Sometimes I just have to wonder whether anyone is awake at the wheel in corporate America. No better example of this happened to me tonight.
On Saturday, after some going back and forth, we finally decided to purchase a new dishwasher. After comparing prices and delivery charges and such, I decided to make my purchase at the local Sears store. I knew exactly what I wanted, so it was a quick and painless purchase. The salesperson was helpful and nice to me throughout.
I thought something was a little odd when the first delivery date he could offer me was nearly 2 weeks away. You usually don’t get that for popular models of dishwashers, which this one was. But I was thinking, no hurry, the old one still sort of works.
Tonight I was sitting at home, watching TV with the missus, and on comes this commercial from Sears, promoting their Ultimate Appliance Promise. It’s plastered over their website as well. Wow, nice promise, I thought to myself. Including next-day delivery guaranteed on over 1,600 different appliances! Wow, next-delivery? I ordered a popular model of an ordinary dishwasher, surely that’s one of those 1,600 appliances.
So I called the local Sears store. After waiting on hold for 10 minutes (customer service is truly dead in retail), someone from that section of the store answers. I ask my question about whether my dishwasher was covered by this “promise” or not. The salesperson doesn’t know, doesn’t know anything about the “promise,” and puts on the evening supervisor for that section. She was also very nice, asked me a few questions, then asked me to hold a moment.
While I was holding, she placed the phone away from her face, but I could clearly hear the conversation that occurred:
Sales woman, “Do you know if this product is covered by next-day delivery?”
Sales man, “I don’t know of anything we sell where we could guarantee next-day delivery!”
Sales woman, “I know, I know…” (Some more muted conversation occurred which I couldn’t quite make out.)
She comes back on, admits she doesn’t know, and takes down my further information to call me back tomorrow when she checks with her manager. I met this supervisor while picking out the dishwasher and she seemed to me to be very knowledgeable, polite, and down-to-earth. In other words, I wasn’t talking to a bunch of lowly-paid employees from a large discount retailer that ends in “Mart.”
It was clear to me listening to the other end of that conversation that these salespeople, well-meaning, hard-working individuals, were frustrated by Sears corporate and this marketing campaign which was making promises on their behalf that they knew would and could never be met.
So I have to ask, what good is a “promise” if it’s really just a lie, dressed-up to look like a promise in name only?
The psychology of such “promises” is simple — make people feel confident that Sears, the store, really cares about you. That they go that “extra mile” to offer you the largest selection and lowest price (two things they haven’t changed one iota, but just bringing to your attention). That they will talk to you during the first year’s warranty is in effect (not sure what this gets you, since the manufacturer is who you eventually need to chat with), and this one — next-day delivery on over 1,600 appliances. Keep in mind, too, that 1,600 appliances is more appliances than most Sears store actually display.
So Sears, here’s an idea — don’t make a promise that your salespeople don’t know much of anything about, and that will engender more ill-will than good when people start asking about it.
I will edit this entry when I get more information tomorrow.
45 comments
I purchased a vacuum from Sears…one that is listed as a best buy in Consumer Reports. One of the clamps immediately broke off of the power head. Even though it was still under warrenty, I could not get help at the store. No one could tell me how I could get it replaced.I finally had to order a whole new power head from the service center and when it was finally delivered it was for a different model. I had to send it back at my own expense and reorder. What a hassle.
In my mind customer service is dead, no matter what the advertisements claim!!
Do you guys have laws on false advertising? Is there an advertising authority that you can contact to report that Sears is breeching the advertising standards? Would you have to sue them personally? Could you threaten to sue them and get some kind of discount on your purchase???
With respect to Shirley’s post…
Don’t you guys have some kind of consumer guarantees act? I think the store should have given you a replacement vaccum (if you returned it to the store within 24 hours of purchase) and dealt with the manufacturer themself. But then… I’m not up to date with that so I could be wrong…
I work for a Sears Appliances here in my town. Most of our salespeople are extremely frustrated at this “promise” since our new system seems to have changed very little. Our section has raised the number of delivery trucks and we do indeed delivery to more zip codes on more days of the week. However, “next day” happens sparingly and only if the customer purchased before 3pm and not on a weekend. Almost any of the appliances shown in the ads will not be available “next day” by the time the customer comes in for purchase since we have many, many stores selling out of the same regional warehouse.
