An apology is in order, and here it is in writing!!!!

[Omaha Steve]

My original post: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6994227#6994227

I posted about some troubles I had with Sears last week. Sears found the post and contacted me through Skinner. Sears compensated Marta for her day of vacation wasted at home waiting for the repairman. I again recommend Sears. If you have had a problem, use the contact info below.

This is what was sent to me through Skinner:

We are a team employed by Sears that handles Escalated complaints on the Internet so that we can help resolve customer issues. Omaha Steve has posted a complaint in a discussion on your site and we are interested in reaching out to him in order to get his issue taken care of.

We just registered to the site in order to assist him and we cannot post to the thread, nor send him a private message. Our sole existence is to help our customers with issues to get them taken care of. We would like to assist Omaha Steve.
Can you allow us to send him a private message?
The link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Thank you,
Brian J.
Sears Cares - Senior Case Manager
Sears Holdings Corporation
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM (CST)


Regards,

OS

[Muttocracy]

1. Maybe Skinner can let you edit the OP? glad it worked out. nt

[alfredo]

2. Very good!!

[Lisa0825]

3. WOW! Thats some pretty impressive customer service....

to track down a post online and contact the admin.... ya gotta hand it to 'em for making the effort to correct the situation!

[Truth2Tell]

52. The problem is that it's not REALLY customer service,

it's damage control. In the original thread Omamha Steve pointed out that Google brings up tons of hits on poor Sears customer service. Clearly Sears has calculated that running things like this Web team to put out PR fires is cheaper than actually improving their customer service.

So people like Omamha Steve who make a bunch of noise on the Web eventually end up with good service, everyone else still gets screwed.

I don't think any apology is owed to Sears at all. And I think it speaks volumes that they even need this Web team to backstop their actual crapass service.

[skepticscott]

64. Have to agree with you

though apparently a lot of others here don't. Sears and any other big company like them does cost-benefit analysis on how much business a certain level of customer service will cost them, and if they calculate that below a certain level of getting inconvenienced or downright screwed most people still won't take their business elsewhere, then that's the level you'll get with them. They just want to prevent your dissatisfaction from spreading to others in a forum like the internet, because that changes the whole equation. Hence, their exaggerated attempt to make good long after the fact, which had everything to do with protecting the wider bottom line and nothing to do with making this particular customer happy.

[Truth2Tell]

69. I'm really surprised at the replies to this thread,

I didn't imagine nearly so many DUers would fall for this transparent game.

[KoKo]

74. In the past I would have been surprised...these days...no...still

it's good that Skinner got involved being the Consumer Activist who could Mediate.

I can't tell you the amount of work I've missed waiting for repairmen where I got no compensation. Actually I was told: "Just leave your nearest neighbors E-Mail and Cell Phone # for us if "we are delayed..so that we don't cause you inconvenience."

When one lives in a neighborhood where both spouses WORK for a LIVING...what is one supposed to do?

That's the REAL CATCH in their Community Consumer Relations.

Who is at home, anymore? And many live in neighborhoods where next door neighbors and down the street don't even know each other.

This ain't America of the Past...it's AMERICA OF THE TRANSIENT and WORKING TO MAKE ENDS MEET. Empty homes in the DAY and Kids Activities at Night. On the WEEKENDS it's SHIFT JOBS and Not answering the door.

[The Doctor.]

78. HEHEHE....

"So people like Omamha Steve who make a bunch of noise on the Web eventually end up with good service, everyone else still gets screwed."

... until everyone else does it; then we'll see some crack web-shooting by Sears.

[Sebastian Doyle]

4. I suppose it's a good thing that they responded to your complaint.

But I'm a little creeped out about ANY corporation monitoring this website and it's obvious that Sears ain't the only one doing so. :scared:

[Lisa0825]

8. I doubt they monitor it.....

They probably just have bots searching the web for mentions in forums, blogs, etc. Heck, I search on my own name now and then to see where I show up. Ain't much different IMO :)

[merh]

24. Google alerts work well for that.

I have mine set for my user name and my real name.

