How to buy from Sears

[Fritz the Cat]

I bought a dishwasher over the phone from Sears (store NOT catalog) today.
I asked when the item I was looking at would be going on sale. The sales clerk looked up the future sales and told me it would be 200.00 off on July 23. They went on to tell me that I could buy it now at the regular price on my credit card and they would automatically issue me the $200.00 credit on the 23rd because their policy is to allow 30 days before OR after for sales prices.

Not a hot deal, I know, but a savy move for the savy RFD buyer :idea:

[runamuck]

its called "price protection"...


may i suggest you mention in the title ur newfound info about a $200off sale comming up @ Sears

thanks4contributing!

[nomes]

Word of caution.
Make sure you follow up with them and see that the credit was applied after the 23rd. Sometimes they say that will take care of it but they forget to apply the credit.

[weilyan]

well that works for dishwasher cuz major appliance salespeople are on commission...and they are experienced and know how the system works...

for smaller stuff (or larger stuff) but in the non-commission sections (such as electronics, hardware, seasonal, fitness), a lot of the salespeople (not all however) wont credit you automatically (you gotta bring the bill to them on the sales days).

In either case, what's good about Sears is that they have a 90 day (that's right...90 days) price match policy except for the electronics department which is only 30 days. Meaning that whatever you buy, and anytime the price goes down within 90 days, you get you money (that is if you remember to go to a sears with your bill)....again electronics is an exception.

[DragonZealot]

I very much doubt that they will "automatically" credit you the difference. You better call your CC customer service to make sure. Also they should credit back the taxes as well.

[BobW]

We bought a rug from Sears 3 years ago. Same setup. The salesman told us when it was going to go on sale and that they would issue the credit for us when it did. I was actually surprised that it all seemed to happen exactly as they told us. No headaches, no hassles, just a credit showing up on the cc statement. :!:

[grimplin]

I very much doubt that they will "automatically" credit you the difference. You better call your CC customer service to make sure. Also they should credit back the taxes as well.

Sears often does this. They automatically credited me $500 for a mattress set that was going on sale. I have also bought a sewing machine, lawn mower, BBQ, Washer and Dryer all using this same system. I have never had a problem with the salesperson remebering to credit the Sears card. In fact, I believe there is a book at each register where they keep track of the future credits they need to do.

[weilyan]

btw....i think the 23rd....they are distributing coupons (10$ off purchases of 50$; 20$ off purchases of 100$) for like first 500 people (or 300 people)...so to the guy who bought the diswasher, maybe you can get an extra 20$ back (sometimes it's 20$ + tx back)...gotta confirm that...i know someone who works at Sears retail store and the store usually get the next 2-3 flyer (so basically the weekday flyer, which is today, + upcomming weekend flyer + next weekday flyer + next weekend flyer). He knows there's one comming up just forgot exactly when. (weekend for sure)

[pbillin]

I bought a dishwasher over the phone from Sears (store NOT catalog) today.
I asked when the item I was looking at would be going on sale. The sales clerk looked up the future sales and told me it would be 200.00 off on July 23. They went on to tell me that I could buy it now at the regular price on my credit card and they would automatically issue me the $200.00 credit on the 23rd because their policy is to allow 30 days before OR after for sales prices.

Not a hot deal, I know, but a savy move for the savy RFD buyer :idea:
I believe that the "automatic process" involves the salesperson writing the information down and putting it into a file, and processing at a later date. You might want to ask them to phone you when it's complete, or phone them if you don't hear anything.

[ptxpress]

I used to sell on commission at Sears.
This is how the process works....we used it all the time to make sales in advance.

Basically, we ring up the goods at full price and fill out an "ACR" (Adjustment, credit or return) form with all the details of the sale and your cc number. We'd place it in a dated floppy file, so we check it every day, and usually, we didn't forget. On the sale date, in this case, the 23rd, we hand off the ACR form to the "Customer Service Specialist", as the sales people cannot do credits more than $50 by themselves. the CSS then credits the applicable cc within 3 days or so (depending on whether or not they are in that day, their workload, etc.). Following up never hurt anybody, but if you don't see the credit on the 23rd, don't freak out...it may take a couple of days, but it is standard protocol. Sometimes we'd issue these for up to 60 days pre-sale, depending on how bad we needed the sale.

