Thread regarding Sears layoffs

People - Frank is joking....no manager worth his weight would actually think that way. Its a widely-known consumer-report tested and validated theory that "protection insurance" or "extended warranties" are an absolute total waste of money. Period.

Its also not up to the customer to ensure the business (whatever it is) survives or not. If you can't cut it because you can't convince your customers to pay for a service (or product) that you offer, then you don't belong in business. Frank is pulling our chains, people.

A decision to take your car or truck to Sears for maintenance, and actually expecting honest service, is like hopping on a Tijuana h--ker and (shortly thereafter) taking her home to Mom as "the one." Forget Sears, automotive especially, ... they are smoke and mirror carnival workers.

Okay I have a car that is not serviced at Sears, but I did buy an extended warranty. Let me tell you they definitely CAN be worth it if something goes wrong, and you know it always does. You just have to be sensible about what you buy. We also bought expensive tires for one of our cars and due to the cost per tire we were given like a hazard insurance on the tires which we used 4 months after purchasing the tires. The warranties/hazard insurance can be worthwhile.

And people wonder why auto repair shops have a bad reputation...

Everyone tries to sell roadhazatd insurance so get off it. We don't need cheapskate coming in here trying to ruin our metrics.

"People who come to Sears auto centers are cheapskates."

That's because the ones who can afford to go elsewhere, and are informed enough to know they should, stopped going to Sears auto centers years ago. Be grateful you have any customers left.

Be thankful you have any customers. You cannot pick and choose who walks through your doors. Just about every industry has to put up with the so called "cheapskates", even B2B. People are looking out for their own bottom line. It is not their job to look out for the bottom line of another person or entity.

There are ways to bring in more revenue, constructively, without whining about the clientele that--believe it or not--put money into your paycheck. Maybe the upsell is too strong? Maybe you're dishonest without realizing it? Maybe you don't stand by your word?

I bet if I were to bring my four-year-old Mercedes in, which has all dealer services up to date including three-month-old tires, I'd be told more or less that my car is on the verge of a mechanical catastrophe or it is unsafe to drive, even though it runs like a top. I'm not saying that you do that but you can't sell something to someone if it is not needed. If most people are like me, they get second opinions. If they are told that it's bogus or not as bad as it sounds, you are no longer trusted.

About the only thing you can do is suggest to the leaders of Sears Auto to discontinue low-margin services such as oil changes or suggest limiting promotions. I advise against both actions as both will kill what little business you do have.

The only other thing you can do would be to put your heads together with the end goal of getting on par with the standalone shops that seem to be doing well.

Frank, you are a class act. Too stupid to know how business works; too incompetent to get a real job; and too greedy by taking advantage of old ladies. Good going dumba$$.

Fr@nk what store are you at.....I want to bring my $4.99 oil change coupon

Sounds like someone needs to retire.

And you know what? Dont come here crying when your auto service center is closed. This is not a charity we are running, we need to turn profits. With your attitude its amazing it hasn't shut down yet. These people come in looking for the cheapest price.

You know what? you want to buy tires but no road hazard and alignment along with them? Hit the road. We dont have time to waste. We have to many good customers to serve.

We do treat our customers good if they are good customers. But if they just want to come in and get cheap oil changes or buy tires and then be too cheap to buy road hazard the I dont have time for those type of people.

I am sick and tired of fighting with people trying to get them to buy an air filter or spend some money on brakes and all the while they are waving a coupon in my face for a darn near free oil change.

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme. Thats all these people want. Its like dealing with a bunch of low level grifters.

We have a nice older lady who is a widow and her husband was a faithful sears guy. She brings her car here and entrusts us to keep it in top shape for her. She never scoffs at spending some money to ensure her car is 100 percent. Alot of times she practically begs us to do services on her car and sometimes I have to tell her its not needed. Heck she brings the car in for oil changes every 3 months with only about 1000 miles on the oil.

You don't have time for those people? Nice attitude. Treat customers well, no matter what they need and no matter what they can afford to spend, and then when they DO need or can afford pricier services, they'll come back to you. The SAC in our store isn't as busy as it used to be, but they still have a steady stream of customers who trust them and won't go anywhere else.

Some customers are the scammers. We have had a guy come in before his free replacement was up and swear up and down his diehard battery was no good trying to scam a free battery from us. It tested good.

Well the real problem was his alternator was not charging and we wrote it up for an alternator, tensioner, and serpentine belt. Well what happened is it wasnt charging well and he was using heated seats, heated mirrors, rear window defogger, he had a huge load on the alternator and it couldn't keep up and was draining the battery.

This went on until he had another shop replace what we said was wrong but by this time he had ruined the battery by draining it all the time. I refused to warranty the battery because he had a defective charging system and destroyed the battery.

These people dont want to spend any money but expect us to cater to them.

Dont have time for them.

Well the replies just reinforce what I was saying. People who come to Sears auto centers are cheapskates.

Yes, oil changes are loss leaders, but you have to make money. Those are designed to get people in the door and then you sell them things. Thats the way the world works, except these people will stretch a penny so thin it becomes copper wire.

Yes I am in management, we have metrics to meet and its no wonder sears is failing. Eddie can not pull this company out of a nosedive with the negative employees who will not even attempt to meet their metrics.

OP you are a lazy a$$ d@ck. Those are called loss leaders, I’m guessing with your attitude you are in management.

Everyone else here is right, auto s---s, liars from the csr’s on down. Brought my car in for tires and an alignment said no problem, got tires done but NO alignment -no help, left the car all day waiting but never got done.

Sears Auto was charged with defrauding automotive consumers in the early 90's after undercover investigations in new jersey and california revealed that employees were recommending unnecessary goods and services. I once brought my car in due to squeaking brakes and was quoted $750 for the repair. I took it elsewhere the next day and was told I was being scammed and got the brakes repaired for just over $100. Another time I brought my car in for a simple oil change (while working my shift) and noticed my hood wasn't completely shut as I approached my car. I opened the hood up and found a craftsman channel lock wrench laying atop my airfilter. I mentioned it to my manager the next day and he said "I'll tell you what, you can keep the wrench!". Anyway, Sears Auto should consider themselves lucky they have any customers left. I personally wouldn't do business with their shady a$$ selves.

Well the Sears Auto Center isnt a saint either. I had an oil change done for my first time and my last time. I went got my oil changed (I can change it myself, but I had a coupon so I was like what the hell) picked up my car after work. Fast forward my old man decides to check the car in general days later and ask me when was the last time I changed the oil told him a few days ago and he tells me they didn't even fill the oil I was like wtf no way. The car could of burned its motor because the automotive workers cant even do a proper oil change or cheaping out.

So if they are shady that way no way I am going to trust them with my car ever again!

Sears Auto is terrible. I got two tires replaced there and BOTH had balance issues (the belt inside the tires shifted). Even though I got the roadside warranty on the tires (which apparently only covers blowouts and punctures) Sears Auto could do NOTHING for me despite both tires having issues within a few hundred miles of the purchase. They basically refused to follow up with the manufacturer of the tires to get them replaced.

So - yeah. Sears Auto - you can shove your overpriced write-ups and customer bashing.