Ten days ago the refrigerator, four years old, broke down. I called Sears Repair Center. I told them an elderly frail person in poor health, my mother, lives here,
Three days later, between 8 and 5, a Sears repairman came to diagnose the problem. Dead compressor. He ordered a new one.
Yesterday, a week later, the compressor arrived. I called Sears Repair Center.
Sears said a repairman could be here next Friday, July 6, between 8 and 5. Then they said he’d be here today, June 29, between 8 and 5.
He shows up at 8 a.m. today and says he’s not qualified to install compressors and he leaves, ostensibly after notifying the company.
An hour later I call Sears Repair Center and I’m pissed off. I told them again about my mother. I expressed my anger over the delays and the incompetence. The woman said she would have one of the higher ups get back to me within the hour. Two hours later I’m still waiting. I have no idea when, or if, the goddam refrigerator is going to be repaired. It’s under a Sears warranty, which is apparently a pathetically useless piece of legalese, but unless I want to pay a bundle of money to someone else, I’m stuck.
I don’t know what the hell is the matter with these people, but I do know I will never buy a major product from Sears again. Ever. They may not care, but I will make sure as many people hear this story as I can reach.
Update:
Finally the repairman showed up at about 3:30. It was Yoshi, the fellow who originally diagnosed the problem. He’s very friendly, very competent, and did the job in about two and half hours.
Of course going along with SRC’s poor performance, the new compressor is only warrantied for three months, and it’s not a match for the original compressor, thus the extended installation time.
My central complaint has to do with the management of the repair system, not the personnel I dealt with. Ten days to fix a fridge is not acceptable. Especially when an elder person is involved. Okay, she’s not an elder person – she’s an old lady. But she deserves better than what happened here.
Grumpy Lion 
I’m pretty pissed off at Sears too. Since I work everyday, I had to take a day off from work to get a dryer repaired. The dryer was making such a loud noise, you could hear it from down the street. The repair person (who was rude) turned it on and said there was nothing wrong with it. Last week when it took 70 minutes to dry one bed sheet, I decided to call Sears again. They are supposed to be here between 8 and 5 p.m. What happened to the 4 hour window that told me that they give when I purchased the Service Contract. So today, I had to take another day off from work. It is now 4:15 and no repair person has called yet. Why am I not surprised–they’ll probably cancel like they did once before. Once this contract is up, the H___ with Sears.
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Wow, I read these comments and it is amazing how these businesses are fast at taking your money for the merchandise. However when their assistance is necessary, they do not know the meaning of Customer Service. What happened to the saying ” Customer Satisfaction? Well, I guess we learn with our experiences.
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Many people will find as time goes on, service will get worse on a local and regional and national level. There are more people retiring and less people entering the service field. Usually the pay is not good, benefits if any usually suck. VO-TECH collages are not teaching appliance/electronics repair in the consumer end of things. I notice people are more rude and more incline to be unreasonable. The working environment is usually cruddy, you have to work in small spaces dirty homes, barking dogs, loud screaming brats ect. Try working on a TV full of cockroaches, or a stove or refrigerator or how about some kind of animal shit/ piss all over the back or on a unit. If you live in a big city and have to fix stuff in ghetto (excuse me I mean inner city) you have to worry about your service van being ripped off, or getting mugged. At one time in some cities, when techs went out to do a service call in certain parts of the city, three people came out to the site. One was the tech; another was a personal guard for the tech and another guard for the service van. I am not sure if they still do that or have discontinued service in those areas. Most people are not willing to face the facts that they themselves are responsible for the poor service in this country. People want cheap stuff nowadays and are not willing to pay for quality. The days of TVs, appliances lasting for 15 years or more are gone. Most stuff is made in China or Mexico and quality is the least of their worries. If you get 4 to 7 years out of anything such TVs and appliances then consider yourself fortunate. The consumer has demanded cheap crap and that’s exactly what the market place is providing. So unless consumers want to pay more, for America made and have better quality then quit complaining. When manufactures have to sell their stuff cheap it does not leave much room for paying techs a decent wage. If you want decent service, then buy the extended warranties, buy from places that offer service and actually have techs. Clean your homes, put your dog away, send the kids away and quit starring over our shoulders the whole time, clear the area that we have to work in. Don’t blame us for the unit breaking down WE DID NOT BUY IT, WE DID NOT MAKE IT, WE DON’T MAKE COMPANY POLICY. Most service techs will try their best to fix the problem to the best of their ability. We have hundreds of models, different brands of units that we have to deal with everyday and they all have a different ways of doing the same thing. How come doctors are allowed to practice? They only have 2 models of the same brand to deal with a human male and human female yet they still don’t get it right? However a tech has to get it right the first time or there is hell to pay from the customer. The American customer has no one to blame but him/herself for poor service. You demand cheap crap you get what you pay for!
