Sears
reviews and complaints

On 7/19/2008 I purchased a Kenmore ELITE® ULTRAWASH ® HE Dishwasher [Model 665.13153K701] at SEARS in Lanesboro, MA. I was persuaded to purchase installation through “qualified SEARS technicians”, even though very expensive (total price $1, 476.35).
The installers arrived more than ½ hour late; they pulled up onto our lawn in an unmarked, rusty minivan. Within minutes, our front yard was trashed with packaging material and old dishwasher parts. They were rude and unfriendly; they seriously damaged our kitchen tile floor. And since they were so late, but my wife had a medical appointment, we had to leave them with my 12-year old daughter – very scary. They left the kitchen in a mess and my daughter upset.
It soon became clear that the dishwasher was not working right: It would cancel cycles, often with detergent still left in the dispenser, leaving the dishes unclean and wet. The green clean light is flashing 8 times – pause – 1 time – pause etc.
When I called the “Parts & Repair Service Center” I was told that I needed to let the hot water run prior to starting the dishwasher; otherwise the sensor gets confused. This was obvious nonsense, but I obliged and followed this advice; to no avail.
The second time I was told it happened because I wasn’t using rinse aid. Again, this was nonsense (the problem had occurred prior to my running out of rinse aid), but I re-filled the dispenser; to no avail.
The third time I called, I stated I was getting frustrated, and I did not want phone advice anymore: I insisted on SEARS sending a repair technician to our home. The representative put the phone down.
The fourth time I called, I stated that I was going to file a law suit against SEARS if no repair technician was sent to my home: Thereupon, Technician A was dispatched.
Upon arrival he said: “I really have no clue how these modern dishwashers work”. He stated he could only order a new sensor and control board, and replace them.
Several days later we received in the mail a generic looking sensor and control board; probably not original parts, but cheap replacement parts.
During a second visit to our home, Technician A installed the new sensor and control board. To no avail: the problem persisted.
I called the “Parts & Repair Center” again to schedule another technician visit. I requested a different technician, since Technician A – as he himself had stated – didn’t know what he was doing. I was promised a “Senior Technician”.
Several days later Technician B came to our home. He immediately noticed that our dishwasher wasn’t level - the top of the dishwasher protruded 1 in. from under the countertop. He explained that, due to not being level, it wasn’t draining properly and triggering the overflow protection float. This made sense. He spent a long time righting the dishwasher; prior to leaving he asked us to call if we had any more problems, but he seemed confident that he had found and corrected the problem.
At first it seemed that way; pretty soon, though, it became clear that the incidents of malfunction were still occurring - less frequently. Instead of having an incomplete cycle and green light blinking “8-1” every other day it now occurs once or twice a week.
I called back and asked for another technician visit. I was told to call "One-Source": to replace our DW a technician had to confirm it's malfunction (apparently not in the record). I asked for Technician B to come back and asked not to see Technician A again. Yet, Technician A showed up at our house. This time he declared our dishwasher was fine and our water wasn't hot enough (it is 114 F). He left, problem unsolved.
I wrote a letter asking for a replacement dishwasher, installed by proper service technicians, or my money back. Today I received a phone call: A new DW was offered, but my request for different installers could not be granted. I was told "we have nothing to do with installation". Also, I was asked to provide my credit card number - which I refused.

We bought an He washingmachine 3 years ago, and as luck would have it, it died on us and we did not purchase am extended warranty, which is not the complaint. The first complaint is that this product should have not failed after only 3 years. It has been broken for a month. A repairman came out and said it was the electronic computer board that died. we said "ok" put a new one in! He said he would have to order it and it would be sent to us, and then another repairman would come out. Well we never got the part, and that was because the first repairman did not order the part like he said. So the next repairman ordered the part, and it was delivered to somewhere else. Two other repairmen came out and they found the part was sent to the wrong address. So they find the part and install said part, and it still doesnt work.

So now they are trying to figure out what went wrong! They say that the wrong part was ordered and the part that came was defective. So they ordered the supposed right part, and it shows up last week. But they cant install it because they are booked up til today, Wednesday, Mar 25, 2009. So we say ok do it then.
My wife called Monday March the 23rd, 2009, and said the part had been delivered to our house. The person on the phone, verified they would be out on Wednesday 25 Mar 2009.

The automated portion of your so called service dept called several times to let us know that the repairman would be here today, wednesday march 25, 2009, between the hours of 8 am and 12 pm.
When the repairman didnt show up by 1130, I called the service dept and got someone I could not understand.
All I could understand from her was that a repairman was dispatched to our house between the hours of 8 am and 12 pm. So I say thank you. My wife called from her school and talked to the service dept and they tell her a repairman is scheduled from 8 am to 12 pm. But by this time, the repairman is gonna have to use a time machine, because it is after 3. After several more calls, we can get no one to tell us what the problem is.
It is now 9:12 pm, 13 hours later from when I started my vigil.

We called a total of 5 times, and were told we were 6th 7th or 8th on the list, and the "repairman is on the way".
I am listening in on the conversation between my wife and YOUR service dept, and now due to negligence and complacency on YOUR PART, and through no fault of our own, they say it will be another week.
How nice! Once we get the washer fixed, we WILL NEVER SHOP AT SEARS AGAIN FOR ANYTHING.
I HAVE ANOTHER PLACE IN THE COUNTRY, AND I CAN TELL YOU I NEED A LOT OF ITEMS, THAT I WILL NOT BUY FROM SEARS.
Thank you so much for not caring about your customers!

