Sears

Written on behalf of my mom:

Mr. Edward Lampert, CEO

Sears Holdings

3333 Beverly Road

Hoffman Estates, IL 60179

Dear Mr. Lampert,

I am a lifelong Sears customer and have likely spent thousands of dollars over the years on merchandise from your stores.  It is with regret that I write you regarding a recent change in your returns policy.

I recently purchased ties for my husband at Sears (South Hills Village Mall).  The one he chose to wear to my son’s wedding was a Covington tie.  We opened it on the day of the wedding and noticed it had wrinkles and marks. It was defective.  When I tried returning the tie two weeks later, the store would not accept the return because of the 30 day return policy. 

The tie remained in its packaging until after this 30 day period and was only opened on the day of the wedding.  The manager of the store, Dominic, showed no concern for our misfortune and stated we should have figured this out beforehand.  He made no good faith effort to rectify this in any way, despite the fact that it was a defective Sears brand product on top of everything.

I called and filed a complaint (# 4178839) but was told the same thing on the phone.  Again, the customer service representative made no good faith effort to rectify this in any way.  Mr.  Lampert, your stores are closing everywhere.  It is no wonder.  Your company is screwing customers over pennies.  Amazon.com typically accepts returns for items in this price range without even requesting that the item be sent back.  Are you trying to right the ship at Sears, or squeeze as much out of it until it sinks?

For Sears to lose a lifelong customer over $16.99 is insane and awful corporate policy.  The correct thing for Sears to have done would be to have accepted the return.  Barring that, you still should have offered some sort of conciliation such as a store gift card.  This is customer service 101.  If your managers do not have the power to make these kinds of small potatoes decisions, that is embarrassing for them and for the company as a whole.  Does Sears corporate really think that this level of micromanaging is going to yield a positive result?  You are losing customers and making your employees look foolish.

I hope that you can rectify this in some way.  It seems like Sears is going the way of Roebuck.

Sincerely,