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I hear what you’re saying, and agree with much of it. Apparently you missed what I said.
I paid top dollar for the refrigerator. I bought from a company that offers service and has techs, and that once had a good reputation for service. The tech was fine. The company was not.
You sound like you might be a tech. If so, perhaps it’s time for you to find a new line of work, as you seem to hate what you’re doing and have only contempt for the people who need your help. You’re contributing to the problem. I’m not being sarcastic or demeaning here, but quite serious. I once had a technical services job, locksmithing. I came to hate getting up in the morning to work. When I realized what I was doing to my emotional and physical health, I got out. If I’m reading you wrong, sorry about that. But you sound like I felt back then.
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I’m assuming you read the original post when I talk about paying top dollar, etcetera. This post is a follow-up.
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I just called for service on my 4 yr.old refrigerator this morning. This is the 3rd service call within 6 weeks. The first time it only took 2 days for the serviceman to come to diagnose and order a new compressor but another 10 for someone else to come and put it in. I of course, lost all my food in the freezer and refrigerator, not that anyone cared.
About 3 weeks later, the same problem happened again. I called, they came in 3 days, diagnosed a different problem and had to order the part, 8 days later, someone came to put on a new condensor. However, when he got here, he decided that the second repairman hadn’t properly installed the compressor, made his adjustments and left, never even installing the condenser that is still sitting in my dining room.
This morning, my freezer has defrosed and nothing in the freezer or frig. is cool….same problem as the three times before.
I called the repair center and am scheduled for a visit in three days.
I’ve had to re-buy groceries and meat 3 times and I am sick of it. No one cares that this is costing me money. Sears Customer Service is horrible. I’ve told everyone I know about how they treat their customers and I will never buy another product from Sears. If they can’t honor their warranties, why would they expect someone to take an extended warranty.
Please share this story with everyone you know so that no one else has to go thru this or at least they’ll know what to expect when it happens to them.
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I have been in retail for over 25 years, working for great comapnies such as Nordstrom and Bed, Bath & Beyond. I have used Sears products all of my adult life because of the backing of their products. I purchased a blower at one time and lawn mower another time. I had to take both items back with a little over a years use and was very unsatisfied with the results. The blower would not work and they wanted as much to fix it as it would cost to replace it. But yet I purchased another blower FROM SEARS and chalked up my loss. I recentely took a lawn mower in because it would not start after having it a little over a year and was told it would cost me $120 plus dollars to repair a bent shaft from possibly running over something in the yard. I have a very flat yard with no tree stumps or anything in it, so it was impossible for me to damage the mower. The mower never showed any signs of not working. One day I went to start it and it would not start. One of the guys at the service center told me the carborator needed adjusted which made sense to me. Then I get this phone call informing me of the bad news. All I want is to be able to use a product within a reasonable amount of time without having to buy a new one every 2 years. I am a loyal customer at Sears and I would love to continue, but I need someone to do something for me on this mower situation.
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Another Sears story. I purchased a Craftsman Wood Lathe for Christmas 2005, paid $475.00. June 2006 wood stopped turning but motor works. 2 weeks later repairman showed up , need new motor unit. 2 weeks later new unit showed up and 1 week later repairman installed it. Great. November 2006 wood stops turning, motor still running. Same time frame, same repair, new motor unit. Great. July 2007 wood stops turning motor still running. 2 weeks repairman shows up but he only fixed lawn equipment, he was told it was a lawnmower. 1 week later repaiman shows up, samestory as before, need new motor unit BUT part is no longer made by Craftsman so can not repaid. I have used this “top of the line Professional” Craftman Lathe for 18 months as a hobby. It is now useless. After at least 7 calls to repair and 7 different people I have been told there is no supervisor, no wait there is a supervisor but he has no phone, no wait he has a phone but they must contact them by E-Mail and they will return my call with in 24-48 hours. 1 return supervisor call while I was at work and the return phone number for “Eric” is “Sears Repair, How may I HELP you???” and they never heard of Eric… It is now 4 weeks since REPAIR and all I can get is 20% off my NEXT craftsman tool. They don’t understand why there will NEVER be another Craftsman tool. . .