Sincerely
Mr Wann

I purchased a house full of sear appliances including a washer/dryer stacked unit in May 07. I didn't hook up the washer/dryer until June 08 and it is defective. During the spin cycle it knocks and shakes the whole house. I contacted Sears and they sent a technician in couple of weeks. His recommendation was to get them to replace the unit because he could tell it had never been used but his diagnosis was that the spin basket was warped. I contacted Sears One Source and they wouldn't replace the unit and I had to pay upfront to have it repaired. He ordered the basket. 2 weeks later another repairman came back to replace the basket. He made the comment that I had gotten a lemon and should have it replaced after installing the basket did not fix the problem. He suggested I talk with them again and that if I wanted to fix it I should probably replace the transmission next. I told him I would call and see what they said. They denied the replacement siting the 1 year warranty was up even though both technicians had said they could tell it was brand new. After a couple of months and getting my original fees back from Sears One Source, I called to get the workorder completed. I was then told I had only thirty days and it was closed now. I had to have another technician come out and rediagnose the problem since the last technician had not included the part number in the service request. I asked to speak to a manager and he told me that they coudln't access the history from something closed so they had to send someone out to start all over. I asked to speak with his manager and he said that it wasn't possible. I asked if I could have the manager contact me via email or phone and he said no. I asked again and he hung up on me. I've had the washer/dryer since May 07 and have not been able to wash a load of clothes yet!

I contacted Sears Connect and signed up for a long distance plan.
Yesterday, I recieved a 32 page bill, 31 pages were a list of calls I had never made.
I was told I would have to wait for a "couple of days" before a supervisor would contact me~!
I'm not so worried about the bill ($115.00) as they assured me the charges would be removed... but in the meantime, I feel violated.
Who is making these calls using my number?
How can this happen?

There was a 922.12 fraudulent charge Sears Gold Master Charge March 2008. Sears was notified via certified mail and telephone April 2008. Have now sent 11 certified letters requesting charges be removes. Sears indigested wrong charges took more than a year to get copies of merchant recites. I have spoken to customer service more that 15 times trying to get matter resolved. Merchant refuses to work with Sears due time from report of complaint until Sears took any action, . I am told by Sears Gold Card customer services “too much time has elapsed, Just pay the bill. Now more than $1500 with one years interests

I went into sears in Montgomery Ala Feb. 9 2009 and exchanged a diehard portable power 1150A. I also returned a 1/2" pull bar craftsman and had no trouble. I brought it home and put it in my shop. Later on i got it out of the box and pluged it up to charge it to find that it was charged but it would not jump any thing off. So i pluged it up left it for about 24 hours notthing its got a switch on the frount that you can mash to see how much power it has again nothing. I called Greenville Sears and told them this same storey They told me to call Sears in Montgomery. And get them to call them and they would exchange it for me . I called Montgomery and i told them that i didnt come to montgomery much and i was trying to get it repaced in Greenville He ask me did i have my receipt itold him i didnt know. Well i couldnt find it but did find where they had gave me a 20% off coupon. So he told me that if i didnt have my receipt that it could not be exchanged. He told me that they dont keep up with exchanges are as he said out the door items. now i didnt have a receipt when i returned the other one. I have been doing bisness with sears for years all my tools lawntractor some of my home furnishing. I think this is b------t My name is Michael Smith 9082 steiner store road Honoraville, ala [protected] now i want to be able to go to Greenville Ala sears to replace my new diehard portable power 1150A that is no good THANKIS

I am posting this in hopes that others will not fall prey to this "pass the buck" attitude in reference to appliance repair/replace events that have recently taken place in my case. After having purchased a 10 yr old home not quite 3 yrs ago, I chose to replace all of the existing appliances with new ones including a 5 yr maintenance agreement for each one to alleviate any problems, or so I thought. Upon researching the different ones out there, I found that the ones available through Sears to be of the better quality and value. I then proceeded to buy a refrigerator, built in stove/microwave, dishwasher, hot water heater, and HE front loading washer and dryer as well as the 5 yr repair agreements for each one. As you can guess my purchase totaled well into the several thousand dollar range. I had absolutely no problems with any of the above mentioned items until about 6 mos ago when my dryer started going into a "PF" (power failure) mode and naturally shutting down when it does so in addition to the smell of "hot" clothes and a scorched inside screen. I of course called service repair right away and they proceeded to send someone out to check it. Seeing as how it is an intermittent problem and does not occur all of the time it was rather difficult to try and diagnose the problem. However, this repair "specialist" - I use this term loosely - was able to get it to go into that mode but could not give an explanation as to why. He suggested that I get my ventilation system redone and also have an electrician come out to check out all of the wiring, plug, outlet, and circuit breakers at my home. Wanting peace of mind, I did precisely that. My new vent is guaranteed for up to 20 years and my electrician assured me that there was absolutely nothing wrong with anything that he could possibly check. I then proceeded to call Sears back $250.00 later to make yet another appointment, and have them send someone else out. Upon having him check out the dryer problem which had happened again numerous times, he could still offer no reason as to why this was happening. He did say that perhaps it was a power surge which would of course have it flash the PF code and therefore stop the dryer. It was then that I pointed out that I had also purchased a microwave oven/stove built-in combo and if there had been a power surge that the digital clock display readouts would have gone out on those too, which of course they never did. After it happened again I was about at my wits end - if there are two things I respect it is electricity and the ensuing fire that would follow from faulty circuitry. I proceeded to call Sears one more time and at least this time they referred me to their Source One extension which is supposedly their "cure all" department. The rep that helped me did tell me that it had to be documented at least three times in reference to the same problem before they could consider a replacement for me. So I did set up yet another appointed for repair service which was totally absurd as he was here for a total of under 10 minutes and only spending 3 minutes of that time trying to get it to go into a PF. But - okay - I did as asked and then called Source One back the next day to see how to proceed on getting that replacement. Now all of the sudden I'm told that because the service technicians were unable to diagnose the problem that as far as they were concerned there wasn't anything wrong and would be unable to help me. They should read the appliance repair blogs every now and then to see that there have been many other similar complaints about the same thing. I did call Corporate after that and got more of the same lip service. Well - that is where they made their mistake as far as I'm concerned. I am very capable of helping myself and even though they will not offer to do anything to remedy this situation, I can get the word out there to the general public and warn them about the unsavory business practices that Sears seems to live by. Even though I do have to "eat" this one I am purchasing my new appliances from someone else as the need arises. They may not view losing just one consumer a bad thing but perhaps they will change their tune, especially in these hard times, if they lose a few more customers due to their deceitful practices. I will post this information wherever I can and if I can reach even just one person and save them from an almost certain similar outcome then my experience will have been worth it. So - general public - beware - DO NOT PURCHASE APPLIANCES FROM SEARS!