As you say, Sears probably has bots searching the internet to follow the trends and check for public opinion.

I think it is pretty neat they reached out to try to make things right.

[havocmom]

44. Might be there are Sears employees who read DU for their own reasons

If I worked for a company and read a complaint about customer service treatment like OS got from my employer, I would sure mention it to the brass who could address the issue.

If some employees of a company behave badly, the management needs to know. What the management then does about the issue speaks volumes. Too often, bad service as cost savings tool is the rule with many companies. So glad to see that Sears means business with customer service and FOLLOWS THROUGH!

Letting corporations get by with treating you badly and capping it off with 'well, you're the only one who ever had this problem' (and I have heard management say that over and over to people all having the same problems) is lazy and a disservice to all consumers. Let them know about the problem and let them know others will know too. If they correct, thank them and let others know you got fair treatment. That is what Omaha Steve did and I commend both him and Sears for coming to a fair solution.

It's a lesson.

[EFerrari]

5. Good for Sears, for Skinner and of course, for you and Marta.

Well done all around!

[johnnie]

6. It's cool they did that but..

It is sort of sad that they have to wait until they are being hammered on the internet before doing anything about it. But it is still good that they have some people to take care of that kind of shit.

[Texasgal]

7. Wow..

That's pretty cool.

I guess customer service is still alive and well!

Thanks for posting!

[HughMoran]

9. I have new found respect for Sears

May other company owners read this post and learn. Let's hope they also punish those who forced him to be forced to complain about this in the first place.

[rhett o rick]

10. I recently had a complaint about Sears auto service and they were very responsive to my complaint.nt

[Triana]

11. WOW! That is above and beyond. YAY Sears! Good on them! n/t

[tandot]

12. Thanks for posting. This is great.

I just ordered a couple of pants from them online :)

[AllentownJake]

13. Good for Sears!

No one can fault anyone for making a mistake than trying to make it right.

[Shell Beau]

14. Well I'll be damned!! I read the post and assumed it was Sears.

Good for them for making it right!!! :thumbsup:

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

22. I thought it might be Sears, too.

[noamnety]

43. I knew it was Sears too

even though you didn't name them.

I'm glad they compensating someone appropriately, but it's a sign of how consistently awful their customer service has been to me that I knew without being told.

We don't buy anything that requires ordering or even getting stock pulled from the backroom. We cancelled our discover card with them after an epic adventure that only got resolved after we contacted the Better Business Bureau (after a year of trying to resolve it directly with Sears).

[Lucy Goosey]

15. Wow...

Thanks for posting the follow-up - this is awesome.

I kind of love what this says about the power of regular people on the internet, too.

[malaise]

16. That's very nice

I'm glad this worked out.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

17. Welcome to DU Sears! We'll be looking forward to your posts!

[MrsBrady]

18. I don't see why you are apologizing. You didn't do anything wrong.

They don't have time to train their customer service folks, but they have time to search the internet? weird.

[FBaggins]

19. Good customer service doesn't involve never making a mistake

The key is in what you do WHEN you make a mistake.

Some studies show (and the OP appears to be an example) that MANY customers are actually more loyal after you've made an error and bent over backwards to make it right... then if you had never made a mistake in the first place.

Some people in customer service training have joked that maybe they should screw up now and again on purpose just so they can improve customer loyalty. :)

Of course it's no good to fix it if you then screw up time after time after time... but that hasn't been my experience with Sears.

[flvegan]

20. That's incredible. Definitely above and beyond on the part of Sears.

I'm stunned, absolutely stunned.

[Rick Myers]

21. Very cool...

Sears deserves props for handling that situation!!

[Stinky The Clown]

23. **You**have nothing to apologize for

One of your visitors n you original thread, however, may.

[Contrary1]

25. I think that particular visitor is chowing down on some pizza. n/t

[HCE SuiGeneris]

30. OMC fianally gets his cookie.

TFG.

