Hello,

I was a former worker for Sears. I worked for Sears from September 2006 to January 2009. I was a salesmen in the hardware department for all those years and I have numerous stories of this single store.

Racism:
Sears, after my second year, hired a new ASM (Assissant Store Manager) for Softlines (clothing section); she was African-American. She needed someone to pick up all the baskets outside. She called me and an African-American girl. The girl SCREAMED at her about she's not going to do that, so she let her go. I gave the same speech and she said "No, YOUR going to do it". I passed it onto my manager AND Human Resources, nothing was filed, the HR was African-American as well.

Drugs/Sex/Adultery:
My first manager would have parties at one of the other co-workers homes, we (all the other salesmen) were invitied. When we all arrvied, our manager was already drunk. When we were all talking, a younger female co-worker and him came out of the dark alley, my manager was married but she did not go to the party. Later on that night he invitied me and some other workers to a party. I declined to go to the party. My friend told me the story: At the party, he began smoking marijuana and further drinking. He tried to call on the same co-worker he came out of the alley with.

Adultery II:
When I was in my manager's office I and another coworker looked in his briefcase for pens. What we found was numerous letters sent to the store from a woman who knew our manager. She wrote about how "she was to lay by a fire with him" and can't wait "for him to visit her in GA".

Dangerous Enviroment:
When I moved to a new position, MCA (a stocker), I worked in the back of the store. Where I worked, was a 2x4 piece of lumbr filed with RUSTED NAILS that HANGED ABOVE MY HEAD. I contacted my store manager numerous times with his reply beig "that's a eletrical problem and needs an electrican" it was never fixed.

Warranties:
All of the expensive products of Sears sell a warranty. In short, their garbage. The warranites worked like this, buy a warranty for a hgh price that delivered the same as the manufactor one did, except it was one year longer; such a great scam! If you lawnmower was broken, warranty or not, were PILED in the back. It would take MONTHS before you mower was even sent to the repair. Then MONTHS would pass before that would arrive back. Average repair speed (according to the worker who sent them to repair) was 4 months, the season is over by the time you recieve it.

Products:
All the products are garbage. I would sell around 6, 000 dollars in a day, half will I GARRANTEED IT would come back in ONE WEEK. All of the electrical products were made in China, even CRAFTSMAN. THe lawnmowers were horrific, they would break and were terribly assembled. THe weedwachers were trash, they'd had 2 cycle engines that would shut down in one cutting. We'd sold used mowers (which were the ones that came back that broke) outside. They would on a daily basis would be broken in the pen and SOLD as if it was a WORKING mower; another scam! To top it off, the manager would make us sell WARRANTIES on these broken mowers, I guess so they can't return it for a refund so they have to wait for it to be repaired.

Incompenet Managers:
Store Manager: He was the worst of the bunch. He was indoctrined with the idea that Sears was the greatest store in the country. He would make us go to meetings at 6am on Sundays to watch videos. He believed that, if we were forced to watch these videos we'd sell more warranties. He'd tried to set up a system to make people to come to work more often, it was ascare tactic that didn't work. One of my co-workers would not come to work, 2 or 3 times a day without an excuse, and still worked there.

ASM for Softlines: The same as stated before, was uneducated. She would sit in her office and do nothing, then yell at her workers for organizing the products to the blue print, her job is to make them. The reason why they didn't make it to the blue-print was because she DID NOT MAKE THE BLUE-PRINTS IN HER OFFICE.

LP (Loss Prevention) Manager: I've watched three people become the LP Manager for the store. All were incompenet. They all believed they were police officers, yet they were not even mall cop status. They'd carry handcuffs on them, even though THEY NOT ALLOWED TO DO SO. One got fired for mistakely trying to ARREST an innocent person, that's right he tried to handcuff an innocent person. They'd in conclusion were the facist police for the store, trying to find someone stealing empolyee and customer alike.

Why I lost my job:
This is the worst on my stores. In short Sears stopped giving me hours and released me off payroll; that means Im unemployed. After a month of job seeking (during the begining of the recession) I filed for unempolyment. After three months of unemployement, they filed for an appeal. So we had to go to court: If I won I'd keep all the money I collected, if I lost I'd have to pay back the 1800 dollars.