When we arrived at the studio, we were asked if we were interested in tradional or modern poses. I told her both but for the main pose we wanted it to be tradional. So she showed us to the studio and proceeded to put us in very unconfortable and unnatural poses. We told her that this was not working, that we would like to try more tradional poses and she ignored our request. After we were bullied through our Family Poses we wanted to get some of our two year old alone. Our daughter found a car prop that she was interested in and would not leave alone, my husband and I asked her to do a pose with it just to appease our daughter and she refused. She continued to do what she wanted and nothing that we requested. When we sat down to view our poses, she deleted 4 of the poses without consulting us first. The two poses of our family were terrible and you could tell that we were very uncomfortable. The pictures taken of our daughter were also terrible, she was not captured smiling in any of them, (however there were plenty of oppurtunities to catch her doing so). When I was ready to place my order I was told that if I used my coupon for $4.99 package I would be penalized if I wanted to get other poses. I could either buy the sheets seperatly for $7.99 or get the package (one pose) for $4.99 and each sheet of the other poses would be $20.00 each. That is not what the coupon stated but the associate did not seem to care. When I went to pick the pictures up they had taken upon themselves to print 5 extra sheets and try to SUCKER me into buying them. I asked them what they wre going to do with them and she said that they would be shredded. Needless to say I was not satisfied with this expeience and will not be returning to the studio.

Not a first in the maintenance agreement industry. You get a phone call, you negotiate, (well, Sears TELLS you) how much you are going to pay for a new maintenance agreement. After deciding which appliances you want to keep and which you want to exclude the quote you a final price. Here's the kicker! It doesn't matter what notes you keep! Sears originally quoted me a price of $1133 for three years. In todays economy, without job security, I thought this is too much. Especially since it took them NINE months to deliver our refer door. (Another story for a later date). If wwe were to remove our chest freezer we would save $100.00 per year. WOW! A freezer is cheap enough I am willing to risk the investment. Besides, when our old one gave out they refused to replace contents like their policy states. Well, how much do you think they billed me? The $1133 but removed the freezer. Hey! Where's my discount? I hop on the phone faster that lightening! Talk to a Supervisor who only tells me that he was not in on the conversation but he could remove one year and discount my policy that way. HUH? How is that helping. I want to remove the $300 extra I was charged. I asked him if he could go into a recording bank...were the conversations recorded? Nope! No such thing...but he is willing to continue to rip me off by keeping the $300 on there, then removing one year from my policy to make my policy about $300 less. Hmmm...does this sound right?

Sears Essentials on Woodyard Road Clinton, Maryland, 20735, pulls bait and switch on lawn mower. Lawn Mower Pictured on the box isn't what's in the box. A Cheaper model placed in box, Sears has failed to address problem, store manager now lies, probably since problem has gone on so long.

The lawn mower I purchased from Sears of Woody yard Road, Clinton, Maryland. This mower was purchased the day after black Friday. Without a store model I purchased it by the picture on the box, the mower I received was not what was in the box, Sears has failed to respond with a resolution, in fact I have phone corporate on 12/1, 12/5, 12/7, 12/8, 1/8/09, 1/16/09, 2/16/09, 3/7/09, 3/12/09, 3/14/09.

Once I did speak to the store manager in which she turned around the story of the wrong lawn mower such as “you weren't here on the right day?" “You got a bigger box?" To the point I became frustrated and wanted to speak to the district manager.

I phoned again today 3/14, at which point I was told the store manager has spoke to me 9 times, this is untrue! I'm furious that the problem has not only NOT been corrected but the store manager has now lied; you cannot speak to a district manager now that a store manager has SAID they have corrected the problem.

The problem is, Sears sold a lawn mower the picture on the box is NOT what was inside the box! I was told on all the calls listed above that someone would be contacting me, they haven't! I want the mower that I paid $180 for to be the one pictured on the box.

For the last two-three years I have been trying to get Citicard (Sears Mastercard) to correct erroneous charges and reckless accounting on a credit card I had with them. I have sent letters to the president of Citicard, I have filed complaints with the OCC (still under investigation), all to no avail. Until last month when I told them I REFUSED to pay another dime until they got my account straight, I was FORCED to pay minimum payment on erroneous charges to protect my credit which is PERFECT. When asked to provide an accounting, they sent a list (both to me and the OCC) of payments and finance charges and other unrecognizable activity. No accounting as to how they came up with the balance. They are cocky, unapologetic and now are calling me on my cell phone to further bully. I PAID OFF THIS CREDIT CARD OVER A YEAR AGO. I have NEVER had a late payment on any loan or credit card. I am being financially blackmailed - forced to pay or have my credit compromised. They are unintimidated by the OCC and treat it as a joke. They have now raised the interest rate from 6.99 to 27% and charged me 39.00 for a late fee - all because I told them I would NOT pay another dime until they provided proof that it was correct -which they cannot do. I notified them by certified mail AGAIN that I wanted an accounting of HOW they came up with the amount they say I owe. I have over 200 pages of information, correspondance, etc... I got a letter back from Stephen Neal in the Presidents Office at Citigroup stating that they would not respond to any more letters that I send. They also cut me off from being able to email customer service from the Sears Mastercard site. Many payments I sent originially were not posted correctly - ie...I would send a payment for $200.00 and they would post $177.95 on my account. That happened time and time again. They charged me three times for a single purchase. They later backed it out but the finance charges are so messed up because of the entries that it is undiscernable. They call me on my business cell phone 7 days a week, at least 3-4 times a day. Often times they just hang up on me. I have an appointment with an attorney this week. And they wonder why they are going under...Geez!

Be VERY aware of what you're getting when you call 1-800-4-MYHOME! Based in a country with a name I can't pronounce, these "customer service people" will offer you two options. One, suck up the $65 plus whatever parts and whatever labor and whatever else they can think up. Or there's option two: pay $250 plus change, which will cover your parts, your service call, and labor to install the parts-which (bonus!) it warrants the repair for a year. Also, you get a $400 certificate for a new appliance if it cannot be repaired. Sounds good, right? WRONG! The part they CONVENIENTLY forget to tell you is that it only covers up to $500. You think you're done paying BUT YOU'RE NOT!

