In early December I was on the Sears website and saw an option to chat with a Sears tool expert. The ask about related accessories link was located elsewhere on a power tool product page, but presumably involves the same chat/sales team.
The name of the Sears Blue Tool Crew member has been changed to Sears BTC. If you read through the chat transcript you will see a few apologies for the delays as well as notes I added about additional delays. I wasn’t looking at the clock, but the entire exchange took a very long time (for a chat) – about a half hour or so, maybe longer.
A few things became clear to me in the end:
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- The “tool expert” is clearly not a tool expert.
- The “tool expert” is just browsing the Sears.com website and demonstrated no personal familiarity with Craftsman tools.
- Special links suggest the “tool expert” receives sales commissions or incentives.
Please wait for a Sears Blue Tool Crew member to respond. This chat may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance purposes. Thank you for holding.
Thank you for contacting the Sears Blue Tool Crew! My name is Vince and it’s my pleasure to help you today. May I have your name please?
Sears BTC: Good Evening Stuart.
Sears BTC: How may I assist you today?
Stuart: Which cordless drill would you recommend for heavy-duty drilling in wood, plastic, and maybe aluminum?
Sears BTC: I am sorry for the delay, Stuart.
Stuart: That is alright.
Stuart: If you cannot answer the question, that’s okay too.
Sears BTC: I will be glad to check and help you purchase a good cordless drill as per your needs.
Sears BTC: What is the price range, Stuart?
Stuart: Under $200
Sears BTC: Thank you.
Stuart: The pop-up prompt said “chat with a tools expert.” If you’re just searching the Sears.com product catalog, I can do that myself.
*Delay* – here is when I started to get worried.
Sears BTC: I am sorry for the delay, Stuart.
Sears BTC: May I have the zip code please?
Stuart: What does that have to do with a drill/driver recommendation?
Sears BTC: I have located a drill and would like to check the availability before showing it to you.
Stuart: 10282
Sears BTC: Thank you.
Sears BTC: I have located the C raftsman 17191 19.2-volt c3 cordless drill/driver.
Sears BTC: The regular price is $79.99 and the discounted price is $59.99.
*Long Delay* The C3 17191 is Craftsman’s cheapest drill/driver, typically on sale for $60. It comes with a single NiCd battery and features a 3/8″ chuck, single-speed gearbox, and 125 in-lb maximum torque delivery.
Stuart: That’s a heavy duty model? Why did you recommend this one in particular?
Sears BTC: I am sorry. I have located the C raftsman C 3 1/2-In heavy-duty drill kit powered by xcp.
Okay, so now the “tool expert” obviously adds “heavy-duty” to his Sears.com search query.
Sears BTC: It has as 5 star rating.
Sears BTC: Let me send you the link.
Sears BTC: Please click here to view the link.
Stuart: It says it has a single sleeve metal chuck. What does that mean? Does this mean it’s good for drilling into metal materials and not just wood or plastic?
At this point I am incredibly frustrated but I give the “tool expert” the benefit of the doubt. If he has used cordless drills anytime in the past few years he should know what this means. If he hasn’t, a quick Google search brings up the answer in seconds.
Sears BTC: Let me check the details for you.
*Long Delay*
Sears BTC: Please allow me a moment while I check the information for you.
Sears BTC: I am sorry for the delay, Stuart. I am checking the information with my product specialist. I will be right back with you.
Stuart: Okay, thank you.
Sears BTC: You are welcome. Thank you for staying online. I appreciate your patience.
*Delay*
Sears BTC: I have checked with my product specialist and found this only be for wood or plastic.
Sears BTC:
Stuart: So what does the single sleeve part mean, and what is a “metal” chuck for?
Sears BTC: Let me help you with this.
*Delay*
Sears BTC: The metal chuck is the piece in the front that rotates the bits. Single sleeve is “keyless” that means that it dosen’t have the key component in the chuck.
Sears BTC:
Stuart: Thanks for the clarification!
Sears BTC: You are welcome, Stuart.
Sears BTC: May I help you place the order?
Stuart: No, thank you, I will place the order tomorrow morning.
Sears BTC: I respect your decision. Let me send you the link.
Sears BTC: When you decide to place the order you can use the link to get yourself directed to the checkout page. It will be easy and convenient for you.
