Sears

I recently purchased tires from Sears, and unfortunately, could not complete the transaction online- every time I entered my ZIP, the site would direct me to the Sears store that was over 30 miles away (and across Lake Champlain), when there's one not 10 miles from where I live! Turns out that if your local store doesn; t have what you want, they default you to the next closest store, but don't bother to mention that.
I called Sears, and they were very helpful, even gave me a discount for my troubles. They also said that they're trying to fix that 'bug' in the location output. Good luck on that.

Sear's lied to me about a products availabiliy to be installed in a timely manner.
I asked if I purchased this product how long would it take to be installed. I was assured the next day install was confirmed. THEY LIED. After personally going to
A Sears store in person, I insisted on them calling the installer which they did and was told it would be another 72 business hours before it would be installed. I needed this installed quickly and THEY LIED to get the business. PEOPLE DON'T MATTER AT SEAR'S ONLY THE $$... Beware!

Sears website offers fraudulent layaway purchases that the stores will not honor!
I am writing to express my deep disappointment in the way Sears dealt with my layaway transaction. On Thursday, February 17,2011, I initiated a layaway order for a Sony Bravia 60 Inch LCD TV, advertised in your weekly circular for the price of $1499. 00 (Order Confirmation Number *******-See order details below). At the time of my order the only instructions given regarding policy were in reference to maintaining bi-weekly payments in order to keep the layaway in effect.
Subsequently, I went out of town for the holiday weekend (President' s Day) and returned on Tuesday to find a message on my answering machine stating that my order had been cancelled. When I contacted the department which had left the message, I was informed that the fraud department cancelled my order earlier today. The department representatives could not provide a reason for this, stating that my card was fine and the funds were available. In fact, my bank had approved the transaction, but for some unknown reason Sears decided to pull my order for verification, and cancelled it because I was not available for 72 hours. There was no mismatch of information or any other identifiable cause for this action. I have been a customer of Sears for many years. In fact, I have several items in my home currently under a Sear's warranty. The company has my information.
If it is your policy that a customer must be available for confirmation of layaway orders, the system should inform customers of this at the point of sale. Is it my address, in a predominantly African-American neighborhood that prompted the "concern for fraud"!?!? Further, I have spoken to several departments today in an attempt to have my purchase restored at the agreed upon price to no avail. A Case Manager with Customer Service, Lois, even got a very nasty attitude with me, expressed little empathy for my predicament, and blew me off, telling me she was the FINAL authority on the matter. Her tone and demeanor were dismissive and very nonchalant. Is this how Sear's employees are trained to respond to customer needs? To add insult to injury, I have been given wrong numbers, hung up on several times, and given the run-around on this issue all day.

What I am requesting is simple. Please allow me to reinstate my layaway purchase at the original price. I don't think what I am asking is unreasonable, given that this was done by your stores without giving me any prior notice that I was required to be "available for verification" in order for my purchase to be honored. It is my suspicion that someone else wanted to purchase the item, which was one of the last available models, and therefore it was taken from me. This is no way to treat a loyal customer, and represents unethical business practices.

Update 2/28/11
After many calls and letters, Sears agreed to reinstate my layaway. I received the following on 2/24/11 from Sherry B. At Sears.com customer care:
Good Morning Mrs. Payne,
Thank you for contacting Sears.com regarding order # *******. We truly apologize for the misunderstanding in this matter. This is what we will do for you if you agree. We will offer to give you the original price of $1499. 99 on the TV. We will ask you to place a new order, however, you will have to pay the price it is now up front and once the order has gone through we will reimburse you the $750.00. To take advantage of this offer, please place the order online and reply to this email with your new order number and we will apply the discount at that time. This must be done within 72 hours from today, 02/24/2011. If your order is not placed by the end of the day on March 27,2011 the offer is void. If the inventory is gone because of the sale, the offer is void. We hope this is a satisfactory solution and look forward to your response.
I agreed and placed a new order-see below:
Thank you for placing your order with Sears! Your order confirmation number is *******. We are processing your order right now and will notify you as your items are ready.
For the items you ordered for store pickup we will send you separate notification for each store location you are ordering from as your items are ready to be picked up.
Today, I get a call from the Orland Park store telling me they only have 2 models in stock and I can not put it on layaway when they only have 2 left. I asked for the manager Theda Ikenberg or the district manager Ann White but was told I could not speak with them. I was told I had to come into the store with my letter rather than emailing or mailing it to prove that I was allowed to reinstate this layaway. Even when I explained that this was originally an email, Jay refused. This places undue hardship on me to go out to the store after a long day at work, especially if nothing will be done to satisfy me. If this is the policy, why does the website allow me to put it on layaway? I specifically searched to find stock at that store, and the system showed me the two available when it allowed me to initiate the order. It is my suspicion that someone else wanted to purchase the item, which was one of the last available models, and therefore it was taken from me-AGAIN! This is no way to treat a loyal customer, and represents unethical business practices.
I am done with them!

I ordered a leaaf blower off of Sears Website! WAS A NIGHTMARE. This may be a very good blower but I will never know, I just don't want people ordering off of Sears website! I ordered the blower from their site and ended up paying over a $100 for father's day for an item NEVER received because they sent it to the WRONG address. I tried 3 times to change the defaults only to receive a confirmation e-mail stating that it was STILL going to my son's old address, because of an item I sent him last year for his birthday. I phoned within 45 minutes to try and correct the error and they COULD NOT do it! Then they proceeded 3 times to lie to me about canceling the order over the next 3 days. Needless to say UPS delivered it to some random occupants who scored a blower I never saw and Sears would only apologize but NEVER refund or fix the problem. POOR POOR SERVICE AND WEBSITE