Soooo...we could have paid $65 for the service call to get a diagnosis, bought the parts ourselves and come in at just over $400. As it is we have to pay a total of $579.

As a small aside, I have bought FIVE new Kenmore appliances at Sears. All are under five years old. FOUR OF THE FIVE have already required major repairs...luckily for us my husband could do the other repairs. TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

I purchased a 3 year service agreement for my Sears purchased appliances in March of 2006.
I spent considerable money to cover all of my appliances. I made a point of buying these all from Sears, as my family has been loyal to this store for years. I also had heard the service agreement would be a good one.
I have had Sears come each of the last 2 year sto get them to do the annual service check. On each occassion they have found some issue to fix. I felt glad to have this coverage. On ost occassions the workers were thorough and conscientious.
These past few months I have been getting a deluge of phone calls from an 800 (866?) number that ended in 2024. On several occassions, when I answered there was noone on the other end. Research on the internet uncovered that it was a Sears number. I chose to answer a couple of weeks ago. They were trying to sell me an extension to my service agreement. I declined the service, but asked to be connected to Service, so that I could book my final appliance maintenance inspection. On the last two occassions that transfer was dropped.
Today i phoned the sears service peole, aftrer talking to at least 5 people, it turns out that my service agreement expired March 8th, and they say there is nothing they can do for me. Further, the last supervisor, Mona, advised me that my wife had declined service when a call was made to my home. I am not married.
I was advised that there is no exception to their rule and I will not recieve my final service call.
I am very disappointed.

I have been a Sears customer for many years and have purchased all of my appliances as well as the warranty protection plan for them through Sears. This past February 2009, I was contacted by phone about renewing my warranty. I was told that the cost for 2 years would be $907.00 with 0 % interest. I am a senior citizen living on a fixed income so this was a major expense for me. I've always trusted Sears and have used the protection plan yearly to keep my appliances in good repair. My first bill arrived with no no interest charged, but the March bill arrived and I was charged 17.99% interest. I first called the credit department and was told that an error had been made on the computer, but it would be easier to take care of the problem if I contacted the warranty department which I did. They transferred me to someone at the national office who kept me on hold while they spoke to the warranty department and then told me to call the credit department . I told the young lady that I had already done that and suggested that she should speak to them first so they would have her imput. I held on and when she returned to the line, I was told that there was nothing that could be done to remedy the problem short of cancelling my warranty. This seems to be a terrible way to do business and I want a better answer to my problem. Actually I demand a better answer!

First off, let me say I am a mom of a three year old, currently on disability for a bad back (sciatic nerve pain), ordered off work by my doctor and not to be lifting anything heavy. I purchased a Prima TV as a birthday gift for my son from Sears, March 2008. I got the TV home, my 70 year old grandfather and I manhandled the massive box up the two flights of stairs (I live in a townhouse), got the TV set up only to discover it gives off a horrible noise that would not go away. I called Sears and was told to return the TV and exchange it for another one as per their 30 day return policy on electronics. So, I called a friend and asked him to come assist me in removing and returning the TV. I did the exchange at Sears, got the TV home with my friends help and set it up...it appeared to work fine, but after only two weeks all the buttons ceased to function. The remote still worked though. At this point the Sears 30 day return was passed, so I contacted the ghosttown that is Prima Electronics (seriously no one answers the phone) and a service technician came to my home. He declared the TV required a new main board, told me that part had to be ordered directly from Prima and should take about 10 days. So a month goes by, still no part, countless calls have been made by myself and the service company to Prima. Eventually, I get a call from Prima authorizing me to return the Prima TV (again) back to Sears and to either get yet another Prima or another TV of my choice. Being that I am more than a little annoyed with Prima, I choose an RCA TV instead. I get my neighbour to help me this time with the exchange done February 2nd, 2009 and getting the TV into the house, in the process damaging my back further and being left barely able to walk for 3 days. The RCA is set up, and it is giving off a horrible strong odor like a bandaid burning! So, I wonder if this is the "new tv smell" that some electronics give off, but it is VERY strong smelling and does not dissipate after 12 hours of leaving the TV on. I call Sears, they have no more RCA's. From there I am given a run around over the next 34 days, being passed from person to person, being accused of doing something to the TV's, questioned as to why I didn't buy an LCD, treated like total garbage, and finally ended up calling head office. After making FOUR calls to head office, Sarah, Marilyn, unknown person who drops the call after leaving me on hold, Shauna, I am told by the supervisor that someone would come service the TV, she is personally setting this up for March 9th and someone will call to confirm...no one showed up after two days of waiting. March 10th, 2009 I make call number five and I am told by head office to call another number for "Escalated Divisions". I am told by Tanya, that Sears is not going to service the TV, she refuses to give me her superiors name or number or to transfer the call, tells me to write a letter, have a nice day and proceeds to hang up on me! I call back and get someone equally as rude, who tells me the same thing, pulls the name Jean-claude out of a hat, refuses to connect me or give me a contact number for this person, at which point I lose my temper and yell at her lol She also hangs up. I call back and get Pierre. After explaining the situation for the 7th time and after a lengthy wait on hold, Pierre comes back and says he has waived he 30 day return policy, I may return the TV to Sears for an exchange. I explain again that I cannot lift the TV and that I was told there were no more RCA's to do an exchange. Pierre says that over the past month somehow Sears Marlborough now has two RCA TV's in stock. I am told to contact Terry... no one knows who I am talking about when I call Sears. They finally figure out this is someone in "loss recovery", who is currently out to lunch (even though she just spoke with Pierre). I leave my name and number with Bob in electronics, requesting that he check the inventory for these two RCA TV's that Pierre is telling me are in stock, and to call me back and confirm these are not floor models, but in fact new RCA's still in the box. I now await a call back from Bob, Terry and still have to work out an arrangement to have the (new?) RCA TV delivered to my home without charge...wish me luck! I think I am going to need it :| In closing, it goes without saying, do not purchase electronics from Sears!

