Date:         Fri, 9 Nov 2012 21:33:36 -0500
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Craftsman Tools, Ace Hardware
In-Reply-To:  <20121109203359.B4RXA.109916.imail@eastrmwml303>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

> Their problem is that your kid and his kid and his kid find shopping at Sears to be
> not worth the trouble.  I feel the same way -- outside of tools and appliances (and
> those not so much any more), Sears has poor quality and terrible service.  


Sears/Kmart recently sent me a targeted promo offering me absolutely free (yes, free) merchandise if I ordered it online.  After spending almost 45 minutes trying to order a few basic staples, I finally gave up. Items went up in price when I put them in my cart or disappeared altogether. Clickable links wouldn't click. The site bounced me around between three different domains (kmart.com, mygofer.com, and shopyourway.com) almost indiscriminately during a single session, each with its own brand identity, so I had no idea where I was or why I was there. It earnestly recommended soda to me as an alternative to socks. It asked for credit card numbers I'd already entered. On Amazon I could have made the same purchase in three clicks, but here I was after 45 minutes still unable to check out a few basic items. Finally I gave up, and literally walked away from FREE STUFF because the user experience was that frustrating.  On the bright side, it made me feel quite good about our own site. Not that our new site hasn't had plenty of bugs that we've had to work through (and are still working through, even tonight), but at least it's not Sears! 

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

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