Sears
reviews and complaints

I was keeping an item warm in the oven at 170 degrees. Heard a number of beeps coming from the oven. When I investigated I discovered that the broiler had turned itself on, smoke was coming out of the oven, and it was in excess of, I'd guess, 500 degrees inside. Turned everything off at the control panel -- but nothing would turn off! I finally had to remove the bottom drawer and unplug it from the electrical outlet! Waited 30 minutes and plugged it back in -- the broiler came on and wouldn't turn off! Repeated the process yet again and got the same results.

Sears failed to deliver goods as promised, after charging my Visa for the goods. I ordered a waffle iron on line December 1. The order went through on my Visa December 5. Delivery was set for December 15. December 15, nothing happened. At the end of a long day of waiting, I called and was told they decided to use UPS and the shipment would come some day. No tracking number available. Nothing I could do. No apologies for changing plans and failing to advise me. And ultimately, no delivery. Frequent checks with their delivery desk elicited zero help. Each reported that there was no UPS tracking number and nothing they could do. They were 100% useless. AND they wouldn't refund my money until 10 working days after December 15, even though it was clear the order was lost and I was left without the main Christmas present I had ordered. No one should shop at this business. I ordered the same item from Amazon and received it within 3 days; virtually the same price; zero hassle. Do Not Shop at Sears!

I ordered the Bosch Tassimo T65 brewer at the Sears Store for $139.99 on the 10th of December as the product was out of stock and picked it on the 16th. Walmart is selling the same for $118 and Canadian Tire for $99.99. I took the flyer to the Sears store and requested a price match. The customer service staff at the counter refused. The supervisor, a lady by name of Lisa was dismissive and rude and when I asked for five minutes of her time said "you have one minute". Sears is really ripping of customers; not to mention disrespectful of them.

Purchased Range and dishwasher on the 10/23/10. delivery was supposed to be between 1:15 and 3:15 pm on 10/27/10. Sears called me twice and cancelled time. They said it was a problem with the deliveries and they kept pushing my delivery back. They finally after serveral phone calls delivered at 12:am in the morning of the 28th. The next day when I tried the oven. the temp. was off by 100 degress. the oven would say 350degress when it would register at 200. I called for service. The service app. was for 11/1/10 Between 12:00 and 4:00pm. At two I called to find out when they where coming for my repair. Sears stated they had to cancell my repair call and would I like to set another app. That was two days lost from work. One for the delivery and one for the repair, that never happened. I went to the store for some kind of answers and the manager of the appliance section (Dennis Brown) told me he called (repairs) and there was noting he could do but wait until the repair department called him back. He stated to me to go home and wait for his call. I'm so upset and feel helpless to do anything for my satisfaction.

I will NEVER buy anything from Sears again! After 2 weeks & three attempts to get someone to fix my fridge leak...tech finally showed up & decided there was no problem since he couldn't SEE the leak. (guess the word intermittent was too much for him to understand). I asked him to contact his supervisor & he refused. I asked him to stay while I called Sears and he left. Sears promised another tech would come out later but never showed. I called for an ETA and was told that it would be soon. At 5pm I called again, never having received contact from the 2nd tech, and held for over 20 minutes and never got to speak to anyone. Every time I need ANYTHING from this company it is ALL drama, aggravation, and a great deal of my time wasted. So this morning I just spent 45 minutes on the phone with Sears (4 transfers and 4 times having to confirm my info and repeat my story) to find out that they can not deal with intermittent problems- the leak has to be happening at the time they are there for them to do anything about it which is absurd. To make matters worse there was NO RECORD of the promise that a second technician was going to come to my house yesterday. When I asked for a refund of my warranty plan, I was told that I still have to pay for the service call by the technician who not only did nothing, but left when I asked him to call his supervisor. When I complained about that, the agent HUNG UP ON ME. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY do I go through this EVERY SINGLE TIME I NEED SERVICE?

