Sears.com third party vendor ElectronicDealz

I'm extremely frustrated that I was sucked in.
I feel completely scammed by this third party merchant situation.

I was confident in using a website that Sears had willingly attached its name to. As Sears has always been a reputable company for high dollar purchases.

So I order something that I thought was Sears endorsed. And I was electronically given a delivery date of 12/20 - 12/22. Still in time for Christmas.
There was no warning that the delivery date might be incorrect..

So here it is Christmas eve, and my order still shows as "processing". It hasn't even been picked or shipped.
Won't my son be disappointed when his sister is opening her "big gift" for the year, and the most exciting thing he'll have under the tree is socks and underwear.

I would have cancelled the order and made the purchase somewhere else. However, the fine print states this third party merchant will charge me a 25% restocking fee.

So, I have to pay for their inadequate logistics process??

When I emailed the company for a status, I received an automated reply about how their staff is working 24/7 to accommodate their high volume of orders.. I really don't care if they are on overtime..
As a buyer, planner, shipper, I am fully aware there are ways to accomplish the seemingly impossible.
The email also threatened that I shan't "escalate" my shipping request as it will only delay the process.

So friends, be warned. Even though you are shopping at sears.com, you're not shopping at Sears.
It appears that a once upstanding chain of retailers, took over the lesser ethics of it's new parent company Kmart.

Chelsey - Epic Fail

With the craziness of trying to prepare for the Holidays, Scott and I found ourselves doing some last minute shopping..

I worked until 5, and he had worked until 6. A trip to Sears, Walmart and a couple other smaller stores here in town, we opted to hit the North Steak-n-Shake, rather than come home and figure out something to cook at 8:30pm.

We no longer have a "favorite" waitress at Steak-n-Shake.. There a few there that are FANTASTIC.. But only a few.. Tonight.. We didn't get one of the "few".

Instead we had Chelsey.. I wasn't overly impressed with her demeanor when she arrived at our table to take our drink orders.. But I was tired, and I blew it off..
She didn't improve as the meal progressed.. But it wasn't the service she provided us, that was the problem..
It was the conversation we over heard, and the service she was giving an adjacent table, that was offputing (spell check says that's not a word).

Chelsey and a fellow waitress were wiping down tables in a row of booths. There was a table separating them, so they couldn't whisper to each other.. They should have waited until they could.

There were several exchanges between the two of them.. But only one sticks out in my head.
I heard Chelsey say "I wanted to tell her she shouldn't be rude the person that is about to deliver her food"..
Now we all have fears of immature waitstaff doing the unthinkable to our food. I am sure I'm not the only one that doesn't speak my mind or complain until AFTER my food has been delivered.. Chelsey's conversation just affirmed my worst nightmare.
-Don't piss off your server.

So then... Ha you thought I was done.

The very nice couple seated in the booth next to us, started out behind us. They asked to be moved because they were next to the window and it was chilly.
So they moved next to us, ordered their food and made small talk across the aisle from us. They food was delivered, they held hands and prayed before looking over their order.
Chelsey flew past them and the lady flagged her down to ask why there was nothing on her sandwich. Chelsey's reply was "it's on the bottom, that's just how the dress the sandwiches here", and off she went.
On her next fly by, the lady stopped her again. And this time dismantled the sandwich showing that the garlic mayonnaise along with everything else, was left off of her sandwich.
Chelsey again came back with the most informative answer I've ever heard.
"well that's weird". SAY WHAT????
How about "oh my.. I'm so sorry, let me take that back and have it done right for you"..
Nope.. This poor lady got, well I can get them for you... What did you have on it".
HOLY CRAP.. Worthlessness... You took the order.. YOU should tell HER what they left off.
And if that wasn't enough "do you want the garlic mayonnaise or regular".
SHE ORDERED THE GARLIC... WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE HER FEEL STUPID..
And she heard your "don't piss off the waitress" comment.. So I'm guessing she's afraid to push you too hard.

You got your 8% Chelsey.. But I should have spit on it..
and BONUS.. I called the corporate office..
MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Mary Catherine

Wow.. It's been forever since I've posted.
Mostly because all I can seem to do is complain about the customer service in Danville.
Add that businesses are closing left and right so I can only go to the same crappy service places over and over.

Tonight was different.. Scott and I had a kid-free night and decided to celebrate his new job at AutoZone (I will ensure there will be excellent customer service there).
So we splurged and went to Red Lobster. I think I've posted about Red Lobster in the past.. I must say that even though they are overpriced, they never lack in the customer service department.

Tonight was especially outstanding..

If you don't know us very well, we both have sort of a strange sense of humor.. Sort of abrasive and snarky..

So Mary Catherine comes over and introduces herself and tells us she will be our server.. I apologize in advance for what we are going to put her through.. She laughs and says she's pretty sure she can handle.. Then we joke that she'll be nipping Scotts beer on the way to deliver it because we'll drive her nuts.

We were talking and I made a comment to Scott (no idea what it was). But he said "what are you smoking" and my comeback was "crack" (no folks I do not smoke crack, just our sense of humor). As the conversation happened, Mary Catherine walked up to our table and said "well heck, I'll just hang out here"..
Seems her sense of humor was much like ours (my guess is she is able to adjust to whatever type of customer is put in her section).

So... We both ordered the Ultimate Feast, which includes a half pound of snow crab.
Mary Catherine delivers our food and asks if we need anything else. Scott holds up a crab leg and says "can you dig the meat out of these for me"..

I'm in awe of what happened next.

Mary Catherine disappeared for a split second. And then without even blinking, she pulls up a chair, puts two bowls on the table, slides on some latex gloves and proceeds to crack Scotts crab legs. Every single one of them.. Putting the meat in one bowl, and the shells in another..

Now you would think this would be awkward.. To have someone we don't know sit down at our table and crack crab while we ate.. Not at all..
It was like having a friend join you for dinner..

Since I waited tables for 10 years, I had something in common with her. We talked about how things have changed for wait-staff since I did it 20 years ago..
(the servers at Red Lobster have to split tips with bar tenders and bus boys)..
We talked about what it takes to be an excellent waitress (she agreed with all of my crazy thoughts on the topic). She's young. And generally I find the younger they are, the more they lack the customer service skill. It seems to be a dying art only found in old school wait-staff. But she proved me wrong tonight.

Mary Catherine totally nailed it tonight..
She gave me knew hope for Danville..

So next time you go to Red Lobster, ask for Mary Catherine, and tip her well.

5 out of 5 tips for Mary Catherine.