You don't seem to be able to purchase a washer on the Sears web site
without also purchasing a mandatory set of stainless supply hoses for
$31. Not a bad idea for many. Not a good idea for those who already own
stainless hoses or better.

On Sun, 15 May 2016 06:51:17 -0400, Steve Stone
wrote:

You don't seem to be able to purchase a washer on the Sears web site
without also purchasing a mandatory set of stainless supply hoses for
$31. Not a bad idea for many. Not a good idea for those who already own
stainless hoses or better.


My recently purchased LG included the hoses - and the instructions
said to only use the supplied hoses ...
Perhaps Sears is " hosing " you ...

On Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 7:07:10 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sun, 15 May 2016 06:51:17 -0400, Steve Stone
wrote:

You don't seem to be able to purchase a washer on the Sears web site
without also purchasing a mandatory set of stainless supply hoses for
$31. Not a bad idea for many. Not a good idea for those who already own
stainless hoses or better.


My recently purchased LG included the hoses - and the instructions
said to only use the supplied hoses ...
Perhaps Sears is " hosing " you ...

a few months ago my step son ordered a pizza from papa johns online.........

they dont honor the sales price if you order on line. i called corportate and complained.....

a franchise district manager did cll me back and tried to defend, that online ordering carried extra costs so they couldnt honor the sales price. ordering from a human did get you the sales price.

so i called their complaint number again but the same guy called me back..

he claimed we have 800 franchise locations so we are cooporate.....

the crportate complaint number was useless...........

so we never buy papa johns........

sears is in their death spiral......

put out of business by the guy who has controlling intererest. eddie hardelstein..

he has put zero bucks into sears and k mart.........

milking all the money he can out of the dying business......

its sad to watch sears dying slowly

On 5/15/2016 6:51 AM, Steve Stone wrote:
You don't seem to be able to purchase a washer on the Sears web site
without also purchasing a mandatory set of stainless supply hoses for
$31. Not a bad idea for many. Not a good idea for those who already own
stainless hoses or better.


Why would you buy from Sears? They may be out of business before you
even get the machine installed.

Unless you live two hundred miles from town, go to a good local
appliance dealer. Most are priced about the same and have better service.

On Sun, 15 May 2016 04:23:50 -0700 (PDT)
bob haller wrote:

On Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 7:07:10 AM UTC-4,
wrote:
On Sun, 15 May 2016 06:51:17 -0400, Steve Stone
wrote:

You don't seem to be able to purchase a washer on the Sears web
site without also purchasing a mandatory set of stainless supply
hoses for $31. Not a bad idea for many. Not a good idea for those
who already own stainless hoses or better.


My recently purchased LG included the hoses - and the
instructions said to only use the supplied hoses ...
Perhaps Sears is " hosing " you ...

a few months ago my step son ordered a pizza from papa johns
online.........

they dont honor the sales price if you order on line. i called
corportate and complained.....

a franchise district manager did cll me back and tried to defend,
that online ordering carried extra costs so they couldnt honor the
sales price. ordering from a human did get you the sales price.

so i called their complaint number again but the same guy called me
back..

he claimed we have 800 franchise locations so we are cooporate.....

the crportate complaint number was useless...........

so we never buy papa johns........


Are their washers any good?

On 5/15/2016 3:51 AM, Steve Stone wrote:
You don't seem to be able to purchase a washer on the Sears web site
without also purchasing a mandatory set of stainless supply hoses for
$31. Not a bad idea for many. Not a good idea for those who already own
stainless hoses or better.

The bad idea is buying anything from Sears in the furst place. Sears is
on bankruptcy's door.

On Sun, 15 May 2016 06:27:54 -0500, bob haller wrote:

sears is in their death spiral......

put out of business by the guy who has controlling intererest. eddie
hardelstein..

he has put zero bucks into sears and k mart.........

milking all the money he can out of the dying business......

its sad to watch sears dying slowly


Sears sold houses years ago:

http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/index.htm

It isn't just Sears facing money problems from what I've
read here and there. Tnis internet thing seems to be catching
on. I guess J.C. Penny and The Gap are facing similar problems.

--
Using Opera's mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

On 5/15/2016 11:27 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:


It isn't just Sears facing money problems from what I've
read here and there. Tnis internet thing seems to be catching
on. I guess J.C. Penny and The Gap are facing similar problems.


Amazon and a few others are killing them. Funny thing is, Sears and
Penny had the catalog already, just had to convert it to a web based
database and accept orders. They lacked vision.