It’s unfortunate because all of our salespeople are put on the front line to get yelled at and complained to. We did not invent this “promise”. I wish customers would realize that the salespeople do not make these policies and we have little authority to say otherwise yet we are constantly berated for the actions of a distant, coroporate entity.
I am considering purchasing new appliances from sears. Prefer the GE APPLIANCES. I DO HOPE I will be able to better service.
I am in the same boat as John. Today I spent a good chunk of time on the phone trying to get to the bottom of this “promise” since the dryer I bought took 5 days to be delivered and the washer is almost 2 weeks. There website says if the promise is not met you get a $50 Sears gift card, which I should get for each purchase. But no one seems to know who gives out these gift cards. I called the store, called customer service, called corporate headquarters and the delivery department but nobody will take ownership of this “promise”. I was transfered a million times and disconnected many times. I wish I had a recorder on my phone so I could publish it all to YouTube because it was downright abusive. I sent an e-mail to corporate headquarters (see below) and if I do not get a response I plan to try calling everyone again but this time with a recorder.
Here is the e-mail I sent:
“Hello, I am having trouble with your “Sears Ultimate Appliance Promise” since I can not find anyone at the Woodfield IL store or at the call center for Sears customer relations that knows how it works. I purchase a washer and dryer on 1/14/08 and they could not give us delivery on the dryer until 1/19/08 and the washer until 1/30/08.
I was not happy about the delay because our dryer was broke but agreed because we did not have time to do any more shopping. Later that week I visited your website to enter my rebate information and found out about “The Sears Ultimate Appliance Promise” and saw I qualified for two $50 gift cards because my purchases could not be delivered for quite some time.
The next day I called the store and spoke with my sales associate and someone in customer service but nether said they could help me and told me to contact corporate Sears. I spend the next hour and a half getting bounced around, disconnected many times and still nobody could take ownership of this policy. Here is my call log for the day to show how many calls I made (my phone company allows me to see this on the net):
Jan 19, 2008 01:07 PM 18007327747 00:15:00
Jan 19, 2008 12:54 PM 18007327747 00:13:00
Jan 19, 2008 12:49 PM 18007327747 00:04:00
Jan 19, 2008 12:48 PM 18007327747 00:02:00
Jan 19, 2008 12:10 PM 18005494505 00:35:00
Jan 19, 2008 12:04 PM 18473302356 00:04:00
Jan 19, 2008 12:02 PM 18473302356 00:02:00
Jan 19, 2008 11:52 AM 18473302322 00:05:00
Can someone who knows about this program please contact me so I can follow through? I am not mad, I got my dryer today and it looks and works great and I like Sears and want to continue to shop there. However it bothers me that this policy is so widely advertised and there is no way for a customer to use it.
Thank you”
UPDATE: I got a call from the store manager today and he assured me I would get my gift cards. So now it is a wait and see.
I work at a corporate ran retail store and can understand where Laura is coming from. I have worked for this company for 5 years and there are always coming in the store and refer to something on our website. Most of the time it’s something important enough that those of us who are working “for the Man” should be notified before the information is posted on the site. You would think corporate would have enough sense to educate its employees first so we could sell the product or be able to talk about the issue with some sense of confidence. But usually we, those at the counter sound like idiots because we don’t know what is going on for the company that pays us every week. Sorry for going on but it is frustrating. What do these people think when they post this stuff on the company site. The customer will let our employees know about it!?? I’m done.
Sears legendary service is far gone,it’s just like they don’t care anymore about the customer ,they only care about Sales, that’s why you hear this, again and again the sales personal are wonderful, when they are ONLY selling you merchandise.
I have been a customer of Sears for over fourty years, most of our home appliances and house hold needs are purchased at Sears.
on X-mas I got me a pair of my favorite blue jeans as a present from my daughter ,who said she purchased it at Sears, unfortunately she was off on the size due to my indulgence on the Holidays, told her no problem I’ll exchange them to the right size after the Holidays.