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Ironically, my Sears refrigerator and freezer is working fine, but that’s the only big ticket Sears items we own that did not break down in the first year. 1. The dishwasher makes a high pitched noise now. 2. The clothes washer doesn’t completely empty of water after a load. 3. The lawn mower arrived with broken handle bars. I’ve been keeping it together with wire. 4. The lawn tractor’s front axle fell apart while I was mowing. Steering is only held in with small pins. 5. The treadmill went off its tracks. 6. The snow blower’s tires popped off the wheels. Well, it’s to be expected that mechanical appliances will need service and repair. The difficulties for me occurred when I tried to get service from Sears for these things. It was easier just to give the treadmill away to a second hand shop. As far as getting someone to put the tires back on my snowblower, it’s been two years now and I have not been able to get anyone to come to my home. A) Last year, they put me on hold, re-routed my call again and again and finally the last person hung up on me. I called back several times but eventually gave up. B) On one call, they told me to use a rope and pop the tire back on myself. Believe me I tried. C) On another call, they told me to drive it to another town where they have a garage that can service it. I used the blower with flat tires last winter. D) This year, I finally got someone to send a repair service. Thank you phone person, whoever you are! They confirmed the appointment yesterday. They were supposed to be here today. I missed the serviceman’s call at 7.55 AM. I was on the can. They called back between 8 and 9, but I was on the phone. So I got a voicemail saying he’s moving on to the next job. But they confirmed the appointment yesterday. How many confirmations do they need? If the repair person needs directions, there are many ways to get them. So judge for yourself. Sears has nice stores, convenient store locations and hours. They have friendly staff. It’s easy to order from Sears. Their prices are competitive. However, the items should work properly, and I do expect them to work properly for at least 12 months if not more…And when I do need service, I’m willing to pay for those service calls, but I want the service though…Please come fix my snow blower tires. I’ll pay you and hug you and thank you unreservedly. There’s no dog poop or roaches in my garage. Honest.
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I have a Kenmore gas range that has worked pretty well for the last 9 years. I really have no complaints about the appliance itself. What I do want to say is that there is NO service associated with the way the Sears service department is run.
My oven stopped heating and I thought I’d take a look at it. When I began looking into it I realized that the lower oven burner had a hole the size of a pencil blown in the side of it. The igniter had some splatter from the burner tube and would probably also have to be replaced. I decided that I really didn’t want to risk blowing the family up with a self repair gown wrong and called the service department at Sears. I called to make an appointment on October 31, 2007. When making the appointment they were very interested in finding out the issue with the oven. I told them exactly what I had seen and that I knew I would need the burner and igniter replaced. They told me that the earliest appointment would be November 8th. I wasn’t thrilled with the long wait but I still didn’t want to blow the family up.
I had to take a half day off of work because they said that I could request afternoon service but it would be between 1 PM and 5 PM. When the service man arrived I already had the oven door off and the bottom drawer removed because I wanted to make this as easy as possible. He came in and looked at the oven and told me that I needed a new oven burner and igniter but he didn’t have the part and would have to order them. He would have to come back on November 15th after the part arrived. I was really frustrated that they were adamant about knowing what the problem was when I called but had not acted on the information. The service man said he would need a check for $173 before he could enter the order and make my next appointment. He needed $113 for the parts and $60 for the service call. What did I get for that $60 other then a confirmation of what I already told them? He also informed me that there would be an additional $46 charge when he returned to install the components.
The Service department called me Tuesday November 13th to say that the part did not ship until Monday October 12th and that my service appointment would have to be moved back to November 24th. I explained this had been going on for weeks now and I really needed an oven for Thanksgiving. She told me that I would have to call the service department and go through the computerized system to change that date. She can cancel my original appointment and schedule another for after Thanksgiving but if I wanted something else she couldn’t help me. I went through the computer phone system again and was able to get the appointment changed to Saturday November 17th. The parts arrived on Wednesday November 14th and I had to call in to get my Thursday November 15th appointment back. I had no desire to wait around all day Saturday.
I took another half day at work and came home to wait for the service man to finally fix the oven. He called at 11 AM to see if I was home and I wasn’t because I had asked for an afternoon appointment. At about 4:30 PM I decided he wasn’t going to make it and I was going to go ahead and risk life and limb and repair it myself. When I un-wrapped the igniter I found that the coils had been broken by the plug that was packaged directly above the coils.
I was back on the phone to the service department. I was transferred to 4 different people and had to tell my story 4 times before I could get some one to get the replacement parts on order. They could not overnight them and so I will not be getting my parts until Monday November 19th. I was also told that it would be December 7th before they could get someone here to install the parts.
I am now looking at repairing the oven myself if the repair parts get here on Monday so that I can cook Thanksgiving dinner for my family. I have to ask, other then a lot of frustration, what has the service department done for me?
Wish me luck!
