that happens all of the time to me because they have no knowledge on a lot of the stuff i want to buy sadly. Its just so awesome because thats what they do to me too. The more we all buy tools from other places the better. Theres more tool companies that deserve our buisness rather than sears. A tool company that treats me great, does deserve my buisness!

 

Actually that was the best work environment at Sears back in the day. I knew several people that made a good living working on commission there. Its when they took that away and went to straight hourly wage that they quit. Ward's had a great hybrid pay system that you chose hourly or commission when you clocked in for your shift. If you knew it was going to be slow, your opted for straight pay, but if you thought it was going to be busy, you chose commission.

 

Hmmm, are there any brands of tools made in the states nowadays?

 

One time i went in there and asked if they had inch/pound torque wrenches, the guy goes "You mean foot pound".

I say "No, inch/pound".

He goes "No, no. It's foot/pound, there's no such thing as inch/pound".

I just gave him a nasty look and left.

 

I'll just list other bad experiences i had with them, because i'm bored.

First one was i bought a toolbox top and bottom from them. Had the money in my checking account. Guy tries to sell me the sears card of course, i tell him no. So they ring the bottom and top up, and tell me i have to pay for each with a separate check. I kinda argue, but eventually just say screw it and write two different checks. They have to call both in, they call one in and say it's fine, call the second one in and say it's declined. No idea why, i had more than enough in my account, i imagine it was some trickery on the sales guy's part, some flaw in the system he knew about. So he says if i sign up for the sears card, and put the second box on it, i'll save 15% since it's my first purchase, yada yada. I'm tired at this point, say ok. Sure enough, when i get the bill, it's the full amount, not 15% off. I call around, complain get nowhere, real nice sears.

Another time i go in there, see a tv i was looking around for on sale. I buy it, put it on my debit card. They say they dont have it in stock, so i'll have to wait a while for it to come in. I figure oh well, i got a good deal, i can wait. I thought it was a little odd to put something on sale, when you dont even have it in stock, but oh well. So....a freaking month goes by, i never hear anything from them. I'm patient and all, and i got a lot bigger things to worry about than some tv, so i dont say anything until a month goes by. Finally i drive by that way, and stop in and ask about it, and they say "Oh yeah, it's been in stock for a while!"

So i'm like "Uh....so why didnt you let me know?" and i get about a million poor excuses, i could tell right away someone just screwed something up, but nobody wanted to just say that. So i say "whatever, can you guys just send it to my house?" (they had free delivery at the time).

So...the fact that they didnt even let me know it was in stock pissed me off, but whatever, it's what happened after wards that sent me through the roof. For one, every time i asked them a question, about everyone in the whole electronics department ran into the back and held some kind of meeting like "ok guys, what excuse can we tell him now?" and they'd leave me waiting in the tv department for like a freaking half hour by myself, until they finally came out and told me some idiotic junk. So i'm kind of seeming over this.

Finally, one lady comes out and says "Well, we can send it by, but...we need to get into contact with our delivery guy, to make sure he hasnt already delivered one to you". She says this kind of accusingly. I become aware that they seem to think they already sent me a tv, now i'm trying to come in and scam them out of another one, i'm freaking pissed at this point. Long story short, i wait around the place for two hours, they finally say they cant get ahold of the delivery guy, i just say "You know what, i just want my freaking money back!" this causes all the rats to go scramble around, i can see the panic on them now, keep giving me stupid excuses, they say finally that they cant do that tonight if thats what i want, so i say fine, i'll come back another time.

I go home, find my receipt and study it, and notice that they charged me the regular price amount, not the sale price. I'm about ready to shoot somebody now.

so then, i get 4 calls from the store, in a period of about a half hour. Each time the person says the exact same thing, they say they got ahold of the delivery guy and he didnt already deliver one to me (thank god for that). They say they'll give me a discount if i agree to buy the tv now, oddly enough the "discount" amounts to the same price as the sale price of the tv. I unload on all these guys, asking if they're out of their freaking minds. First they screw up and never say my tv is in, then i try to pick it up, and they accuse me of trying to scam them out of a tv, then they never even charged me the right price in the first place, why in the heck would i want to do business with them now?

So the funniest part is...at the end of every conversation they seem to think i'm just trying to haggle with them, and they all ask. "Well, is this just because you found a better price for the tv somewhere else?"