Following letter details complaint. Head office sent it back to call centre who offered $50. Refused this and asked to speak to someone in authority on 24 Nov. To date, no response. Can only conclude that Sears Canada does not take customer service seriously and would recommend avoid buying appliances from Sears.
--------Date: 9 November 2011
Calvin McDonald
President and CEO
Sears Canada Inc. Headquarters
290 Yonge St., Suite 700
Toronto ON M5B 2C3
Dear Mr. McDonald:
My apologies for writing to you directly with what may appear to be a minor customer service issue.
However, the inability to date of your customer service staff to get back to me on a timely basis and address the issue led me to believe that a letter to you, that could be directed to the appropriate executive, may be more effective.
Our issue is the following. We purchased a Kenmore Elite bottom freezer 10 November 2009 (Model [protected], Serial Number MRSS12126), both for the features as well as the high reliability highlighted in consumer reports.
However, in less than two years of owning the fridge, the door seals went and one of the storage bins broke. Our kids are older and are not rough on the fridge, and we can only conclude that there may have been a design or manufacturing flaw that would lead to such a result. While I know formally speaking, there is only a one year warranty on such parts, I would expect them to last longer on again what we perceived to be a premium product of high reliability.
In any case, we had this fixed (your technician was timely, courteous and did a good job on October 27th – Service Order [protected]). Subsequent to that we contacted your Customer Service by email that day, to note that we were not happy that such a repair had been necessary, and that we thought Sears should cover the cost of the parts ($275.97 plus HST); we would cover the labour costs in the spirit of compromise ($191.98 plus HST).
Customer service sent us the standard automated response message and promised a reply within 3 working days. To date nothing has been received. Today, I called your Customer Service number and discovered that they do not have access to the email complaints, so I repeated myself and she was unable to do anything, likely given company policies.
As you can imagine, this leaves us with a sour experience both in the product and the service, one that will influence future purchases and advice we give family and friends. I would appreciate any attention the appropriate member of your executive team to devote to addressing this complaint and providing a solution agreeable to both of us.
One other point I flagged in my original complaint was more as an observation to help you provide quicker customer service. The new checkout process involving a Playbook, Blackberry and printer took your technician 15-20 minutes to process, given he had not yet been equipped with a card swiper. As someone used to the 1-2 minute checkout procedure at Apple stores (the gold standard), you may wish to revisit the procedure as over the course of the day you may be losing the potential for one additional service call, and reduced hanging around time for customers while the lengthy process is executed.
I look forward to hearing from one of your colleagues by phone or email (your corporate site, understandably, seems designed to insulate the executive team, hence this snail mail letter).
Thank you in advance,

Sincerely,
Andrew Griffith

Ordered a table in November to arrive on December 9th. Showed up as "in stock". Still calling to see if it had arrived on Deceber 17th and claimed it was on its way. Suddenly shows up as "arriving in March" a week before Christmas. Too late to get another give to the recipient. Unbelievable - talking to someone overseeas who claims that it is the manufacturer. But they have my e-mail and my phone number and no notice. Too late to possibly get a Christmas gift. This was a major gift. Will never trust Sears again.

I purchased a Sear Elite Dishwasher 12.5 months ago. I bought in store and have a 12 month warranty, online 24 months? The machine stopped working after 2 months, repairman scheduled visit 7-10 days, part 6 weeks - was told these machines keep in a job? 2 weeks after warranty ran out the same problem, I have to pay for repair and go without a dishwasher over the holidays. Sears rejected my product review, has not called back and basically does not want to know me. I will never deal with them again and despite the high cost I may just have this 1 year old machine removed and get a model that works from a retailer that supports the product. I thought when I shopped at Sears they sold solid goods and backed there sales - this is NOT true. Stay away from Sears I will.

I placed an order on 3rd October, 2.5 months ago. This was for a 4-piece dining set I received 4 packages at my address in UK. 3 benches and 1 dining table. After opening all the packages and trying to assemble the products I noticed an item for one of the benches is missing hence I can't assemble the 3rd bench.

Since then I have tried to get sears to get this piece from vendor and send it to me(its only a small wooden piece identified in the installation leaflet for the bench supplied by supplier).I have called many times, also have emailed them many times, they don't provide any number for their management team and the customer service doesn't care at all. I am kept on the phone for 30-45 minutes each time and they say they will sort it out each time, also all emails i sent is responded by: our management case team is investigating this and will reply in 3-5 working days but this has never been done, this 3-5 days is now well passed and I still have not got any answer. this is really bad and i cant do anything and am totally frustrated. nobody answers, this is embarrassing that companies like this could continue their fraud act of business so freely and with nobody answering the customers.

Kenmore Side by Side Refrigerator Model #106.[protected] bought in 2009 for around $550 to $600 and an little over a year later the dispenser housing that the arm hooks to that you push on to get ice broke. I checked online for the housing and found that it had been discontinued by Sears. I called Sears and asked about the part and they told me that the part was a part of the door and you have to order a new door. I told them that it wasn't true because it was held on by 4 screws and could easily be taken off and replaced. He told me that the only way to get the part was to buy the entire door. I asked for the price of the new door and they quoted me $537+. Sears took it upon themselves to discontinue a $40 or $50 part so they could charge the consumer almost the price of a new refrigerator for one part. I will no longer do business with a company that rips their customers, claiming to have high quality appliances, and that you have to pay the price of a new appliance just for a part. This statement is proven by discontinuing a low dollar part and requiring consumer to purchase high dollar part.