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I wish I would have read these comments two weeks ago. I would have saved myself a lot of grief!
My story is similar with an eleven-year-old Kenmore (Whirlpool) refrigerator. It stopped working 2-1/2 weeks ago. I scheduled an appointment with Sears Repair and was told it would be one week, between 12 and 5 p.m. before they could be here. At 5 p.m. on Saturday the service person arrived and said he did not have a part but would order it and it would be Fed-Exed to my home. It was also suggested that my refrig was “old” and should be replaced. This was a high-end refrig and I had no intention of dumping it into the local land fill. Besides, my previous Sears refrig had been in constant use, without a single repair, for 30 years!
The repairs were rescheduled for a week later between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. At 12:30 I called Sears Repair service and was told the service person was ill that day and I would have to reschedule for the following Saturday! Unbelievable! I ranted and told them under no circumstances would I ever again buy another Sears product!
I called a local repair service and told them my plight and that I had the part sitting here if I could get a service person to install it. They will be here on Wednesday, or before if possible.
I will NEVER again purchase an appliance from Sears! It is no wonder that their stock has plummeted. They don’t deserve to remain in business!
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Try 60 days – that’s what it’s taken to get a 6-month old TV UNDER WARRANTY repaired. And I only got resolution because I went up the food chain – for those who need it, Sears has a RESOLUTION CENTER – 1-800-215-9163, it’s called their “Rapid Response Center.” They are not a service scheduling unit – you have to use the regular folks for that. BUT if you run into what I did – the part never showed up, so the service folks could never fix it, and on and on and on – they can speak directly with whomever is in charge of your local service center and figure out a reasonable response strategy (which is what’s needed when the system falls down, not just try over again).
The problem (which these response folks can’t obviously fix, either – they didn’t make the policy) is that Sears decoupled parts from repair, some time ago. On the surface this makes sense: they’ll repair anything, so there’s no way on God’s green earth they could – or even would – stock every part for everything that they might repair. They do keep the normal things on the truck that they might need, and parts they might end up using more often (example, they had the hose on the truck that my dishwasher needed). But where the disconnect occurs is that they ship the part to YOU, not to the servicing center. This also sounds logical – get the part directly to the consumer, then schedule a time to come out and install it.
Where it all falls apart are several places. First, the Parts folks apparently operate independently of the service folks -in the case of my TV, they swore up and down that I had the part. When I insisted they show me the signature page on the FedX delivery confirmation, they couldn’t produce it – so ordered the part again. Second, the repair folks don’t have visibility on the parts side – while they claim to, the reality is different. Finally, everything is done through Sears’ central coordinators, who aren’t connected to either Parts OR Service except as it relates to schedules.
My recommendation for people, sadly, is that you shouldn’t buy anything from Sears that may need service. Home Depot and Lowe’s aren’t much better, but at least they handle the whole process: you’re not suddenly responsible for the required parts for service, nor are you trying to act as a logistics coordinator. It’s a disservice to expect your paying customers to take on that role, but until Sears decides to change its policies, trying to work this “system” will continue to be challenging for both you and the individuals within Sears trying to get your product repaired.
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We purchased an Amana refrigerator from the Sears in Capitola, CA in 2005. On Jan. 11, 2008 it started to have problems cooling and my wife called service. The scheduled appointment was on Jan. 15, by which time we had begun living out of coolers and we had thrown away a whole lot of food. The tech’s diagnosis was a broken compressor. He called in for the part and they scheduled the delivery for a week later, on Jan. 22 with the repair scheduled for Jan. 23. On Jan. 22, we received an automated message telling us the part delivery would be delayed until Jan. 24, and the repair was delayed until Jan. 25. The part did show up on Jan. 24, at about 6:30 PM. The tech came as scheduled on Jan. 25 and after an hour plus of work, determined that the compressor had been shipped on its side, all of the oil had run out, and so was unrepairable. He told my wife that he would order an emergency delivery of a replacement. Both my wife and I spoke to customer service reps who said that the part would be delivered on Jan. 28 and the repair would happen on Jan. 29. Today, on Jan. 28, no part arrived, but we did receive a canned phone call from Sears reminding us of the service call. My wife called customer service, only to find out that the part had been backordered all along, and that they would not be able to repair our fridge for at least a week.
Both my wife and I have spoken to customer service during this ordeal to try and communicate that we consider all of these delays unacceptable, and that all we want is for the Sears store to loan us a replacement fridge until we get ours fixed. The strategy they have taken with both of us is to first say “We don’t do that” and then say they are transferring us to another department and instead send us back to the beginning of the call-in queue.
