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Interesting letter from Sears.

November 14th, 2008 at 07:21 pm

Yesterday I recieved a letter from Sears. I just bought a new GE refrigerator to replace my old one cause the ice maker was leaking.
The letter thanked me for my purchase and went on to say that they took a poll about appliances. Apparently, people are more concerned about price than they are workmanship in appliances.

So, the owner went on to say, appliances are not made as well as they use to be.(My refrig cost the same as it did 12 years ago.)
He strongly urged that we buy a protection plan so that the refrigerator could be worked on and repaired for free instead of being replaced when it messes up.
I think it is funny that they are admitting that things are not made as well as they use to be.
Well, the market went up yesterday and I had a no use gas day, so I will add $3 to the $20 challenge.
Prev. total $22,916.00
today 3.00
new total $22,919.00

4 Responses to “Interesting letter from Sears.”

  1. disneysteve Says:
    1226696853

    Very interesting admission and certainly true. I don't think that's a bad thing, though. Years ago, people expected their appliances to last forever, but there was no concern whatsoever for energy efficiency and technology really wasn't changing very quickly. Today, energy efficiency is much more important and continues to improve. If your refrigerator, for example, is more than 8-10 years old, it would actually be cheaper to replace it than to keep running the one you've got. My cousin recently replaced a 15-year old fridge and his electric bill dropped enough to pay for the new one in about 14 months. Ours is actually over 14 years old and I know we should replace it. I just haven't gotten to it yet. Same for our extra freezer. I know we could slash our electric bill if we replaced both of those even though they are working just fine.

    Of course, I still would NEVER buy an extended warranty. They are a huge rip off.

  2. gamecock43 Says:
    1226698085

    I was thinking the other day that customer service and business service isn't what it used to be. I'm still young- but in my parents day I don't remember them having unreliable customer service like we see today.

  3. thriftorama Says:
    1226701705

    It was clearly just a sales pitch, preying on fears people have that things aren't built to last anymore. They make huge profits on service plans. I wouldn't believe it.

  4. disneysteve Says:
    1226705278

    gamecock, I think a lot of the service issues are because we deal with a lot more national chains today, rather than the locally owned and operated stores we grew up with. When I go into Best Buy, for example, with a complaint, the teen at the customer service desk really couldn't care less if I leave happy or not. To him, it's just a job. When I used to go into a mom and pop store with an issue, it was generally the owner or owner's spouse who waited on me and worked to resolve the problem. To him, every customer was vitally important to the success of his business. He would do what it took (within reason) to make sure his customers were satisfied, even if it ended up costing him money.

    A couple summers ago, we vacationed in Stowe, VT. They allow no chain stores in the town. All stores are locally owned and operated. The difference in customer service was phenomenal. It was like stepping back in time.

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