A few weeks ago I took them to Sears in Modesto Calif, to exchange them to the right size, First the Sales Lady said sure,let me get permission from my manager,who flatly refused to exchange the pants to the another size, without a receipt or a proof of purchase.Total rejection. I was humiliated in front of other customers watching the transaction in progress,they made me feel like I obtained these jeans illegaly.I was so dissapointed,I asked to speak to the Manager, the Sales Lady just turned her back and left. Couple of months earlier I spent over $4000.00 on appliances from Sear , and now I regret it.
My family and I decided to boycott Sears from now on.
Purchased a new smooth top range from Sears Saturday afternoon (yesterday) and it was delivered this morning (yes, on SUNDAY!). Great service and a promise kept by Sears of Fayetteville, NC. Thanks Annie. You’re the best!
I had a very similiar experience. I bought a dishwasher on a Sunday 5/4/08 before 3pm. Delivery on my receipt says 5/05/08. After 4 phone calls this morning I got the information that it will be installed on Wed. 5/7/08. Not exactly “next day”. No one I spoke to knew about the guarantee, so no one was interested in honoring it.
An interesting note, I could not find this guarantee on Sears’ website. We saw it on a sign in the store with an 800 number. This person at the 800-871-1622 number told me to call the store or installation, wished me luck and disconnected so quickly I couldn’t ask another question. It looks like I should have shopped somewhere else. Next time I probably will!
If you think your new delivery time is bad try getting a repair on a “state of the art, high effiency” Kenmore washer (less than 2 years old) that needs a ($300)part, We’ve been without a washer for 5 weeks now, and they still won’t give us an expected date on the backordered part. By the way Sears got our money for an extended warranty too. How can you sell an $800 washer, sell a warranty, and not have parts for it. Bottom line, we’ve made numerous calls, spoken to numerous people who can’t speak English, and no one in management will return our calls. I grew up with Sears but I’ve had it. I would not recommend them to anyone.
We’ve inquired about their lowest price guarantee advertisement and whether that means price matching. The salesman just indicated he would have to ask him manager but then came back saying the online store price cannot be met.
This is frustrating to learn that Sears does not stand behind their promises since I was ready to purchase the stove even though I would have to pay for the tax if purchased at the local Sears because of their reputation of customer service. The cost for tax would been sustainial because it was an $3,000 range if they would meet the online store price which does not charge tax.
Be glad if you didn’t get an appliance. I have 3 year old refrigerator (new house all Sears appliances installed the same day) that just quit cooling on July 7. It is going to take them nine days, until the July 16 before a technician can look at the problem. Question, then how long to fix it.
My dad just bought a refrigerator from Sears yesterday. It will be delivered on next monday, today is Wednesday.
He asked the salesperson about the “next day delivery gurantee” promise, the salesperson asked him where he saw it, he told him that he saw it online. Instantly, the salesperson gave my dad a $50 gift card. It was just that easy. I was surprised, too.
Sears repairmen BROKE our 4 yr old refrig. we have been without it for 2 weeks. They refuse to compensate for food loss or inconvenience because we didn’t buy the warranty-a warranty that covers them breaking your appliance ? I don’t think so- never never never buy a sears appliance. We have been in the “pass the buck “loop for two weeks-no one will accept responsibility. It will be almost a month until we get a new refrig.
Thanks for the advice. I was searching the web for freezers and have been checking Sears against their competition. Given the responses I just read, I think I will buy elsewhere. Maybe Sears corporate would like to see a sales they just lost.
I had this exact conversation with my wife. I called the 800 number and was told it only covers “most appliances in a common delivery areas.” It is up to them to determine what that is. He would not elaborate from there, but he did say most delivery areas are not considered “common”. I guess that defeats the purpose of the promise.