I feel like we are in a Kafka novel at this point. This is the worst fucking service I have ever received for anything in my entire life. We are doing our best not to antagonize them to the point of having them refuse to fix our fridge, but we feel like they owe us something by now. We have three kids, and in this modern age, it’s really hard to live without a refrigerator. We are environmentally conscious, at least to the point of not having a garage fridge, and so we are totally at the mercy of Sears’ nonexistant warranty service.
If anyone has any helpful advice on how to get our food cold without buying another fridge, we’d love your help.
Tom, Julie, Henry, Charlie and Sadie
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Isn’t it nice to know that Sears stock is rapidly sinking as the company seems to be failing?
I doubt, however, that they have any clue about the degree of discontent and anger at their pathetic service department.
As for getting the food cold, until there’s some new as-yet-unknown technology, there isn’t much to do. You could go back to the old icebox, but nobody delivers ice anymore, and that won’t work for frozen foods – unless you use dry ice somehow.
Of course you could change your diet to fruits and nuts and seeds and berries, or just buy what you need each day and no more.
Moving to northern Canada won’t work. The ice is melting there.
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I also have had issues with Sear Repair center. I purchased a washer and dryer in August 2007. My washer is not working when on Cold/Cold. Because it is still on warrantee I called Sears to fix it. The first time I scheduled an appt, my son stayed at my house since I had to work. Because he works nights and sleeps days, he slept in a recliner in my living room waiting for a technician that never showed up. When I called at 5:30, they said the technician would not be there until 6:30 or 7:00. I rescheduled the appt for 3 weeks later, since they could not accommodate my schedule. This time they were suppose to be there between 8 and 12 in the am. I subsequently scheduled dr. appts for the afternoon at 2:00 and 3:00. The technician did not arrive until 3:00, so I had to cancel my appts and when I called to inquire and spoke to a manager, she said there was nothing she could do. She says it was like the airlines that overbook their flights. I let her know that I had just spent 1 1/2 weeks flying on several flights and had not experienced that problem or late flights at all. I told her that yes, there was something she could do. She could change the way they schedule their appt. she informed me that it was not possible because of one complaint. As I see on this message board, i am not the only one who has issues, which is what I told her. I am still waiting to see if my washer will be fixed to my satisfaction. As soon as my warrantee is over, I will be calling my friend who repairs appliances for a living. good Luck everyone.
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I have learned appliance repair on my own, most of the repairs are simple. Compressors and other big ticket items are only difficult becuase of the extra tools, freon and what not you might need.
Don’t buy extended warentees or parts through Sears, use your local appliance service centers and it will save you 60-80%, plus they have either in stock or can order and get you parts faster.
If you can’t do the work yourself because of age, fear, general lack of interest then call an independant repair man, he will show up and do the work not that its cheap, but the quality and timing will far surpass the work you’ll get at Sears.
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My service was scheduled between 8 am to 12 pm today. No serviceman showed up after 12:15 pm and no one ever called to tell me they were running late. I tried to go on line to reschedule the appointment cuz I have to go back to work in the afternoon, ended up that I was reading all the terrible experience about Sears repairs, I was so scare that I just call to cancel the appointment. I don’t want myself to involve into one of those “bad” situations.
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I have a craftsman electric start mower under warranty.I sent it for reapair in May with a dead battery which would not charge up.The charger rated at 15volt output was giving 12.4volts,the battery spec require 14.5-15volt continuous cycle charge.I have argued with the mechanic!!! at repair depot and he insists that 12.4 floating voltage is correct,so why does the charger indicate 15volt output spec.,the mower has spent more time at repair depot than on my lawn.
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I Ordered Parts For My Lawn Tractor,All The Parts Were Wrong.I Returned All Parts To The Thomptson Ln. Store. I Coninue To Tell Them The Were Returned.I Keep Getting Billed.My Lawn Tractor Was Repaired By Sears Repair Center. Please Help Me.I am Writing This Because I Presently Need Repair On My Tractor.If I Got My Tractor Fixed By Sears Why Would I Keep Your Parts.1 615 896 7981
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Hi,
Not that this is new to anyone who posted here but at least I can air my dismay. My husband and I try to support to American companies. What has that gotten us in this case? The worst service ever.
Our son is sick and going into surgery tomorrow. Sears told us they would call us to schedule as earlier appointment. They never called. I have called four times now with customer service hanging up on us. I will never buy from them again.
This refrigerator is under warranty. It is a 5 year warranty and they just sit there doing nothing because of their profit margin. No wonder they are going down hill.
Jenny
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NEVER EVER BUY ANYTHING REQUIRING SERVICE FROM SEARS!!!!