Basically, even if you purchased something w/in the last 90 days and its lower now, Sears will issue you the credit if you struggle a little. Sears DOES NOT have any stated time period, so if you threaten to return, then rebuy the item, they'll usually give up and let you have the credit instead....you'll likely hear a speech about how they "don't normally do this", and it's a "one time only" adjustment...yaddi yaddi yadda.

[Kenny Blankenship]

savvy

[twp]

I seem to recall Sears and others getting into some hot water for claiming that they were offering sale prices too often - so much so that products rarely sold at the 'regular' price.

This +- 90 day price protection seems to be essentially the same game with different tools.

So the consumer is duped into thinking that they have just been given a great deal, when in fact, they have only been given the real-regular price, with the occassional sucker paying the inflated-regular price to make things seem legit.

Oh well, as long as we are not hurting anyone, eh?

Tim >:(

[charger]

I seem to recall Sears and others getting into some hot water for claiming that they were offering sale prices too often - so much so that products rarely sold at the 'regular' price.

This +- 90 day price protection seems to be essentially the same game with different tools.

So the consumer is duped into thinking that they have just been given a great deal, when in fact, they have only been given the real-regular price, with the occassional sucker paying the inflated-regular price to make things seem legit.

Oh well, as long as we are not hurting anyone, eh?

Tim >:(


Thats how most retail works. It is hard working in a place and seeing people buying something knowing that in 12 hours, when the store opens the next day, that the item they just purchased is going to be sold for 1/4 the price. No price guarantees either, but you can't in grocery

[BrendaK]

btw....i think the 23rd....they are distributing coupons (10$ off purchases of 50$; 20$ off purchases of 100$) for like first 500 people (or 300 people)...so to the guy who bought the diswasher, maybe you can get an extra 20$ back (sometimes it's 20$ + tx back)...gotta confirm that...i know someone who works at Sears retail store and the store usually get the next 2-3 flyer (so basically the weekday flyer, which is today, + upcomming weekend flyer + next weekday flyer + next weekend flyer). He knows there's one comming up just forgot exactly when. (weekend for sure)

Where do you get these coupons? Or is it for the first so many people that call in an order that day?

[sentinel]

Thats how most retail works. It is hard working in a place and seeing people buying something knowing that in 12 hours, when the store opens the next day, that the item they just purchased is going to be sold for 1/4 the price. No price guarantees either, but you can't in grocery
Tell me about it! it's not uncommon for me to put out price changes at staples where the price on, say, a monitor, camera, printer, projector, etc, will have dropped $50, $100, even $200+ (usually for no obvious reason), and i had just sold the exact same thing just a few hours earlier.
Sure, Staples has price protection, but I just *know* that the customers won't bother to check or get the money back. And, of course, I have no way of telling them....Oh well, what can you do....

BTW, how to buy at sears: walk in, pick something, give them money, they give you item, walk out. :cheesygri :cheesygri :cheesygri lol sorry, the thread title made me do it...

[weilyan]

I used to sell on commission at Sears.
This is how the process works....we used it all the time to make sales in advance.

Basically, we ring up the goods at full price and fill out an "ACR" (Adjustment, credit or return) form with all the details of the sale and your cc number. We'd place it in a dated floppy file, so we check it every day, and usually, we didn't forget. On the sale date, in this case, the 23rd, we hand off the ACR form to the "Customer Service Specialist", as the sales people cannot do credits more than $50 by themselves. the CSS then credits the applicable cc within 3 days or so (depending on whether or not they are in that day, their workload, etc.). Following up never hurt anybody, but if you don't see the credit on the 23rd, don't freak out...it may take a couple of days, but it is standard protocol. Sometimes we'd issue these for up to 60 days pre-sale, depending on how bad we needed the sale.

