“Review my case id# 7268.
Our refrigerator Kenmore French Door Elite purchased 2012 died 8-4-17. Today 8-28 it is still not working after servicing on 8-11 and 8-17. We went back and forth with multiple contacts since then. Last week 8-24 I spoke with a "higher up" - Nancy id # 47622 who said a request for refrigerator replacement had been submitted and it would take 72 business hours to see if it got approved, and as backup she said we were scheduled for today, 8-28, for service. After not hearing anything this morning I called Sears back, jumped thru many more hoops, was on hold for most of the 42 minutes, and was told "no, it takes 5 business days to approve replacement request, and we were schedule for Sept. 1st for service. Your service stinks, and we still wait. Please don't respond to this without reviewing our complete file!.”
“Sears, a company as well as a web site, has been very understanding and helping to resolve any issue right away. The customer service seems to be very domestic to understand our feelings.”
“I purchased a washer and dryer set from Sears. They were junk. Within just over 2 years I had to replace the main computer board and the pump in the washing machine. And now the dryer temperature is not regulating. Sometimes it dries somerimes it doesnt.I could have bought a new set with the money I've spent on repairs. Kenmore”
“Part One – July 4th
I am a long time Sears customer. Over the past ten years alone, my husband and I have purchased eight major appliances from Sears, as well as extended protection agreements covering ten appliances ongoing. Because I am a senior citizen, I felt it was necessary to purchase the extended protection agreements because we are limited in our ability to deal with multiple contractors, and trusted the Sears name. All advice from financial people suggests that these contracts are a waste of money but I felt that just in case, we should have them.
Well, just in case arrived this past month when I noticed that our central air conditioning was not keeping the house cool. I immediately called Sears Home Repair because the unit is under the protection agreement and has been checked by Sears on a yearly basis as part of the agreement. It took ten days to get an appointment, a ridiculously long period of time compared to other appliance repair companies, during which we suffered through a heat wave. My husband has been hospitalized for heat exhaustion once already and both of us have heart conditions.
When the technician arrived, he was a very pleasant gentleman and he determined that the condenser or compressor (I can’t remember which) needs to be replaced. However, because it is a two-man job, he would not be able to fix it that day. That evening he called and said his supervisor would be contacting us and ordering the part(s). Of all the people to whom I have spoken in the last two weeks, he is the only who is a native English speaker, who understood me as well as I understood him, and who was courteous to a fault. I wish I knew his name and number because I would call him back in appreciation.
The following morning (June 13th) I had an email from Sears asking me to call the Home Repair Service line. I did, and was told by the automated system that there was no record of the phone numbers I gave it which are the only two I have. After several repetitions of both phone numbers the automated system gave up and put me through to a representative, who spoke heavily-accented English. I was polite, had to ask that he repeat himself many, many times, and eventually learned from him that someone would be out that same day between 5 and 7. Great, I thought! No one came. I did however receive an email confirming that someone would be out between 5 and 7 that day. Still later I had a call from a female representative who said my appointment was re-scheduled for two and half weeks later. I said this was unacceptable since we were already suffering from the extreme heat and had waited more than two weeks and were now being told to wait another two and a half weeks (July 10th), endangering our health further. She said she understood since she did not have a/c herself! I will bet she is not a senior citizen and hasn’t been hospitalized for heat exhaustion, nor spent thousands of dollars to insure her appliances were kept up to repair at all times. I am so discouraged and feel that the thousands of dollars I've spent at Sears have been wasted.
The previous paragraph could be copied and pasted four more times, since that is how many other times I have spoken to representatives since yesterday. Each time I go through the long automated process in which the system doesn’t recognize my phone numbers. Three times I was disconnected during the transfer to a resolution specialist. Every time I had to begin at the beginning and go through the whole explanation before being told the same information. The two resolutions specialists to whom I did speak (Lisa and Georgia, clearly not their real names), said they could not help me and I could not speak to anyone more senior than them. They also affirmed that NO PARTS are ordered for this job, and in fact Lisa said the technician scheduled for July 10th is only coming out to make sure the first technician was right, so there would be no parts ordered until after that. Are you kidding me?
We both know that if the president of your company’s a/c broke tonight, and had to have a new compressor or condenser or whatever it’s called, the parts and the technicians to fix it would be there tomorrow. And that even though the president’s health is presumably not in danger. We both know that if I walked into a Sears store tomorrow, I could buy a new A/C system and have it installed in 48 hours. So it is fraud to tell me that there are no technicians available to install the needed (unordered) part(s) – it is just your continued mistreatment of a customer.
Part Two, July 22nd:
It gets worse!
Sears arrived unannounced on July 6th and put in a new compressor that worked for exactly ten days. Another call to Sears told us it would be a 3 week wait for someone to come and "check" it. They offered us Shop Your Way points for a room air conditioner - we had to pay for installation and delivery ourselves. (At least we can sleep now.) They also suggested we hire an alternate service provider to come and troubleshoot - we did (two different ones) and the Sears PABA supervisor would not approve the repairs needed, each estimated at close to $5000. We had to pay the providers $409 and $412 respectively - each was kept on the phone by Sears for more than an hour trying to explain and get approval for the repairs, only to be declined. Neither will come back.
So now we wait through the latest heat wave, with the news telling elderly people to stay inside in air-conditioning, for August and Sears just to "see" what the problem is. No doubt we will wait some more after they decide what to do. I have made 21 phone calls, mostly to foreign help desk people who say "We understand but we cannot get there until August." When I ask to speak to a supervisor they often hang up and when I call back, I have to start all over again because "Sean" or "Mary" is not reachable.
When we bought our appliances from Sears 9 years ago, we also purchased a Warranty Protection Agreement. It covers ten major appliances and we have paid thousands of dollars for the supposed "peace of mind." It has cost us enough to have purchased a new system. Please help.”