The cort included me versus my NEW manager (this one was very compenet was was extremely underpaid for his experience) and the same Store Manager. The store manager did all the questioning and stated that "a worker is not unemployed if we, Sears, stop giving them hours". I replied that if that's true then why did they take me off payroll, the judge was astounded that my store manager FORGOT that part, my store manager said that it must have been "a miscommunication" between my manager and I. THe judge asked for my information from Sears (it included how much I was paid, what was my job position and how long I worked there). The store manager DID NOT HAVE ANY OF THAT INFORMATION, so I had to tell the court all the information. Conclusion: I recieved a letter in the mail saying I won the court hearing, what a surpise right?

Thank You.

i am writing to let you know what is going on at sears.The store manager who is name jose paez.he is a racist man.he does not like black people, he treat them like a dog..that is not good for the store.he yell at people any how..he has not respect for other..he repects only the white and gay people like him..if that continue, the store is gonna lose a lot of people, and customers

My minor child and her friends where in Sears and was stopped by security and accused of stealing the police was called, the girls had not made it out of the store and was called to the back by the security guard. They when to jail I had to pay 100 to get my daughter out retain a lawyer for $500 and they had the nerves to send me a letter stating that if a minor gets into trouble that the parents have to pay $250 for merchandise that was not even taken. And to top it off Sears did not even come to court so the case was SOL. Never will it shop in Sears again and my daughter was advised of the same.

I had a sears hot water heater called the surviver, guaranteed to never leak, once a year I have had to get heating elements replaced. This year was no different.On nov.12 I had a service call as again no hot water.I had to wait FOUR DAYS with no hot water just to get the service call, when the service man gets here finally, sure enough I needed another heating element.He replaced the element then he comes up and tells me the hot water heater is leaking and cannot be fixed, I have a service contract so he told me I would have to go to the store and they would issue me a replacement.With no hot water I went up to the store the next morning and was issued a replacement water heater with a lesser warranty because they do not have the surviver any longer, he then charged me TWO HUNDRED TWENTY NINE DOLLARS AND NIENTY NINE CENTS for installation and a permit, eventhough I have a full service contract ! He then told me it would be delivered and installed the next day which was on a saturday.Now waiting over a week with NO WATER AND NO HOT WATER BECAUSE IF THE WATER IS ON IT LEAKS!Saturday comes NO DELIVERY, NO CALL! I call the store they give me a 800 number to call, I call the 800 number they give me the plumbers number to call, I call them. CLOSED ON SATURDAY ! I left a message for them to call me(WHY DID I HAVE TO MAKE THE CALLS! The same day sears HOT LINE service center calls me to schedule a replacement hot water heater! I told them the service man told me I had to go to the store to get a replacement so I did, I also told them I was charged for installation and for a permit, they told me I have a full service warranty and only needed to pay for the permit. I called the store(AGAIN I HAD TO MAKE THE CALL) They did credit me for the install but still paid for the permit.On Monday morning the plumber called me and he did come out later that day and installed the new water heater.He told me he would have to come back in a couple weeks to have it inspected when he got the permit.TO THIS DAY DECEMBER8, 2009 NO CALL! On Monday December 7 sears calls me and tells me my service contract for my hot water has expired and is time to renew, I happened to have my service contract on my desk becasuse i consider this case not closed, and my service contract does not expire until APRIL 29, 2011 ! under contract number1311598830091.The sevice person said he would make a note of it! At the very least I consider this extremly POOR SERVICE, I would really like to know what SEARS think, and I really want to know if I get any kind of response!

This is an almost-exact copy of an email that I sent to Sears . It tells my story and will hopefully help someone make an informed decision before purchasing from Sears.

To Whom it May Concern,
I Purchased an Electric Range from the Stroudsburg Sears Store on 11/15 for 476.99. After accessories, taxes, and delivery the total was 595.69. My experience in the store was wonderful; the associate Bill was able to help me quickly and efficiently. However, this is where the good ends.

Unfortunately, it would take 10 days for this range to be in stock and delivered to my house. Annoying, but acceptable. This would make the anticipated delivery date 11/25, the day before Thanksgiving. As I was purchasing this range as a surprise for my mother (our current stove is an old Kenmore that has begun to break down, how ironic) I knew that I would need this range no later than 11/25. I was assured by Bill that it would be there, and while he could not guarantee a time, he assumed that it would be in the morning due to our close (45 min) proximity to they distribution center.

9 days later, 11/24- I get the call confirming my delivery time. 3-5 pm. I'm less than thrilled, as we need to begin cooking midday on the 25th. I ask to speak with an associate who tells me that they cannot change delivery times (Really, way to inconvenience your customers), but offers to leave a msg for the delivery team and assures me that it will be there.

