Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Three asides while we wait (and wait and wait) to hear about the fate of our treadmill:

1) My wife has weighed in on her blog regarding the Sears treadmill saga. She focuses on accountability failures and the larger context of worker/management relations:

If we ever do get a treadmill from Sears after the weeks of waiting, getting up early to wait some more, being woken up early just to be reminded that we are still waiting, it’s pretty likely that we will get another robocall asking us how the delivery went (unless it is easier for Sears folk to disable follow-up calls than reminder calls that tell us we’re still waiting). And here is what is to me the worst part of all this. The people we can manage to speak to are limited by the scripts they are required to follow – they have almost no agency in any of this by design. The only people we may be asked to evaluate in any of this are the people who perform the scripts and not the people who write them. The people without power are made accountable rather than the people with power. But if you only choose to ask customers how they were treated by the script-followers you won’t get real feedback about the consumer experience. The systems may be designed that way on purpose, but if that is so it’s a pretty sad state of affairs.

2) I had a brilliant idea. Why don’t the Sears bot and the folks from Independent Voter Research just call each other?

3) The Sears bot only called once this morning, just after 8:00am. Was it something I said? Can I say it again?

[Next installment: Sears Feels the Power of the Press]

Previously:

• Why I Do Not Have A Treadmill (Sears Can’t Deliver)
• Monday Treadmill Update
• Tuesday Sears Update: Important Information About Your Treadmill
• On the Treadmill Treadmill
• Yup
• Sears Can’t Deliver Email Either (Updated)
• In Case You Were Wondering

Previously, the Sears robot has been calling me daily at 8:04 (or 8:03) and 8:34 in the morning to tell me that (I may be slightly paraphrasing here) “delivery of your item has been delayed” (like I don’t know this???) “and we need to speak to you to reschedule” — except it turns out when I call them that they are not in fact ready willing and able to actually schedule anything. The Sears Bot called on Saturday and Yom Kippur.

But, you may be wondering, does the Sears robocaller phone at a different time on Sunday? Does Sears vary the routine on the day most Americans are likely to be sleeping a bit late?

I can now reveal the answer: Yes.

Instead of calling at 8:04am or 8:03am, today — Sunday — the first call was at 8:02am. I can be precise about this because bedside I have a so-called ‘atomic clock‘ that synchronizes to the official time by radio signal.

The second call was 30 minutes later.

But then there was another variation in the routine: we got a third call at about 8:45am. I can’t be exact about the time for this one, I had already lost hope of any more sleep and was up.

[Next installment: Sears Treadmill Saga Notes]

Previously:

• Why I Do Not Have A Treadmill (Sears Can’t Deliver)
• Monday Treadmill Update
• Tuesday Sears Update: Important Information About Your Treadmill
• On the Treadmill Treadmill
• Yup
• Sears Can’t Deliver Email Either (Updated)

I want to stop blogging about this, I really do. But Sears keeps piling it on.

Yesterday I sent a message to the Sears “social media team” in reply to a blog comment from “Mike D.”.

In it I said:

Dear Mike D.

Thank you for the comment on my blog inviting me to contact you about my absent treadmill. As it happens, I am already in contact with a “Stephanie” from “Sears Executive Offices” who is trying, I think, to help me, although apparently it will take another week to resolve matters (I do not really understand why).

My case number with her is #######. My phone number at home is 305 ### ####. The original confirmation number for my purchase of the treadmill is ########.
You can read the latest installment of my treadmill experience at
https://www.discourse.net/2012/09/on-the-treadmill-treadmill/ .

I fear it is not the last.

Here — I kid you not — is the reply I just received:

Subject: smsupport / Unsolicated / Ashley Isaak / Retail ( refund )

Dear Ashley,

Thank you for emailing us. In checking our records, we do not show an interaction with you on our social media platforms. Nevertheless, we’re glad you found us here at Sears Cares and we’d be happy to help. I apologize for the difficulty that you encountered while returning your purchase. I have already forwarded your information to our case management team. A case manager should be in touch to follow up. Providing a contact phone number may help make communication easier and help lead to a faster resolution, but it not required.

Thank you,

Dianne D.
Sears & Kmart Social Media Team
Email: SMAdvisor@searshc.com
Hours: Monday – Friday 8:00 AM – 8:00PM (CST)
Saturday/Sunday – 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM (CST)

I’ve been called many things in my life, but never “Ashley“.

Update (9/29): I replied with a one-line message:

I am not Ashley.

I very soon got a reply which read:

My apologies Mark, please disregard the previous email.

[Next installment: In Case You Were Wondering]

Previously:

• Why I Do Not Have A Treadmill (Sears Can’t Deliver)
• Monday Treadmill Update
• Tuesday Sears Update: Important Information About Your Treadmill
• On the Treadmill Treadmill
• Yup