My airconditioning broke and I was conned into buying a $10,000 Carrier Unit from Sears. I paid the amount in full. Now we have had 11 straight days of 100 degree weather and the airconditioning broke. Further, I delivered a baby on Friday. I reported the airconditioning problem on Thursday. They promised to be here on Tuesday. So I endured 4 days of 100 degree weather in the house with a 2 year old and a 3-day old baby. On Tuesday morning the technician called told me that he could not fix it. He would call Carrier and they would treat it as an emergency.
I waited 6 hours. Then I called Sears again (note – I have a warranty through 2014). The service center told me
a) They did not know what to do b) The order was cancelled c) I should figure it out or call Carrier.
When I asked for the manager I was put on hold for 15 minutes, then I hung up.
I called back and after much rigamarole and frustration they told me to call a local service company. Naturally the service company wants me to pay for the repairs.
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I’ve had a similar problem with Sears. I purchased an expensive dishwasher from Sears which seems to break down every six months or so. I do have an extended warranty, which has been worth it’s weight in gold in terms of saving money, but not in terms of quality. The latest was when it broke down 3 weeks back. Called the repair center, got an appointment for a week later, with a time-window between 1 and 5 pm. Took the day off work, the technician actually arrived at 6.30 pm, took one look at the dishwasher, said the motor needed to be changed, placed an order for the part, and was out of the house by 6.40 pm. The part arrived a week later, so I made a fresh appointment for the technician to come and replace the old part. The appointment was for another week later, with a window between 1 and 5 pm. Took half the day off again, found no signs of the technician. Called the Sears hot-line at 5.00 pm, was told that the technician was on his way. Called the Sears hotline again at 6.00 pm, told the technician was on his way. Called the Sears hotline a third time at 7.00 pm, was told the technician had left for the day, and the only thing they could do was to give me a fresh appointment for a new day. Asked to speak to a supervisor, was put on hold for 15 minutes, and then disconnected without actually speaking to anyone. Finally the technician actually did arrive at 7.35 pm. The first words out of his mouth were that he had never actually changed a motor in a dishwasher before. Great – so after waiting for so long, Sears actually sent me a technician who was unqualified. Gave him the manual for the dishwasher – finally at about 8.00 pm, rolled up my sleeves and started helping him. The dishwasher was finally “fixed” at 9.10 pm, but the technician was not sure that the unit was “leak-free”. So he left the front cover off, and promised to come back the next day to check the unit for leaks, and to replace the front cover. I did not observe any leaks the next day, but he never came back – and I waited for a week before replacing the cover myself. Pretty unbelievable experience, I must say. Anyone who purchases items from Sears does so at their own risk!
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My Kenmore Elite dishwasher broke on June 7st. I called and got an appt. for the 11th (keep in mind that it’s now AUGUST 13th). He said he needed to order parts and to let him know when they come in so that we can reschedule. So we wait a week for parts- of course no one told us how many parts we were waiting for. I call and make an appt only to find out that two of the parts are on back order and they don’t know when they’ll arrive, but to let them know when we get them. The parts finally arrive and one is a duplicate of the one we already had and one is the wrong part. Call Sears again- now they will do an “emergency order” to get the right parts. Finally got the parts and wait another week for technician. He replaces ALL the electronics and says it’s fine- it worked a couple of days and quit again.
Call Sears and wait another week for appt. This guy says it’s the switch on the door and replaces it and leaves. It works for about four days and quits again. Call Sears and wait another week for appt. New guy says the switch just needs adjusting. He tinkers with it a few minutes and says it’s fixed and leaves. I tried to run a load of dishes and it quits 20 minutes into the cycle. To add insult to injury, now the door has a hideous sqeaking noise that wasn’t there before. We have now had 3 different repairmen out here (some more than once.)
Like others we have talked for HOURS and HOURS to people who say they are connecting you to someone and just hang up. We were told that the supervisors are just there to monitor the call center workers and don’t talk to customers and then hung up. We have talked to the warranty folks, customer relations, and on and on. The higher up you eventually get the nicer they sound, but still nothing gets done. It’s now cost more in labor and parts than the stupid dishwasher was worth in the first place.
There is actually a law (federal) that says if a company cannot repair a product in 30 days that the customer is entilted to a replacement or monetary compenstation. It’s the Moss or Mossey something, I need to look it up again. (check out the lemon laws) the customer is also entitled to legal fees if you sue.
The little game Sears plays is that they claim they will replace the appliance if they have to come out four times in one year on the same problem- but they either just claim it’s a different problem or they don’t “count” some visits. Even though we have had someone here 6 times on this problem, only 2 times “count” because if they didn’t actually replace a part when they came apparently they were just dropping by to say hello or something.
