Sears is a wonderful organization. One wonders sometimes about their benevolent and easy going return policy, but there’s no doubt their customer service works and we keep going back for more.
Look No % Key!
When electronic calculators were just coming on the market, they were quite a novelty and sometimes they actually worked. This is a story about my first calculator(s). It was about 1972 and the Bowmar electronic calculator hit the street. I went to Sears and bought one. I found a way to pay $124.95 which was a lot for me in those days. Today I remain an early adopter of technology. I probably always will. This first machine was very limited in capability. It could add, subtract, multiply and divide. That’s all!
It worked for about two to three months when the battery would no longer hold a charge. I headed back to the store. On arrival the clerk looked at my calculator, and I was told they no longer carry that model. Technology was moving quickly. The new model available was essentially identical but had a percent key. One more button to play with. I was told that the new model was a different price and I immediately stiffened, only to hear that the new model was 99.95 rather than the 124.95 I had spent on the original. I left that day with a new calculator with a percent key and $25.00 plus tax! Not bad for a days work.!
You guessed it! The replacement calculator died in a few months, I can’t remember what happened, maybe the percent key got stuck when I spilled coke on it. Back to the store and the tale repeats itself. The model I had was no longer available. The latest and greatest now came with a bunch of new keys for the built in memory function and the price had dropped to $79.95. Yup! I got a new calculator and $20.00 plus tax back.
Buy one calculator for $124.95, trade it in twice and get a percent key. a bunch of memory keys, a calculator that worked and $55.00 back.
Not bad!
I love Sears!