[hootinholler]

34. Really?

Wow! That dude had been on the edge for so long.

:greenbouncythangojoy:

-Hoot

[hardcoreliberal]

76. YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!

I am a long, long, LONG time lurker and this is probably going to be my only post here ever.

I specifically registered just to say how unbelievebly HAPPY I am to hear this.

GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH!

:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:
:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:

[Stinky The Clown]

35. So I just discovered!

There *is* justice!

[John Q. Citizen]

37. Wow! That's like an early Christmas Hanuka Kwanzaa Solstice New Years present

Yes indeed. Every so often, there is a little justice.

I'm guessing that Sears inadvertently helped.

They may have drawn some extra attention to that thread due to their attempt to correct their customer service problem, and my guess is that resulted in the removal of a rather mean-spirited individual from this board.

It's like a bonus for everyone.

[HamdenRice]

38. While he wasn't pleasant, I hope everyone remembers his wife died and he blogged it here on DU

There are many people who are downright hornery. We'll probably never know what OMC's "original" personality was like, but I do hope everyone keeps in mind that he wrote a lot about the long agonizing death of his wife, right here on DU.

I always cut him some slack because it was pretty clear he was grieving in the worst way and overwhelmed with his responsibilities as a newly single father and took it out on everyone here.

[WilliamPitt]

41. If that was true

I was an OMC fan, even despite his fractious behavior, until I found a few things out. I'm not sure the wife story was true.

Apparently, he confessed to getting paid to post here. That puts everything he said into question, imho.

[donheld]

45. Wow, I've always wondered about that.

[HamdenRice]

46. LOL! I'll accept what you say, but who would pay OMC to post? What party? Grumpy Old Man's party?

That's hilarious if it's true, but I wouldn't be able to imagine what conceivable political or economic interest he would represent!

[Hekate]

60. That's a shocker, Will. Since you are who you are, I trust you had it on good authority...

... especially since I never saw the confession. Wow.

Hekate

[Kali]

65. really?

there was a funeral and some pretty emotional stuff posted - lots of people seemed to have actual contact with him at the time...???

[Hekate]

58. That's what I always thought, having gotten caught up in that drama. I just passed by...

... his subsequent comments, and let them go.

What Will Pitt writes below, though, is a shocker.

Hekate

[havocmom]

68. He was a jerk prior to the death of his wife

if, that was true, and one could have doubts. He behaved better for a spell, basking in DU affection and support. Then, back to previous jerky behavior.

[KG]

70. it was funny how he called other people 'attention whores' after his sniveling little act.

[KoKo]

75. Perhaps it wasn't a "Life altering Episode" for him. He doesn't seem any different from before

he lost his wife than he is now. :shrug:

[Brickbat]

26. SO glad to hear that Sears did the right thing. Thank you, Sears, and thank you, Steve, for keeping

us in the loop!

[quiet.american]

27. Color me impressed. Seriously impressed. nt

[PJPhreak]

28. Sears has always been good to me,

One time long ago I was replacing the transmission in an old VW Bus,and if anyone here has tried this you will know that the rear axle nuts are not only reverse threaded,but are torqued down at 200+ Ft.Lbs. (Meaning tighter than anything on earth!) add to this many years of use and and not even C-4 will get these things off!

What is a crafty hippie to do you might ask? Well...

We (meaning the four of us that were working on this thing) grabbed a Craftsman Breaker Bar that was an inch thick and about 40 years old,and as one can figure out I did not buy it new or from Sears for that matter.

I put the appropriate socket on this thing,grabbed a ten foot piece of steel pipe to use as leverage,stuck it on said axle nut,then ALL of us threw all of our weight into it,pulled,jumped on it,Beat it with a Very Large Hammer,Swore,cussed and said things that are unmentionable here,but we got the axle nut off!

The Breaker Bar was not so lucky...We bent that sucker like a soggy pretzel!

