10 replies to this topic

[delawaredrew]

I'm considering a position as a laundry tech for Sears and wanted to know what people thought of working for them?  I was at GE for a while doing mostly warranty work and the 10-12 calls per day thing really can wear a guy out, I assume Sears is the same?  Mainly I got sick of 12 hour days and the constant push to sell contracts, GE required alot of sales and meetings mainly revolved around who didn't sell enough and bring in enough cash. They measured everything from time worked/calls per day, time in calls, revenue per call, etc...

Many of my problems with GE stemmed from the huge area I had to cover, with 3 or more hours of drive time per day being routine, add the call volume in and days got really long really fast.  You just couldn't get your 8 completed calls/8hrs ratio with those sort of drive times without really being a little sleazy.  You either had to screw the customer or trick the GE computer system. 

Pay was good, about $25/hr, and the time and a 1/2 OT pay rocked but many times I just hated the job and would dread going to work.  They also requires alot of my free time to spent making phone calls after hours, dealing with parts shipments, doing paperwork, etc...

So anyone like working for Sears?  Hate it?  Does the description of GE seem like Sears?  PM me if you don't want to post here 'cause you still work there...

[Scottthewolf]

Sears is EXACTLY like working for GE only worse. The computer has GPS on it, they know exactly where you are every minute and they will force an extra call on your route even if you don't have the time to do it just to get an annoying customer off the calltakers backs.

Also, being a laundry only technician, expect the full line techs to give you all their big parts return calls that they don't want to do like outer tubs and transmission jobs on washing machines.

Expect the same type of treatment from Sears, but the pay will not be as good as GE because alot of the Sears units are non union.

[delawaredrew]

Yeah we had the GPS units on our vans and probably in our laptops too. They could tell when we started a job and left that job, and could compare that to our call records. I assumed they were using that info to make sure we closed calls and were on the way to the next.  Some guys would not close calls out until late in the day to avoid new calls, but I never had the courage to really game the computer system.  It usually felt like the company was working against you.

GE also would force a call onto us anytime up to 3pm, with no worry whether it was an hour away or if you still had 2-3 calls left elsewhere.  At least once a week I found myself starting an hour long drive back to the other end of my area for a call at the end of the day.

I haven't gotten an offer yet so I don't know what pay they are offering, I've seen on here that starting pay ranged from $15-18/hr.

I hadn't thought about the type of jobs I'd be assigned, or even that full line techs might push undesirable calls off on me.  I hate following others, especially the parts ordering types, who just order whatever they can think of to get out of the job quicker.

Work around here is really scarce right now so turning down a decent paying job will be hard, but that kind of stress is hard to swallow. I'll go through the interview process while I decide, but I am not really eager to return to that kind of work life.

[Scottthewolf]

Good luck! Do what you have to to make money, but at least I warned you!

[delawaredrew]

Scott - I forgot to say thanks...I appreciate your info. 
I'm not at all sold on working for them due to all I've read on here and what you say.  I don't really want to spend my days getting that corporate push to produce... I hated that at GE and I'm sure I'd hate it at Sears. There's nothing like being beat down at work all day to make your life miserable.

Do you know if they do the 1/2 day saturday shift?

[Scottthewolf]

Saturdays with Sears is ALWAYS a full day.  Being the low man on the totem pole, you will be forced to work every Saturday and you will get one day off during the week and Sundays off.

[delawaredrew]

Dang - this is sounding worse and worse... I can't do every saturday...

Oh well, I'll talk to them friday and see what they offer, I can always quit if it sucks that bad.

[harryf]

delawaredrew,..  so what happened, did you go to Sears??..back in the day-60/70's Sears was THE place to work..start at 10ish, after the diner with your buddies, call all your cust'. order parts for everyone ,someone else would probably go back to install. then go do all your side work.....GE was always para-military, dress,performance, first stop/last stop ramdom audits, get caught cheating you could be fired. but if you were a 'good tech', kept your #'s up, etc, it was a great place to work. those were the days when service to the consumer meant something. they promoted from within,up to Regional mgrs. so they understood field service. when all these co's went to central computer controlled dispatching and eliminated local control-that was the beginning of the end...Shame, nobody [?] wants to go to work and do a bad job. but under these new constraints that's what your faced with. where's the satisfaction in that?? i feel sorry for anyone 'trapped' in factory service today.

[delawaredrew]

Yes I m working for them now. It is ok, days run a little long but I don't mind the OT right now.

We are somewhat local, my manager is 30 miles away, distrct offices are 60 miles away, and I park with 8-10 other techs so I can pick their brains in the AM. Most issues i have had have been resolved locally, by people I have met in the offices. Dispatch is far away, but they are pretty cool so far. With GE I rarely saw management face to face, I was even asked to drive 3hrs away just to be fired by phone from Kentucky!

Compared to GE the computers suck, lots of communication crashes and other problems daily. Many days I am parked for 30min - 1hr total just waiting on their systems to tell me what to do. Rumors bound about new systems but noone has a date.

They are much more concerned with parts ordering than GE was, mainly to keep costs down which I understand. But it is annoying to have to "uninstall" a small part if it isn't the fix I thought it would be. That also allows parts of unknown condition to be returned to techs. Yesterday I had 2 "new" wax motors on my truck that turned out to have been returned by other techs and looked used, neither worked. So after spending several hours repairing a completely fried maytag I had to order a part and leave, totally wasting my time and probably losing the completed call to whoever returns.

To my surprise I do like not knowing what my route is for the day, it reduces stressing about the long jobs or whatever is scheduled later; you just take them as they come. We only see 1-2 calls ahead at most, and calls shift around among techs as needed.

Overall I am ok with it so far, I feel less "out there alone" than GE, that is a good thing since I am not familiar with brands other than GE yet and often need a little guidance with diagnosis.

[grey shrek]

If you don't mind the hours and the fellow techs are willing to help and you can actually get an answer out of management , then my friend - you are home free!!!!!!!!!!!!   And before I retired , that was the one thing not too bad about the new Sears system - not know the crappy call that was coming...What I hated was the no answer out of the fat ass idiots in Calgary that never answered... They all thought they were God's answer to appliance repair shops - goes to prove that God has a sense of humor...

[harryf]

glad to hear things are working out. as far as making the adjustment servicing other brands; i'm sure you're on servicematters all the time.  i can recommend, if you're not already aware--Repairnet Coffeeshop and Servicetech Help. they're both tech only sites and a wealth of info and help.