I purchased a Kenmore dishwasher from the Sears Gainesville, Georgia store on July 7th. The installer delivered and attempted to install a dishwasher on Wednesday July 9th. The dishwasher door would not close and latch, so he took it back without installing it. I was contacted by the Sear’s delivery department and told that the new dishwasher would be delivered Friday July 11th (which it was). I contacted the installer to find out when it would be installed. He acted a little annoyed, because he said that he was told by Sear’s that the machine was not in stock and he was to pick it up at the warehouse the next week. He also informed me that he made installation appointments and not Sear’s. I apologized for bothering him, but simply wanted to know when the dishwasher in my garage might be installed in my kitchen. He came out on Monday, July 14 and attempted for over two hours in my kitchen to install the new dishwasher, but the door on this one would not stay closed. Finally he told me that if I held it shut several seconds, it would latch. Frankly at this point, I would try anything. It was 5:30, my husband was home and my eighty two year old father wanted dinner. The next day, I did attempt to use the machine, but the door would not stay closed. As long as I held it shut the machine would run, but stop as soon as I let go of the door. I had to spend the the day at the doctor’s with my father who is ill, but that afternoon I left a message on the installer’s answering machine telling him that I wanted the dishwsher that he knew was defective removed. My husband & I went to the Sear’s Gainesville store on July 19 and talked to the manager. She called Sears One or Service One. They kept my husband on the phone for 25 minutes while we were in the store. The Sear’s delivery department has called several times trying to pick the machine up, but the installer refuses to contact us about uninstalling the machine, so that it can be picked up. Everyone at Sears that I have spoken with on the phone has been very nice and understanding. This has not solved the problem. It has been almost one month since I bought a $1,000 dishwasher that sits uselessly in my kitchen while I wash dishes by hand. What happened to Sears. It used to be a reliable company. Why do they have a $1000.00 of my hard earned money and I have a defective machine that I can’t get picked up and credited?
I purchased a freezer at sears the last of april, it died last of july 3 months old.I lost all of my food. sears wanted to send someone to fix it, but I refused.I don’t want anything else from sears in my house. I am 75 and you can imagine how hard this was on me to clean up, besides losing all my food after the garden is gone. they will not give me anything for my food and don’t want to give me full credit for what I have paid on this.
it’s no wonder sears has about had it. I will never never ever buy anything from sears again. I may go to channel 9 and see if I can get some help that way. people should know how they do not work.
Viva La Evolucion 😉
To Marie Misenheimer:
First of all, Sears isn’t anywhere close to “had it”. We are in a much stronger financial position than many big box retailers today.
Secondly, although I’m sorry for your problem, Sears did not manufacture your freezer. So don’t blame Sears because it broke. That’s silly. Would yould blame Lowes, HD, or Best Buy if you bought it there? Of course not.
Thirdly, you said you won’t even let us fix the problem. You’re tying our hands and then complaining about us.
Fourthly, did you purchase a Master Protection Agreement (MPA)? I’m sure you didn’t b/c if you had, you would have been reimbursed by Sears up to $300 for your food loss in just a week or two.
Fifthly, since your freezer is still covered under the one yr. original manufacturer’s warranty and failed to purchase the MPA, wouldn’t it make sense to ask them to pay for your food loss?
By the way, when you call the manufacturer to fix your freezer, they’ll probably send out one of Sears trained technicians. That’s b/c we have the largest repair technician service in the country.
Sixthly, it sounds like you are not trying to be reasonable with this situation. You said you won’t even let Sears try to fix the problem. Maybe you need to make another effort esp. after you read my last note.
Seventhly, I know for a 100% fact Sears will take the freezer back even if it was working properly b/c they want a satisfied customer. They will refund your money less a 15% restocking fee. Delivery is included. What more could you ask for?
With that said–
Last year (spring 2007) Sears started reorganizing its appliance division into seperate retail units(showrooms)across the nation. They will be located in some of the same shopping centers as your local Home Depot, Lowes and Best Buy, as they are our main competition.
The emphasis is on outstanding customer service, top line product knowledge, a beautiful showroom, huge selection, and a price matching policy with an extra 10% off the difference.
In addition, we solely offer an annual preventative maintainence check by a trained technician of your covered appliance to prevent a small issue from becoming a big issue and to make sure your appliance continues to run at it’s peak efficiency. This service included for no extra charge, under the terms of our Master Protection Agreement. This agreement is backed by the largest appliance repair technician system in the country with 24/7 access.
In other words, Sears got the message. We want to do more and rise above the competition. Salespeople are trained for 4 full weeks on all appliances, sale, delivery and installation procedures.
Salespeople are empowered to handle more issues and are trained in how to prevent misunderstandings before they occur.
When issues do arise, we will do what it takes to keep you satisfied. Going the extra mile, if needed.
We want a customer for life.
We want you back.
Give us a try.
You won’t be sorry.