I checked my order history with Amazon. In 2000 I placed 1, in 2003 I
placed 2, big year was 2010 I placed 4, then it increased. In the past
six months I've placed 35 orders. As I type this I'm listening to music
on the Fire box with Prime.

On 2016-05-15, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

six months I've placed 35 orders.

The question you must ask yerself is, did I really need all those
things.

I usta have Prime. Amazon is true to its hype. Two days to yer
doorstep, no matter the quantity or the price. OTOH, I found myself
ordering stuff jes to take advantage of the free shipping. Didn't
need their movies, as I already had Netflix. But, I ordered a buncha
stuff. Now that I do NOT have Prime, I'm back down to ordering 3-4
things per yr. Yes, I was jes spending $$$$ like I had it. 8|

nb

On Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 9:10:56 AM UTC-7, notbob wrote:
On 2016-05-15, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

six months I've placed 35 orders.

The question you must ask yerself is, did I really need all those
things.

I usta have Prime. Amazon is true to its hype. Two days to yer
doorstep, no matter the quantity or the price. OTOH, I found myself
ordering stuff jes to take advantage of the free shipping. Didn't
need their movies, as I already had Netflix. But, I ordered a buncha
stuff. Now that I do NOT have Prime, I'm back down to ordering 3-4
things per yr. Yes, I was jes spending $$$$ like I had it. 8|

nb

if Sears is doing the installation, maybe they will use your hoses, and give you credit...?

marc

On 05/15/2016 06:33 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 5/15/2016 6:51 AM, Steve Stone wrote:
You don't seem to be able to purchase a washer on the Sears web site
without also purchasing a mandatory set of stainless supply hoses for
$31. Not a bad idea for many. Not a good idea for those who already own
stainless hoses or better.


Why would you buy from Sears? They may be out of business before you
even get the machine installed.

Unless you live two hundred miles from town, go to a good local
appliance dealer. Most are priced about the same and have better service.

I bought my washer and dryer from a good local appliance dealer. They
were very helpful when the dryer failed after just a week.

Interestingly, when the old salesman asked my for my phone number he
wrote it down as just 5 digits. It's been more than 20 years since we
had 5-digit dialing (it went away when we got ESS in about 1990).

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"Of the delights of this world, man cares most for sexual intercourse,
yet he has left it out of his heaven" [Mark Twain]

On 5/15/2016 8:27 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
It isn't just Sears facing money problems from what I've
read here and there. Tnis internet thing seems to be catching
on. I guess J.C. Penny and The Gap are facing similar problems.

Most folks "don't have the time" to make a pilgrimmage out to
a store, wander around to find what they are interested in
and then try to chase down a pimply faced kid (who would much
rather be elsewhere!) to answer their questions.

We hadn't been in a Sears in close to 20 years (maybe 25?)
but bought a bed there. *One* older salesman who was a
good salesman (and didn't make us wonder if he actually
knew anything about the product).

Sears, Penney's, etc. look like morgues, here. Big EMPTY
buildings (lots of product, no people!)

We wonder how long it will be before Costco goes the same route
(Kirkland branded everything; then starts letting the quality
slip...). Our total dollars spent there has largely remained
constant over the years -- despite price increases. We seem
to be buying fewer and fewer things from them and finding
better deals, elsewhere.

On Sun, 15 May 2016 10:21:11 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

if Sears is doing the installation, maybe they will use your hoses, and give you credit...?

Doesn't the install instruction manual say to change hoses at install?
I would -- how old are the "old" ones?

On Sun, 15 May 2016 04:23:50 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

man did get you the sales price.

so i called their complaint number again but the same guy called me back..

he claimed we have 800 franchise locations so we are cooporate.....

the crportate complaint number was useless...........

so we never buy papa johns........

Why would anyone order a pizza online? Seems to me it would be a lot
faster to just call them....

I dont understand people who order common stuff online, like groceries.
By the time you fill out all the forms and stuff you could have called
them 10 times.

Why order a Sears appliance online? THere is a Sears store almost
everywhere. Besides I like to SEE what I'm buying, not just a picture.

About the only stuff I order online are parts for things, like cars,
electronics, etc. That's just because I cant buy that stuff locally. And
more often than not, I end up paying more for the shipping than the
item. Just recently I found a car part I needed for $9. The shipping was
$10. I bought the part at a local auto parts store for $20. I would have
saved $1 online, then had to wait close to a week to get it. Not worth
the hassle!

On Sun, 15 May 2016 13:32:57 -0500, Don Y
wrote:

On 5/15/2016 8:27 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
It isn't just Sears facing money problems from what I've
read here and there. Tnis internet thing seems to be catching
on. I guess J.C. Penny and The Gap are facing similar problems.