The last guy finally gets pissy with me and says "Fine, if you want a refund come pick it up Tonight", the store was going to close in like 25 minutes at that point. So i floor it down there, if i dont make it in time, i figure i'll ram the damn doors down and get my refund, i dont care.

So the mousey little girl who sold me the tv originally tries the same thing on me when i get there, offer me a "discount". It was funny because she did this while standing right next to the display tv, which was still advertised as on sale, i point out that it's funny how her discount amounted to the same as the sale price, she just pretends i never said it and starts leading me back to the manager's office. On the way, she says the reason they never called me is because their server crashed. It was funny because she was explaining it to me like i was a 4 year old, saying "we have this thing that controls our computer system called a 'server' and this thing crashed so we couldnt get ahold of you because of that".

So i say "So....you've been running the store for a month with no server huh?". She says nothing.

So i get to the manager, and it's like 10 minutes before closing. She is VERY nasty with me, and says she cant give me a refund until the store is closed. So they make me stand there, in her office, while she types away on her computer, not saying anything to eachother. Finally she gets up and goes over to the their safe or whatever, and counts out $800 in mixed bills, twenties, tens, fives, even ones. I saw 50s and hundreds in there, nope i wasnt good enough for that.

She gives me my money with a disgusted look on her face and says "So let me just get this straight, this is all just because you found the tv for a better price somewhere else isnt it?"

Man....i dont even remember what i said to that lady, but i unloaded both barrels, then reloaded and fired, and i think i might of even clubbed her with the buttstock. I just remember she looked physically ill when i was done yelling at her.

I think this was when i decided to never go there for anything other than tools....and even then i wasnt crazy about the tools. Now i think i had to be nuts to go there for anything at all!

 

The quality of craftsman hand tools has gone down a bit. I still like and recommend them though. Harbor fright is just too inconsistent for me.

Now the quality of the employees at sears is just so bad, if given the option of cutting my nuts off or dealing with them, I would really have to think about my options.

Thinking about it, if it wasn't for craftsman tools I would not buy anything at sears.

 

We have a ton of older craftsman tools which still work great, and the hassle free warranty comes in handy too. But some of their newer stuff doesnt seem to great, i bought a set of standard ratchet wrenches the other day, ill have to see how they hold up. Also bought a big tool box a while back which has been great so far. Although the 3 ton floor jack i bought i am not happy with, every time i go to use it there is a large puddle of hydraulic fluid under it

 

Egads, sounds like some real customer service nightmares! wow! No idea that Sears has gotten that bad.

 

I have older craftsman tools, they are OK...........Lost some 1/4 drive stuff, went to replace it with "new" craftsman.......The new craftsman has a keeper feature on their extensions and ratchets which will not allow the older sockets to stay on securely, thus making you go to purchase new sockets.....

No more "crapsman" for me.

 

Usa made tools:80% Kobalt,90% Napa, (very few) craftsman, Snap on (larger majority Usa made), Armstrong (Napa premium which is great!), apparently some mac but i have never owned a mac tool, i believe all channel locks are usa made, theres some still out there and i will buy them when i have the cash no problem! Especially any with a good lifetime warrenty

 

I got my jack replaced with no questions asked, and also got a $10 gift card somehow... hopefully this one wont leak

 

A few years back, Sears was billing your card for an "outdoor club" membership. If you didn't want it, you had to reply to a phone number. Recently they started to charge you an annual fee for using their card....snip-snip-snip. The only thing I use an expired sears card for now is sneaking into foreclosed houses....

 

I'll definately give Kobalt a better looking over! I see Napa gets a lot of their gear wrenches back so must be exchanging on warranty

 

Well, kobalts amazing, but i wish they had a few more tools. Oh well. They have a lot of stuff. Im getting there side cuts and locking plyers because even those are hassle free. Might take me a while but i will wear them out or break them. The side cuts are nice, nickle plated steel. If i hold a pair of "HIGH quality craftmans of any of my friends here i cant help but to laugh!! Those things just are not as sharp and dont move very freely. a mechanics tool set for about everything automotive is 199.99, it even includes 3/8ths deep well and 1/4 inch i believe. Its a very usefull set and no craftman set will compare to it.

 

Sears has gone so far down hill.....I have been using the tools at Lowe's...pretty damn good they are