Topic: Sears, They got tools.

[switchum]

 I got this e-mail from my friend's grandma.  I know some of you had bad experience with Sears. But I am considering buying some tools from them this Christmas.

"Sears - Christmas shopping this year.

I know I needed this reminder, since Sears isn't always my first
choice. It's amazing when you think of how long the war has lasted and
Sears hasn't withdrawn from their commitment. Could we each buy at
least one thing at Sears this year?

How does Sears treat its employees who are called up for military duty?
By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but
nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a
result of being called up for active duty.

Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining
all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all
called up reservist employees for up to two years.

I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be
recognized for its contribution. I suggest we all shop at Sears at
least once, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there
so the company gets the positive reinforcement & feedback it well
deserves.

Pass it on.

I decided to check this before I sent it forward. So I sent the
following e-mail to the Sears Customer Service Department:

I received this e-mail and I would like to know if it is true. If it
is, the internet may have just become one very good source of
advertisement for your company. I know I would go out of my way to buy
products from Sears instead of another store for a like item, even if
it's cheaper at that store.

This is their answer to my e-mail:

Dear Customer:

Thank you for contacting Sears.The information is factual. We
appreciate your positive feedback.

Sears regards service to our country as one of greatest sacrifices our
young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the
burden they bear at this time.

Bill Thorn
Sears Customer Care
webcenter@sears.com
1-800-349-4358

Please pass this on to all your friends. Sears needs to be recognized
for this outstanding contribution and we need to show them as
Americans, we do appreciate what they are doing for our military!!!

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp

[Duke McDukiedook]

I have a question that kind of pertains to this- why do we send National Guard reservists to foreign wars? Is that another oxymoron these days like the 'defense department'?

[Artf0rm]

That's enough to get me to look harder at the Craftsmen tool chest I have been eyeing for a while.  No one ever said Christmas purchases had to be for someone else.  Although I heard a roamer that a lot of that stuff is made over seas now? 

Side note, duck I don't understand that either.  We have plenty we could be doing here at home to protect and serve.

[Cheffish]

Makes me all the more happy to own craftsman tools. Some of the stuff is imported but the American made stuff is clearly marked. I'm pretty sure all their tools come with a lifetime warranty though.

[fmctm1sw]

Here's the claim on snopes:  http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp 
I can speak from experience when I say support for our military has come a long way in the last 20 years.  Other notables are Anheiser Busch theme parks (free tickets for military and up to 3 dependents once a year), WWE (free tickets at box office in uniform), and Oakley just to name a few.  I used to have a huge list.  Lot of stores too:  Home Depot, Lowes, etc..

[tramp]

good for sears

[bikerbart]

more like the offense dept.Corporations are NOT citizens.Good for sears,I hope they make it,they are a U.S.institution.I used to love looking at the catalogs when I was a kid.Yeah,I had no job when I got out.

[Duanob]

I have no problem buying from Sears and do all the time. I get tired of the crap that big box stores like HomeDepot and Lowe's try to sell me. Sears has way better service to, in fact they just have service which is better than most BBs. if I want cheap crap I pay cheap crap prices and go to Harbor Freight. The only drawback from Sears is they quit selling paint.

this post just gives me another reason to shop there.

[faux fiddy]

Watch the sales, promotions and rewards stuff.

I got a $25 gift card for buying $50 worth of clothes.

A couple weeks later I saw one of their tool sets on sale over $120 off. Add the gift card and it was close to half price for the set.

After that purchase I used the rewards points ($10) to discount sets of the ratcheting end wrenches. 

[Don R]

I bought a Sears olympic size weight  set with $40 in gift cards and markdowns $80. Now i just need to lift them.

[Duke McDukiedook]

I think they have tools that do the lifting for you so you can sit and get fatter.

[Stev-o]

I bought a Craftsman floor jack, lifts at least 3000 lbs!

[70CB750]

Got the same post on other forum I frequent and started to shop Sears more - and I don't really like Sears 

[Duke McDukiedook]

You will paypal me $109.95US even thought you don't want tooooooo...

[333]

(Steps on soapbox)
First, Sears Craftsman tools are great- for the average homeowner.  The tools won't take the pounding of commercial use.  At least the power tools.  The screwdrivers,hammers,wrenches, and such are pretty indestructible.

Here's where I need the soapbox.  While some of the stuff is made overseas, it benefits Sears.  The profits don't leave the country.  Unlike when you buy a Toyota made in the U.S., when the money goes straight to Japan.  Yes, I think we all would like to see more stuff made here.  And yes, if Harley made more than V-twin powered, gynecological exam chairs(feet out in front of you reference), I'd probably be riding a Harley, given our current economic troubles.

Rant over.  If I can't vent here with you all, where can I?

[Duanob]

(Steps on soapbox)
First, Sears Craftsman tools are great- for the average homeowner.  The tools won't take the pounding of commercial use.  At least the power tools.  The screwdrivers,hammers,wrenches, and such are pretty indestructible.

Here's where I need the soapbox.  While some of the stuff is made overseas, it benefits Sears.  The profits don't leave the country.  Unlike when you buy a Toyota made in the U.S., when the money goes straight to Japan.  Yes, I think we all would like to see more stuff made here.  And yes, if Harley made more than V-twin powered, gynecological exam chairs(feet out in front of you reference), I'd probably be riding a Harley, given our current economic troubles.

Rant over.  If I can't vent here with you all, where can I?