Most folks "don't have the time" to make a pilgrimmage out to
a store, wander around to find what they are interested in
and then try to chase down a pimply faced kid (who would much
rather be elsewhere!) to answer their questions.

We hadn't been in a Sears in close to 20 years (maybe 25?)
but bought a bed there. *One* older salesman who was a
good salesman (and didn't make us wonder if he actually
knew anything about the product).

Sears, Penney's, etc. look like morgues, here. Big EMPTY
buildings (lots of product, no people!)

We wonder how long it will be before Costco goes the same route
(Kirkland branded everything; then starts letting the quality
slip...). Our total dollars spent there has largely remained
constant over the years -- despite price increases. We seem
to be buying fewer and fewer things from them and finding
better deals, elsewhere.

I live close to a town of about 8,000. It's about a 50
mile drive one way to buy something if I can't find it nearby.
That's fifty bucks added to the price using the IRS figure of
fifty cents a mile. Internet buying beats that by a bunch in
convenience and usually price.
I try to patronize the local Ace Hardware. Where else to
get an odd plumbing piece on a weekend or evening? The
next generation is taking over so there will be a learning
curve. The older employees knew their stuff.
There were a fair number of people at a mall the last
time I hit one. A good share of them were teenagers just
wandering around.


--
Using Opera's mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

Unless you live two hundred miles from town, go to a good local
appliance dealer. Most are priced about the same and have better service.

Local Mom and Pop shop is closed on Sundays, only non work day we have
time to shop.

On 5/15/2016 5:28 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On Sun, 15 May 2016 13:32:57 -0500, Don Y wrote:

On 5/15/2016 8:27 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
It isn't just Sears facing money problems from what I've
read here and there. Tnis internet thing seems to be catching
on. I guess J.C. Penny and The Gap are facing similar problems.

Most folks "don't have the time" to make a pilgrimmage out to
a store, wander around to find what they are interested in
and then try to chase down a pimply faced kid (who would much
rather be elsewhere!) to answer their questions.

We hadn't been in a Sears in close to 20 years (maybe 25?)
but bought a bed there. *One* older salesman who was a
good salesman (and didn't make us wonder if he actually
knew anything about the product).

Sears, Penney's, etc. look like morgues, here. Big EMPTY
buildings (lots of product, no people!)

We wonder how long it will be before Costco goes the same route
(Kirkland branded everything; then starts letting the quality
slip...). Our total dollars spent there has largely remained
constant over the years -- despite price increases. We seem
to be buying fewer and fewer things from them and finding
better deals, elsewhere.

I live close to a town of about 8,000. It's about a 50
mile drive one way to buy something if I can't find it nearby.
That's fifty bucks added to the price using the IRS figure of
fifty cents a mile. Internet buying beats that by a bunch in
convenience and usually price.

About all that I buy on-line are electronic components.
Can't go wrong -- unless someone pulls the wrong parts
(in which case, they can pay for the return postage, etc.).

SWMBO has tried buying clothing and shoes but its usually
multiple attempts to get the right product in her hands.
I'd rather just go somewhere, buy what I want and be done
with it.

[It takes dynamite to get me out of the house, shopping.
But, once out, "let's get ALL OF IT done!"]

I try to patronize the local Ace Hardware. Where else to
get an odd plumbing piece on a weekend or evening? The
next generation is taking over so there will be a learning
curve. The older employees knew their stuff.

We have a couple of ACE's here owned by the same folks. Very
good selections, etc. I know the first names of many of the folks
and they know mine.

A little embarassing to only be buying "small change" items
(screws, nuts, etc.) but I feel no need to spend a lot of
money JUST to spend a lot of money, there! I'm not going to
buy a box of 5/6x3/4 carriage bolts when I only need *2*!

There were a fair number of people at a mall the last
time I hit one. A good share of them were teenagers just
wandering around.

Malls aren't fond of teens -- "short arms" (even if they have deep pockets!)

On 5/15/2016 12:10 PM, notbob wrote:
On 2016-05-15, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

six months I've placed 35 orders.

The question you must ask yerself is, did I really need all those
things.

My wife's medical supplies? Yes. One item is 25% cheaper and I get it
in two clicks, not a 15 mile drive to the only store that has it.

Screen protector for cell phone? Half the price than the ATT store.

A few were gifts. A couple I did not think were needed, but my wife
wanted them so she got them. Good enough reason for me.



