Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Pub Talk). This thread is read-only.
The last few times I have been in my local Sears.I have noticed there help is next to worthless.I only shop the tool department.I use to buy only Craftsman.Until Made in China ruined that.
About a month ago I went in and bought a 19.2 battery pack.The service was terrible took the guy forever to ring it up.After I waited for him to even come to the check out counter.I figured he was new so I was patent.That time he was the only employee I could find in the area.
Yesterday I went in and they had the red handled pry bars on sale.I have been wanting a set of them.Also the T handle screw driver set was on sale.I know there made in China and are a little gimmicky but do look to be useful at times.
So I go up the the checkout counter and no one is there.I notice two guys at a second checkout counter further back in the store.Both were in the tool department earlier.So I walk there way and get to the counter.One of them walks off back to where I was?The other is checking out other customers and was slow and moved like a snail.Same guy I had a month earlier and I did not want to deal with him again.
The guy who walked back to where I was just walked away from the counter not to be seen.I got pi$$ed.Took the T handle set and Pry bars.Tossed them up on a end cap.Said a few choice words and headed for the door.This was at the Kankakee Illinois store in the mall.Is this happening in all Sears stores or just this location.There use to be a older guy that worked there.Who really ran that department well.But they must of let him go or he retired or died.Several Sears stores I have heard folded up.Maybe this one is about to.
I did notice they had card board displays they were getting ready for Holiday specials like Black Friday items.But if they could not handle a slow day.How will they manage the holiday rush.
I’ve noticed that the actual Sears stores suck, dealt with nothing but incompetent people as well as their corporate offices. I have had good luck at the Sears hardware store in Schereville, IN, which isn’t too terribly far of a drive from Kankakee but overall Sears sucks!
Jimbo
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I think no one at Sears give a damn anymore. People are just riding out their jobs till the stores close. I haven’t been inside a Sears in at least 5 years.
The big sears in the town north of us closed up which sucks but we do have a small town sears I think is what they call it in my town. It’s ok if you need the basics. I guess you can at least order stuff there. On another note I hate that they don’t send out the tool catalogs anymore. What am I supposed to read on the crapper!
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I’ve bought one thing in Sears in the last 15 years…and it took me 20 minutes, when I was next in line with two cashiers. I almost just walked out with it because I swear they wouldn’t have bothered to stop me. That being said, the lady at the watch repair counter couldn’t have been nicer.
I’ve gotten a few good deals there it’s been awhile since I’ve been there though
One other thing the Cman 19.2 and Ryobi One plus are pretty much the same tools but Cman doesn’t run the deals like HD does on Ryobi.
If Sears does fold as I feel in time they will?Someone will need to be the new main supplier of Craftsman.I know there are other stores that carry Craftsman.However they all seem very limited to what they carry.
HD perhaps?Or better yet Craftsman stores.Sort of like a Harbor freight for Craftsman tools.Except better quality.Not that Craftsman tool quality has not slipped in the past several years.
Sears is close to going out of business and it shows. They have been on the list for a few years. They are fighting it but it is just a matter of time.
I’m sure some one will buy the craftsman name, but I don’t know if Lowes or HD will buy it. They have pretty much launched their own in store brands that are pretty well known. Most people know Kobalt or Husky now I will say Craftsman trumps both of them in name recondition, but Cman doesn’t have the prestige it once hand back in the day it was the brand to buy.
Jasonc wrote:
I’m sure some one will buy the craftsman name, but I don’t know if Lowes or HD will buy it. They have pretty much launched their own in store brands that are pretty well known. Most people know Kobalt or Husky now I will say Craftsman trumps both of them in name recondition, but Cman doesn’t have the prestige it once hand back in the day it was the brand to buy.
Thats for sure and it is a shame what has happened.When I was a kid my dad took me through the Craftsman section and I was hooked.When I was around 11 years old he got me my first start on Craftman tools for Christmas.I think that was my best child hood Christmas.It was the gray Craftsman tool box with a few screw drivers and a 3/8 ratchet and a socket set and a set of combination wrenches and pair of pliers.I was hooked and still have that box and ratchet and socket set.
Luckily I managed to build a large set of Craftsman tools before they went to China.Back when there ratchets were decent and had the ball oiler on the end.That kept them working smoothly.When there Life time warranty meant something.Today you would not find an accosiate to replace a broken tool anyway.