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"You're correct - Sears does their own warranty work with
factory-trained techs with experience on DLP's, LCD's CRT's, etc. As I understand it, in some places, Sears techs actually perform the warranty work under contract for other retailers. Those Sears vans travelling around your town are carrying factory parts and factory-trained Sears employees who are performing warranty repairs at manufacturer standards. No other major retailer does this." Wow, I din't know this at all. Well, then why would people buy from anyone else? I was on their website the other day, and i saw that they offer price-matching + 10% of the difference. I think my next TV is going to be coming from Sears... How an you beat that? |
"Lola" wrote in message om... "You're correct - Sears does their own warranty work with factory-trained techs with experience on DLP's, LCD's CRT's, etc. As I understand it, in some places, Sears techs actually perform the warranty work under contract for other retailers. Those Sears vans travelling around your town are carrying factory parts and factory-trained Sears employees who are performing warranty repairs at manufacturer standards. No other major retailer does this." Wow, I din't know this at all. Well, then why would people buy from anyone else? I was on their website the other day, and i saw that they offer price-matching + 10% of the difference. I think my next TV is going to be coming from Sears... How an you beat that? Don't assume that Sears techs are any good, nor that they are very much trained. Some may be but the vast majority are likely techs that can't cut it elsewhere. We go behind them all the time and fix things that they couldn't, wouldn't, or botched. Leonard |
On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 20:39:40 -0400, "Leonard Caillouet"
wrote: Wow, I din't know this at all. Well, then why would people buy from anyone else? I was on their website the other day, and i saw that they offer price-matching + 10% of the difference. I think my next TV is going to be coming from Sears... How an you beat that? Don't assume that Sears techs are any good, nor that they are very much trained. Some may be but the vast majority are likely techs that can't cut it elsewhere. We go behind them all the time and fix things that they couldn't, wouldn't, or botched. Maybe it's just in-store propaganda (every company has that) but they tell us the customer satisfaction ratings for our techs is 97% out of a possible 100%. Sears service also has an 86% "problem fixed on first visit" record currently. Not perfect but respectable enough to have Consumer Reports rate their service at #1. Yesterday, one of our local techs was telling me that since we sell so many different brands and models (almost 300 on display in my store - one of our superstores), he often goes on a service call to work on a TV he's never even seen the guts of. He explained to me that they are directly "online" with the individual manufacturers' engineers in the repair vans who instantly send the schematics to them for these instances. They are talking on the phone with the manufacturer's engineers as they are looking directly at the schematics for that particular television. I found that to be quite an interesting concept... but it works quite well! Sure, mom & pop techs tend to be the best in the biz. It would stand to reason that the best of the best would wish to go into biz for themselves and make the BIG BUCKS instead of working for the largest service and repair agency in the country. If one wants _the_ best service, one should buy from their local "mom & pop". In our area, you pay a lot more for the item and for the labor from a "mom & pop" because they simply do not have the margins the Best Buys, the Circuit Citys, or the Sears' have. On the other hand, if you want to get a great price on your product, buy from a big box and take advantage of their price-matching policies. If you want to get a great price on your product AND get some very decent and capable service from the same place, buy from Sears or find a "mom & pop" who's willing to sell at little or no profit on the front-end in hopes of winning your back-end buck. I'm sure they're out there if you can wheel and deal and if you can find an open-minded "mom & pop" in your area. Like I said, these don't exist in my own metro area. |
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"HDTV-slingr" wrote in message ... On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 20:39:40 -0400, "Leonard Caillouet" wrote: Wow, I din't know this at all. Well, then why would people buy from anyone else? I was on their website the other day, and i saw that they offer price-matching + 10% of the difference. I think my next TV is going to be coming from Sears... How an you beat that? Don't assume that Sears techs are any good, nor that they are very much trained. Some may be but the vast majority are likely techs that can't cut it elsewhere. We go behind them all the time and fix things that they couldn't, wouldn't, or botched. Maybe it's just in-store propaganda (every company has that) but they tell us the customer satisfaction ratings for our techs is 97% out of a possible 100%. Sears service also has an 86% "problem fixed on first visit" record currently. Not perfect but respectable enough to have Consumer Reports rate their service at #1. Yesterday, one of our local techs was telling me that since we sell so many different brands and models (almost 300 on display in my store - one of our superstores), he often goes on a service call to work on a TV he's never even seen the guts of. He explained to me that they are directly "online" with the individual manufacturers' engineers in the repair vans who instantly send the schematics to them for these instances. They are talking on the phone with the manufacturer's engineers as they are looking directly at the schematics for that particular television. I found that to be quite an interesting concept... but it works quite well! Sure, mom & pop techs tend to be the best in