We still had the other side to deal with yet.

Off to Sears we went.Put the Breaker Bar on the counter,the sales guy took one look at it and went and got me another one.

As I turned to leave he asked me,"How long was the Cheater Pipe?"

"Ahh,about ten foot."

"I thought so."

Yes we got the Bus fixed.

[G_j]

29. that's pretty remarkable

I'm impressed.
:applause:

[chill_wind]

31. Wow. Good for Sears and all concerned parties

in a day you never hear customer complaint resolution stories quite like this one.

K & R.

[BR_Parkway]

32. If only Verizon Wireless were have as smart as to do this, I'm still

battling over a deposit not returned while they claim I've got a past due amount

[northzax]

63. so blog about it

and complain online. you know which company is one of the best at tracking down and resolving online complaints? comcast. and no one has ever argued that they have good customer service...

[DU GrovelBot]

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[madokie]

36. i'm a sears kind of guy myself

When I was a kid their catalogs had other uses besides drooling over too, 'f you git me drif. I read somewhere a while back and have no idea if its true or not I just liked what I'd read so I'll repeat it. What I'd read was that when an employee of Sears is or has been called up for active duty they continue to pay the persons insurance for their family and keep their job open for them for the day they return. Hell that's enough for me.

:hi:

I've got more sears bought stuff in this house than from anyone else three or four times over.

[windbreeze]

59. Yes...first thing I thought about....

you had to rumple those pages juuuuuustttt right in order for it to work...but work it did...wb

[GoCubsGo]

39. Thanks for posting...

I have always liked Sears, especially for their appliances and Craftsman tools. They also carry affordable shoes and clothing. It's one of the few places around here where I can still get Lee jeans, which are one of the few that make them for people who aren't skinny, shapeless 16-year-old girls.

[havocmom]

40. Bravo Sears! Now I can get my sweety's Christmas tools there again!

And Bravo Omaha Steve, for demonstrating that standing up for what's fair is a better policy than being a doormat and tolerating bad behavior from companies. Sears did right and corrected their error. Good on 'em. But they wouldn't have known (at a decision making level) that their reputation was being damaged by some of their own employees' behavior unless a fair minded consumer made a bit of noise.

There is a lesson for all of us, and it does not apply just to where we shop. Americans need to stop putting up with bad treatment from the corporate side of life. Americans need to stop putting up with politicians who put the big money above what is best for the public interest. Americans need to just stand up, be fair to others, and by god expect fairness in return.

I always liked Sears for tools and appliances. Hell, made my living with a Sears sewing machine for decades, and it is still running fine. These days, I don't shop much, but made a mental note to always start with Sears when I read about how generous they are to their employees who also serve in the National Guard.

While all employers are required to hold a guards-men's job for him/her so they can return to civilian work after being called up, Sears went a bit further than the law required. They actually made a practice of covering any difference between what their employees made at Sears and what they drew as pay in the Guard. Many families suffer a big hit when a breadwinner gets called up and has to give up their civilian job pay for the duration. Sears honored the efforts of civilian soldiers and recognized their employees service to country and corporation by making sure the employees & their families were not being hurt financially for service to the nation.

Yeah, many of us read about how Sears takes care of it's National Guard member employees. And, yeah many of us did confirm.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp

Thank you, Sears, for standing by your employees who sometimes wear other hats that are military issue. And thank you, Omaha Steve, for your practice of standing up for what is fair, and following through.

Now, I am off to Sears.com to make my selections for cool little tools for Havocdad's Christmas stocking, AND further my research on new, efficient washers and dryers.

[Oldtimeralso]

61. + 1 for Sears

for their military policy
for Craftsman tools
and most of all for their making things good for my union compadre Omaha Steve!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

42. In our area, Sears is FAMOUS for SUCKING.

Horrible delivery delays, mistakes, damage, refusal to fix, refusal to refund, limiting refunds for defective merchandise, obstructionis customer service reps, and plain old unvarnished incompetence, etc. etc.