I usta have Prime. Amazon is true to its hype. Two days to yer
doorstep, no matter the quantity or the price. OTOH, I found myself
ordering stuff jes to take advantage of the free shipping. Didn't
need their movies, as I already had Netflix. But, I ordered a buncha
stuff. Now that I do NOT have Prime, I'm back down to ordering 3-4
things per yr. Yes, I was jes spending $$$$ like I had it. 8|

nb



If we did not have Prime some of the orders would have been combined to
get free shipping. Like an ink cartridge that could have waited a week
or so. It was a buck cheaper than Staples so I clicked and had it in
two days.

On 5/15/2016 6:28 PM, wrote:


Why would anyone order a pizza online? Seems to me it would be a lot
faster to just call them....


If you know exactly what you want, phone call is easy. OTOH, going on
line can help you decide what to get. You see the full list of toppings
and may decide to get olives this time. If you are already in the
system it is fast to order too.

On 05/15/2016 07:28 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:

[snip]

I try to patronize the local Ace Hardware. Where else to
get an odd plumbing piece on a weekend or evening? The
next generation is taking over so there will be a learning
curve. The older employees knew their stuff.

There used to be a good old Ace hardware store around here like that. We
had another good hardware store too. Neither lasted long after Lowe's
opened.

[snip]

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"Of the delights of this world, man cares most for sexual intercourse,
yet he has left it out of his heaven" [Mark Twain]

On Sun, 15 May 2016 10:27:36 -0500, "Dean Hoffman"
wrote in

On Sun, 15 May 2016 06:27:54 -0500, bob haller wrote:
snip

its sad to watch sears dying slowly

Sears sold houses years ago:

http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/index.htm

It isn't just Sears facing money problems from what I've
read here and there. Tnis internet thing seems to be catching
on. I guess J.C. Penny and The Gap are facing similar problems.

When I was a kid in the late 1950s, the yearly arrival of the Sears
catalog was a wonderful event. It seemed to have everything imaginable
and I would spend hours looking through it.

Sears was the king of mail-order then and they continued to be king
for a long time. When Internet shopping started, Sears was in a
perfect position to dominate it since they already had a massive
mail-order infrastructure operating. All they had to do was put their
catalog online.

But they didn't. And now, they will soon be gone. Another example of
upper management flubbing it while sitting fat and happy in their
tower. Wal-Mart will follow in the next 10 years.
--
Web based forums are like subscribing to 10 different newspapers
and having to visit 10 different news stands to pickup each one.
Email list-server groups and USENET are like having all of those
newspapers delivered to your door every morning.

On Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 7:29:15 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sun, 15 May 2016 04:23:50 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

man did get you the sales price.

so i called their complaint number again but the same guy called me back..

he claimed we have 800 franchise locations so we are cooporate.....

the crportate complaint number was useless...........

so we never buy papa johns........

Why would anyone order a pizza online? Seems to me it would be a lot
faster to just call them....

I dont understand people who order common stuff online, like groceries.
By the time you fill out all the forms and stuff you could have called
them 10 times.

Why order a Sears appliance online? THere is a Sears store almost
everywhere. Besides I like to SEE what I'm buying, not just a picture.


But the reverse is also true. Online they typically have all the products
they sell, while the local store has only some on the floor. If you go to
the store, you only see what they have there and you don't even know what
all the other options are. I would usually want to see the product, but
I start my searches online, which saves a lot of useless driving around.
Sometimes they have lower prices or special deals that apply online only too.



About the only stuff I order online are parts for things, like cars,
electronics, etc. That's just because I cant buy that stuff locally. And
more often than not, I end up paying more for the shipping than the
item. Just recently I found a car part I needed for $9. The shipping was
$10. I bought the part at a local auto parts store for $20. I would have
saved $1 online, then had to wait close to a week to get it. Not worth
the hassle!

Shipping can be a factor. But most of these offer free shipping once
you get to $50 or $75 or so, so if you can order some extra stuff,
that you will need soon, that can work. Many periodically have free
shipping too.
And places like Advanced Auto have deals for 20% off going all the time
too. Plus AA, Autozone, you can buy it online, have it shipped to the
store and then shipping is free. Almost all the parts I order I do
online now, including Ebay. But I agree that if the difference is small,
you need it right away, the local store can be the best option.

On Mon, 16 May 2016 07:46:31 -0500, CRNG wrote:

On Sun, 15 May 2016 10:27:36 -0500, "Dean Hoffman"

Sears sold houses years ago:

http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/index.htm

It isn't just Sears facing money problems from what I've
read here and there. Tnis internet thing seems to be catching
on. I guess J.C. Penny and The Gap are facing similar problems.

