Ruined Christmas Tree Memories

Update: December 31, 2014 -- Finally our local Kmart fixed the problem.  New manager called me last night asking me to come in today which we did.  He said he had a note from Corporate telling him to fix this.  Not surprising considering that the State's Attorney General Office sent them our formal complaint right before Christmas.

I won't break privacy issues with all that the manager and assistant manager told me today but let me just say that the actions of the previous manager seem suspicious to me in all of this.

I was refunded the cost of the incorrect tree in the form of a card I can also use at Sears so it was acceptable.  I got my apology and acknowledgement that we were sold the incorrect tree -- those were the primary things I wanted.

Update: December 8, 2014 -- I got the following note from Kmart:

Dears TammyJo Eckhart,

Thank you for contacting Kmart.  We are always interested in hearing
from our Kmart customers.  We apologize for the inconvenience you have
experienced with holiday tree purchase.

We appreciate your feedback. By sharing your ideas, you have enabled us
to address the issues and provide feedback to the appropriate person.
Truly, your remarks provide valuable feedback that will enable Sears
Holdings to improve the customer experience.

Due to the inconvenience of this matter, we have attached a coupon to
this email that you may use on your next visit to our store.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.  We value you as a Sears
Holdings customer and hope you will continue to make Kmart your choice
for quality and value.

Sincerely,

Kyle W
Kmart Member Services

Really? The above coupon makes up for the hassle and the bait & switch?  I don't think so!

As of 3:55pm I have filed a formal complaint via the Attorney General's Office of the State of Indiana about the College Mall ‪#Kmart‬ here in town.
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WARNING: I'm upset and when I'm upset the quality of my writing goes down fast.  However I know from experience if I do not get these emotions out, they will be very dangerous later on.

For most of our marriage my husband and I have used the Christmas tree I grew up with plus a tree that his parents sent us when we lived in a small apartment in NYC.  Last year, after 21 Christmases we knew that the two trees were falling apart plus I seemed to be allergic to the one I grew up with because it constantly made me break out in a rash when it touched my bare skin.

We went out the day after Christmas which we have done a handful of times in our marriage because we don't crowds.  But we knew we needed a new tree and thought we might have a bit of choice.  I grew up shopping at Kmarts, my parents often used their layaway plans for the holidays, and we have one just a few blocks from us plus we have their (and Sears) "showyourwayrewards" card.

It turns out that was a huge mistake.

We wanted an LED or Fiber Optic tree but could only find an LED one.

We found this Color Switch Pine, 7.5ft Cortland Pine, Tree #85 at our local Kmart. It was a size that would fit in the space we had, it had LED strings of lights that could change color using a remote, and most cool of all a rotating base.  We could finally decorate the entire tree with all of our family decorations and have the tree actually show those decorations without people trying to push behind the tree.  In our entire marriage we have only bought three tree decorations -- our angel for the top and two boxes of ornaments (4 pieces in each). Everything else we put on the tree is a gift, which we keep note of or something from our childhood. Decorating the tree has been a time to reflect on the ornaments and remember who gave each to us.

Now that is ruined by the stress caused by the following problems with the tree when we set it up on Thanksgiving day, 2014:

1) The base makes noise but does not turn
2) There was no remote control for the lights
3) There are no replacement bulbs or other parts that the box claims should be there
4) There aren't even directions on how to set up the tree inside

My husband called the local Kmart and talked to the customer service.  Then their manager called back and said she couldn't do anything because we didn't have a paper receipt (who keeps a receipt for a Christmas tree for a year?) but even if we did it wouldn't matter because it had been more than 90 days (who sets up a Christmas tree they buy after Christmas?).

They could look up the sales on our loyalty card I'm sure but nope.

Because our local Kmart wouldn't help us, we had to turn to the company that made the tree.  The information on their website claims that they sell replacement parts -- we gave them the model numbers and bought replacement light bulbs, a controller for the lights, and a new rotating tree stand.... there went all but $20 of savings for the tree.

So one week after setting up the tree we get two packages from the manufacturer, one of which looks far too large to be necessary.  Now it has moved beyond Kmart being unresponsive to the manufacturer being crazy. Let me show you what they sent us.

4 tree bases which do not work -- probably because it turns out the tree base in the box has a different model number on it than it should be?  What the hell did Kmart sell us?

Base with Boxed Tree

Replacement Base

Not only that but when we compared the replacement lights (3 strings, not just replacement bulbs) to the original they are very different.  The ones that came with the tree are regular filament lights, something we absolutely did NOT want; the replacement ones are LED what should have been in the box.  The problem with the LED strings are that they do not have a way to plug into each other so how the hell are they supposed to attach to the base?

The 3 remote controllers for the lights don't work at all -- not on the ones in the box and not on the replacement ones.  Really?! They don't even work with the 4 bases you sent?



I'm so angry that I started posting this message on every social media site I know of which allows me to, even breaking it into pieces for Twitter:

Last year on December 26, 2013, we bought a Christmas tree at our local Kmart.  We foolishly trusted that it was as boxed.

Nope, the rotating base didn't work, the extra lights, the remote, even the directions for using the tree were missing.  But our local Kmart, which could look up the sales and confirm it especially since we have a Kmart/Sears loyalty card, refuses to make things right.

So we contact the manufacturer of the tree and they sell us replacement parts -- there went any savings we had on the tree.  Now it looks like the tree is not what should have been in the box because none of the replacement parts work.

How is Kmart going to fix this?  I will keep very publicly complaining about this until the problem is solved.

I will keep hammering away at this on social media until the companies involved make it right either by replacing our tree with one that works or by refunding our money.  If you know me at all, you know that I mean what I say.

It is clear that we will very likely have to spend more money to just buy a new tree in time for our annual Holiday Party.  That upsets me not just because I'm angry Kmart but because we'd had some major house repairs in 2014 that have taxed our savings.  This level of stress made me feel something I haven't felt in almost 23 months -- a strong drive to stress eat. I've lost 100 pounds in 23 months in large part because I've very slowly worked on losing the weight through tracking what I eat.  I fought the stress eating but today it is back and it will be a very great emotional challenge for me to resist.

I hope that all of you will help me out by spreading the link to this blog post with everyone you know and on every social media site you know.  We can't allow big companies to ignore us and make us waste our money.  We only make that happen by spreading the facts about their rotten service.