Sears installed a central Air Condition and Heating unit for $11, 000.00..on May 17, 2010. Sears contracted the installation. The job was so poorly done with wires hanging from the attic, old parts used from the old unit, trash left in the attic, ducts were not changed, new vents were not installed and air leaking pipes were taped on the inside unit. Asa Hoffman and Daren Black and Shakell Malik were notified. Another contractor was sent out to correct the installation. The first week in June the unit stoped working for three days before Mr. Hoffman replaced the thermostat in Houston's hot weather. Also wires installed on the outside unit. June 25 the unit stopped working for four days before Sears sent the contractor to repair. Another thermostat installed. July 04, the unit stopped working for four days Shakeel Malik called. He stated Sears didn't have emergency service. Thermostat replaced once again. August 13, unit stopped working for two days and thermostat replaced. August 21, unit stopped working for two days Asa Hoffman called no answer. September 6, unit stopped working for three days. The unit stops working for at least two hours a day. September 9, thermostat replaced unit still didn't work. September 10, new thermostat replaced, electric out side panel replaced, rewired furnance to outside unit. The unit will not work on the set temp. AIR SIMPLICITY is the service company [protected]. We have asked Sears to get this unit out of my home since May when the original problems happened and return all the money paid on it. Asa hoffman and Daren Black refuse. Compensation was promised but not provided. The old air unit I owned worked. We do not want this unit going into the winter months. We are not sure that the heating unit will work. This air unit will stop at any time. Sear didn't at any time send an inspector out.

Purchased a blu ray at Sears on a Monday and returned it Wednesday, just 2 days later. Although no metion of the return policy or any stocking fees was mentioned at the point of sale, I was charged a 20% restocking fee and was charged tax on top of that! Sre the return policy and info is printed on the back of the receipt but that is AFTER purchase. Shame on SEARS for failing to advise on that while they're trying to get you into a service agreement when you buy! Been a loyal customer since 1971 and will not buy another thing from SEARS again!

very bad experience across the board, no time line in sight to finish the job, there is no set work schedule, workmanship is below grade, very poor, leave messes behind, damage your property and leave without telling you! if you try to show their mistakes, they starts excuses like the hack job contractors! You'll spend a lot of money with them just to buy worries, uncertainty. Sears is just another dirty and mean contractor company. If you see a high pressure salesman from sears, run the other way!

We purchased a GE portable dishwasher from Sears in Dartmouth in Feb 2011 and it flooded the kitchen after about three uses. After waiting two weeks for a tech, we were given the most outrageous reasons including using too much detergent, too much rinse agent, rinsing the dishes off before loading, NOT rinsing the dishes before loading.

Since then, we've had four calls and three different techs, none of whom know what's wrong and they don't care. I'm told that Sears has fired a lot of mid managers and service reps so its no wonder service is poor and slow.

We are now awaiting a visit from a tech who has to confirm that the unit is beyond repair before Sears will replace it. That means we've been without the machine for two months waiting for servicemen. I'll have to get the flooring people in to see if the flooding episodes have damaged the sub-floor.

The last call lasted 24 minutes while I was continually asking if I minded waiting. I suspect the call taker was talking to other customers during those intervals.

Do not buy anything from Sear that has moving parts - my ride on mower need a new battery after about 5 hours of use!

I have a dishwasher that I bought from Sears seven years ago. It broke and I called Sears for help as they have always been good before. They convinced me to buy a service protection plan and told me they could come out almost two weeks later. I figured it was worth the wait and so I scheduled the appointment. I took today off of work. However, when I got home last night, I found out that Sears had come yesterday instead. When I called Sears, they repeatedly told me that it was not their fault, that they would be happy to have someone come out on the 12th (almost a month after my original call) and that if I wasn't happy with that, I could certainly cancel my service contract with them. I am so angry. I am a teacher. I have limited time I can take off. I had to arrange a sub. Tney have been rude, unhelpful, and completely unwilling to rectify their mistake. I will never buy a Sears service contract again. Why would anyone. What kind of service is that, that you have to wait weeks for them to show up and then they miss their appointment, and then it's all, "Oh, well, there's nothing we can do." Where is Sears' customer service? It's no wonder the company is struggling. There is no pride in the brand and no appreciation for customer loyalty and no responsibility for their mistakes. I am disgusted.

