Sunday, July 29, 2012

Sears

I tried to order some shirts from Sears yesterday, went through the whole process of searching, selecting and then providing all the necessary billing information. My purchase was acknowledged; everything seemed in order. Then I got an e-mail saying it was canceled because the items were not in stock. Ok, they can run out of things, but the time to discover this is BEFORE they take all my credit card information and make me go through the process of providing billing information, etc. So I decided to look at the terms of use link  (they actually call it both Terms of Use and Terms of Service) at the bottom of the page on their site - sears.com. If you read this carefully, Sears is trying to assert that whatever you do on their site with respect to a purchase or anything can, at most, result in a Sears liability of 100 USD! Would anyone agree to walk into a Sears store, buy something, have it go bad immediately, or something in the store cause other harm to the customer and expect that the Sears liability would be only $100, would they? Of course not! This is both preposterous and also any customer of Sears who thinks about using their website should know:
"IN NO EVENT SHALL SEARS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE AFFILIATES, OR THE SHAREHOLDERS, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, MEMBERS, MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS OR REPRESENTATIVES OF ANY OF THE FOREGOING, BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL OR REVENUE, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR LOSS OF DATA) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF, ACCESS TO, RELIANCE ON, UNAVAILABILITY OF, INABILITY TO USE, OR IMPROPER USE OF THE SEARS SITE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY USER CONTENT, REVIEWS, ADVICE, SERVICES, PRODUCTS, AND OTHER INFORMATION AND MATERIALS CONTAINED IN OR DESCRIBED ON THE SEARS SITE, OR THE DISCLOSURE OR MISUSE OF ANY USER'S PERSONAL INFORMATION, EVEN IF THEY HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE. IN ANY EVENT, SEARS' RESPECTIVE TOTAL MAXIMUM LIABILITY IN RESPECT OF THE SEARS SITE OR ANY PART THEREOF, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE USER CONTENT, REVIEWS, ADVICE, SERVICES, PRODUCTS, AND OTHER INFORMATION AND MATERIALS CONTAINED IN OR DESCRIBED ON THE SEARS SITE, IN ANY MANNER WHATSOEVER, SHALL BE LIMITED TO ONE HUNDRED UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($100.00). THIS LIMITATION SHALL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF THE ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY PROVIDED HEREIN."

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