Because of that track record out here in the hinterlands, I'd say that excellent response came only as a reaction to fear of bad public relations.

[peacebaby3]

47. Glad you posted this. I'm impressed and might even shop at Sears now. n/t

[Old Codger]

48. Goes to show

That rolling over and being complacent on this type of issue is not the answer... Glad to see they came across in the proper way.. Thanks for posting this Steve...

[MissDeeds]

49. Thanks for posting this

It's great to read about a company stepping up and doing the right thing. Kudos to Sears.

[KT2000]

50. This is a relief

just bought a washer there and am concerned that it will have problems like so many other products these days. Nice to see they might be helpful if something goes wrong.
Amazing that they work so hard on customer service - impressive.

[varelse]

51. Impressive

I'd just about written off the possibility of finding any signs of life from the American customer service ethic. This is heartening news.

[Cha]

53. Oh, that's so Sweet..what

a surprise you must have had!:wow:

[Fla Dem]

54. Good to hear. I just bought all new appliances with SEARS extended warranties

So sincerely hope their customer service doesn't let me down.

[graywarrior]

55. Wow!

And to think I stopped using their credit card.

[Politicub]

56. Good on Sears! I'm glad they made this right...

It's great that they are placing such an emphasis on customer service. I've gotten good customer service in the past, which has kept me a loyal customer of their Kenmore appliances.

:applause:

[rgbecker]

57. I have always loved Sears.

When I buy tools or appliances from Sears, I get a complete breakdown of the item with all the parts listed and with numbers.
If I need to repair it, I can get the parts from Sears and if I can't fix it myself, I can give them to someone who can without all the talk about taking it to the shop and ordering parts and OMG this is going to cost you.

Have been buying shoes there since Vietnam.

The new analysts all talk about Sears being old and out of touch.. But I think they are just doing business like when people used to get real service and value.

[earcandle]

62. The new wave of Corporate Social Responsibility! (CSR) is hip!

[ProdigalJunkMail]

66. I guess I should have complained here

when we lost a day of vacation as well waiting for Sears not getting someone here. We spent the whole day at home and while I spoke AT LENGTH and with great frequency with the persons from so-called 'support' and 'services' we were offered nothing. I ended up having to call a local repairman (after begging friends for word-of-mouth advertising) who managed to drop by our home at the end of his day and was able to complete the repair...

Sears was beyond awful to us in this situation with absolutely no empathy for the situation. I will NEVER recommend them to any one for repair service again...and will continue to do as I should have in the first place: contact a local repairman with good credentials...

sP

[bridgit]

67. I'm sure that there is a core element within Sears that remembers they were the ones...

that sent prefab homes out onto the prairie from their catalogs. I'm sure they see the turnings of America these days, perhaps even especially so, and while levels of their operation are filled with fresh faced systems/admin peeps...they're still able to see we Americans ourselves, at least our money & patronage. Sad we are required to crash through and remind them from time to time; but it is good that they appear to be watching & listening - thanks for the update

http://www.prairiemod.com/prairiemod/2009/01/showing-off-sears-homes.html

[havocmom]

72. +1

yup

[barbtries]

71. how fun

i'm glad it all turned out well. as i recall, sears is one company that promises deployed soldiers their jobs back upon their return from the wars.

[zogtheobvious]

73. Operationmindcrime seems to have no comment this time...

Hmm.

[windbreeze]

79. wonder if it could be

because he's no longer with us?...

[zogtheobvious]

80. Ah...

My apologies. I followed the link from Omaha Steve's article to a previous article he'd posted, and noted the feisty exchange. I didn't go digging for any other history of the participants...

[SkankWhisperer]

77. Mistakes Happen, It's What Happens Next That Counts

Reputable companies will go the distance to resolve legitimate complaints, and Sears has always taken care of my returns/exchanges without blinking.
Try getting anything from Wal or Kmart or even BestBuy, they will laugh in your face.