When I was a kid in the late 1950s, the yearly arrival of the Sears
catalog was a wonderful event. It seemed to have everything imaginable
and I would spend hours looking through it.

Sears was the king of mail-order then and they continued to be king
for a long time. When Internet shopping started, Sears was in a
perfect position to dominate it since they already had a massive
mail-order infrastructure operating. All they had to do was put their
catalog online.

But they didn't. And now, they will soon be gone. Another example of
upper management flubbing it while sitting fat and happy in their
tower. Wal-Mart will follow in the next 10 years.

What do you see Walmart doing wrong?


--
Using Opera's mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

On Mon, 16 May 2016 16:47:47 -0500, "Dean Hoffman"
wrote in

On Mon, 16 May 2016 07:46:31 -0500, CRNG wrote:

On Sun, 15 May 2016 10:27:36 -0500, "Dean Hoffman"

Sears sold houses years ago:

http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/index.htm

It isn't just Sears facing money problems from what I've
read here and there. Tnis internet thing seems to be catching
on. I guess J.C. Penny and The Gap are facing similar problems.

When I was a kid in the late 1950s, the yearly arrival of the Sears
catalog was a wonderful event. It seemed to have everything imaginable
and I would spend hours looking through it.

Sears was the king of mail-order then and they continued to be king
for a long time. When Internet shopping started, Sears was in a
perfect position to dominate it since they already had a massive
mail-order infrastructure operating. All they had to do was put their
catalog online.

But they didn't. And now, they will soon be gone. Another example of
upper management flubbing it while sitting fat and happy in their
tower. Wal-Mart will follow in the next 10 years.

What do you see Walmart doing wrong?

Based on the two WMs (super centers) where we used to shop, one about
20 miles west of us and the other about 20 miles east of us, I would
say:

1. Empty shelves - About 15% of the items we try to buy on any given
shopping trip are out of stock. There is a place for it on the shelf,
but it's not there. The items vary from trip to trip, but there are
always a couple.

2. Their on-line shopping seems chaotic and uncertain. It would be
nice if anything ordered on-line had the option to be picked up
(shipping free$) at the local store.
--
Web based forums are like subscribing to 10 different newspapers
and having to visit 10 different news stands to pickup each one.
Email list-server groups and USENET are like having all of those
newspapers delivered to your door every morning.

On 5/17/2016 5:56 AM, CRNG wrote:

Based on the two WMs (super centers) where we used to shop, one about
20 miles west of us and the other about 20 miles east of us, I would
say:

1. Empty shelves - About 15% of the items we try to buy on any given
shopping trip are out of stock. There is a place for it on the shelf,
but it's not there. The items vary from trip to trip, but there are
always a couple.

Target is even worse, in that regard. If it was an occasional thing, we'd
assume someone just botched their JIT MRP. But, it seems to happen
too often to write it off to a fluke!

2. Their on-line shopping seems chaotic and uncertain. It would be
nice if anything ordered on-line had the option to be picked up
(shipping free$) at the local store.

SWMBO ordered a battery for her camera some years ago. Walmart was
one of the few online places that carried it. And, we could just
pick it up in the store (lots of camera batteries are third party
and we wanted to be able to play touchy feely before settling on the
purchase). The service was worse than the post office! There
wasn't even a person *at* the Will-Call desk (which was hidden in the
back of the store).

[The USPS is actually very "efficient" in their counter service;
they keep the minimum amount of staff there as possible to
address the needs of their clientele. Staff "standing around"
might improve service *times* but not "efficiency"! In that
regard, WalMart was even MORE "efficient"! : ]

This sort of thing should be a no-brainer: if you have an online
presence, all you should have to do is arrange for the parts to
be included in the latest shipment to Store #1234 with a label
"To the Attention Of: Online Sales Will-Call".

WalMart appears to be missing the business aspects of The Internet
in much the same way that MS did!

On Tue, 17 May 2016 06:12:25 -0700, Don Y
wrote:

The USPS is actually very "efficient" in their counter service;
they keep the minimum amount of staff there as possible to
address the needs of their clientele.

I have not set foot in a post office in years. Why would I since their
online and "doorstep" service is as good as it is. I am not sure why I
would even need to go to the PO and I ship and receive from them a
lot. I can sell some kind of widget on Ebay, the postage it already
computed, I print the postage paid label here, stick it on the box and
the mailman picks it up on my front porch the next day.
I can do the same thing on Click n ship (USPS web site) for anything I
want to mail. They even give me the boxes for free.

