The main horror story was the financial mismanagement by the leadership. They made bad investment decisions and took on too much debt. This put the company in a very difficult financial position. As a result, they had to cut costs in all the wrong ways, like reducing staff without proper consideration for the long - term consequences.
A common one is about delivery problems. Customers often face long delays in getting their purchases delivered. Sometimes, the delivery guys show up at odd hours without prior notice. Another is the issue with returns. It can be a nightmare. You might be told different things by different employees regarding whether an item is eligible for return or not.
One horror story could be about the extremely long working hours. An employee might have been made to work 12 - 14 hours a day during peak seasons like Christmas without proper overtime pay. They were constantly exhausted but still had to meet high sales targets.
I've heard of a Sears horror story where a customer had a Sears credit card. There were some billing errors on their statement. When they tried to get it straightened out, the representatives were unhelpful. They kept getting charged late fees even though it was Sears' mistake. The whole process of trying to clear up the mess took months and caused a lot of stress.
Sears' leadership may have had problems with inventory management. They could have overstocked on items that were not in high demand while understocking popular products. This mismanagement of inventory led to financial losses. The leadership's inability to accurately predict consumer demand and manage stock levels accordingly was a horror story in itself as it contributed to the company's decline.
One horror story could be about an executive who made really bad decisions regarding inventory. They overstocked on items that were going out of fashion or were not in high demand in that particular hometown area. As a result, the store had to mark down the prices drastically, leading to huge losses. This not only affected the store's financial situation but also made the employees' jobs at risk as they had to deal with the consequences of these poor decisions.
There was an incident where an employee had to work in a very cold environment because the store's heating system was broken. They asked management to fix it multiple times, but nothing was done for weeks. As a result, the employee got sick frequently and it affected their performance at work.
I heard that one executive tried to cut costs in all the wrong ways. Instead of looking at more efficient supply chain options or better negotiation with suppliers, they decided to cut the staff hours. This meant that there were fewer employees available to help customers during peak times. Customers got frustrated with the long wait times and lack of assistance, and they started to go to other stores. It was a really short - sighted decision that damaged the store's reputation in the hometown.