I took my lawn mower to Sears Repair Center (Kennesaw GA location) earlier this year for my annual maintenance and noticed the customer service was lacking but did not mention anything back then. Yesterday, my mower stopped working and I tried to reach the store 10 times yesterday. At least twice I did actually get someone but they immediately put me on hold and never came back. So I located the store hours on www.sears.com (store location function) and noticed their hours were listed from 8:00am until 8:00pm so I loaded the mower in the car and drove all the way over there only to find the store had closed it doors at 6:00pm.
Today, I try calling again and again no anwer, so realizing I really need my lawn mower fixed I drove all the way back over there again. This time I find no one in the store and after calling out for someone from the back a sales associate appears. I ask her if I can speak to the manager, I want to inform the manager about the website. She directs me to get my mower and she will find the manager and send him outside to speak to me. I unload the lawnmower and haul it across the parking lot only to wait for 20 mins to see the store manager.
Finally, he appears and asked me what I am doing just standing there. I told him a was waiting to see the store manager. He told me he was the store manager and so I told him about my experience with the phones and the discrepancy between the actual store hours and sears website. This is when it became very disturbing. He told me that management did not give him enough people to run his store and that he had 90 customers the previous day and that he didn't need my business. I was really shocked as he turned around and re-entered his store. He didn't say I am sorry or anything. I have never been treated this way.
My background: I am a certified ITIL manager. I have been in customer service for 27years. I know we all have bad days and many customers are really just unhappy people but I have never had a manager tell me he did not need my business neither have I ever had anyone in an organization bite my head off for letting them know about some informational discrepancies.in the end, I found a repair shop not more than a mile from my house but I can't help but feel like if I were the manager of that store I would get fired. This guy is getting away with treating customers this way.
I did call Sears Customer Service (in Manilla?) and they were quite courteous but it still seems that store manager is untouchable. Sears has lost my business for good. This small job bungle has cost them all sales from me, my family and extended family.
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