I agree about the Walmart "will call" desk. I had to track down
someone to call someone to get my package there. In the end, the
"package" (a set of tires) was really in the tire shop but you still
need the ticket from will call.

On Sun, 15 May 2016 22:00:14 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 5/15/2016 6:28 PM, wrote:


Why would anyone order a pizza online? Seems to me it would be a lot
faster to just call them....


If you know exactly what you want, phone call is easy. OTOH, going on
line can help you decide what to get. You see the full list of toppings
and may decide to get olives this time. If you are already in the
system it is fast to order too.

I agree. And you can listen to the radio while you do it, or talk to
SWHTET, which is hard to do while on the phone.

But it should cost the pizzeria less, not more, for someone to order
online, once they have online set up. The important thing is what the
advertising said. Weren't there prices on the webpage. If they don't
clearly refer only to ordering in person, that should be the webl
price.

Once I needed a computer cable from Staples. $6 online and instock. I
didnt' want to give them my CC number if I was going to pay in cash,
so I went over there. $24 at the store. I found a manager and asked
what to do. He said just tell the cashier to give you the online
price. I thought she would have that in her computer, but she also
took my word what the price was!!!

On Sun, 15 May 2016 10:27:36 -0500, "Dean Hoffman"
wrote:

On Sun, 15 May 2016 06:27:54 -0500, bob haller wrote:

sears is in their death spiral......

put out of business by the guy who has controlling intererest. eddie
hardelstein..

he has put zero bucks into sears and k mart.........

milking all the money he can out of the dying business......

its sad to watch sears dying slowly


Sears sold houses years ago:

http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/index.htm

It isn't just Sears facing money problems from what I've
read here and there. Tnis internet thing seems to be catching
on. I guess J.C. Penny and The Gap are facing similar problems.

The net has a lot to do with all this.

Last year was the first year clothing sales on the net exceeded
computer and computer accesory sales.

On 15 May 2016 16:10:51 GMT, notbob wrote:

On 2016-05-15, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

six months I've placed 35 orders.

The question you must ask yerself is, did I really need all those
things.

I usta have Prime. Amazon is true to its hype. Two days to yer
doorstep, no matter the quantity or the price. OTOH, I found myself
ordering stuff jes to take advantage of the free shipping. Didn't

Yesterday, I admit it, I was at walmart** and they had cans of cold
soda in a vending machine for 50 cents, and I thought of buying it
just because it was cheap. But i wasn't thirsty and I prefer water,
so I controlled myself.

** because they were a dollar cheaper than pepboys for starting fluid
(that was last fall. They'd gone up 50 cents)

need their movies, as I already had Netflix. But, I ordered a buncha
stuff. Now that I do NOT have Prime, I'm back down to ordering 3-4
things per yr. Yes, I was jes spending $$$$ like I had it. 8|

nb

On Sun, 15 May 2016 11:32:57 -0700, Don Y
wrote:

On 5/15/2016 8:27 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
It isn't just Sears facing money problems from what I've
read here and there. Tnis internet thing seems to be catching
on. I guess J.C. Penny and The Gap are facing similar problems.

Most folks "don't have the time" to make a pilgrimmage out to
a store, wander around to find what they are interested in

This was a good thing for a long time, because I saw all the things
that people sold, things I'd never thought of, a few of which I needed
and some that I would need in the future.

But now I'm not so interested in learning about new things. I have
too many hobbies, for example.

and then try to chase down a pimply faced kid (who would much
rather be elsewhere!) to answer their questions.

We hadn't been in a Sears in close to 20 years (maybe 25?)
but bought a bed there. *One* older salesman who was a
good salesman (and didn't make us wonder if he actually
knew anything about the product).

I buy my water heater there. They have the same spacing as my
original one, between the intake and output pipes.

I bought a universal garage door receiver/xmitter there a while back,
to replace one a friend had foolishly removed from his house, that
turned on 8 flood lights. I got it working, but I never heard back
that his wife was happy again, and I asked, and got a vague answer.

Not only did it work from the street in front of their house, it
worked another 30 feet into the school yard across the street.
Something must have gone wrong, but IL don't know what.

Sears, Penney's, etc. look like morgues, here. Big EMPTY
buildings (lots of product, no people!)

We wonder how long it will be before Costco goes the same route
(Kirkland branded everything; then starts letting the quality
slip...). Our total dollars spent there has largely remained
constant over the years -- despite price increases. We seem
to be buying fewer and fewer things from them and finding
better deals, elsewhere.