Re: Last post
Under those circumstances, I’m sure the 15%restocking fee would be waived. The woman lost food, it broke in three months. I’m not a mgr. but from the training we received I would expect that to be the case.
Sears can afford it. And it’s good business. Obviously, there was a messup when she called. B/C that’s not the Sears philosophy to treat our customers that way. And of course we have only her side of it.
Concerning Dr. DeGrohol’s original post and others I read here, I’d like to clear up the confusion concerning the next day delivery promise.
I’m sure the source of the confusion can be traced back to the salesperson who sold you the appliance by not explaining things properly.
Delivery Does Not Equal Installation!
They are two entirely different procedures.
Most of the posts use both words interchangeably and that is from where the misunderstanding arises.
Some appliances such as diswashers, drop-in/built-in ranges, cooktops, and microwave hood combinations require installation.
The salesperson should have explained Sears contacts the installers (who have specific technical knowlege on the proper installation procedures)and the installers contact you for an installation appt. They pickup the appliance, deliver it, and install it.
In most cases next day installation is very difficult, but not impossible, because there are only so many qualified installers in an area and they may not be available the next day as they are scheduled to do other jobs first.
That’s why we can’t guarantee next day installation. We’ll arrange for it if we can and try our best but no guarantee. It just depends on how many installers are available and what their existing schedule is.
Naturally it is our intention and to our mutual benefit to get your appliances installed as quickly as possible.
But there is Next Day Delivery!
Deliveries are performed by delivers who work within a delivery system which we can guarantee. As long as the appliance is shown to be available in our warehouse at the time of purchase (which comes up on the register screen) it then gets reserved and scheduled for next day delivery if requested by you at the time of purchase.
Now watch this.
Delivers can deliver all major appliances but they can only “hook up” washers/dyers, free standing stoves, and refrigerators with an existing icemaker water line. They cannot install anything. That requires an installer who then sets up an appt. with you.
Let’s say you want to get your own installer, or do it yourself. You would just get delivery of those items.
Hope this clears up the confusion.
No, there isn’t next day delivery. I didn’t need installation and was very clear on that to everyone, including the salesperson. I said I just needed delivery, end of story.
The point was, I ordered the dishwasher anyway, and it took 2 weeks to deliver. Which was nothing close to “next day.” So in order to fix breaking their “promise,” they agreed to give me a $30 gift card. Nice, but I would’ve preferred them not making the empty promise in the first place and them keeping their $30.
Sears Appliance Maintenance Contracts:
Be careful when signing up and paying for their maintenance agreements. My parents have paid their maintenance agreement since moving to Dallas in 1972. Had a new Sears Central AC and Furnace installed in 1989. Maintenance agreement includes their AC unit, etc. All Sears does is come out, usually after 2 days, and rigs the darn thing so it keeps working. The problem is parts for the furnace and they won’t replace it, just rig it to that the fan runs non-stop whether the AC is on or not. I have tried to conveniece my parents, in their late 70’s, to NOT renew this maintenance agreement again. They are on Social Security and think it is cheaper to have. As a result, old worn out appliances that they will not replace, although they are hardly able to get parts to fix them. My folks could have already replaced the dishwasher, yes still the orginal 70’s model and all their appliances that are no longer E-Star rated, by saving the maintenance agreement money.
Today, they are scheduled to come repair the AC, and I will be here to go around with them. I am not 70 years old and know better.
It is sad that SEARS has gone to pot!
That is our exact story with the exception that our dishwasher quit working. (which was from Sears also) It has been over 3 weeks, no delivery yet! Have been given one crazy excuse after another. From it was sent to warehouse, to no it was not, to back ordered, to actually they lost it. I hate Sears. The one here has people who have a hard time speaking english. We did get great help from sale person however she has no authority to make things happen. I did not want to buy from them. Like the above story, we checked everything and they delivered the next day. What a lie. It was the 20th of Dec when purchased and it is now the 7th of Jan. No KITCHENAID DISHWASHER. What’s up with that?
My new washer/dryer were purchased Monday night and supposed to be delivered (and installed) today (Friday). I got the call last night that the warehouse was flooded and they can not deliver it. No new delivery date was available. I asked “are we talking days or weeks?”. The reply, “oh no, not weeks” and I was assured they will call me. Who knows when I will hear. Anyone know of a flood? What a pile of *&^%.
