The email promised that because she was a Sears "premier" member, Cathy Graves would have access to the company's exclusive pre-Black Friday sale.
It seemed almost too good to be true.
The Plainfield resident had been looking for an inexpensive television for her teenage son, and the presale offered a 32-inch Seiki-brand LCD HDTV for $97.
So Graves sat down at her computer on Nov. 18, clicked on the link to buy the TV and considered herself lucky when the website asked for her credit card information and processed the sale.
About 15 minutes later, she received an email from Sears confirming the purchase, which with taxes came to $105, a savings of $101.88. The email instructed her to wait for another email which would inform her when the television was at Sears in the Fox Valley Mall.
The next day, the second email arrived informing Graves that the TV was ready for pickup.
"Please bring a printed copy of this email, photo ID, and the payment method you used with you to the merchandise pickup area of the store," the email said. "Thank you for shopping at sears.com!"
Graves hopped in her car, drove to the store, and scanned her email at the pickup window.
After about five minutes, a man came out but was not carrying a TV.
"He said, 'We don't have this TV,'" Graves said. "I said, 'Do I need to come back?' He said, 'No, they're just not giving this to you.'"
Graves asked for a manager.
"The manager comes out and said they sold 40 TVs and only got one in," she said. "They were only able to fill one of the orders."
The manager then offered to sell her a 40-inch television — for $100 more.
"That's when I got mad," Graves said.
She told the manager she did not want another TV and asked for the 32-inch Seiki LCD HDTV for which she had paid.
Again the manager offered to sell her a larger TV for $100 more, she said.
"I said, 'What you're doing is bait and switch,'" Graves said.
Angry, she drove to her office and called Sears' customer service.
"They told me they don't have the TV in stock," Graves said. "She gave me the same spiel the guy gave me at the store, tried to sell me the 40-inch TV for another $100."
The customer service agent then offered to refund Graves' $105.
"I said, 'I don't want a refund, I want the TV I bought for the deal,'" Graves said.
Convinced she had been taken advantage of, she emailed What's Your Problem?
"I think they handled it horribly," she said. "I think that regardless of whatever happens, it was their mistake, not mine. The whole thing actually cost me money in time and gas and all that, and it was no skin off their backs at all."
The Problem Solver called Sears spokesman Larry Costello on Nov. 21. Within hours, Costello emailed to say the situation had been resolved.
"Due to the great response from SHOP YOUR WAY members, the Seiki 32" TV sold through rapidly — the offer had been advertised as 'while quantities last,'" Costello wrote. "We apologize that some customer orders were canceled due to lack of inventory."
Costello said Graves should have received a cancellation notice indicating Sears would refund her original order plus credit her account with $100 worth of Shop Your Way rewards points for use in store or online.
"These points could be applied to purchase other TV models to achieve similar deals," Costello wrote.
A short time later, Graves received an email from "Lisa S.", a senior case manager at Sears.com.
It said Sears would send Graves a 39-inch Seiki LED HDTV television instead of the 32-inch TV she had ordered.
"I sincerely apologize for all of the frustrations and inconveniences that you have experienced with the original order," the email said.
Graves was ecstatic.
The 39-inch television arrived Monday.
"It's a very, very good day," she said.
Graves plans to give the TV to her son for Christmas, so if you know him, do the Problem Solver a favor — don't mention this column until after the holidays.
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