Basically, even if you purchased something w/in the last 90 days and its lower now, Sears will issue you the credit if you struggle a little. Sears DOES NOT have any stated time period, so if you threaten to return, then rebuy the item, they'll usually give up and let you have the credit instead....you'll likely hear a speech about how they "don't normally do this", and it's a "one time only" adjustment...yaddi yaddi yadda.


the 90 day price protection thing is printed on the receipt (usually at the bottom and in some sears where they use carbon-copy receipts, it's preprinted on the back of the receipt as well.)




Where do you get these coupons? Or is it for the first so many people that call in an order that day?


You get the coupons at the door. When you walk in, (usually through the entrance where the fragance and cosmetic department is) there's someone there giving the coupons (sometimes there's 500 coupons for saturday only, sometimes there's 300 coupons on saturday and 200 coupons on sunday). Sears does this about 2 weekends a month (on average).



BTW, how to buy at sears: walk in, pick something, give them money, they give you item, walk out. lol sorry, the thread title made me do it...


sometimes it's walk in choose product, pay for product, wait AT LEAST 2 days, come back, pick up product, walk out. I said sometimes but it's also someplaces. The guy i know at Sears says that it depends on location, cuz at his location, he has a co-worker there that been with Sears for 25+ years, and that co-worker knows what people will buy and pushes the coordinator of stock to order a larger quantity than other stores.

[CheapDude]

I did the same thing when i bought an air conditioner at sears (store). The sales person told me it was on sale the following week, so just come back for a price adjustment then.

[pbillin]

I used to sell on commission at Sears.
This is how the process works....we used it all the time to make sales in advance.

Basically, we ring up the goods at full price and fill out an "ACR" (Adjustment, credit or return) form with all the details of the sale and your cc number. We'd place it in a dated floppy file, so we check it every day, and usually, we didn't forget. On the sale date, in this case, the 23rd, we hand off the ACR form to the "Customer Service Specialist", as the sales people cannot do credits more than $50 by themselves. the CSS then credits the applicable cc within 3 days or so (depending on whether or not they are in that day, their workload, etc.). Following up never hurt anybody, but if you don't see the credit on the 23rd, don't freak out...it may take a couple of days, but it is standard protocol. Sometimes we'd issue these for up to 60 days pre-sale, depending on how bad we needed the sale.

Basically, even if you purchased something w/in the last 90 days and its lower now, Sears will issue you the credit if you struggle a little. Sears DOES NOT have any stated time period, so if you threaten to return, then rebuy the item, they'll usually give up and let you have the credit instead....you'll likely hear a speech about how they "don't normally do this", and it's a "one time only" adjustment...yaddi yaddi yadda.
Thanks for the detailed information.
Sears recently clarified their return policy. There is now a time limit of 90 days to return an item. Previously there was no time limit. The sooner you ask for an adjustment, the less hassle there will be. After 90 days they have a valid reason for rejecting you.

[cannon_fodder]

This was years ago, so it may not have been common practice then or now, but when I was shopping for appliances, I went into Sears armed with the best prices I could find at other retailers.

When I had identified the same models at Sears and asked the salesperson if they could do better on the prices on the floor, he simply looked up what the lowest price that they had sold it at for the year and said he could give it to me for that price.

[ptxpress]

Thanks for the detailed information.
Sears recently clarified their return policy. There is now a time limit of 90 days to return an item. Previously there was no time limit. The sooner you ask for an adjustment, the less hassle there will be. After 90 days they have a valid reason for rejecting you.

Wow...I can't believe it...but you're right...They always lost a TON of $$$ with this return policy, so I guess it makes sense, though it takes one of their competitive advantages away.

from Sears site:
Sears guarantee
Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded.

We hope that you are completely satisfied with your purchase. If for any reason you are not satisfied, simply return your purchase with your receipt within 90 days of your purchase, 30 days for home electronics, for a refund or exchange. If you are not satisfied with your purchase after these time periods, please let us know. Your satisfaction is important to Sears.