot seem to get anyone from your department to return my calls or give me any answers, I thought I would try the digital route.
On March 1 I bought a rolling 5 drawer tool chest and a 5 drawer ball bearing tool chest that sits on top of the rolling chest. They were not in stock and were ordered on March 1. On around March 6<SUP>th</SUP> someone called to say that my order arrived and I drove up there the following Saturday to pick them up. When I arrived, only the roller chest had arrived at which time I met you. You apologized for the inconvenience and deducted another 10% from the sale price which I received once I picked up the 5 drawer chest the following Thursday. Now, here is where it get frustrating.
On March 14, I took the 5 drawer chest out of the box and carefully stocked and labeled all the drawers with my tools. I even spent another $170 or so at the Orland Sears for socket and wrench organizers, magnetic labels, Craftsman drawer liners, etc. After getting it all set up and the unit pushed into place I stood back to admire my new tool chest and noticed that the top 5 drawer chest was leaning to the left. It was not built square. I asked a friend that had stopped over to look at it and he saw it also.
I dreaded the thought of emptying out all my tools and driving back into Orland Park to exchange my toolbox so on or about Wednesday March 18, I call the number on the card you gave me and talked to Brian H. who told me that I didn’t have to bring it in right away and that he would order a new one and the exchange could be made when the new box came in. He indicated that it was too late in the week for it to get on the truck but that I should get a call the following Wednesday (Mar 25) to pick up my new tool box.
Well, one week went by, then a second. Now we are into April. This is the part where shopping at Orland Sears will never again happen for me. I started to call the number on your card (708-403-xxxx) and the Orland Sears number from the phone book. Calling your number would get me a computer generated voice message telling me that someone would return my call within 60 minutes. Never happened. I did get returns on some of the calls well after the 60 minutes and usually after I had left the house. Another time I did talk to someone who said he was going to the warehouse to see if my order was there, then never returned (not for at least 10 minutes anyway). What you, at the Orland Sears, can be most proud of is when you call the public phone number and immediately get put on hold never to be heard from again. This probably happened 3 or 4 Times. Never even anyone picking up the phone to ask who I was waiting for. What great customer service. You all must be so proud.
To my surprise, on about the 23<SUP>rd</SUP> of April, I finally got a hold of a real person. I talked to Ralph who initially was reluctant to help and wanted me to call back to talk to Brian H. on Monday. I guess my story of woe made him feel for me and he called me back and said that another order was going to be put in for my tool box and that I should be hearing from someone in a week to come and pick it up. That was 10 days ago so tonight I called again and what do you know I got Ralph on the phone again. I told Ralph that I have not heard from anyone about when I should come and get my tool chest. He did remember talking with me and seemed baffled at the situation and took my cell phone number and told me he would get back to me when he found out what was going on with my order. Guess what Brian, that was about 5 hours ago. Does the Orland Sears still use carrier pigeons to send in orders? I would like to think the ordering system Sears uses is all computerized and the status of an order could be located with a few touches of the keyboard. I am beginning to think otherwise though. I remember when I was a kid, we had a Sears Catalog store in town. Though we were all Chicago Bears fans most of the kids would be wearing sweatshirts or jerseys from the San Francisco 49ers or New Orleans Saints because Sears couldn’t get a team sports order right if their life depended on it. It seems things have not improved over the past 30 plus years.
I have repeated this story many times over now to friends, family, and co-workers which is why I can provide a pretty accurate timeline. It is really laughable sometimes. I would think that especially at that store that the customer service would be top notch. I, and many others I know, avoid Orland Park like the plague due to the traffic nightmare it is. Especially on weekends.
I have always preferred buying Craftsman tools whenever possible because of the quality and reasonable price. I have always wanted to get a Craftsman tool chest also so this was all kind of like a mini-dream come true for me (yes I know it sounds silly). This whole experience has made me wish I had purchased somewhere else. I just can’t believe that two months after I made the initial purchase that I would be writing an e-mail to get what I paid for.
<o:p></o:p>
Regards,
<o:p></o:p>
Dan Jones<o:p></o:p>