Do you ever wonder why Sears is headed down the drain? Well let me share a couple of experiences I have had with them recently.

I have 2 Craftsman A small 2 stroke for working the flower beds and a bigger front tine machine for the garden.

This spring I pulled the 2 stroke out to get started, pulled the rope and the engine doesn't turn over. Doesn't seem right. Took the unit to Sears for an estimate to repair it, that was $37. Estimate comes back at $217. It needs a short block. I bought a new unit at Home Depot, identical to the Sears machine only it says Yard Machine instead of Craftsman. Price? $179.

So, next up, the other night I am using the bigger machine and it decides to repeatedly throw the drive belt. No problem it must be worn / stretched. I'll just go to Sears and pick up a new one. If only it was that simple. Regular Sears, salesman says "We don't have those here you have to order it." I tell him, yeah, I found the equivalent online for about $5. He says, "we'll charge you more than that just to ship it." Today I stop at a Sears Hardware store just to check. There the sales person was very nice and went through all the belts with me and no luck. He points me to the Sears parts store several miles up the road, but they will be closed before I can get there.

I ordered through third party online, should be here in 2 - 3 days.

If baffles me how a store that was for so many years known and respected for their hardware can so rapidly go down the drain.

Any more for power tools, I head for Harbor Freight. I know and accept the fact they are not the greatest tools out there. But for the amount of use I give them, they are fine.

And if all else hails, there is a Black and Decker outlet store on the way to my Mom's house.

I agree Sears has gone downhill over the years. Competition from places like Walmart has forced them to change vendors, etc, and compromise quality for price. We all want cheap. I bought a cheap ryobi weedwhacker a few years ago from HD. I have countless hours in rebuilding nearly every component of that thing including cannibalizing my FIL's that broke (same model) for parts. It's a cheap piece of Chinese crap. The next one I buy will be a $200 toro or echo. It costs more upfront but lasts forever. Now I know why old guys always buy expensive lawn stuff and tools. Because they've been there, done that, and learned the lesson from it. I'm becoming older and wiser as I go along.

Matthew

Sears has been sucking wind for the last 20 years... at least...

They stopped keeping things in stock, and were just this side of legal when it came to bait-and-switch.

Go there for some appliance/tv/whatever, not in stock please wait a week.

My old neighbor wanted a new dishwasher, so against my better judgement, we went to the local Sears scratch/dent store.

First, they sell the unit at a reasonable price (Amana, about $425). Then they upsell the hookup kit, then the installation charge, then the disposal fee, and then when the installer arrived, another fee for another installation kit - it was nearly $200 in upsells and fees!!! She told them to forget it and take it back. Went to a local local store and got the same unit, installed for about the price that Sears was selling the unit new.

In short, I will go there for Craftsman hand tools - their power equipment is all made by MTD anymore, anyway, so who cares? As for power tools, I avoid Craftsman, junk. DeWalt is my brand of choice.

I like Harbor Freight for those one use tools, too... or limited use tools - hydraulic presses, things of that nature. But I don't want to buy one of their floor jacks...

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I've been using their speed/racing low profile aluminum jack for 4 years now with zero complaints.

Matt about 20 years ago I bought an Echo weed whacker and have done nothing but abuse it. I leave it out in the rain never winterize it in any way. Have put about 2 spark plugs in it and it just keeps on going. Amazing peice of equipment. I give it a 5 Guru rating out of 5.

I'm pretty much in line with what Andy said- especially the "20 years ago" and the Dewalt. The HF floorjacks are 50/50, not a bad deal for occasional use (I don't like them because of their valving).
I do know - don't buy a Craftsman floorjack, they all leak.

Ken, I don't think you can easily get service parts for anything anywhere in this country without having to order them. Especially if they are over 5 years old.
I can't even get an oil filter at HD for my generator that I bought there.

About the only "expensive" powered equipment that has a good rep is Honda. BUT I'm not paying $3000 for a snowblower.

