This complaint is about the automotive department at the Sears store located at the Hickory Point mall in Forsyth, Illinois.
On Saturday morning, January 10, I called automotive 3 times inquiring about tires. These calls were made between 8:30 and 9:15 am before the regular store opened. I called to be certain that there would not be any surprises because it was very slick and I did not want to waste a trip. I spoke to Sears employee Person A each time about Falken Ziex ZE-912 tires, size 205/60HR15 for my 2001 Hyundai Sonata GLS.
Person A was very helpful in telling what tires were available and quick to respond when I asked if the store matched Internet prices. She said yes and to bring in the print out of the price with shipping charges. I also asked if the store accepted Sears coupons and again the answer was yes.in addition to the aforementioned paperwork I also brought a list of tire charges from Wal-Mart hoping Sears would match them also.
I arrived at the store about 9:30 am and I was the only car in the lot. Upon entering the store I was met by Person A. I showed her the paperwork and she began the estimate for the tires. The tires with shipping were $60.22 each. Tire disposal fee of $2.00 each. State environmental fee at $2.50 each. Valve stems at $3.99 each. And Tire balance at $12.25 each.
I presented the Wal-Mart pricing and found out that the service charges could not be matched. Next, I presented 4, $5.00 off $50.00 or more coupons because the tires were over $50.00 each. Person A said I could only use one $5.00 coupon per purchase. So I asked her to split the order into 4 parts and she told me she could not because sets of tires could not be split up. I then asked her to check with some else. She walked into another room and spoke with someone who reiterated what she said.
Then, I asked for the automotive manager. So a page was made to Person B. After waiting for a few minutes Person B came back to automotive and went into another room with Person A and another person. Person A and Person B came out and I was informed that the tires had to be sold as a set of four. I questioned Person B and informed him that I should be able to buy tires in any number that I wanted because I was the customer. This did not make Person B happy.
Still seeking satisfaction, I asked for a store manager and was told that she was on vacation. Person A then informed me that Person B instructed her to add a tire mounting charge of $8.50 each. So, at this point Sears was going to charge me $24.74 in service charges (no road hazard) for each tire that I was buying. I thought my head was going to explode since Wal-Mart would have charged $7.50 for these services. I then asked for the district manager and they would not give me the name or phone number. They didn't offer to have anyone call me at anytime. It was at that point that I fully understood why the store was not busy.
I went home and called another Sears store and was told to call corporate relations at 800.549.4505. I was on the phone with Person C for 36 minutes. She took down my information and called Person B. I asked Person C who the district manager was and she couldn't help me. She said the Store manager would have to help me. So I would have to wait. Rather than waiting I'm sending this in hopes of warning others to beware of Sears Automotive in Forsyth, Illinois. They mislead you into coming to the store. Then they try to SCREW you.
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