We have purchased over $10,000 in appliances alone at Sears in the last 5 years. Even if this current problem is resolved, we will NEVER purchase an appliance from Sears again.
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During one of the many visits the technicians made on the dishwasher (so far) I mentioned that my stove (5 years old) wasn’t working right. They were having a special on repairs that month, so I had him look at it. He said the ignitor needed to be replaced. It cost $139. Then he told me that the ignitor needs to be replaced every 4-5 years and that what causes it to go out is using the self-cleaning option. SO…. the moral is… don’t clean you oven with the self-cleaning feature or you will end up having to replace the ignitor at the “bargain price” of $139.
We moved into this house 5 years ago and bought all new appliances. So far, we have had problems with the stove, dishwasher, front-loading washer and the dryer. I wish we hadn’t bought them all at the same time because we didn’t realize they were all going to break down around the same time! I had totally had it with Sears. I don’t think the BBB can really do anything other than keep your complaint on file. Try the Consumer Protection Agency. They actually have some enforcement power.
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I was amazed while reading all of the negative comments re: Sears appliances and service. My appliances (refrigerator, dishwasher, washer, drier, lawnmower, etc) were purchased from Sears & all worked as expected. I’ve bought from Sears for 40 years. When repairs were needed, the repairman came when promised & fixed the problem. My dryer needed a part one time, which the repairman retrieved from the Sears parts department and came back the next day to fix.
The only compaint I have had is today, when Sears called to delay my lawnmower return from the repair department by 10 more days.
I was really upset until I read all of your comments. Thanks for cheering me up.
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Okay you want a good one here goes. On Dec.16th 2008 our Kenmore refrigerator decides to stop cooling and freezing our food. This is the third load of food that we have lost in the last three years. We call the Sears Service line from hell and of course are on hold for 20 min.. Have an appt. set for the 19th between 8 and 12. This is 3 days after it went down. Guy comes to the house when only my 17 year old daughter is home ( this will come into play later) comes right in and finds the problem is the compressor this time. Okay I return home while he is there and he tells me that he will order the part and re-schedule the repair for the 29th. The 28th roles around and no part but we get a canned call to confirm appt.. On the 29th Girlfriend calls in and is told we have to re-schedule. I call in and want to know where the compressor is. After the required 20 minutes in Sears hold hell I get a UPS tracking #. I check this and the compressor is to be dellivered that day. It shows up at 10:30-11:00 in the morning. I call Sears again to re-schedule and after 30 minutes in hold hell am told between 8 and 12 on the 30th. While on the phone I requested that the tech call my cell phone before coming, not the home phone. The problem being I am deaf and will not hear the home phone ring. I realize that this is my problem but thought that they could make the change.So the 30th roles around and I wait until 10:30 and no tech no call. I have to drop a car at the service center 10 minute from the house and the 3 16year olds are home and the guy has my cell phone so I’m covered right. WRONG. The tech calls the house and asks if anyone over 18 is home, daughter says no and tech tells her to tell mommy and daddy to call and re-schedule. Now I,m pissed. No attempt was made to call my cell, if it was I could have been at the house before the tech arrived. I call Sears hold hell again and after three calll and some very irrate yelling I hang up. Later after I have calmed down I call to re-schedule, I am told that they will be out on the 31st between 8 and 12. 31st roles arounde and I camp out next to the phone ( the deaf thing ) get up around 11 and go into next room, phone rings and daughter once again gets the reschedule thing, she tells tech to call my cell # because she does not relize that I am in next room, tech says that he cannot call cell #’s and hangs up. Now I am really mad. I call Sears hold hell and while I am on the line my cell # rings I answer and it is a woman from Sears service saying that she understands that there is a problem. UNDERSTATMENT. After a lenghthy conversation she has deleted my home # and the only 1 that can be called now is the cell # and she will have the local head of service call me later that day. New Years Eve. Sure and Santa is coming too!!! So now it is the 2nd of Jan. 2009 and I call Sears service hold hell again and am rescheduled for the 6th of Jan. between 8 and 12, this after telling the person that I want to talk to there boss and being re-routed through hold hell to some one that eventually hangs up on me. Okay so do I have an appointment or not.
Okay now I am at witts end I have been through the Holidays with four teen agers and 1 girlfriend and myself without a refrigerator. THis is a total of 22 days. I have 5 days missed work, three loads of food, about four hours of hold hell time, and absoluteiy ZERO paitence left. First off why can a tech come in the house when only a 17 year old is home but not when 3 16 year olds are home??? Second who is going to reimburse me for the time off of work. Third who is paying for the food and the ice for 22 days and counting. The way I have it figured is Sears owes me about 2900.00 dollars.