Sincerely,

Lisa S.
Calgary Alberta, Canada

Well it all started on the last day of the year (08), there was rumors of a huge layoff going around the warehouse and everyone was nervous. All of first shift had left save a few stragglers and myself and one other Mechanic had asked to leave for the day. Our supervisor instructed us to hang out and that is what we did. Being bored with all of our work done we started riding this three wheeled bike around the shop. One thing led to another and yes we did some silly things on the bike but no one got hurt and we all went home safe. Long story short three of us with no write-ups for horse-play were fired. They sited violation of company policy but forgot to mention that they were skipping several steps in the disciplinary process. Skip ahead and I find myself unemployed with three kids and a wife to support, I applied and got unemployment and was ready to put this chapter of my life behind me when out of left field I am blindsided with Sears appealing my unemployment. This is one evil company now that Eddie Lambert owns it and I would encourage every person to speak out against Sears with their dollars.

Sears and their terrible 3rd party support company should be avoided at all cost. I recently had an issue with a Samsung 650A flat panel TV. I called for support and was told by the 3rd party to bring it to the store for exchange. After packing up the TV and driving to the store, Sears refused to honor the tech's recommendation. Apparently, the tech did not want to work on my issue and used the exchange as a way to get off the phone. Sears acknowledges that Samsung has had repeat issues with HDMI inputs but hids behind their outsourced support company to avoid proper resolutions. If you are considering any appliance from Sears, do your self a favor and go elsewhere. Sears and One call don't deserve your hard earned money.

Dated March 6, 2009
By
Melanie Westerkamp

There Oughta be a law! And if I were writing it, it would read; "A company will not be allowed to sell any items they do not have in stock, without explicitly stating in writing, when the item will be available for pick up or delivery, and then following through with it."
On Black Friday last year, (for those of you who don't know, that would be the day after Thanksgiving day sale) 2008, my husband walked into Sears in the Gateway Mall and purchased a Front loading washer and dryer set that they had on sale for half price.
Not being in the habit of paying for Items that we are not physically taking with us, and with the promise of a delivery date set as Feb 4, we decided to put it on our Sears credit card.
On the night of Feb 3rd, I made a phone call to Sears and asked if they could tell me for sure that my washer and dryer would be ready for pickup the next day. I was put on hold after giving my information and when she returned to the phone I was assured that the truck would be in the next day and my set would be on it.
In preparation of those facts, after disconnecting from the conversation, I gave away my washer and dryer set. My husband went to Sears to pick up the new set the next day to find that it wasn’t delivered on the truck, and the new delivery date was set for the 6th, two days later. The reason for this he was told, was because at the time of that sale they only had 30, 000 of those sets and sold 90, 000.
60, 000 of those sets that they sold and received payment for had not even been built yet. After another promise delivery date of Feb 20th, and four visits to the laundry mat = $40.00 spent there, and one hickory work shirt ($30.00) shrunk from an over heating dryer later, we still have no washer and dryer. We also don't have any more promises from Sears, now they are calling it an approximate delivery date of March 20, 2009.
Since the last total spent of $40.00, I have spent additional $30.00 approx (not incl. my time) and used three girlfriends and families washers and dryers while visiting with them anyway (also not incl. their water and electric use).
My Mother and Father needed a new microwave last year and so they went to sears to purchase it. Again, since they did not have the one that was needed to fill the hood range at home, it was ordered and they were told it would be in, in two weeks. During that time, it snowed and iced up the roads, and where they live it was pretty treacherous. At the end of those two weeks they got a phone call from Sears stating that their microwave was available for pick up. When my Father got there he was told that it hadn't arrived yet. A normal twenty minute drive took him forty minutes that day because of ice on the road. He is a self employed Man and his time from work already had him feeling antsy. When he found out that he had been called out to Sears, from Sears, for nothing, he was so angry he cancelled that order and told them he would never be back.
I don't feel I have the same option of just canceling the order of my washer and dryer the way he did his microwave. For one, I could not find another set so well priced, two, the two rebates have already been utilized and our taxes have been filed with the receipt of one rebate.
Had I known that there was even the slightest chance delivery could not be made when it was first promised (hence the phone call to Sears on the 3rd), I would have never given my set away. To make up for all this, they have deducted $50.00 from our bill and we are told that we can receive 3 boxes (or containers) of laundry soap of their choosing, when and if, the washer and dryer set arrives.
I have never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but to be honest, that just doesn’t wash away my frustration resulting from this situation! Fact is, since there was no contract stating a delivery date, we don't have any options.
My objective in writing this letter for all to read is just this, well, obviously to relieve some of my own pent up frustrations as well as making a statement, and that is, that any company, as long standing as what Sears and Roebuck has been, in my opinion, should have had the foresight and been better prepared for this situation.
And maybe they were, ? After all, they made no promises on paper; we were the only ones that did that, in signing our name and promising to pay our bill no matter how we feel we are treated in the interim.

I would like to give you a conical of events on a Food Loss Claim that I have tried to get resolved since September 10, 2008. Please see below question I have to you and would like to receive answers to. Please take the time to look them over and get back to me. After all I have taken the time to write this letter to you.

Tuesday September 9, 2008

8:30 PM - Came home from work to hear the freezer making loud noises and the side was very warm to touch. I opened the door to find that all the food was defrosted and warm. I emptied most of the contents from it as it was starting to smell. See attached photo. I left some food in freezer to see if would refreeze during the night.

Wednesday September 10, 2008

5:25 AM - Checked freezer and there was no change in the food that was left there overnight. It was not frozen and it was still making noise and very warm to touch. Packed three large industrial garbage bags with destroyed food and took photos, see attached.

5:30 AM - Called Sears service department to report this problem. I was told that they would try to set up an emergency service call for later that day. I clearly stated to the woman on the phone that no one would be home until 4:00PM. I told her that twice. She said she would make a note it.

6:30 AM – Threw out three large industrial garbage bags of destroyed food at work.

6:40 AM – Arrived at work and called Sears service department to update my new cell phone number. I quickly told the lady on the phone the problems I was having. I told her I was calling to update with my new number. She said that service does not come out after 4:00 PM and that I should make an appointment just in case I don’t get service that day. I tried to make an appointment for a night call and was told that night calls are only done once a week in my area and the next time would be Tuesday September 23, 2008, 13 days later. We scheduled a service call for Saturday September 13 between 8 AM and 4 PM.

