Sears/Kmart quickly disappearing

[ultrarunner]

To resolve it, we called our salesman. In a nutshell.... a good salesman can get things done for you. :laughing:

Problem is many of the goods ones are retiring... some are legends but gone.

We have a service contract for a medical laser I bought new...

Called the company and said there is an issue... was told they no longer do field service but we can box it up and send it in???

Called our rep and he answered right away... he retired over a year ago but responded... the person that took over was vacationing in Hawaii and the no one was assigned except for Seattle...

I was given the option of paying for his travel to fly to the Bay Area and any repairs would be covered???

Horse feathers... I boxed it up and drove to Mountain View Headquarters and said I was camping out until they fixed it... said it would be the next day before they could look at it... I said I was told not to come back without it or a loaner... got the loaner... to be continued.

Customer no service is what I call it...

Same happened with another piece of equipment... I at least insisted on a full refund of the service agreement... 3 years and 2 years in and I got it.

 

[dragoneggs]

It must really suck to be a proud long employee to see your company fall from the top and crumble to nothing.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

It must really suck to be a proud long employee to see your company fall from the top and crumble to nothing.

And the people responsible are not held accountable.

 

[dragoneggs]

And the people responsible are not held accountable.

Nope they walk away with millions in stock options that they exercised long ago. Sears blew when they dabbled in financial and selling of information. Too bad they didn't see the online future that they pioneered in with the catalogue.

 

[goeduck]

Nope they walk away with millions in stock options that they exercised long ago.

Exactly. Such a shame that CEOs can get a golden parachute after tanking a company.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^^^
That's one of the things which led to the banking crisis a decade ago.

 

[jmc]

Exactly. Such a shame that CEOs can get a golden parachute after tanking a company.

Case in point- General Motors. Rick Wagner, CEO during their bankruptcy, made sure that his GM pension would survive bankruptcy no matter what. I think every other pensioner was at risk of standing in line with all the other creditors.

Also, often when floundering companies receive an influx of cash, they pay themselves immediate bonuses, euphemistically called "retention bonuses"- as though there's high demand for failing executives.

 

[/pine]

Heck...$134 million is pocket change for somebody like Bezos...

Sears appears close to bankruptcy - CNN

 

[4570Man]

Heck...$134 million is pocket change for somebody like Bezos...

Sears appears close to bankruptcy - CNN

Why would he want it? The chances of them recovering and being a threat to him are slim.

 

[/pine]

Why would he want it? The chances of them recovering and being a threat to him are slim.

You never know...but I do know he is an opportunist (like most successful businessmen)...
...I bet he remembers the catalogs too...!

Automated facilities/ kiosks etc. are the future...nobody knows it better than Bezos...Sears biggest asset (and current liability) is real estate... you never know...

I'm sure anyone with the wherewithal is looking or has looked at it...bring it out of BK and there are no shareholders to deal with...

 

[jmc]

You never know...but I do know he is an opportunist (like most successful businessmen)...
...I bet he remembers the catalogs too...!

Automated facilities/ kiosks etc. are the future...nobody knows it better than Bezos...Sears biggest asset (and current liability) is real estate... you never know...

I'm sure anyone with the wherewithal is looking or has looked at it...bring it out of BK and there are no shareholders to deal with...

Interesting. The Last Mile is the last major obstacle for online shopping. One theory about Bezos buying the Washington Post is that he wanted to expand their home paper delivery model to packages. Cheap brick and mortar in high traffic would be almost as good. Walmart is making online progress.

Sears stock right now probably has a better return on investment than lottery tickets.

 

[/pine]

Excluding a rabbit being pulled out of a hat...The big question is when (not if) they file for BK is...Will they be allowed to reorganize or will they be required to liquidate?...the latter has become prevalent of late by major lenders...

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Excluding a rabbit being pulled out of a hat...The big question is when (not if) they file for BK is...Will they be allowed to reorganize or will they be required to liquidate?...the latter has become prevalent of late by major lenders...

I think that happened a week or two ago. I thought the owner and lenders were more or less the same parties?

 

[TheMan419]

They filed for bankruptcy last night....

Sears, US retail giant, files for bankruptcy - CNN

Looks like they are closing about 200 hundred more stores initially. Then who knows. It is a Chapter 11 so there is at least some thought they are going to reorganize. The CEO stepped down. He is the largest shareholder. More than likely he is going to try to buy Sears or some large portion of the assets.

Your Craftsman life time warranties will become worthless.

 

[/pine]

I think that happened a week or two ago. I thought the owner and lenders were more or less the same parties?

>>>The Sears bankruptcy means that unsecured creditors, or suppliers and pensioners, will be last in line to get paid. Sears said in its bankruptcy filing that funds will be available to pay unsecured creditors after the secured ones such as the banks are made whole. But how much unsecured creditors will receive, if anything, is an unknown.

Here are five key unsecured creditors of Sears and how much they're owed for their products:

Whirlpool (WHR): $23.4 million
Frigidaire: $18.6 million
Cardinal Health (CAH): $13.9 million
Samsung (005930.KS): $8 million
Black & Decker (SWK): $5.9 million
<<<





Sears bankruptcy bad for these unsecured creditors

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Stanley, Sears to have competing Craftsman tool brands - Chicago Tribune

I am guessing this $900 million is gone by now?

 

[KubotainNH]

Stanley, Sears to have competing Craftsman tool brands - Chicago Tribune

I am guessing this $900 million is gone by now?

Wow, ok then. So can you return either tool to either store for warranty? I think at this point I'd rather buy the Stanley version.

 

[dragoneggs]

Wow, ok then. So can you return either tool to either store for warranty? I think at this point I'd rather buy the Stanley version.

I'm curious as to why you would rather buy on brand name and not look at the tools closer?

 

[Fuddy1952]

"Your Craftsman life time warranties will become worthless."
A friend of mine when someone mentioned a lifetime warranty said "Yours or mine?".

 

[cqaigy2]

They've been pulling cash out of the company for years. When that peters out, they have all the very expensive land those old stores sit on. Not illegal, just unethical.