I am glad to know that delivery and installation are not the same thing. When they call about a new delivery date I will be sure to confirm they are delivering AND installing.
Frustrated in Boise.
Updating my complaint of non delivery and run around that posted on Jan 7th. Promised it would be delivered that friday then and was called and told not in. Then said it would be Saturday at 4:00 pm and it is Saturday the 11th and have been repeatedly told to call back every hour. Michael has been get off work to be here and it is getting to be a strain. I am going onto the website and look for the gift cards the previous customer spoke about. This is aggravating and time is money. From a good source I was told Sears must want to get a jump on competitors and makes unrealisic non truthful promises to get the customer’s order first. They figure that once the customer makes up their mind they will put up with a lot of crap and the lesser inconvenient hassle. Then told if not today then Monday. We keep being told I will deliver it personally the minute it comes in. yeah right! I don’t believe them.
Dec 24/08 – ordered tv from Sears store. Was told Jan 6 it would be in for pickup.
Jan 6 – Called twice, not in. Was told to call back that Friday.
Jan 9 – Called twice, not in. Was told they could do nothing and too wait, click. Person hungup on me.
Jan 10 – Sent email to customer service to complain. Email back said store manager would contact me in 48hrs.
Jan 12 – nothing.
Jan 13 – Sent another email. Email back said Dirstrict mgr would call in 48hrs.
Jan 15 – Nothing. I called store to speak to someone and the two people at the store were great but it came down too the store manager.
Jan 16 – TV is in and no compensation for waiting when I was told delivery would be a specific date.
Customer service sucked when they told me tough sh$t and hungup the phone. I told them I was willing to take another TV and just pay the difference also. They offered a loaner. What is that, seriously?
I called customer service and they told me they could do nothing because it was upto the store manager who told her people to give me nothing. Great. Shatty service with the hangups and no compensation for something that was two weeks late. I even gave them options. Great customer service. They told me because it was ordered online that the store is not responsible for backorders and so forth. Screw sears.
I had a similar experience. I purchased a dishwasher at Sears specifically because of that promise which was literally posted everywhere around the appliances and displayed on a huge sign above the appliance department. I almost bought one at Lowes but would have to wait a week so decided to go with Sears. When I placed my order, the first day I could choose delivery was 3 days away. What? When I questioned the very nice gentleman about the promise he acted confused, read over the sign carefully as if he’d never seen it, and called corporate. The sign also states that if the promise is not kept, Sears will issue a $50 gift card. When I asked about that he told me that he was unable to do that but gave me a name to call the next day. Although tempted to just walk away at that point, I really, really wanted a dishwasher. I did call the next day and after a long phone conversation, I was issued the gift card. As a courtesy. Courtesy? What about the promise? I have yet to receive it, so we’ll see.
I was recently in the middle of a project involving my front struts, when my CRAFTSMAN ratchet expired. By expired I mean I was breaking a bolt loose, and the teeth inside the ratchet stripped. So I was covered in grease and oil, and needed that tool to keep going. I sent my wife to SEARS in Bartlesville, at the mall, to exchange my ratchet for a new one. CRAFTSMAN, you see, has a lifetime warranty on their tools. I have returned things in the past without issue. The most common incident that comes to mind is screwdrivers. I broke the tip off a screwdriver and returned it for a new one, no questions asked.
My wife returned, and handed me a ratchet, but it was not new. It had noticeable scratches on the handle, and had obviously been disassembled and had the internals greased. the one I sent her to exchange was in good condition, as I take good care of my tools. So in effect, I exchanged a shiny ratchet, for a beat up one. I asked my wife what the hell she had just handed me, and she told me that SEARS has changed their policy, and I had received a REFURBISHED ratchet! So I pay for a nice new shiny tool, which has a lifetime warranty. If it fails, I get a beat up refurbished tool. I proceeded to use the ratchet because I needed to get my car back together. I was on a truncated time schedule. The selector for tight and loosen on the ratchet was not functioning as designed. Clearly the person who rebuilt the guts of the ratchet didn’t know what they were doing. I had to continually switch it back to tighten or loosen, as operating the ratchet put the selector in neutral 50% of the time. But I got the job done.