10:26 AM – Received a call on my cell phone from a service technician saying that he was at my house and no one was answering the door. I explained to him, as I told both ladies earlier in the mooring, the problem I was having with the freezer. I told him that it was making a load noise, was very warm on the side and not freezing. I told him that the noise was so loud that we could hear it all night five floors away. I told him that I was very concerned about the heat from the freezer and was not sure that it might catch on fire or cause a short. He said that “if no service person was not going to come out until Saturday, then I should unplug the unit so not to burn out the motor.”

4:00 PM – Arrived home to hear the freezer still making noise, warm and not frozen. I emptied the rest of the destroyed food out of the freezer so I could throw it out the next day at work. As per the instructions from the service technician, I turned the freezer off.

Saturday September 13, 2008

A service technician came to look at the freezer. I showed him the photos I took of the food that was destroyed. He asked why it was not turned on. I told him the problem and what the service technician said for me to do when he called my cell phone on September 10th. He said that by turning the freezer off and then back on it just reset the problem. He said that “this is what some service technicians say to the customers so they don’t have to look for problems.” My son was there with me when he told me this. He said that he would turn the freezer on and would check a few items, but could not really do anything until the freezer is in a complete freezer state – 24 hours. He was in my house for about an hour checking a few things, but again said that he could not find anything wrong with the freezer because it was turned off and that reset the problem. He told me to wait until Wednesday September 17 before I started using it again. I asked about the food loss coverage policy. He said that since he could not find anything wrong with the freezer he could not leave me the form to fill out. He was the one that advised me to “call Corporate Customer Service and make a complaint about the tech that told me to turn off the freezer”. He gave me the phone number. Again, my son was there with me all the time as he is thinking about going into the service trade and thought it would be good to watch.

Monday September 15, 2008

1:15PM – Called Corporate Customer Service and was talking to a Niki. I explained the whole issue and problems that I had to her. She said that she would mark my comments on a complaint file. She told me that “she would make sure that a food loss coverage form would be mailed out to me later that day”.

Friday September 19, 2008

7:30 PM -Arrived home from work to find a message on my answering machine from an unnamed male person saying that he was calling from Sears and that I was not going to receive a food loss coverage claim because of what the tech said and because I was not home for the first service call on September 10, 2008. No name or return phone number was left.

Monday September 22, 2008

10:40AM – Called Corporate Customer Service and asked to speak with a supervisor. I again explained the whole issue I had from day one. I was now complaining about the freezer and about the call from an unnamed person from Sears. The person said she would have to look into this issue and said she would have to get back to me. I asked for her name or employee number and was told that she could not give it out. I again asked for her name. She hung up the phone on me at 11:04 AM.

12:12PM - Called Corporate Customer Service. When the person answered I asked for his name before I was going to give him any information. He said his name was Philip, a corporate customer service supervisor from Bellville. I asked if he could check to see who I was speaking to on the last call I made at 10:40AM. He said her name was Marie, also from Bellville. I again explained the issues I was having with the freezer and now with customer service. He put me on hold for a few minutes while he checked the notes on my file. When he retuned he said that he looked at my file and it was noted that I did make my first call on September 10th and it was noted in the file that customer would not be home until 4:00 PM. It was also noted that customer called a t 6:40 AM to update new cell phone number. It was noted that customer was told that no service calls are done after 4:00 PM and would have to schedule a normal service call. I explained to him that if someone told me that there was no service calls after 4:00 PM when I first called, then I would have made arrangement to have someone stay home during that day, September 10th. He told me that looking at the chain of events that it was clearly not my fault and that he was going to put in a food loss coverage claim for me. He was the most helpful customer service person I have spoken to since this issue started. He said that I should contact parts customer service to follow up with this issue at [protected].

Thursday September 25, 2008

I called parts customer service to check up with this issue. I spoke with a Stephanie. I was told to make a list of the items that were in the freezer at the time it stopped working and fax it to parts customer service, attention food loss claims. I asked why no one called to tell me this since Monday. She could not give me an answer. The fax number is [protected].

Monday September 29, 2008

I tried to fax a completed list of the items that were in the freezer. I was not able to do so, as the number was not in service. My wife finally called Bellville at [protected] and spoke with the receptionist. She told me wife to fax it to her and she would make sure it would get sent to food loss claims. My wife did fax it to her.

Tuesday September 30, 2008

I called parts customer service to see if they received the fax. They said there was nothing on file and that we should try to refax the list again. We did so again.

Wednesday October 1, 2008

9:40 AM - Called parts customer service and spoke to a Michelle about the fax. She checked the file and faxes and said that no fax was received. I told her the whole issue I was having with Sears since the first day back on September 10th. She asked me for the amount of food loss. I told her it was $485.00. She said that my loss would only be covered for $200.00. She put me on hold for a few minutes. When she retuned I was told that no fax was received and that I should try again. She gave me the same fax number. She said that she would start the process of the food claim loss pending the list of the items loss. She told me that she would get back to me with in an hour. I gave her my cell phone number.

2:45 PM- Called parts customer service and asked for Michelle and was told that she was gone for the day. I asked for the name of the person I was talking to. He said his name was Jim. I told him the problems I was having. He looked into file and told me that they again would not cover the food loss. I was asked why no one called to tell me that. He could not tell me why except that it was noted in my file at 1:54 PM. I asked to speak with a manager. Jim said that he could only take down my information and have a manager get back to me. He refused to let me speak to a manager. He also hung up on me.

2:55 PM – Called customer service to put in a complaint about Jim. I asked for a manager and was told the same thing. Give me your name and number and a manager will get back to me. The woman I was speaking to was Dianne from Montreal.

3:00 PM – Called parts customer service. I started talking to Jim again. I asked for a detailed description of the fax I sent to them. He told me that he could no longer discuss my account and that he was not available to give me the details of the fax. He said he could not confirm who he was talking to. All I asked for was a few items I had placed on the fax. I told him that I did not think they even looked at the fax or received it. They only new the amount I said was lost when I was speaking to Michelle at 9:40 that morning. He again hung up on me.