Morning, 11/25- I begin calling Sears home delivery to see if my delivery time has been switched. No luck. I am told that I am stop 15 of 18. Wonderful. The drivers are on stop 4. I have a long day ahead of me.

3pm, 11/25- My third or 4th call that day to Home delivery. Every time I have been told that they drivers are on stop 4. How long can one stop take? I finally find out that the truck has broken down. I call back 5 minutes later to see if I get the same story from someone else. I don't. 5 Minutes later I call again, same truck breaking down story, but now they've added a spin where my my items are getting on another truck and will be delivered to me by the reported time. 5pm. I'm holding my breath.

5pm, 11/25- I call again. At this point I've memorized the number so it really is no bother. (Side-note- Why am I calling about an Item I purchased in Pennsylvania, being delivered in Pennsylvania, and I am outsourced to Asia somewhere? Idiocy) Anywho, I am now informed that due to traffic my items will be arriving at 9pm. Yay. At this point I have had my 2nd of several mini meltdowns and have made the associates aware that the situation is completely unacceptable. They are apologetic, but ineffective. I want my range.

9pm, 11/25- Was the truck kidnapped by aliens? Have the workers staged a coup and made off with all of the appliances? Exciting though those possibilities may be, my range is still not here. I call again, to no avail. My new estimated delivery time is 11pm. Sounds odd. I did not know Sears delivered so late. (PS. The associates have REFUSED to give me Sears' delivery center's direct line, so that I can get this information myself. They insist on calling for me. You guys must get a great rate on Asia-US international calls). Another meltdown. I need a drink. Trying to go out to the bar, but oh wait, I have to wait around for this supposed delivery at 11 pm. I pace for 2 hours.

11:02 pm, 11/25- I call Home Delivery and demand to speak to a supervisor. He kindly agrees to the ridiculousness of the situation. He also informs me that Sears does NOT deliver past 9pm. Oh, lovely. I was just lied to for the past two hours. I could have been out having that drink. Darn. Despite apologizing for my now slightly ruined Thanksgiving (You ever try cooking a meal for 10 in a finicky stove and 3 working burners? fun.) the supervisor cannot help me. Perhaps I would like my delivery on Sunday? Sure, why not. Doesn't defeat the purpose at all. At this point I am on my way to the bar anyway. I acquiesce. He informs me that my range will be delivered on Sunday. Great. At least something worked out-I finally got that drink.

Sunday, 11/29- Comes and goes. No call, no stove. No nothing. Lies. At this point I am questioning the integrity of people as a whole. What is truth?

10 AM, Monday, 11/30- I call my local Sears store to cancel my order and get my money back. They inform me that- wait for it- I have to call Home Delivery to do that. YAY my favorite people EVER. I call Home Delivery. I cancel my order (which is not without drama of it's own let me tell you- Newsflash-school your employees on how return procedures work. It ain't rocket science). I find that I will (maybe, hopefully) be getting my money back in the form of check and credit to the card(because I paid with 2 forms of payment). I am in peace now that this situation is over.

Now you know my story, here are my complaints. 1- I purchase something in a STORE, I expected to be assisted by employees in that store, not Bangladesh. 2- "I don't know" is better than lying. 3- "I don't know" should never even be said! If employees are properly trained, they should know, or they should know enough to find someone who does. There is NO reason I should have been lied to and given the run around the number of times that I was. 4- I spent $600 dollars in your store. When purchasing a large ticket item, I expect to be treated as a valued customer. I am, in fact, doing you a favor. As a highly respected and influential member of my community, I am in a position to inform many people of the terrible ordeal that I went through. I doubt that Sears would want to be cast in that negative light, especially in such a slow economy and with the Christmas season right around the corner.

This situation is highly unfortunate and unacceptable. I have been turned off to Sears and do not intend on purchasing anything there in the future- ESPECIALLY large ticket items, and I fully intend to advise my friends, family, partners, colleagues, babysitter, neighbor, bus driver, grocery checkout girl, former track coach, etc. to follow suit.

Sadly, I still need a range. I went to Sears not because the price was the lowest (although that did help) but because of the superior reputation of customer service. Ironic, right? After this experience I will take my money elsewhere. I am more than willing to spend hundreds more to actually receive the items that I was promised, and to be treated with respect as a customer. And I can guarantee you that I will recommend to all of those around me to run (not walk), screaming, from Sears.