On Sun, 15 May 2016 19:28:39 -0500, "Dean Hoffman"
wrote:


I live close to a town of about 8,000. It's about a 50

It would help me to picture this if I knew what town and state.

mile drive one way to buy something if I can't find it nearby.
That's fifty bucks added to the price using the IRS figure of
fifty cents a mile. Internet buying beats that by a bunch in
convenience and usually price.
I try to patronize the local Ace Hardware. Where else to
get an odd plumbing piece on a weekend or evening? The
next generation is taking over so there will be a learning
curve. The older employees knew their stuff.
There were a fair number of people at a mall the last
time I hit one. A good share of them were teenagers just
wandering around.

My friend walks in one for 90 minutes 3 times a week when the weather
is cold or rainy. A big mall in Baltimore actually went out of
business, so now she has to go to a smaller one. She's bumped into
one or two other walkers from the first mall. A store often gives
her a free pretzel.

On Sun, 15 May 2016 18:30:52 -0700, Don Y
wrote:


SWMBO has tried buying clothing and shoes but its usually
multiple attempts to get the right product in her hands.
I'd rather just go somewhere, buy what I want and be done
with it.

Same girl I was talking about likes shoes. Bought a lot from Zappos,
usually when they are on sale (of course they play games about that.)
Free returns including shipping. But eventually they told her she
couldn't buy anymore because she returned too much, even though she
kept a lot more than she returned. So she changed her email address
and reregistered and that seemed to fool them. (You'd think they could
foresee that and would go by shipping address.)

[It takes dynamite to get me out of the house, shopping.
But, once out, "let's get ALL OF IT done!"]

I try to patronize the local Ace Hardware. Where else to
get an odd plumbing piece on a weekend or evening? The
next generation is taking over so there will be a learning
curve. The older employees knew their stuff.

We have a couple of ACE's here owned by the same folks. Very
good selections, etc. I know the first names of many of the folks
and they know mine.

Ace is VERRY good.

A little embarassing to only be buying "small change" items
(screws, nuts, etc.) but I feel no need to spend a lot of
money JUST to spend a lot of money, there! I'm not going to
buy a box of 5/6x3/4 carriage bolts when I only need *2*!

There were a fair number of people at a mall the last
time I hit one. A good share of them were teenagers just
wandering around.

Malls aren't fond of teens -- "short arms" (even if they have deep pockets!)

On Sun, 15 May 2016 21:49:40 -0500, Mark Lloyd
wrote:

On 05/15/2016 07:28 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:

[snip]

I try to patronize the local Ace Hardware. Where else to
get an odd plumbing piece on a weekend or evening? The
next generation is taking over so there will be a learning
curve. The older employees knew their stuff.

There used to be a good old Ace hardware store around here like that. We
had another good hardware store too. Neither lasted long after Lowe's
opened.

3 or 4 Aces in baltimore are small, packed with stuff and one or 2
definitelyh doing good business. One in a west suburb is very busy,
larger, and was mobbed 9 days ago (sunday), the firstg good weekend
day this year. There were twice as many cars as usual, filling a
parking area that is always empty. They were giving free hotdogs that
day.

On Tue, 17 May 2016 06:12:25 -0700, Don Y
wrote:

On 5/17/2016 5:56 AM, CRNG wrote:

Based on the two WMs (super centers) where we used to shop, one about
20 miles west of us and the other about 20 miles east of us, I would
say:

1. Empty shelves - About 15% of the items we try to buy on any given
shopping trip are out of stock. There is a place for it on the shelf,
but it's not there. The items vary from trip to trip, but there are
always a couple.

Target is even worse, in that regard. If it was an occasional thing, we'd
assume someone just botched their JIT MRP. But, it seems to happen
too often to write it off to a fluke!

I don't know what products might be missing from their shelves, but
neither store here has any empty shelves. Walmart's very
restrictive return policy caused me to get stuck with something I
coudl have returned earlier.

2. Their on-line shopping seems chaotic and uncertain. It would be
nice if anything ordered on-line had the option to be picked up
(shipping free$) at the local store.

SWMBO ordered a battery for her camera some years ago. Walmart was
one of the few online places that carried it. And, we could just
pick it up in the store (lots of camera batteries are third party
and we wanted to be able to play touchy feely before settling on the
purchase). The service was worse than the post office! There
wasn't even a person *at* the Will-Call desk (which was hidden in the
back of the store).

Home Depot was very good at "ship free to store". Strangely, I
thought it would come to them with their normal truckload of stuff,
but it seemed to have been shipped individuallly from St. Louis. They
coudl have shipped it to me for the same money, but it's really no
effort to go there to pick it up.

