For you younger readers, there
once was a chain of department stores named Montgomery Ward. They populated many shopping centers and were
the main rival of Sears.
Montgomery Ward went the way of
the dinosaur, buggy whip, and ice factory, because they were replaced by new,
innovative ideas that surpassed their venues.
Sears has never been my favorite
store because their products are junk and they all carry a seven-digit number.
Garage door openers, hedge
clippers, hammers, weed whackers, and screw drivers, all have a seven-digit
number.
People at Sears will gladly sell
you a product, but are slow to help you thereafter. Years ago, my sainted wife bought me a
screwdriver set from Sears. Their claim
to fame is that they stand behind their products by replacing their hand tools
without question.
It wasn’t but a few months later
when I broke the tips off two Philips screw drivers. I took them back to Sears and was told they
couldn’t replace them because I needed a receipt. I returned home with two broken screw
drivers.
Then, I was lured into Sears for
a weed whacker that was on sale. After a
short time I realized the head that feeds the line was not up to my
standards. I returned to the store and
tried to buy a replacement head, to no avail.
The clerk grinned and announced
there was nothing he could do “without that pesky seven-digit number.” I asked him to look it up on the computer
because it was purchased with a credit card from that very cash register. He refused and walked away. I’m willing to wager that if I had brought the
weed whacker into Sears for repair, he would have looked it up to ensure the
warranty was in compliance with the purchase date.
By now if you think I would have
learned my lesson, you would be wrong.
Rather, I bought a router from them and needed to get a replacement base
and bit wrench for it. I had that pesky
seven-digit number in-hand at the store when I was informed they no longer sell
parts for this three year-old tool.
And just recently I attempted to
buy replacement blades for my Craftsman gas edger. I have the original box with a number from
Briggs and Stratton. Not having much
success on the World Wide Web, I called the Sears “help line.”
A douchebag named Adam answered
the phone and gleefully asked my problem.
I told him what I was looking for and he asked for the number of the
machine itself. I was prepared because I
took a photo of the label with my cell phone - the actual photo appears above.
That number is obliterated and illegible. My sainted wife and I resembled two CSI
technicians armed with a magnifying glass to try and resolve this with a happy
ending, for a change. No luck.
Happy Adam informed me there was
nothing he could do. Adam confirmed that
I was a slow learner and should have shopped elsewhere. I will shop elsewhere from now on.
It won’t be long before we can
add Sears to that list with Montgomery Ward, dinosaurs, buggy whips, and ice
factories.
Bye, bye to you and that pesky
seven-digit number. And, Adam, start
looking for a new job.
