My Sears experience

[LibraLiz1973]

On June 20th my 9 month old side by side Stainless Kenmore refrigerator CAUGHT ON FIRE. Got the fire put out with a fire extinguisher just in time for water to explode out of the unit ALL OVER MY BRAND NEW HARD WOOD FLOOR!! Oh joy!

On June 21 I made an appointment with Sears for the repairman to come out.
On June 22, the repair guy didn't show up as scheduled.
On June 23 I scheduled ANOTHER repair guy.
On June 27 (the earliest appointment I could get!!) the repair guy didn't show up
On July 2, the guy finally shows up. Rude as hell- you wouldn't believe it.
Looks at it and says it is the compressor.
He orders another one and says, it will be delivered to you by next Tuesday at the latest.
Call and schedule another appointment when it comes and I guess I'll have to come out again and deal with this.
So I wait... and wait... and wait. I call Sears, they say the compressor is coming.
On July 13 I come home from work to see a "Sorry We Missed You" sticker on my door.
It's from Sears and says "We tried to come fix your fridge, guess you weren't home".
So I get Sears on the phone again and say WTF??? I didn't have an appointment and the compressor isn't even here.
At which point the customer service person tells me "There is no compressor on order for you- the service tech
canceled that order JULY 3".
I flipped out. Got a manager on the phone who PROMISED me that someone would be out on
July 18th to fix it. July 18th came- my appointment was for between 8-12. At 1 the guy
calls and says, I'll be there between 2 and 5. I say, can you narrow that window down? And he says
"No lady, deal with it." I told him to forget coming out because I didn't want him in my house, and told him
I was calling Sears to complain. He laughs and goes "You aren't the first person to
complain and you won't be the last." And then he hung up on me.
So, I get Sears back on the phone. I'm furious at this point and I just want a new fridge.
My old fridge smells like death and no amount of bleach is taking care of it.
Manager says that a workman will have to certify that the fridge is un salvageable.
I say ok, send me a workmen. She says that none of this is their fault
SINCE I AM THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN CANCELING APPOINTMENTS!! I was like, um, no.... but nice try.
She got an earful from me. I'd never canceled an appointment AND I was able
to prove that I had taken 3 full days off of work for this crap.
At the end she promised someone would come to my house
and get this taken care of. So on Wednesday FINALLY a workman shows up.
He takes on look at it and says, this is un fixable.
He calls it in and I can hear him saying "No, it's nothing she did". "No, the house is super clean".
I wonder what that was all about?? ANYWAY
Then a Sears customer service person calls and says that within 24 hours I will hear from
a rep telling me when to expect my new fridge.
On Friday, a compressor finally showed up at my house. The repairman from Wednesday told me that might happen,
he said to just send it back.

Today is Tuesday. I spent FOUR hours on the phone today
talking to one person after another asking where my new fridge is.
The customer service people from the top on down are the rudest
most inefficient bunch ever.

FINALLY got some satisfaction ( I hope ) after hour 4.
Supposedly a new fridge will be delivered to me on Thursday.

Cross your fingers for me!

I will update when it comes.

[ThomCat]

1. I hope you file complaints with the better business bureau,

with the Sears corporate office, and with your state division of consumer affairs. That kind of service should definitely get some wide-spread complaints.

[LibraLiz1973]

2. Believe me, I am

I have alot to say about the treatment I received.
Not to mention the amount of time I have been without a fridge!!

[marions ghost]

4. I realize the state div of consumer affairs

depends on what state you're in as to effectiveness, but have you ever found the Better Business Bureau to be worth the bother? I haven't.

But I'm open to hearing about others who think they're worthwhile. I just think the BBB give consumers a false sense of security. You're supposed to feel like you did something, but it's pretty meaningless. Do you have another opinion of them?

[ThomCat]

5. As far as I know

they're just a clearinghouse for complaints. I don't know that they actually do anything, but if people check with the BBB before using a company they can find out if there are any complaints on file.

[marions ghost]

6. Well what happened to me in one case

is that a company that actually had many complaints against them was not listed by the BBB. This company manipulated everything about their image and despite many lawsuits, is still in business today. The owners are very well-connected and were able to pull strings in other areas of complaint, so I wonder that maybe the BBB looked the other way also. I'm not sure the BBB is actually working in the interests of the consumer actually. I always saw them as just a clearinghouse, but I'm not sure they do a really through job of that. There is just no way the company I am talking about should not be listed with them.

Because of this I think the BBB may give consumers a false sense of security. I never recommend anyone use them. But as I said, I would LIKE to hear from anyone who has found them to be helpful.

I think we need to know how the BBB really works, because what I have found is that people trust them. I'm thinking that trust may be somewhat naive.

[marions ghost]

3. Please update your story...gotta hear the ending

WHY are we having to fight tooth and nail, lose work time, and put up with insults from companies that supposedly pride themselves on customer service? It's not like you bought something from the bargain basement. Your story unfortunately is not unusual in my neighborhood. We are being driven crazy by this stuff. It takes a toll.

I ESPECIALLY hate appliances. All of them. Have developed a strong fear and loathing over the last decade. No matter how much research you do, you can end up with lemons or something that doesn't work as advertised (and I do read Consumer Reports & all that). Right now I have a ceiling fan that wasn't cheap, that has been there for 3 years after working for about 6 months and will have to be removed to be sent back to the company... someday, one day...just one of many disabled or ailing 'units' I have dealt with. They're all 'units' to me now. You breathe a sigh of relief when something actually WORKS.

And then more and more these days, the customer is questioned as to their honesty when something is wrong, as in your story. The general contemptuous attitude towards all customers is expressed in those lines, "No it's nothing she did. The house is super clean." :puke:

On the other hand, it's likely that people working in some of these customer service jobs are being underpaid & screwed by their employers, and so they take it out on the customers. If a company is ALLOWING this sort of stuff to go on...it's the fault of the company management.

[LibraLiz1973]

10. Remember the saying "The Customer Is Always Right" ??

The new motto seems to be "THe customer is always wrong, so they can go F*ck themselves."
Customer Service is at an all time low in this country.

[Donnachaidh]

7. Was your floor damaged?

I would have had a massive asthma attack if any of this happened to me. I worked for Sears years ago, and the customer service was far better back then. Please keep us posted.

[LibraLiz1973]

9. The flooring under my fridge buckled

But my contractor fixed it on Wednesday


Sears should pay for it but I doubt they will bother.

I've sent off letters with documentation of the cost for that, plus the time I took off from work.

[LibraLiz1973]

8. Great news!

I got the fridge on Thursday afternoon!!

I'm still mad at Sears but thank goodness I've got a working fridge at long last.

[fudge stripe cookays]

11. Call the local media.

Do you have one of those "watchdog reporters" in your area? They LOVE stuff like this. And some companies will pay BIG money not to have their reputations damaged any further.

Send Sears a letter and let them know you're already in negotiations with "area's most well-known watchdog reporter." And that you're gonna let them have it. See what they do then. :evilgrin:

[NMDemDist2]

12. I like the way you think FSC n.t

[Stuart G]

13. Sears changed hands a few years ago..

It was bought out by..are you ready? K Mart..Basically it was a take over for the land that Sears owns.
So the idea of customer service went out the window...although that window hadn't been much. Sears lost much of its appeal in the 80s and 90s...also lost much of market share..Awful story you tell. I am very glad you eventually got help.