[The USPS is actually very "efficient" in their counter service;
they keep the minimum amount of staff there as possible to
address the needs of their clientele. Staff "standing around"
might improve service *times* but not "efficiency"! In that
regard, WalMart was even MORE "efficient"! : ]

This sort of thing should be a no-brainer: if you have an online
presence, all you should have to do is arrange for the parts to
be included in the latest shipment to Store #1234 with a label
"To the Attention Of: Online Sales Will-Call".

WalMart appears to be missing the business aspects of The Internet
in much the same way that MS did!

On Sun, 15 May 2016 13:13:07 -0500, Mark Lloyd
wrote:

On 05/15/2016 06:33 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 5/15/2016 6:51 AM, Steve Stone wrote:
You don't seem to be able to purchase a washer on the Sears web site
without also purchasing a mandatory set of stainless supply hoses for
$31. Not a bad idea for many. Not a good idea for those who already own
stainless hoses or better.


Why would you buy from Sears? They may be out of business before you
even get the machine installed.

Unless you live two hundred miles from town, go to a good local
appliance dealer. Most are priced about the same and have better service.

I bought my washer and dryer from a good local appliance dealer. They
were very helpful when the dryer failed after just a week.

Interestingly, when the old salesman asked my for my phone number he
wrote it down as just 5 digits. It's been more than 20 years since we
had 5-digit dialing (it went away when we got ESS in about 1990).

That's great.

My mother moved from Indianapolis to a town of 50,000 in 1945. The
operator would answer and she would give her an exchange and 4 numbers
to call. After a while the operator said to her, "You don't have to
say OLiver 2, ma'am. They're all OLiver 2. "

On Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 10:00:14 PM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 5/15/2016 6:28 PM, wrote:


Why would anyone order a pizza online? Seems to me it would be a lot
faster to just call them....


If you know exactly what you want, phone call is easy. OTOH, going on
line can help you decide what to get. You see the full list of toppings
and may decide to get olives this time. If you are already in the
system it is fast to order too.

Depending on the time of day, e.g. Friday/Saturday evening, you may be put on
hold for longer than it takes to order on-line. BTHT (Been There, Hated That).

On 5/17/2016 9:07 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 17 May 2016 06:12:25 -0700, Don Y
wrote:

The USPS is actually very "efficient" in their counter service;
they keep the minimum amount of staff there as possible to
address the needs of their clientele.

I have not set foot in a post office in years. Why would I since their

You don't have a POBox, do you? : When clients send things to my box,
they often "don't fit" so I have to take the little slip to the window
to "claim my prize"...

online and "doorstep" service is as good as it is. I am not sure why I
would even need to go to the PO and I ship and receive from them a
lot. I can sell some kind of widget on Ebay, the postage it already
computed, I print the postage paid label here, stick it on the box and
the mailman picks it up on my front porch the next day.
I can do the same thing on Click n ship (USPS web site) for anything I
want to mail. They even give me the boxes for free.

Sure! I used to use the "medium shoebox" to mail cookies to friends
and family. Finally decided that $11 for postage was making them awfully
expensive cookies!

OTOH, in the bakery, they seem to want $10/pound...

I agree about the Walmart "will call" desk. I had to track down
someone to call someone to get my package there. In the end, the
"package" (a set of tires) was really in the tire shop but you still
need the ticket from will call.

On 5/17/2016 2:48 PM, Micky wrote:


Same girl I was talking about likes shoes. Bought a lot from Zappos,
usually when they are on sale (of course they play games about that.)
Free returns including shipping. But eventually they told her she
couldn't buy anymore because she returned too much, even though she
kept a lot more than she returned. So she changed her email address
and reregistered and that seemed to fool them. (You'd think they could
foresee that and would go by shipping address.)

Some sores will also kick your ass out if you return too much. It is
costly to handle the return.

On Tue, 17 May 2016 21:28:18 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 5/17/2016 2:48 PM, Micky wrote:


Same girl I was talking about likes shoes. Bought a lot from Zappos,
usually when they are on sale (of course they play games about that.)
Free returns including shipping. But eventually they told her she
couldn't buy anymore because she returned too much, even though she
kept a lot more than she returned. So she changed her email address
and reregistered and that seemed to fool them. (You'd think they could
foresee that and would go by shipping address.)

Some stores will also kick your ass out if you return too much. It is
costly to handle the return.

Also, Amazon bought Zappos about that time so their policy may have
changed.