Stuart: Okay, thank you.
Sears BTC: Just to confirm, would you prefer shipping or store pickup?
Stuart: I’m not sure yet.
Stuart: Shipping.
Sears BTC: I see it can be shipped to your address for free.
Sears BTC: You have made an excellent choice.
Sears BTC: Link
Sears BTC: Items in your cart are saved for 30 days. Merchandise availability and pricing are not guaranteed.
Sears BTC: Please save the above link and place the order, Stuart.
Sears BTC: Are there any other questions I can assist you with today?
Stuart: Okay, thank you very much!
Sears BTC: You are welcome.
Sears BTC: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
Stuart: No, thank you.
Sears BTC: It was pleasure chatting with you. We are at your service 24/7, please chat with us again if you have any further questions.
Sears BTC: Thanks for chatting with me regarding drill/driver Please take a moment and click here to fill out an Exit Survey. We greatly value your feedback! Thank you for choosing us today; we appreciate your business. Good bye and have a great day!
Thank you for chatting with us. Please click the “Close” button on the top right of the chat window to tell us how we did today.
Summary: I asked for a heavy-duty drill recommendation and mentioned a $200 budget. The tool expert sales rep recommended the most lightweight and cheapest regularly stocked cordless drill Craftsman makes. Strike 1.
Okay, maybe he made a mistake and thought I said light-duty and $100. So I pretended I never owned a cordless drill before and followed up with a few technical but seemingly simple questions. These are the types of questions Google can clear up in seconds. Strike 2.
On top of all this frustration – not to mention how long it took – I got a bad vibe from how the sales rep was pushing his referral links at me. I get it, I was taking up a lot of his time and he really wanted to make commission from the sale. But at the end of the chat I felt guilty from the pressure.
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Maybe the sales rep thought I would be an easier sell if he recommended something far below my $200 budget. From the start I expected him to recommend the then-brand new Craftsman heavy duty drill/driver with XCP tech. (I reviewed this drill a few days prior and was quite impressed with it.)
Two strikes means that the Sears’ Blue Tool Crew tool expert gets two thumbs down for this experience. Maybe some of the other “tool experts” are better than the one I chatted with, but I didn’t think it would be fair to waste anyone else’s time to find out.
Jef Carpenter
I would guess it’s 50/50 you were talking to a computer. Either way, not a great way to serve your customer.
Stuart
My sister thought the same thing, that I was talking to a robot. There are many canned responses in the transcript, but also enough “real responses” that I believe I was chatting with a real person.
Michael Veach
that seems to be the norm now. it is a surprise to get someone that does know which end is up. and it’s not a lot better in the stores
chad
they should set something like this on HarryEpstein.com I bet there advice would be more useful.
Jason
Reading that transcript, that wasn’t a chat with the experts, that was a sales drone giving you a full court press to make the sale. And yes I agree, very robot-like and almost zero personality. Had I encountered a chat like that I would have bailed before they could even ask me if I wanted them to place the order for me!
Stevechie
Many people just don’t get it. These instant help or “chat” are not people in North America. They are in another country where they have a script and access to the Internet so they can look items up. They don’t know anything about what we need. We need products products made in North America, we need money to stay in North America, we need jobs to stay in North America! Don’t buy anything offshore and don’t shop at stores that sell offshore products. I know it’s hard but look at the big picture.
martin conrad
First of all i have had 40 years of great service from my craftsman tools ,both standard and metric .But as of 2 months ago apparently Sears is not replacing worn or broken craftsman ratchets . Their customer service reps are incompetent and very rude in regards to replacement or giving you your money back other than in the form of a Sears gift card . This Sears gift card policy does not work because they do not stock the 3/8 craftsman teardrop ratchet , so there free replacement /lifetime warranty is FALSE ADVERTISING .Give me my money back ,on my credit card so i can buy the ratchet on Amazon ,because they have them for approximately $30 .I DO NOT NEED A GIFT CARD FOR TOWEL SETS OR POTS . I AM FINISHED WITH SEARS . And do not ask for a purchase receipt on a tool set that i have bought 40 years ago . It is long gone , and it was NEVER NEEDED BEFORE TO GET A TOOL REPLACED . I even was disconected by the last so called customer service in Belleville ,Ontario ,Canada . Sears customer service service does not exist anymore.