I can only hope that we all servive this ordeal and I have to wonder how Sears ever got this sorry. I am tired of talking to someone in India so that I can sit on hold and wait to talk to someone in the States just so they can tell me that there is nothing that they can do and hang up or put me back in hold hell. I am going to try the Resolution Centers # that was posted on this board and see what happens. Until then everyone have a Happy New Year and do yourselves a favor and stay away from Sears. I will never go there again.
While on the phone I told the one service person that I am now going to require that thier service man show me proof of age when and if one ever comes here, second I want to be shown a certificate that shows he /she is qualified to work on my refrigerator. I also asked how do they verify that the person at the house is 18 or older??? A drivers liscense, a birth cert., a concealed weapons permit, what is required to be shown to this tech and what gives him the right to see my info????
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Sears SUCKS I had a problem with a refridgerator, the freezer would get warm and then cold again. I called and was told they would have a serviceman come out it would cost me $64. I was told he would be there between noon and 4pm. I had to leave for work and had someone come to my home and wait for this service man. He shows up at 6:45pm all pissed off because I am his last service call and he was suppose to be home 2 hours ago. (like that is my fault he’s running late) Well he opens the freezer side door and tells the person at my home that the compressor is shot and that it will be $800 to replace it. Well the person there asks if the compressor is no good then why is the refridgerator compartment still cold but the freezer warm?
She has him call me at work and he explains very rudely that I need a new compressor. I think that is BS and tell him I am not paying $800 for a compressor when half of the refridgerator works.
He gets all nasty swears at me and hangs up on me. I call back my house and ask for his supervisors name. He refuses at first and after some threats by me he gives me her name.
I tell him to be on his way and he can forget about his $64 I’m not paying it because he did not find the real problem.
I call his supervisor and she is just as nasty as he is. Telling me I had better pay him the money or they’ll sue me. I tell them go right ahead, here I’ll give you an attorney’s name if you would like.
I make a call to the local hardware store and explain the situation with the refridgerator and find out it’s a $20 part the rubber around the freezer door needs to be replaced. Guess what no more warm, just cold now. Yet I was suppose to pay $800 for a not needed part.
Well after the response from the two jerks that work for Sears. I made a complaint to the Florida Attorney Generals office and they handled it immediately. I was called by some big shot at Sears apologizing for their employees behavior. Oh they must have been having a bad day, I was told. Really you allow your employees to swear and threaten your customers? I made it very clear that I would NEVER purchase another item from Sears and I would make sure that no one in my family purchased anything there as well. They tried to bribe me with a $200 gift certificate. I donated it to the homeless shelter.
To this day I willnot purchase anything at Kmart(Sears owned) or Sears.
What a bunch of jerks. They might be nice to their military employees, but their assholes to the public..
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I had Sears haul away an old but working fridge and leave me with a broken one that did not cool at all. They refused to come back for 8 days. Two years later, I have a baby and my fridge is broken. It will be 13 days before the piece can be installed. I have a baby who drinks milk. Not helpful. I’ll never purchase from them again.
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To Grumpy Lion:
My name is Shayne with the Sears Escalations Team. First please allow me to apologize for the delay in responding to the many different complaints on this sight with Sears. Here at Sears, we value each and every customer that we have. Unfortunately, there are times when we miss the mark as far as poor customer service, not showing up on time for a service call, delays in delivery and many other things. In our department we are working to tackle these issues one at a time as we come across them. We are a single point of contact for our customers and our case managers work an issue from the beginning to the end when we get a resolution that best suits our customers and Sears. I would like to ask each and every one of you to contact our office via email at searscares@searshc.com and we will have a case manager contact you directly within 24 hours of receipt of the email. In the email, please provide a contact phone number and we will call you directly. Also, in your email, please reference this web site, for reference to were you heard about us, and we do look forward to talking to you soon.
Thank you,
Shayne W.
Senior Case Manager
Sears Cares
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Our LG dishwasher (approx.2.5 years old)developed a door leak last year.It was repaired when under warranty,but another leak developed in May 2010.Sears repairmen have made numerous attempts to rectify the problem with no success -to date (july 20,2010).We paid over $200. for repairs in june. In addition to the frustration of waiting for repairs,waiting for repairmen that do not show up for scheduled appointments,and calling different Sears departments for assistance ,another major problem has developed-our hardwood floors are showing damage from the leaking water.Small claims court,here we come.
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