Today I witnessed what I consider the epitome of what Sears has become. It was sad in many ways, like seeing an old, dear friend who is at the end of their life. At approximately 11:30AM on 3-30-2010 I was at the Columbia, MO Sears store exchanging a broken 10mm Craftsman socket under their “guaranteed forever” promise. That transaction went as smooth as silk, but what happened next while I was in the store would turn into what I call an epic failure.
As I walked into the hardware department I had noticed another customer being helped by an employee who appeared to be discussing a problem they had. I really didn’t pay much attention to it, and another employee came over to help me. When I was finished with my transaction (which took all of 2 minutes) I noticed that the discussion between the other employee and customer was getting more agitated.
Let me state that I do not know what the concern/question/issue was with the customer. He may have been right, he may have been wrong – but that is beside the point. Right or wrong, he obviously needed some assistance.
The employee was doing his best, but he acknowledged that he needed help. I decided to hang back for a bit to see how this played out. The employee went off to find a manager to help the customer.
And the customer waited; and waited; and waited.
Pretty soon the customer started moving around and getting agitated. He approached security cameras and started making obscene gestures. At that point in time I thought I’d go off and see if I could find another employee or manager to help him. My efforts were futile. The few employees I found were helping other customers – and I saw nobody in management around anywhere.
Soon things escalated even further. The customer started banging on merchandise; taking things off shelves and displays and moving them around. At this point I knew things were just out of control. Where was management at? Where was security at? I started hearing messages being broadcast over the PA system – code words and numbers being used. Was this security trying to inform non-existent personnel of a problem on the floor? And why was nobody coming out to help this man?
The employee came back and said he was not having any luck finding a manager and was going to keep trying. I followed him over to the television/appliance department where he asked another employee if he had seen a manager around. The answer was, of course, negative.
At this point you could tell that this was not someplace you wanted to be anymore. If there were any customers in the hardware department they had long since left (I certainly wouldn’t blame them). The customer was now throwing more merchandise around and moving it about. I decided at this time that before things escalated any more I was going to get the heck out of there. I had no desire to be around should things turn any worse.
All the while this was happening I was on my phone. I send messages via Twitter to @MySears hoping that someone would respond back or at least call the store to find out what was going on. To my knowledge nobody did. I looked around for a customer service number – perhaps I could call that and let them know that they needed to page/call/do something to find a manager. Nope, none of those around either.
The employees were doing their best – I don’t fault any of them. They were doing what they were empowered to do, and I suspect that many of them didn’t want to be anywhere near this irate customer. I certainly can’t blame them. The problem is they needed management help – and there was no help to be found.
Sears has problems, and big ones. The last few years have been disastrous for the company and the stores. They have been stripped bare of employees, they are failing into ruin and the customer frustrations are just mounting every day. A quick news search on Bing will show you the constant complaints and frustrations that customers are going through each and every day. It is so sad to see this once great American icon fall into disarray.
What few employees are left it seems do care – but they are powerless to change things. Eddie Lampert does not know how to run a retail store, and it is obvious. I would have much rather seen Sears exit from the retail landscape with its dignity and customer-focus intact rather than see what is happening to them now. Gone are the days when Sears stood for quality and customer service. Anything that costs money seems to be on the chopping block. Even Wal-Mart is delivering better customer service than Sears is nowadays.
I fear my lifelong friend – the one who filled my home with Kenmore appliances; the one who stuffed my tool chest with Craftsman tools; the one who kept my car going with Diehard batteries – is dying. Worst part about it is that he is not even dieing a dignified death.
It’s been a brutal few days for 
The same goes for the bluelight specials that have returned to Kmart. What’s that? Haven’t heard of it? Well don’t worry, neither have most people who haven’t set foot in Kmart in a few years. Again, a lack of advertising outside of the stores has meant this program, which could draw a lot of shoppers back in to see what it is all about, has left Mr. Bluelight fallen flat on his face.
