What's your expierience at SEARS? (1 Viewer)

[Chris Clarno]

Those of you that have purchased HT or Stereo gear at Sears, what were your impressions? Of the selection (brands, models) of the associates (Knowledge, salesmanship)of the sales floor (Appearence, layout). I have recently gotten a job as a manager for Sears (with a very possible promotion to upper management in the next year or so). I would like to know impressions of those who know! What can we do to improve? Please prioritize your wish list and include the location of the store you shop at most often.
Thanks for you time.
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Christian Clarno
Slightly-Off Productions
[email protected]
www.htguy.com (Beta Site)New Site Coming Soon!
ICQ# 4606136

 

[David Williams]

Maybe it's just my area (Tulsa, OK & Ft. Smith, AR) but it seems the management goes out of their way to hire the most psychically null, this-space-for-rent type of sales associates... or maybe a frontal lobotomy is a requirement of employment. The last time I was in Sears Electronics section I had to wait for the sales associate to open the video game case because a) there was 1 sales associate working the whole department (this includes video games, tvs, vcrs, dvd, stereo, phones, and computers) and b) the trailer park family (I swear the father would have been chugging a beer had he been allowed to... imagine a fatter Cletus TSJY) was absorbing the SA's time. It would be nice to see some more warm bodies in Electronics. Some of the sales associates appear to know what they are doing, but the selection is usually very poor and the prices are often list price or just under. Which means I usually head to wherever the price is cheapest, service be damned. Now if I were uneducated in the art of HT (

) it would be a nightmare just about anywhere... including Sears
Recap:
A) Price
B) Selection
C) Service

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Setting the DVD players for 4:3 TVs would be a nice start
Hold large loud displays of why widescreen is better
Make sure your employees have a clue about what the dif is between Digital and HDTV
That's just for starters. Sears employees are about the middle range of cluelessness in my experience.

 

[Chris Clarno]

Thanks for the feedback guys! I am actually working on better signs (and training for our associates) to explain the difference between SDTV, DTV, HDTV and HD Ready TV. Additionally, all DVD players hooked up to 16:9 displays in my store are set to 16:9 mode. As far as the 1 guy alone in the department with the keys... My guess is that either someone called in sick that night or perhaps that particular store is understaffed. I couldn't realy say. I would recomend calling and asking to speak with the manager and tell them about your experience. My fear is that some of the managers are not even aware of the problems and assume everything is OK! Thanks again for your feedback. I'll keep working at making SEARS a more compelling place to shop! Oh, by the way, SEARS does price match. If you find a lower price at a local competitor, we'll match it. If you find a lower price within 30 days after purchase, we'll refund the difference. In fact SEARS (at least my store) will even price match against established ON-LINE merchants. Thanks again guys!
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Christian Clarno
Slightly-Off Productions
[email protected]
ICQ# 4606136
[Edited last by Chris Clarno on August 20, 2001 at 01:17 AM]

 

[Steve T]

The Sears store I have been to most often (Arden Fair mall, Sacramento. Closest to work) have a problem keeping product stocked. The electronics dept. is very small for one thing, and the product shelves are always missing units (but the tags with product names, descriptions are there). When I started looking for an AVR last year I heard that Sears carried Denon units, so that was the first place I shopped. At that time, the mentioned Sears store had only one open box unit (an AVR-681 I recall). Needless to say I left and went to the local Good Guys who had a very good selection of Denon units (prices was MSRP though). Not too long ago I went back to Sears to check into their selection of Acoustic Research cables. Again, their selection was terrible. It appeared that they carried the AR brand, but much of the product was gone. These experiences have kept me from going back to Sears.

 

[Albert M]

I wish all Sears had the same price match policy. I was going to buy the Kenwood HTB504 home theater in a box at Sears because of the internet price match policy, but when I called Sears, they said the best they could do was take off 10%. This makes no sense because you can go to audioreview.com and see people are getting the HTB504 and HTB503 for only $380-$400. While my Sears in Las Vegas wants $450. I even called the other Sears & they said the same thing. By the way what do you call an established internet dealer? They made a big mistake because I was going to buy a 5 year warranty, they will end up losing business in Vegas now, I will be telling all my home theater buddies about this 10% off policy. Hope you run your store better. Good to see someone asking for feedback.