Thread regarding Sears layoffs

The original post is right on the mark, and my experience with this goes back to before the company became hooked on the "easy money" generated by pushing PA's. The MA/PA obsession started back in the 1980's, when Sears was coming under pressure from increasing competition. It was the easy way to boost the bottom line. But customers have become more savvy over the years, and they figured out these warranties are usually not worth the money, especially at Sears ridiculous prices. $500 for an extended warranty on a refrigerator? It's absurd. But Sears became blind to customer perceptions of the company and its sales approach. Customer satisfaction has been sliding for decades, but Sears just kept on doing the same thing. In my experience, most other companies will offer a warranty but it's a soft sell. Sears is one of the few companies still stuck on the "do or die" quotas and sales pressure.

I completely agree this is one of the major reasons Sears is near dead. If the company had focused on real customer service it might have remained successful. Instead they sat in the dying malls pushing PA's while Lowes, Home Depot e.t.c.. took over. I just hope for the sake of employees they liquidate soon and get this thing done with. The company has no chance to recover.

PA sales by a bankrupt business were banned in states that regulate extended warranties like insurance. Apparently a few states don't, and Sears is too amoral to stop on their own where they weren't forced to.

I thought it was prohibited to see the PAs now?

@mht

You're not cheating the customer... You're just being a Fast Eddie lackey in the "money making" schemes to s.c.r.e.w. the customer

Hope you can live with yourself

99% of the time a manufacturers warranty is suffcient

@wfl I was about to write a similar response

Today’s customers are not they same as years ago! They are very well informed about these predatory practices

@mht

You're cheating the customer when you sell them that worthless PA or Sears CC.

@mht You are not cheating the customer, in fact, it just might be the other way around. Most people can think for themselves (at least I'd hope to think that way). The relentless push to sell warranty agreements and get sign ups for the credit card are obvious attempts to fleece customers since, unlike other retailers, Sears cannot sustain itself on just selling product. They have very low volume so they have to make money somehow, and this is how they are doing it (but, funny enough, they're not quite making money).

I'm never asked to sign up for a credit card or asked to buy an extended warranty at Walmart, Lowe's or Home Depot, though they do offer both. Over at Target, they ask me if I want a credit card but if I say no, they take my response at face value with a smile and don't try to "overcome objections" (code word to argue with or challenge the customer). All of those retailers are doing well.

One of my last time shopping at Sears was for a washer and dryer with pedestals. The clerk who "assisted" me suddenly went from friendly to standoffish when I said that I didn't want the warranty. She actually got red in the face when she desperately tried to get me to buy it and said, and I quote, "I'm on my own after a year".