Jack wrote:
snip tales of woe at both stores

FWIW, I had an excellent shopping experience at Sears when I was buying
my washer and dryer. The salesman was competent, the model we wanted
was available, it was delivered in 3 days, and the workmen (though a
little late arriving) were super-fast during the delivery and
installation.

I've had remarkably good experiences at Lowes and remarkably bad
experiences at Home Depot, but I think that's more related to the
specific stores and employees than the entire chains.

--
Jennifer