Anyway, I do have a weblink for powered equipment spare parts (good prices and inventory). I got belts and parts from them for the ancient Snapper snowblower I bought for $100. If anyone wants the link.....

My lawnmower now is a Honda. My last Honda lawnmower lasted over 20 years. I couldn't afford their generator so I bought a cheap one since it will be used once a year.

Matthew

Last year we needed a new mower.... Went to Sears because they sell Husqvarna. I like Husqvara, I've had a Husky chain saw for a number of years and it's been great.

I bought a Husky mower with the Koler Engine.... I looked all over it to make sure of what I was buying.... Turns out the Koler engine is made in China.... even thou it dosen't say it anywhere...

It's going on it's second season now, so hopefully it'll last a few more.

I need to buy a gas powered trimmer/weed eater, but I'm hesitant to shell out the cash for Husky again only to find out it's the same Chinese POS I can get at half price from Jackie Chan's import/export....
Will

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I really wanted a 1000w Honda for the racetrailer cause they're so quiet..............until I saw the price.

The other thing is that saying "my Craftsman, Toro, whatever" lasted XXX years so.... don't hold true anymore because of where that particular piece is now built (like in Will's post).

Most Sears stores (around here anyway, Chicago, the home of Sears) used to have a service counter with all the parts on microfilm. Very convenient setup. Not anymore though.

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These days............you're on your own.

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Aren't they available online at sears parts? I have ordered a few things online over the past few years and was happy with the parts blowouts and part number identification.

Customer service all in all is a thing of the past. People used to know something. Now everybody including the village idiot (and me) has access to a computer. That's why when you go to the parts store and ask for anything now; What year, what make, what model, what style, what engine. No we don't stock that.

Also, people that knew their job earned a decent wage. They replaced them with minimum wage, no benefit, part timers in most places.

My wife and I have noticed a slip in service at Macy's. They used to have smartly dressed, dedicated staff that did everything in their power to help you. Now it's chitter-chattering "Do you need help?", me generation, I'm just here to make a few bucks, space occupiers.

Since I'm on a rant; Wait staff sucks, food quality sucks, general quality of goods suck, cleaning staffs suck, the customers suck.


Boy, I'm getting to be a grumpy sonofabitch.

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You're entitled.

The town I'm from used to have an old "Western Auto" store that had everything - way better than Sears. But he died, no more store. My mother bought us each one of those Craftsman look alike lawn mowers (Murray) from Wal Mart of all places and mine lasted over 12 years. I finally had to ditch it last year for a new one. I bought a Craftsman 6.7HP mulcher/mower for under $200. The same price would only get me a 4hp basic mower in the other brands Sears carries. So far, so good. My TV however is another story. Got a HAIER, wont' do that again. It was like 40% off, couldn't say no as I was wanting a 42" anyway. About a year later I had to replace all the boards in the thing $500, it was just out of warranty. Hpoed they'd give me a little slack since I found out it was a common problem. Neither Sears nor Haier offered any help. Plus, no local parts, no local person to deal with, all I could find was a German website. Four months went by before I got it fixed. Ended up spending $400 on a smaller 26" Olevia and it's been perfect. Even better quality. Craftsman tools are fine too, but no more than I use them for stuff around the house or for tiny things on the car like plug and wire changing, etc., generic tools have done just fine for me. Matter of fact up until I got a new one for my birthday last year, I was using a cordless 18v drill I got from Fred's of all places, I paid $17 for it. The drill still worked fine, it's the battery that played out after three years.

My Homelite string trimmer finally died last week. It did a good job for long enough that I wasn't upset. So after a bit of on line research I bought a 4 cycle Troy Bilt trimmer at Lowes for just a bit over $200. This thing is awesome and I can even get an electric starter for it for about $35. I think it could actually gnaw it's way thru an oak tree.

Back to the original thread - Sears = Sucks.