the biz. It would stand to reason that the best of the best would wish to go into biz for themselves and make the BIG BUCKS instead of working for the largest service and repair agency in the country. If one wants _the_ best service, one should buy from their local "mom & pop". In our area, you pay a lot more for the item and for the labor from a "mom & pop" because they simply do not have the margins the Best Buys, the Circuit Citys, or the Sears' have. On the other hand, if you want to get a great price on your product, buy from a big box and take advantage of their price-matching policies. If you want to get a great price on your product AND get some very decent and capable service from the same place, buy from Sears or find a "mom & pop" who's willing to sell at little or no profit on the front-end in hopes of winning your back-end buck. I'm sure they're out there if you can wheel and deal and if you can find an open-minded "mom & pop" in your area. Like I said, these don't exist in my own metro area. Purchasing a service contract from a company who admits their technicians aren't trained on many of the items they sell (because there's just too many differnt models to choose from) doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence. That might work for a treadmill or a dishwasher but not something like a HDTV, I looked into Sears earlier this year and when I asked them if part of the set up and warranty was a professional calibration they said no it wasn't. In fact all they would guarantee is that a broken set would be restored to factory specs and settings. They don't even offer calibrations Ed. |
On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 22:55:13 -0800, "Ed T"
wrote: "HDTV-slingr" wrote in message .. . On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 20:39:40 -0400, "Leonard Caillouet" wrote: Wow, I din't know this at all. Well, then why would people buy from anyone else? I was on their website the other day, and i saw that they offer price-matching + 10% of the difference. I think my next TV is going to be coming from Sears... How an you beat that? Don't assume that Sears techs are any good, nor that they are very much trained. Some may be but the vast majority are likely techs that can't cut it elsewhere. We go behind them all the time and fix things that they couldn't, wouldn't, or botched. Maybe it's just in-store propaganda (every company has that) but they tell us the customer satisfaction ratings for our techs is 97% out of a possible 100%. Sears service also has an 86% "problem fixed on first visit" record currently. Not perfect but respectable enough to have Consumer Reports rate their service at #1. Yesterday, one of our local techs was telling me that since we sell so many different brands and models (almost 300 on display in my store - one of our superstores), he often goes on a service call to work on a TV he's never even seen the guts of. He explained to me that they are directly "online" with the individual manufacturers' engineers in the repair vans who instantly send the schematics to them for these instances. They are talking on the phone with the manufacturer's engineers as they are looking directly at the schematics for that particular television. I found that to be quite an interesting concept... but it works quite well! Sure, mom & pop techs tend to be the best in the biz. It would stand to reason that the best of the best would wish to go into biz for themselves and make the BIG BUCKS instead of working for the largest service and repair agency in the country. If one wants _the_ best service, one should buy from their local "mom & pop". In our area, you pay a lot more for the item and for the labor from a "mom & pop" because they simply do not have the margins the Best Buys, the Circuit Citys, or the Sears' have. On the other hand, if you want to get a great price on your product, buy from a big box and take advantage of their price-matching policies. If you want to get a great price on your product AND get some very decent and capable service from the same place, buy from Sears or find a "mom & pop" who's willing to sell at little or no profit on the front-end in hopes of winning your back-end buck. I'm sure they're out there if you can wheel and deal and if you can find an open-minded "mom & pop" in your area. Like I said, these don't exist in my own metro area. Purchasing a service contract from a company who admits their technicians aren't trained on many of the items they sell (because there's just too many differnt models to choose from) doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence. That might work for a treadmill or a dishwasher but not something like a HDTV, Ed, they're in a joint-venture with the original manufacturer. If they can't fix the problem, they replace the set. The manufacturer's engineers train the Sears techs and they stay in direct contact with them. In the vast majority of the calls, the set is fixed on the first visit. In the remaining cases, the set is replaced, or if parts need to be ordered, a rental tv of equal comparison is paid for while waiting for the parts. What more do you want? I looked into Sears earlier this year and when I asked them if part of the set up and warranty was a professional calibration they said no it wasn't. In fact all they would guarantee is that a broken set would be restored to factory specs and settings. They don't even offer calibrations Sears apparently does offers calibrations. It costs $179.99 above and beyond the standard set up and delivery fee. See your salesman for more information. |
