OT: KMART SUCKS , PROOF INSIDE

http://www.thecarolinachannel.com/buyerbeware/3597648/detail.html
Lifetime Warranty Isn't As Lifetime As Advertised
Kmart Stops Honoring Anderson Man's Warranty

POSTED: 2:02 pm EDT July 30, 2004
UPDATED: 6:25 pm EDT July 30, 2004

ANDERSON -- When Tony Edmonds of Anderson bought his 1960 Plymouth Fury, he knew he would keep it forever.

"This is my baby. I just love the attention it gets from people when they see it. People come up to me and tell me my grandfather had a car like this, or my father had a car like this," he said.

Edmonds bought the car in 1974, and the first thing he did was buy a Kmart battery with a lifetime warranty.

"Over the years, I guess I've had seven, eight or nine, I'm not sure exactly how many. Most of the time they'll last four years. I think I had one one time that lasted about six years." he said.

But on July 17, 2004, Edmonds tried to get a new battery at the Kmart on Clemson Boulevard in Anderson. Edmonds claims he was told by store manager Brian Fischer that because Kmart filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy a few years ago, they no longer had to honor the lifetime warranty.

"And I said, 'Is that right?' He said, 'Yes, you know we went through bankruptcy court, and I guess it's more a legal matter. We owe creditors millions of dollars that we'll never have to pay back'," Edmonds said.

Edmonds did receive a battery that day at no charge, but he says they wouldn't give him a receipt that contains the words 'lifetime warranty.'

Edmonds is worried the next time he needs a replacement battery, he will be forced to pay, even the warranty he purchased in 1974 guarantees him a lifetime of free batteries.

"They offered me a lifetime warranty, and I'm still alive, I still got my '60 Plymouth," he said.

Bryan Fischer, the manager of the Anderson Kmart, said he could not comment on Edmonds claims, and referred News 4's Tim Waller to Kmart's corporate office in Troy, Mich.

Waller called and spoke to Maria Seyrig of Kmart Media Relations. Seyrig said, "This never should have happened. The problem will be resolved. We want to keep Mr. Edmonds as a customer."

But the very next day, when Edmonds was contacted by Marlane Cunningham, Kmart's top customer service manager in Troy, Mich., he received some disappointing news.

"She said what I was told by the local store manager was right. That when Kmart filed for bankruptcy, it cleared them of their responsibility to honor my lifetime warranty on the battery," Edmonds said.

Edmonds, who has Kmart batteries in all of his vehicles, said he'll never shop at a Kmart store again.

"I won't even buy a bag of potting soil from Kmart. You're only as good as your word, the way I see it. I've got paperwork to prove that I was right, but it still don't seem to matter."

 

Sam Walton keeps his word!

 

There's alot more people alot worse off than some guy who didn't get a new battery.

Who cares?


JOE

 

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Sam Walton keeps his word!

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Yeah but he's dead and his kids don't honor his wishes...

 

He posted this to prove a point.

Large companies only provide decent service if they are legally obligated to do so. A Mom and Pop shop wouldn't have told him that, they can't afford to lose customers, even if they did file CH 11.

Support local businesses.

 

I do... Today I will be eating lunch at the local farmer's market... ok the food is awesome, but I try to support my local economy.

 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Sam Walton keeps his word!

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Yeah but he's dead and his kids don't honor his wishes...

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there was sarcasm in that statement z!

 

Also a "lifetime" guarantee doesn't legally gaurantee a product for your lifetime. It guarantees it for the expected life of the product.

 

oh yeah, sarcasm, sorry it's a little early for me to recognize it.....

 

7, 8 or 9 free batteries! yeah the big bad bussiness cheated him.
He just got mad because they too away his free lunch.

 

[ QUOTE ]
Also a "lifetime" guarantee doesn't legally gaurantee a product for your lifetime. It guarantees it for the expected life of the product.

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I agree...
...and I'd bet it was for defects in the battery, itself, not for getting old and wearing out.
It sounds like he got WAY more than his money's worth.
Try getting 30 year shingles replaced after your roof starts leakin' in 10 years.
A warranty is only as good as YOUR lawyer says it is.

Into every life a little rain must fall.
The poor bastard got a few hundred dollars worth of batteries for the price of one...
Boo hoo...


JOE

 

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Sam Walton keeps his word!



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Yeah like "we buy American so you can too"
Try to find anything made in the USA at Wally world. That chain bought 12 billion bucks worth of stuff from China last year and forced a lot of US companies into bankruptcy.

 

Lets not forget the Midas Commercial where the old lady with the Model T keeps on coming back decade after decade

 

She drive into a KMart did she?

 

That guy is a friggin' moron, a lifetime warranty doesn't entitle you to a new free battery when the old one wears out! That's rediculous, I'm glad kmart put the smack on him.. boo hoo !

As for supporting local business - I always do, I go out of my way to do so.. not that I'll be able to put wal-mart out of business but I can try..!

 

I see both sides of this. The original contract probably stated that he had lifetime battery as long as he owned the same car. Lifetime meaning replacement for any reason, even normal failure. K-mart charged more for the battery in the beginning, with the assumption that most people would not have the car past the normal battery life. A small percentage of people would actually take them up on the replacement (or more than once!!). That was a risk K-mart took and they gained extra profit at the time of original sale, so the small percentage that did get free replacement would be covered by that.