Here is my soapbox rant:

you actually think profits (not operating costs) from big American corporations like GM, Ford, and Chrysler go back into our country? They go to over-seas accounts for tax shelter, like most big US corporations. The only way corporate america puts money back into our economy is these days is either corporate taxes which they are the lowest in almost 60 years or wages/salaries of their employees to spend on every day items. GM has laid more american employees off than most companies have working for them. Most of our manufacturing is done over seas as well. If you think these days "Buying America" is going to be our patriotic savior, well just look around....... "Building America" by bringing factories and jobs back here is what will save us. Not everyone can be a CEO although i've been applying for the position (that's a joke) 

[Duke McDukiedook]

Money from a Toyota sale does partially come back to the US in the form of sales taxes, salaries paid to emplyees that work in the plant and the sales office, this money goes back to the US economy.
However, those Toyota plants are usually in 'right to work' states where they don't have to bother with unions and pay substandard wages and employ undereducated, unskilled peoples.

Somehow this helps the US, I got lost in the global insanity aspect in the middle of writing my soapbox attempt. 

[fmctm1sw]

Oh boy...   I can see where this is going.    If you want to see who does a good job serving the military folk, you can check out the Freedom Award website...

[333]

I don't think for a minute that buying American will be our saviour.  We agree that building in America will do so much more to help our situation.  But Dukie, if you think buying from Toyota keeps any money in the U.S., think again.  Sales tax comes from the buyer.  All of the foreign car factories in the U.S. Get huge tax breaks from the states that lured them to where they are.  This practice started well after the Big Three had all their factories built, save one.  And when Saturn closed their doors, the only U.S. Car factory that got a tax break was gone.

Now some corporations do seem to get it.  Some have promised too move operations back here.  They must realize that if they don't truly "create jobs", there will be no one to buy there products.  Let's hope it's not too late.

[BobbyR]

Money from a Toyota sale does partially come back to the US in the form of sales taxes, salaries paid to emplyees that work in the plant and the sales office, this money goes back to the US economy.
However, those Toyota plants are usually in 'right to work' states where they don't have to bother with unions and pay substandard wages and employ undereducated, unskilled peoples.

Somehow this helps the US, I got lost in the global insanity aspect in the middle of writing my soapbox attempt. 

Yes they are in "right to work states". Have you looked at some of the places they have put their plants? They are in places that no one would be working at all. Towns are drying up all over the place and those that stay are on welfare.

Maybe they don;t have an education, does that make them useless? Since when does education give you the right to earn a living, or make you better than the rest of America that may have a HS Diploma or GED.

Not everyone is cut out to be a knowledge worker. A guy who sweats out a living using his hands is an honorable person, feeding his family, paying his bills, putting a few bucks aside.

Unskilled workers in plants learn skills, no one was born with skills, they were born with potential, and skills are learned.

People who earn money spend their money on goods and services so others have a place to work. People on welfare spend your money. 

Just because the Company is American don;t think for a moment it is coming back here, they are likely using it to build up their presence overseas in the emerging markets.

You sound like an elitist.

[333]

I think that the corporations are getting smarter.  They got to know that if something doesn't happen, nobody here will be able to buy their product.  In other words, they can't be so stupid not to see the connection between sales being down,unemployment, and their having moved jobs over seas.  CNN did a story a couple months ago on a company that makes bowling pins.  Over the years, they had moved manufacturing to South America.  They recently found that it actually is cheaper to make them in Tennessee, so they moved it back. (Nifty wood lathe turns 6 pins at once. And not all in a line, either).

[Freaky1]

Here is where I stand, I prefer Craftsman tools, I can not afford Snap-On and can't afford to keep buying cheep crap that breaks. I have busted screwdrivers, break-over bars, ratchets, and more and had everyone of them replaced on the spot with no questions asked. Ok so maybe the occasional "how did you do this?" but more in the mood of "I can't believe he broke this." I have never had a bad experience at Sears and I have bought appliances and yard equipment there also, I understand some people have but not me. This is just one more reason I'll continue to shop there.

[Stev-o]

I love my stainless Craftsman toolbox, but it is not exclusively full of Craftsman hand tools.
I also like my Tacoma truck, proudly made in San Antonio. I've had Ford and Chevy trucks, the Toyota trucks are superior.
Years ago, I was a machinist at Ford, it was a joke on how certain depts were run. We played cards on break, drank beer at lunch (off site) and left early if our daily quota was met!

Think Global!

[BobbyR]

I like Sears tools and after reading about how they are treating Sevricemn makes me a fan.

Coprporations are getting smarter a lot of them are learning it may be chaeper overseas at first, but quality problems and unsatable workforces add expense.

IBM, Starbucks and several other cash heavy Companies have announced they will start lending money to Companies that want to expand and start ups in the US. They are doing what the Banks are failing to do. they know a stable US is important in our globally lnked economy. 

[Duke McDukiedook]

I never said that the people that work in those 'right to work' plants were useless Bobby, you said that. The problem is these companies are moving shop from places with skilled union workers and moving to places with unskilled workers who are willing to do the job for a lot less, that is the problem. The car corporations have played a big part in this in that when times were good they went along with the crazy salaries the UAW negotiated because times were good and the Japanese were still making cheap, crappy junk. They never made the shift when Japanese cars quality went up and went head to head and beat the american cars on quality and efficiency when gas prices started rising. Sometimes sacrifices must be made on all sides to compete in an economy- nobody did that here (US car companies) until they were forced to.

So you basically had big, clunky cars that were not as reliable and efficient going into the 80's and 90's and no adjustments were made to the american car business model and then you had the mess that ensued. The Japanese gained groung and started building their cars here because they knew it would be cheaper to assemble the cars here, we have no national health program they have to pay into and they can bypass unions by placing plants in 'right to work' states. I can see why they would want assembly plants in the US.

You are right Stan, buying American doesn't ensure zip anymore, we are in a truly gobal economy these days- the best we can do is try to be informed consumers and attempt to buy local for as much as we can and make informed, concious decisions about everything else we consume. I did say some of the money comes back, I am not foolish to think all the money from a foreign car sale stays here.