Letter to CEO sums it up...

Dear Mr. D’Ambrosio,

Five weeks ago I purchased a Sole E35 elliptical machine from the searsoutlet.com website. I made this purchase based on three factors: price, location and condition. The elliptical was shown at a good price and in my area – only a short drive away. The condition of Reconditioned(New) was the most influential factor in my purchase decision. According to the searsoutlet.com website, Reconditioned(New) is described on the website as follows:
This can be new product still in box, or new product out of box that was returned. Product has never been installed in a customer's home, and may have some cosmetic damage. New product warranty still applies.

I picked up the elliptical from the store in Joliet, IL the same day that I purchased it online. It was loaded into my truck and I left. I got it home and into the house and immediately wanted to try it out. That is when I noticed several things wrong with it most notably that the power incline didn’t work. I found the contact for customer support on the searsoutlet.com website and sent an email outlining my concerns. After several attempts to find my order information, they responded with an appointment for a service tech to come repair the machine.

The first tech arrived a week after I picked it up. He was reluctant to do anything saying, “It’s a lot of work.” I urged him to see what he could do. He looked over my issues with the machine and made a list of parts that needed to be ordered and left.

It took two weeks before all of the parts arrived and another service appointment was scheduled. I requested a different tech since the first one seemed uneager to do his job. The second tech was very helpful. In fact, he recognized this exact machine from the Joliet store that he tried to fix six times. He spent a little bit of time on it replacing a part that he was unable to get while the machine was at the store. But in the end, he was unable to get it to work. In his notes on the repair receipt, he wrote: “Unit should not have been sold. 6x attempts at store to repair. Unit should be replaced.”

I sent a follow up email to the same contact as earlier and relayed what the tech had said and that I wanted the elliptical to be replaced. They responded saying that I should take it back to an outlet store to pick out a different machine. I’m not willing to do for a couple of reasons: 1) this elliptical is 200+ pounds it requires several people to move it around. It took 4 guys including myself to get it into my truck. I cannot just toss it into my car and bring it back to the store. 2) I bought a Sole E35 based on reviews of this and other machines. To pick out a lesser quality machine is not an option.

Since it is still under warranty I emailed back saying that I wanted this machine to be fixed or replaced with the same model. The scheduled another service appointment for a week later.

When that technician arrived, it was the same tech as the first time that came the first time and said, “It was a lot of work.” He said that he cannot fix the machine and it should be returned.

After that, I called the 800 from the email contact and was transferred around for a while and finally ended up at the store where I picked it up. They want me to bring it back to them for a refund. Again, I'm not willing to do that because it was sold as Reconditioned(new) and has a warranty. I bought it sight unseen on the searsoutlet.com website based on the reported condition of the machine. I want it to be fixed, which the technicians says is not possible, or replaced. I should not have to pay for a new machine to get one that works, when I was sold a machine that was supposed to be working.

I talked to Dan - Home Improvement Manager - at the Joliet, IL store. He wants me to bring it back to them for a refund. He compared my purchase to that of a used car. This is very insulting! When you purchase a used car, you know you're buying a used car, because it is advertised as such. When you purchase something that is Reconditioned(New), you expect it to work! He also said "I would never sell something that I know to be defective." This is a lie! Here's why: 1) One of the technicians that came to my house to fix it was the same technician that tried 6 times to fix it in the store. The technician put in his notes "Unit should not have been sold. 6x attempts at store to repair. Unit should be replaced." 2) There are 3 clearance tags on the unit all stacked on top of each other. The top tag shows the price I paid for the unit. When I peel that tag off to reveal the one below it, it shows "incline not working." These tags also state the machine is "Used" which is not the condition that was disclosed on the website.

While dealing with this issue, I have seen numerous reports on the Internet of similar situations of deception and selling of broken merchandise. This is very disturbing to me, as I have always had good service from Sears. In the past, I have purchased large appliances, large toolboxes, a professional power tools, handheld power tools, hand tools and I have 3 Diehard batteries in my boat all from Sears. I’m currently in the market for a larger French door style refrigerator and this experience will definitely make me re-think where I make that purchase.