End result: K-mart probably decided that the lifetime deal was not working out and stopped the deal, but still had to cover existing claims from the original agreement. I am not a legal expert and i guess Chap 11 gets them out of the lifetime clause.

Muffler companies do this, but they also have words in the contract that state labor is not included, and they also "conveniently" find that you need additional tailpipes and other parts while replacing your free muffler. K-mart did not have any ability to add on these additional parts or labor charges.

 

My dad bought Midas lifetime mufflers and tail pipes for his new '68 Super Bee when the originals rusted out. Back in the days of leaded gas exhaust pipes and mufflers lasted 2 years, if you were lucky. He had probably 5 pairs of tailpipes and about as many mufflers replaced for free. When I bought the Bee in '74 I also had them replaced free once, but after they rusted out a year later, I bought better quality stuff from Napa, which lasted about 4 years. I also bought a JC Penny lifetime battery, which they advertised as the last battery you will ever have to buy as long as you own your car. It lasted about 6 years, when I went to get it replaced, they said they no longer were in the battery business, but they would buy me one battery from anyone else, just bring in the reciept after I bought it to get my money back. I complained, but it did no good. I bought the best battery Sears had, it lasted 3 years. I still drive the Super Bee to work everyday. I've never been back in a Penny's store.

 

if the battery was had "as long as you own the car" warranty the geezer, which it must have had well then I guess he can grumble but not really gripe since he got a lot of free ones

on TV I see advertisements for mufflers, brakes crap like that, they guarantee the stuff for " as long as you own the car" so if I got a muffler from midas and it came with one of them guarantees I'd expect them to cover it for as long as midas was around and I was driving the car the guarantee came with, if they ain't gonna honor it don't advertise it

after 30 years I would likely not raise to big a stink if they let it slip though

 

Come to think of it, '38 Chevy is right, just the mufflers were guaranteed for life at Midas, we had to pay for the pipes.

 

Yah, WHO CARES!
what happened to talking about building hot rods?

 

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Yah, WHO CARES!
what happened to talking about building hot rods?




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What? Your hot rod doesn't use a battery?

 

if i got 30 year outta a battery, and it wasn't replaced for free, i wouldn't piss and moan, i'd be happy it lasted that long...

 

KMART has not honored their word....bottom line. Guess it would 'bankrupt' them if they gave him another cheap battery?

 

Damn, you guys argue about everything. Just STFU already.

 

Screw that old Fart! How dare he keep the same car for all those years! He should'a bought a new car every few years like EVERYONE else. "Lifetime of the car", that old peckerhead is screwing up the system!
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My Grandma used to shop at her local KMart for over 10 years and bought a small window mount evap cooler, got it home, decided she would take up her neighbor's offer of their cooler after all and attempted to return the cooler. In a span of 3 days she lost the receipt, they told her "...sorry Mrs. Smith, we can't take it back without the receipt". Damn straight(!), make an exception for one and you'll have to do it for everyone. SCREW HER TOO!

 

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That guy is a friggin' moron, a lifetime warranty doesn't entitle you to a new free battery when the old one wears out!

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Then what,exactly,does it mean ?
It's guaranteed the hit the floor if you drop it ?

I pay extra,up front,for a product that advertises a "Lifetime warranty",
and when the product no longer functions as it should,
that is the end of IT"S life time and I get to buy another?

Yeah,right.Sounds more like 5 feet or 5 seconds,which ever comes first.


When your Snap-On,or Craftman,wrench breaks,you'd be right there looking for a FREE replacement.
Why? They are Guaranteed For Life.

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Unfortunatly for some,when a big company comes out of Chapter 11 protection,
legally,it no longer has ANY liabilities;
such as Union Contracts,Company Pensions,Life Time Warrantees,etc.

Talk to anyone who has worked for a big steel mill,like Stelco.
They are getting screwed out of their Pensions,and Retirement Benefits,
and the Bean Counters who put the company in this position are still raking in the bucks.

 

the way i see it, he got one more battery than he would have if they had gone out of business.

think about this, Kmart filed for bankrupcy protection, because they treated their customers well, for example honoring this lifetime warrantee all these years. keeping customers appears to have been more important to them for decades, not just making a buck. and that has gotten them a kick in the balls when they still honor it after their legal obligation is relieved. i think i'm gonna go buy something at Kmart today.

 

If he'd bought that lifetime battery at Auto Zone,his lifetime there means 90 days after the first replacement. Or he could have bought lifetime brake job at Midus and paid 2 1/2 times the original price for the lifetime warenty. (also good for one replacement) I heard on the radio today theres a muffler shop selling new tires that they are putting a lifetime warrenty on, ad says they will be the last tires you ever have to buy for your car. How much fine print do you think is in that warrenty?

I like the line: Lifetime means when it dies its life is over, warrenty expired.
Also: 5 feet or 5 seconds, guarenteed to meet my satifaction, man am I happy with it. Gene

 

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Lifetime means when it dies, its life is over, warrenty expired.

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Guaranteed Forever,or until it breaks,which ever comes first.
Is that the way this works?
In which case,what good is the Fucking Guarantee ?

Why am I paying extra,for nothing ?

Why don't I just buy the Cheapest Piece of Disposable Shit I can find,like all the other Morons?

 

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Why don't I just buy the Cheapest Piece of Disposable Shit I can find,like all the other Morons?

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Now you're getting it.