4:10 PM – Called corporate customer service to again make a complaint. I was quickly passed on to Brianna from US customer service, who could not even pull up any information using my home phone number. After being passed around from Texas to Montreal back to Texas, I finally gave up and waited for a customer service manager to return my call.

It is now October 12, 2008 and I am still waiting for a manager to call me back. In the meantime, I have taken the time to write this lengthy letter to you, the President of Sears Canada. At this point in time, I have some questions that I would like answered.

1. Why should you offer an extended warranty with all the bells and whistles when Sear will not honour it?

2. Why was I not told that I would have to wait for a service tech all day when I first called back on September 10, 2008 at 5:30 AM? Again, if I was told that, I would have made sure someone stayed home waiting for a technician to come.

3. Why when I called at 6:40 AM to update my cell number, I was told that I could not schedule a night appointment until September 23, 2008?

4. Why did the technician come to my house when I clearly told the first woman that no one would be home until 4:00 PM that day?

5. Why did the service technician tell me to turn off the freezer knowing that by doing so it would reset the problem?

6. Why was I told by the service technician that came on Saturday to look at the freezer to call the corporate customer service and complain about the technician that told me to turn of the freezer on September 10, 2008? Does this happen on a regular basis? Do your technicians really know what the problems are?

7. Why was I told be Niki that I would be receiving a food loss claim form?

8. Why did I receive a call on my home phone answering machine saying that I would not be getting a food loss claim form? Is it Sears’s policy to leave messages without a call back number or a contact person’s name? Sears had my cell number on file and I left it with everyone I had spoken to.

9. Is Sears customer service centre (corporate or parts) there to help solve the problems or are they there to create more?

10. Why aren’t all your employees on the same playing field? It all starts with the salesman selling the freezer and extended warranty, to calling for service, to talking with a service technician on the phone to having an honest services technician come out to look at the problem, to finally dealing with customer service. Everyone I have dealt with has flipped-flopped on these issues.

I could ask more questions, however I have spent enough time on this. I will leave you with this to think about.

I have had a Sears account since 1984. I began purchasing items before I was even married. My wife and I have purchased furniture, clothing, children’s clothing, suits and appliances, to just name a few from Sears. Just looking at my purchases, since I have kept track of them on my computer, I can tell you that I have spent over $10, 000.00 since 2002. This has all stopped now.

We will no longer purchase anything from Sears and will no longer recommend Sears to anyone. All this trouble over a $200.00 food loss claim. I have closed our Sears account and am returning my Sears cards.

Update Feb 28, 2009

The attached letter, photos and audio recording were mailed to Sears Canada on December 11, 2008. I know the letter was received as a message from unnamed female was left on my home phone on February 11, 2009. The message said to call [protected] regarding the letter.

I called on February 12, 2009 at 9:25 am and spoke with Debra. She told me that another customer service person was looking after this issue and that she would email her to contact me on my cell phone. I again called on February 17, 2009 as I had not received a call. I was told again by a customer service person (Jack) that another person was looking after the case and again I was told that he would email her to get back to me. Nothing again. I called on February 20, 2009 and insisted on getting the customer service representative’s name. I was told that it was Shawna Montgomery from the Bellville office that was looking after my case. She said she saw notes in my file that emails were sent to her and she would email her again.

I called Sears again on February 24, 26, and 27 and all customer service representatives said they would email her. I still have not received a call from her.

I took the time to gather my information, write a letter and enclose photos and copies of voice messages. It is unbelievable that I don't even get the common courtesy of Sears acknowledging my letter or having someone contact me in person.

What kind of customer service does Sears have?

The following is an update on what has happened since sending the letter on
December 11 2008.

We used your Sears flyer and purchased a bedroom set from Leons. Leons matched the price; $2, 956.35 after taxes.

We opened accounts at The Bay, Walmart and other retail stores and purchased holiday gifts. That’s $750.00 of items that could have been purchased at Sears.

I have posted this letter on various websites, listing complaints against major retail stores. I have also sent emails asking others to pass it along.

/link removed/

Again, a written response from Sears Canada is expected immediately.

The adventures of ‘The Refrigerator Nightmare’.

On Sunday, February 15th, I purchased a refrigerator from the Franklin Mills store. It was scheduled for delivery on Tuesday, February 17th, between 2:45pm and 4:45pm. I left work at 2pm and went home to prepare for the delivery. I emptied my old refrigerator and stored my food outside temporarily. On Tuesday, at 2:20pm, I received a phone call, from the warehouse, stating that the delivery would be late and not arrive until 5pm. I received a second phone call, this time from the driver himself, informing me the delivery would be delayed even further. I then received a third phone call delaying the delivery even further. The truck finally showed up at 6:45pm.

I told the driver that the refrigerator doors would need to come off to pass through my front door. As I watched as the driver removed the doors I could see that he was mumbling under his breath, as if realizing he made a mistake. He brought the door in and informed me that there was a broken prong on the wire coming from the door and I would need to send the refrigerator back to the store to have it repaired. As I proceeded to call the Franklin Mills store the driver took the door away and called his office to inform them that I had refused delivery because the refrigerator was damaged. I spoke with Michele and relayed to her what had just happened. Michele informed me that if it was sent back my account would be credited and I would have to come back to the store and pick out a new refrigerator. I told Michele that would be very difficult for me since I live 40 minutes away from the store and would also have to make arrangements for a friend to take me there since I only drive a scooter and the scooter is unable to go on the highway as it’s top speed is 40mph. Michele suggested the best solution would be to keep the refrigerator and have a service rep come out and fix it. I then asked the driver to bring the refrigerator back into the house but he refused, saying it was already packed on the truck and they would bring it back to me the next day. This didn’t make sense to me since it would take more time, they were coming out of Flemmington, NJ which is an hour’s drive away, and man hours to do that as opposed to just bringing the refrigerator back into the house. I felt it was out of laziness that the driver gave me this response. I recalled Michele who then spoke with the driver but he refused her request as well.

I tried to explain that it would be a hardship to take more time off of work as I had already taken 3 hours off that day to wait for the late delivery. But he said, ‘Too bad Boo that’s what you’re going to have to do.’ I was appalled. I did not appreciate the unprofessionalism of being called ‘boo’. I did not appreciate the unprofessional lazy attitude and the blatant disregard for the financial hardship I would suffer in taking more time off of work due to the drivers’ clumsiness in breaking the refrigerator in the first place.