I have been experiencing the very common F1 error code on my Kenmore Elite Washer, 110.[protected], for a couple of months. I've been researching the problem for a few weeks and what I've found is very disturbing. There is a recall for Serial numbers up through CTxxxxxx but the problem is very common through at least serial numbers starting with CUxxx. Unfortunately, I have the CU model, specifically CU1570340. There are hundreds of complaints, possible DIY solutions, which I've tried, and many people that are frustrated with the recall status. The issue is a failed circuit board, one that costs nearly $300 with the service ticket, nearly half of the cost of a new washer. As proof that the problem persists through additional models, my units circuit board number has been replaced with a new model, an upgrade to fix a known issue, from the failed W10112113 to W10189966. My board is also present in other units for which I believe a recall is available. Now, I'm a bit frustrated. I've been a long time Sears fan, from several Kenmore Washers, Dryers, and Sears Grills. This kind of abandonment is unacceptable. I've determined that I've spent nearly over $200 a year for my washer (amortized value), and I would probably be better off buying a new one rather than paying an additional $300 for the service call. In the end, I would like Sears to stand by their product, offer the parts necessary to fix obvious design flaws. Something this expensive should not fail in just a few years, and they shouldn't be failing all over the country...builder grade products have lasted me longer. I am very disappointed in the responses I've received. Sure, they've been polite, but they haven't addressed the issue.

Forget the Kitchen upgrade, that will be going overseas.

I am writing this because I truly feel I was wrongfully terminated by sears holdings corp. at the KMart store in Dover, NJ. I am a warm-hearted, caring, helpful, reliable person who loves children, animals, plants and flowers and just about every living thing. I have an appreciation, love and respect for all of nature and always have. On Friday September 30, 2011 I was terminated from KMart by their "security" company for rescuing some plants from the trash. They were thrown away and not wanted, and being the person I am I rescued them.
Without ANY permission or approval of any kind from any of the managers, I was hauled into
the office, forced to write things against my will that made me look and feel like a criminal, before they would even listen to my side of the story, and then they "verbally forced" a manager to fire me who DID NOT WANT TO FIRE ME and made it perfectly clear. Yet, this security company that KMart in Dover employs had the "sole" power to fire me against the will of the managers and I didn't even get to tell them my side of the story. Anthony White, Clive, Michael Cowe (I don't know the spelling, but it's pronounced "cow"). They considered it stealing that I rescued the plants from the trash and said it was against company policy. I never knew that because they never told me that or even gave me a copy of the policies or a handbook. If I knew that, I never would have done that. I offered to pay the $66.51 for them but, they wouldn't allow me to. I rescued those plants the same way I would have rescued any living thing from the trash, whether it was a baby, an animal or a plant. To me it's still a living thing as any true plant lover can attest to. I like my job there and I appreciate the managers there but they had absolutely NO SAY as to whether or not I was fired and I wasn't even allowed to talk to them to tell them my side! What kind of tyranny is this?! Thank you.

On July 18, 2008 I purchased a craftsman 42" professional series lawn tractor. In May 2011 I noticed the front tires were out of alignment. I called to set up an appointment. On May 18 a technician came and said he did not have all the parts to fix my mower and he would have to order them. He said it would take 10 days for the parts to come in. On may 30 I called to find out the status of the parts order and was told the parts were on back order and they wouldn't ship until June 1st. I was not contacted about this. If I wouldn't have made the phone call I wouldn't have known. I was cleaning out the garage and moved the tractor when the front axle completely broke in half! I immediately called to have the broken axle added to the work order. They assured me that when the technician came out he would be able to fix the mower. On June 23 the technician came out and said he didn't have an axle and he would have to order the part. It took a total of 43 days for the mower to be fixed. Now here it is November 2011 and my front wheels are out of alignment again. On November 1 a service technician came out to my home and said the reason the tires where out of alignment is because I hit something. My wife was home and she said nothing was hit. The technician proceeded to get in an argument with her and left. I called and complained and was connected to corporate - David Williams. I said this was unacceptable and nothing was hit. Another technician came out on November 10. He also sated that something was hit. I tried to call David Williams back but every time you call it goes straight to voicemail. I finally reached him and he said Sears was not going to fix the mower even though I have an in-home warranty. Now I have a useless lawnmower sitting in my garage. Please, whatever you do, do not buy a Craftsman lawn tractor. Even if it is a professional grade! I have included pictures of the broken tractor from the first time. I will never shop at Sears again for anything!

I have a Sears Oasis hp washer, which is about i 1/2 years old I paid 800.00 dollars. The control panel had malfunctioned and I called Sears and complained. I was told That I could pay for a service visit, which will cost me over 200.00 dollars. I complained about the age of the washer and was told that the're sorry, I would have to pay the price of the service on a washer barley over a year old.A cost of 25% of the washer. A fine way to treat a senior citizen once you get their money, and they expect as a consumer to be treated fairly. Even a discounted service would have been fair for the age of the washer. But they already got my money, so why should they.