I had other things to attend to, but a couple days later I found myself in SEARS. I was there to shop for other items, but thought I would make a pit stop in the tool department to talk to them about their new policies, because they are ridiculous, to put it lightly. The young man at the counter confirmed it: they are giving out refurbished tools rather than a new one off the shelf. I asked him what would happen if I broke the tip of a screwdriver, would I get a refurbished one? He didn’t have an answer. The lack of whysofors and whatnot led me to contact SEARS customer service via the telephone.
I arrived home and looked up the 800 number. I called, and had to wait 20 minutes to talk to a representative. I explained the situation, and she placed me on hold to check her policies. Twenty five minutes later, the call dropped. I called back. the process repeated. I called again, the process repeated. I called again and requested a supervisor. The supervisor went to check the policy, and I was again, disconnected. I attempted to no avail to call the manager at the local sears store. I have many things that i use my ratchet for, and I require a functional, shiny, new ratchet, to do the job with. Guess I’ll flag down the CORNWELL truck next weekend. Maybe they will back their products better.
Rob, there are a few things going on here. First, you’re using a ratchet for high-torque applications. They are designed for quick tightening and loosening of fasteners, not for breaking tight fastener seals. That’s what breaker bars are for.
Second, a ratchet has two parts: a metal handle, and a mechanism in the head. The mechanism is exactly the same as what comes in a brand new ratchet. It is a new mechanism being installed in a functioning handle. The handle, unless broken or bent, is fine, and will continue to provide many years of faithful service. The mechanism is installed to factory specifications and tested individually for proper function (unlike factory ratchets, which are randomly batch sampled).
Third, if a customer does not want a refurbished ratchet, they can have a new one. Sears refurbishes ratchets because new ones are not cheap (up to $45 for 1/2″ models, and more for 3/4″ models). A mechanism costs pennies versus tens of dollars. Refurbishing is a simple way to keep costs down and prices reasonable without sparing quality and function.
Fourth, what are you doing that requires a shiny, new ratchet? I’m not aware of any job or task that has the requirement of a shiny new ratchet.
By the way, all the truck tools guys refurbish their tools. Even screwdrivers! Sears only refurbishes ratchets, because it’s simple and cost-effective. Everything else is replaced entirely.
Buy your appliances at Lowes or Home Depot!! I knew this and actually “inherited” the 2 year old dishwasher and refrigerator. These models aren’t the low end either…they are the top of the line as purchased by the former owners of our “new” house. The fridge has the 3 year extended warranty, good for me? NO! Actually, it doesn’t make a difference, as the freezer fan went out on Tuesday pm 7-7-09. We had JUST bought $177.00 worth of groceries earlier that day and have 4 small children who love their cold milk. Anyway, I called the Sears repair center early Weds. morning and the operator told me that it would be Saturday before a professional Sears technician could out to our home to fix the problem. She was nice and courteous, even asking how many children we had and explaining that we would be reimbursed up to $250.00/yr. for the loss of food and that we had to keep the spoiled food out for the tech to see. Well, my husband even told me to explain to her that it was the freezer fan and that the tech would probably need to know that…I told her and she assured me that it would be taken care of. So, Saturday rolls around, (keep in mind that the repair guy could show up anywhere between 8am-5pm…so our whole day was pretty much stuck around the house). The tech calls me around 10:30 am while I am out gathering COLD drinks and ice and tells me that he should arrive within an hour to repair our fridge. I was giddy, so excited that I could go buy milk and have ice for our drinks. My hubby was at home waiting for the repair guy.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I arrived home at noon, the repair guy was already gone…FRIDGE STILL BROKEN! Turns out YES the freezer fan WAS INDEED BROKEN, as my engineer husband stated, turns out that the “professional” repair man has to order the fan and it will arrive on Tuesday 7-15-09. So here I am on Sunday, still no cold milk or yogurt, my kids are frustrated and whining. I’ve got a huge pile of spoiled food sitting in a box in the corner…what a waste, (we don’t waste food at my house)!!!!
I’ve always known that Sears talks big promises and doesn’t deliver. They may have their stuff together on the marketing and advertising end, but when it comes down to the customer, and retail level….the service is MUCH to be desired.
