What's your opinion of Sears?

[Bogie]

Other than having a cordless 12 volt drill catch fire in my hand,

And of course you don't have video... Sigh...
 

[thebaldguy]

There aren't many Sears store left around here. They used to have a very large store and large warehouse here in Minneapolis that closed up years ago. The building sat empty for years. There are only a few left here. I don't go there often as they aren't very close. I have a set of Craftsman tools that have held up pretty good over the last 20+ years.

I'm old enough to remember that there was a time where Sears was king. They had a catalog that was almost as big as a metro phone book. They sold everything. Before the mail order gun ban, you could order firearms from them and have them mailed anywhere. I remember the Sears tower opening back in the 70's and how big of a deal it was. I never thought they would have problems down the road.

They left the Sears tower for the Chicago suburbs years ago. Lots of stores have closed up.

They just aren't the company they used to be.

[Perd Hapley]

They just aren't the company they used to be.

None of them are, of course.  I remember those catalogs, too.  So many toys, so little space on Santa's sleigh.   

[geronimotwo]

i have usually been satisfied with craftsman hand tools, but i had a circular saw die on me with very little use. i took it back and after about ten minutes of quoting sears ads to the manager (where america shops for value, craftsman is sears best, etc.) i was given the oppurtunity to purchase any saw they had for 1/2 price. i know that's probably all they pay for the saw, but it still seemed like a good deal to me as the one i had was a low cost model, and i purchased a top of the line worm-drive.

as for the rest of the store, i really don't shop there.

[Harold Tuttle]

its a fine place to buy a poncho, but I buy my zircon encrusted tweezers elsewhere

[grislyatoms]

2 things I really don't like to do when it comes to auto maintenance, and that's

1. Rebuild a carburetor
2. Drum brakes (disk brakes are o.k.)

and for the same reasons. Little fiddly parts that fly all over the place...

That being said, I had Sears do rear brakes on one of my pickups, 10 or so years ago. Due to that experience, I will not go into a Sears store.

[ShelleyB.]

Haven't set foot in Sears for 2 years. Bought a vacuum cleaner that was specifically labeled as "quiet." The floor model seemed fine, which is why we bought it.

Unfortunately, the one given to us was really, really loud. Returned it and they refused to take it back without assessing a 15% restocking fee. I asked them to take it out of the box and listen for themselves, but they refused, saying IF there is a floor model for whatever you purchase, there is now a 15% restocking fee.

It was an expen$ive lesson, but one learned. NEVER will spend a dime at Sears again.

[Tallpine]

Sears screwed some neighbors of ours in Colorado when they suddenly stopped doing catalog sales, right after our neighbors had bought the local Sears catalog store/franchise. 

It nearly killed them financially, but somehow they regrouped and managed to get a Coast to Coast franchise.  A few years later they were able to build a brand new store. :)

I don't think I've done any business with Sears since then.  No opportunity, really - as the big Sears store in Billings closed not long after we moved to Montana  :rolleyes:

Many years ago, we had Kenmore gas range with a non-working gas valve in the oven.  I asked (at the same aforementioned catalog store, long before those folks bought it) about ordering a new one.  It was something like $100 (back about 1982!) and they wanted me to pre-pay for it, but they had no idea when or even if it would ever be shipped.  No thanks :(

[HankB]

I like Sears Craftsman hand tools - standard stuff like garden shears, screwdrivers, socket wrenches, etc.

In my experience, Sears power tools - even with the Craftsman name - are junk, and do NOT carry the lifetime warranty.

I have an old (circa 1986) Kenmore cannister vacuum - just spent $70 in parts on it. Was able to find everying on-line, along with a discount code.

Other store merchandise is generally low-grade, and overall quality has nosedived since the K-Mart merger. The demographic they're trying to appeal to is apparent by all the signs in Spanish all over the store and the displays.