I asked the driver if he was sure that the refrigerator would be delivered the next day and he gave me his word that it would be. He even told me he would probably be the one who would be delivering it. He assured me that when he returned to the warehouse he would have the office call me to make the arrangements. He even went as far as to tell me that it would take him an hour to get there and I should expect the call then. Needless to say, the call never came.
In trusting the driver I called Sears service department, and after relaying the story of what had happened, set up an appointment for repair for Thursday afternoon. Once again being inconvenienced due to the drivers’ clumsy mistake.

Because the driver had called me to say he would be late I had his number in my cell phone. I called him first thing Wednesday morning and asked him why I hadn’t been called yet with the delivery arrangements but he didn’t have an answer for me. I asked if the refrigerator was on his truck and he told me he hadn’t received his manifest yet. I asked him for the phone number to his warehouse and he told me he would text it to me. He also agreed to text me when he received his manifest to let me know if the refrigerator was on his truck.

I received the text with the phone number, which turned out to be the phone number to the Sears Home Delivery Service. I then received a text stating the refrigerator was not on his truck.

I called the Sears Home Delivery Service and spoke to a woman. She informed me that the refrigerator would not be delivered as promised but she could set something up for Thursday delivery. The woman sounded very rehearsed which became very irritating. Although she constantly apologized it wasn’t said with any empathy because she was so rehearsed. We went back and forth for about ten minutes and I felt as if she wasn’t listening. I told her a Thursday delivery was unacceptable and asked to speak with her manager but she insisted she could help me and continued to repeat everything she had already said for the third time. I asked again for a manager and she finally put me on hold for eight minutes until I heard the phone ring and a gentleman answer saying, ‘security’.

Frustration had really set in now. My response to the man who answered the phone was, ‘Oh great’. I was thinking the home delivery agent transferred me to the wrong extension. I told the man who answered the phone there wasn’t anything he could do unless he could get me my refrigerator that day. He tone was very calm; he must have realized I was very frustrated. His name is Walter and with his soothing tone he asked me what the opportunity was. I explained and he was very understanding. Walter said he would do everything he could to help me and he accomplished that.

While waiting for Walter to call me back I called the home delivery line again and found out my order was cancelled. That certainly hit a nerve. Every agent I spoke with at the home delivery line, and there were many, need coaching in their approach with a client on the phone. Not only do they sound like scripted robots but they have no empathy in their voices. I know a lot about customer service as I am the assistant to the general manager at the Westin Hotel. By the time a guest gets to me it means that they haven’t been happy with any of the other managers they have spoken with so far. So I know how important tone is and how to help a guest calm down, just as Walter does. For these reasons it takes a lot for me to get frustrated because I do have empathy for the person on the other end of the phone because on most days it’s me. But the experience I had with the persons I spoke with that morning drove me off the edge.

I called Walter back to tell him I found out the order was cancelled and expressed my frustration as there was no way I could get back to the store to pick out a new refrigerator. I do not have a car, as I live in Center City, and had to rely on a friend to get me up to Franklin Mills on the day I picked out the first refrigerator. Walter assured me he was working on it and would call me back. I asked Walter for a number where I could lodge a complaint against the trucking company and he gave it to me.

Talk about another nightmare. From Vincent I was redirected to an Andrea who tried to get the trucking company on the phone but was not successful in reaching the manager. Andrea informed me that Kelly Schwartz, manager of trucking company, would call me when she got back to the office. I asked Andrea how she was going to follow through and she seemed confused and asked me what I meant. I told Andrea that I would like her to call me back to make sure that Kelly had indeed called me. Andrea said she would call me back in two hours. It never happened. Not only did I not hear back from Kelly but Andrea was a no show as well.

I called the complaint line again. Now keep in mind that every time you call anyone you have to explain the entire story again and again. It’s my experience that the more you make a disgruntle client relive the problem it only gets worse for the client and in the end the client winds up never happy. Perhaps someone might consider that with the home delivery service reps and the complaint reps. It is my opinion if the agents took better notes on the client, for everyone to see, the repetition would not be necessary. This time I spoke with Jessica and explained that Kelly never called and Andrea never followed up. Jessica apologized and said she too would have Kelly call me and Jessica would follow-up with a call the following day. Again both never happened. I’m thinking what kind of company this can be that their customer service is so horrendous. I’m dumbfounded that anyone finds this acceptable.

It’s the end of the day, I haven’t got much work done as I have spent most of the day wasting my time with Sears’ home delivery service specialist (what a joke that title is) and the Sears complaint department and I still have no resolution. Emotionally exhausted I go home.

Walter calls me that Wednesday evening and tells me he has located a refrigerator for me so I won’t have to be further inconvenienced and it will be delivered on Friday. Thank you Walter for being the only person, out of the eight I spoke with, to be able to get something done and provide excellent customer service.

Thursday night arrives and I receive an automated call from the all too famous Sears home delivery specialist, only it’s automated and trying to get a live voice is impossible. The call tells me that the refrigerator will be delivered between 9:45 and 11:45 am. This is not acceptable to me since I have already been heavily inconvenienced already and one would think someone would try to work around my schedule. I don’t think it’s a lot to ask. I call back and speak with one of the robot agents who refuse to work with my schedule and puts me in a position where it forces me to take another day off of work.

So when the call came at 11:45am to tell me the delivery was going to be late my only response was to say, ‘of course it is’, because this is the kind of service I have come to expect from Sears.

In closing I want to say you have a treasure in Walter and I hope you appreciate him as an employee. Walter knew exactly what to say and how to make the event salvageable. Walter took a situation turned sour by a trucking company and the Sears home delivery specialist and made it bearable. I thank Walter for all he did to make something happen and I realize my experience with the trucking company and the so called home delivery specialist was out of his control.

However, it is not out of Sears’ control. I find it hard to believe that I am the only customer this has happened to. Nor can I be the only customer that has complained. So it is Sears I hold at fault and for that reason I will no longer be a customer of Sears again.

Thank you for your time and I sincerely hope someone with the power to make changes reads this.