Sears

I have a long history with Sears that I won’t go into here, so I can speak to the slow slide into mediocrity that has affected not only Sears but the retail department store industry as a whole. I go to Sears for automotive services, Craftsman tools, and appliances. Their clothing is below average and on par with Walmart or K-​mart (which now owns Sears). It wasn’t always like that.
My most recent experience with Sears that prompted this review was an experience with their automotive department. I’m confident they do good work and their cost is reasonable. I like to get tires there when they are on sale, and the Diehard batteries are good quality. But one thing they cannot get right is estimating the time to complete service.
I went here to get one tire replaced. I called ahead and made an appointment (for naught, apparently). I was told it would take one hour and I gave my cell phone in case they needed to call me. I had lunch in the mall and browsed a bit, and returned in exactly an hour. I was told that a puncture was found in another tire, and it would take another 15 minutes. Fine.
I sit in the waiting room when the same person who told me «15 minutes» came in and asked where the wheel lock was. I went into the service area and helped look, and located it in the glove box. I asked the service man (the counter clerk had skedaddled by now), «So, nothing has been done yet?» He had to say yes because obviously they didn’t have the wheel lock.
So the true story is, they had just pulled the car in and put it on the lift when I returned one hour after dropping off the car and being told it would be done in one hour. If they had started it any sooner, I would have received a call on my cell phone about the wheel lock. So obviously nothing was even started during the first hour that it sat there.
So it took one more hour to put on one tire and fix the puncture.
I admit, this has not been a typical experience, but I have experienced very optimistic time estimates from the service desk staff. They really don’t know how much time it takes. If you listen to the phone calls they take, the standard response is «about an hour.» Thankfully this Sears is at a mall so you can easily kill some time shopping or dining. Because you don’t want to sit in the claustrophobic «waiting room» which is really a cramped space with a few hard chairs and a TV.

Great place with a knowledgeable staff. I have alot of craftsman stuff and will always buy craftsman

Good overall store. We go for only tools. It an excellent place to find anything craftsman. It is a little expensive, but it craftsman and they usually have some good sales.