"HDTV-slingr" wrote in message ... On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 20:39:40 -0400, "Leonard Caillouet" wrote: Wow, I din't know this at all. Well, then why would people buy from anyone else? I was on their website the other day, and i saw that they offer price-matching + 10% of the difference. I think my next TV is going to be coming from Sears... How an you beat that? Don't assume that Sears techs are any good, nor that they are very much trained. Some may be but the vast majority are likely techs that can't cut it elsewhere. We go behind them all the time and fix things that they couldn't, wouldn't, or botched. Maybe it's just in-store propaganda (every company has that) but they tell us the customer satisfaction ratings for our techs is 97% out of a possible 100%. Sears service also has an 86% "problem fixed on first visit" record currently. Not perfect but respectable enough to have Consumer Reports rate their service at #1. Yesterday, one of our local techs was telling me that since we sell so many different brands and models (almost 300 on display in my store - one of our superstores), he often goes on a service call to work on a TV he's never even seen the guts of. He explained to me that they are directly "online" with the individual manufacturers' engineers in the repair vans who instantly send the schematics to them for these instances. They are talking on the phone with the manufacturer's engineers as they are looking directly at the schematics for that particular television. I found that to be quite an interesting concept... but it works quite well! Sure, mom & pop techs tend to be the best in the biz. It would stand to reason that the best of the best would wish to go into biz for themselves and make the BIG BUCKS instead of working for the largest service and repair agency in the country. If one wants _the_ best service, one should buy from their local "mom & pop". In our area, you pay a lot more for the item and for the labor from a "mom & pop" because they simply do not have the margins the Best Buys, the Circuit Citys, or the Sears' have. On the other hand, if you want to get a great price on your product, buy from a big box and take advantage of their price-matching policies. If you want to get a great price on your product AND get some very decent and capable service from the same place, buy from Sears or find a "mom & pop" who's willing to sell at little or no profit on the front-end in hopes of winning your back-end buck. I'm sure they're out there if you can wheel and deal and if you can find an open-minded "mom & pop" in your area. Like I said, these don't exist in my own metro area. I'd be willing to bet that the best techs in your area are not at Sears. Look for the local independent servicers who are factory authorized for a given brand or who service a lot of that brand. Sears techs have no access to tech reps and documentation that other ASCs don't have. It might sound impressive to be able to access schematics online while on the job, but it is only a matter of being authorized to do so and having a computer. When it comes to price, Sears service in our area is no bargain. They are mostly board swappers even on things that can be fixed much much less expensively with a little troubleshooting. As for percentage of fixes on the first trip, I'll bet that includes declined estimates that other shops go behind and fix for half the cost, after Sears has charged $96 for a service call to guess at which board needs to be changed. I just did another of these last week. Leonard |
"HDTV-slingr" wrote in message ... On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 22:55:13 -0800, "Ed T" Ed, they're in a joint-venture with the original manufacturer. If they can't fix the problem, they replace the set. The manufacturer's engineers train the Sears techs and they stay in direct contact with them. In the vast majority of the calls, the set is fixed on the first visit. In the remaining cases, the set is replaced, or if parts need to be ordered, a rental tv of equal comparison is paid for while waiting for the parts. What more do you want? You keep touting Sears' techs being factory trained. What does this mean? "Factory Trained" can mean lots of things. I was at the only factory training offered recently for a major manufacturer sold by Sears and there were exactly zero Sears techs there. Sony offers classes on line that we do every couple of months and I rarely see a Sears tech on the list of attendees. From what I have heard from former Sears techs, their "factory training" is mostly hype. Why don't you check it out. Leonard |
The only thing I would buy from Sears is craftsmen tools.
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Leonard Caillouet wrote:
"HDTV-slingr" wrote in message ... On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 22:55:13 -0800, "Ed T" Ed, they're in a joint-venture with the original manufacturer. If they can't fix the problem, they replace the set. The manufacturer's engineers train the Sears techs and they stay in direct contact with them. In the vast majority of the calls, the set is fixed on the first visit. In the remaining cases, the set is replaced, or if parts need to be ordered, a rental tv of equal comparison is paid for while waiting for the parts. What more do you want? You keep touting Sears' techs being factory trained. What does this mean? "Factory Trained" can mean lots of things. I was at the only factory training offered recently for a major manufacturer sold by Sears and there were exactly zero Sears techs there. Sony offers classes on line that we do every couple of months and I rarely see a Sears tech on the list of attendees. From what I have heard from former Sears techs, their "factory training" is mostly hype. Why don't you check it out. Leonard I've checked it out, and they get Sears-specific classes from the factory. What do you recommend instead of Sears? At least Sears will backup up their warranty -- if they can't fix it, or if there are more than 3 failures of the same part, they replace the set w/ a new (equivalent) set. I speak from experience, they couldn't fix an intermittent screen blank problem on a top of the line Hitachi RPT that developed near the end of my 3 year contract, so the told me to go an pick out something new at the store based on my original $4000 purchase price. Got a brand-new Hitachi 60" LCD projection set, couldn't be happier. Not many service contracts are willing to do a $4000 replacement that I'm aware of... |
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