You will have many customers who you've known and have trusted in you for years....they will be saddened and feel lost too...remember to thank them for their loyalty. ...It's going to be hard on them to form new relationships....if you can steer them to a reputable shop you know. ......
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Can't blame the customers for taking advantage of something that some clueless corporate shill came up with. there are lots of money losing ventures that this company has gone through over the years. All these promotions and freebies are just a way for someone at corporate to justify their jobs and collect a pay check. I wonder if Eddie knew about all of the free stuff given away at the AC and at the stores? I think Eddie may have been snookered by his corporate VP's, regionals and DM's.
"The ones who came in for free inspections 20+ times but couldn't spend more than 20 bucks on an oil change once every 2 years.. Sears never realized that we offer a service that is in extreme demand right now, no work should be done for free nor should anybody work for free."
Inspections are free at many auto repair shops because it generates paying business repairing the problems found in the inspections. Some places only do the free inspection in combination with a paid service such as an oil change, though.
I have worked in the AC for quite some time and have gotten to know about 20%(I'm low balling here) of my customers on a first name basis. To know that these people trusted me, my people and the work that they were paying for, I do feel bad for my loyal customers who have be coming to me for years on end. It has been an honor and a pleasure to get to know every one of them and their families.
However it will be a bitter sweet blessing that I won't any longer have to answer the phone to a customer who lives 200+ miles away and is having an issue with a part/battery that Sears replaced and is still under warranty, but their AC was closed and I am now the closest store.
But things have gone steadily downhill. I miss having employees, the ability to tell a customer to come in immediately because I REALLY DO HAVE a technician ready to work on your vehicle RIGHT NOW(this was 9+ years ago before the mass thinning of employees). My commission. Decent health insurance coverage. A 401. Contests (I actually won a trip to a Nascar race as well as a Centennial International Showcase). Etc..
I won't miss all of those freebies that 'ACM' was talking about. The ones who came in for free inspections 20+ times but couldn't spend more than 20 bucks on an oil change once every 2 years.. Sears never realized that we offer a service that is in extreme demand right now, no work should be done for free nor should anybody work for free.. hated the ones who claim their vehicle got a scratch while in your care, however it was beat to sh-- when it drove through the door.. shifting around tires (the exact same tires) from one store to another because we get charged after xx amount of days if tires sat on the shelf for too long. Conference call upon conference call stating the exact same thing as in the previous meeting a week ago. The broken online training.. I get it, we have asbestos..
There's so much more. So much.
It's been a long, pothole filled road.
Bitter sweet indeed.
I agree to a point. I will miss about 5 percent of my customers in the auto center. I started telling them a few months back to go elsewhere for their tIres and alignment. I would even make them a quote and override the price so they can go to another store and have it priced matched. I haven't felt right for the last few months selling them roadhazard and 1 year alignments when I know we will not be there to honor them. The other 95 percent can kiss my a--. At least once a day I have someone come in and ask for every free service we offer. They always ask what does the 21.99 oil change include. I reply and oil change wtf do you want for 20 bucks .
Working at sears was the worse job ever. I didn't stay there more than a couple months. But i am thinking now of the good people i worked with, and what will happen to them. A Sears job is tough, the hourly rate low, as are the commissions. And customers are few. And an employee better sell lots of protection agreements, extended warrenties, and "memberships." And get customers to sign up for credit cards... or else. Working at sears is a job, but not a very good one.