[Resolved] Sears — no such thing as sears customer service

Sears company---hard to find which corporate headquarters is relevant and their phone number

In June/July 2005 I purchased 4 sears appliances (built a new home). I have had several problems. I will list them below, in the order they occurred.

1. From a Sears retail store in Oneonta, NY I purchased a ceramic glass topped range, a side/side refrigerator and a dishwasher. The side/side refrigerator arrived and when it was unpacked and ready to be installed, the builder pointed out a squashed dent on the bottom of the refrigerator. He would not install it. I fought over the phone as did my husband with the store from whom we bought the refrigerator; he not only insulted us and was very demeaning and sarcastic but refused to replace it. After many insults and about 2 months, the store management finally replaced the refrigerator. In the meantime, I had to buy another refrigerator to use while waiting for the replacement.

2. Fall 2005, my brand new dishwasher (Model 665.[protected]) stopped working and the touch pad display was frozen at the clean light.. A repairman came out. He did not fix it, but sent another repair man. He came out and checked all the moving parts and removed the lower wash arm assembly and put it back together. He fixed the touch pad and left. (Nov-Dec 2005) I then ran the dishwasher. He had neglected to completely tighten the plastic bolt on the wash arm assembly. As a result, the gray, hard plastic disk that supports the lower wash arm became loose and rested on the heating element at the bottom of the dishwasher and melted. I then ordered the wash arm assembly (8268311) to replace it, thinking it was better to eat the cost of replacing the melted part than to garner another service charge to have them deny they left the part loose and having caused the problem. The part came (end of Dec), but only the washer arm was included and the hard gray plastic disk part I needed was not included. The box was labeled box 1 of 1. The box is too narrow to fit . The diagram in the parts manual has the number 1 (denoting the wash arm assembly) pointing to the arm ONLY. I did not return the part because the dishwasher appeared to be functioning fine with the melted plastic disk. Then, since May, my dishes, though they have been cleaned with the same brand of dishwasher detergent and rinse aid, started having a rainbow oil type residue on them. I decided I better replace the melted disk because perhaps it was protecting the dishes from mechanical lubrication or something. That is when the problems really started.

--THE RUNAROUND Last week or the beginning of this week, I called parts 2 x. They agreed that the part was not listed but COULD NOT REFER ME TO ANYONE WHO COULD FIND THE PART. Instead they referred me to service. Service told me they couldn't help without sending out a service tech. The service tech called before coming today and when I explained my dilemma, said it would be a waste for him to come because he could not credit me for the part(s) and the part I supposedly needed was 8268340 , a spray arm seal. I called back parts. They said that the 8268340 part was a gasket, not a large hard gray plastic disk. They referred me to Customer relations. Customer relations said I could not have a refund because my part was over 90 days . I yelled a lot because no one in Customer relations or earlier in parts would let me speak to a supervisor in order to (1) get the part I had originally wanted (2) address the problem with the refund of the dishwasher arm (3) GET THE PHONE NUMBER OF THE PARTS PLACE THAT SENDS OUT THE PARTS. I then calmed myself down and called customer service again. This time I was referred to a person who said they would request that the part I needed that was not labeled or numbered in the parts booklet to be researched. They are supposed to call me back on Monday about finding the hard gray plastic disk that supports the dishwasher arm. Progress.

For the refund/exchange of the part they connected me to someone else in "National customer service". The person who answered requested that I call back on the [protected] number and to ask the customer service person to request Unit 8244. The first time I did that I got a very fast busy signal. The second time I called, the line just rang and rang for at least 10 minutes. I gave up the call and tried to look for the corporate offices e-mail or phone number on the sears.com site as I had been advised by one of the customer relations operators. When I tried the link to corporate links on the Sears.com site, it would not work and said the site was temporarily unavailable.

I am upset with the lack of knowledge or stonewalling that one receives when calling with a problem. I am uspet that the company has you behind the 8 ball with respect to the cost of warranty/service contracts as opposed to going without and cost of service calls (one can't win -- either way satisfaction has been hard to come by $$$---in my instance, my part would not be considered as eligible under service contract, as one of the people from Sears informed me).
I am very angry at this company and the way it conducts business; I feel bad for the people who have to deal with the public.

This is what I want:

Refund and/or exchange the part I received (lower washer arm only - # 8268311) for the gray hard plastic disk that supports the lower washer arm (part number unknown). DISHWASHER MODEL # 665.[protected]

Thank You,
Judy