I’ve been in retail all my life and my last paying job, before becoming a full time SAHM to 4 babies, was working for a major Home Improvement chain for 9 years. Maybe I’m a bit biased, but I’m old school customer service oriented…..when the customer IS really #1, and I know that the customer is the bread and butter of a business. You treat others the way that you want to be treated.
I’m disgusted that Sears can make such claims and not supply when the customer “demands”. After reading most of the posts on here, I’m nost surprised why, in this economy, so many companies are going under. Consumers have truly lost faith in basic company business practices…they just DON’T care.
It’s my desire that Sears’ upper management take a long hard look at the comments posted on here and seriously re-evaluate how you are operating. It’s time to get back to basics Sears, look at how we are treated, look at the posts on here! But they don’t care, it’s not the salesperson, repair man, or Sears appliance supervisor whose food has gone to waste and have to hear a 5 year old whine for cheese, or a 1 year old baby crying for juice and milk.
All the way around, it was the absolute worst customer service/buying experience I ever had. Be warned that it is highly likely your new Sears fridge will only last 7 years. I have vowed to never buy another product from Sears, Lands End, etc. and will return new garage door opener this weekend. I am shocked they are still in business—shocked.
Three weeks ago, I bought a LG 5.6 Freestanding Stainless Steel Range. The item was beautiful, loaded with features, and had me impressed. And yeah, it set me back an arm and a leg…nearly two thousand dollars once the warranty and everything was totaled…I bought during tax free weekend, so no taxes, thank God.
Well, they delivered it and it was great. I smiled because I thought it looked better than the kitchen itself, but hey, I don’t stand at the kitchen and cook, I stand at the stove and cook…therefore, whoever’s watching sees me in front of something pretty, not the kitchen.
Since I’ve had it, it’s cooked “Hot”. I mean, put a pan of water on it full of water to cook hot dogs and fifteen minutes later, that puppy’s grillin’ ’em in the pan and the packaging is all sorts of stuck to it. Kooder, my dog, hides and howls because of the smoke, but hey, I look good!
Well, yesterday, Kooder really howled because I put some chicken quarters under the broiler and then got to talkin’ on the phone. After a while, I thought I smelled something that smelled like burnt plastic, but I looked next to me and the cigarette hadn’t burned anything and my beer hadn’t spilled, so I thought it was just me…well, pretty soon, the fire alarm went off and the kitchen was full of smoke and I had to trip over kooder as he wanted out. He’d had enough of me lookin’ good in the living room when I should’ve been in the kitchen standing in front of the stove.
I opened the oven and what was stainless steel is a black pit of smoke and the chicken wasn’t doin’ so hot either. I put it in the sink and hit it with the water and then, decided to spray the oven with Windex. Of course, that shouldn’t have been done because the next thing I know, I’m groggy and the kitchen’s spinning, and as I fell, I spilled my beer.
Today, I woke up with my face in kooder’s dish and the oven still open…if it’d had been gas, I’d been blown to hell, but it’s electric and the light was rather dim since the Windex didn’t do it no good. I was hungry, the chicken hadn’t been ate, so I thought I’d be kind and give it to kooder and cook me some lunch since I look good in front of that stove.
I got the hot dogs done and kooder fed. He didn’t mind the chicken once I pried all the blackened skin off the meat.
All I can say is life sure is different since I got my range. I think I’ll get a refrigerator with my next stimulus check comes.
my God, i thought you were going to chip in with some decisive insght at the end there, but I guess I’ll have to check back for some more 🙂
I’m going through similar situation. After purchasing a dishwasher online and paying for delivery/install they are telling me to pick it up at the store. My website confirmation and even their email show the installation and removal charges. I told them to cancel and they said there would be a restock charge. I called Visa and told them to dispute the charge. No customer service at all! President is W. Bruce Johnson, 3333 Beverly Road, Hoffman Estates, IL 60179 (847) 286-2500.
if ur thinking kenmore or sears,all i can say is good luck with that!!!!!!i wish somebody had stopped me.
I too am a sucker for Sears promises, except I learned over 8 years ago! New home, old refrigerator, you get the picture, off to Sears we go to get a new one! Purchase, delivery, two month’s later, water all over the kitchen and one dead Kenmore. Call to service, come out fix the refrigerator, two month’s later same scenario, and again and again and again! Over the course of the next 5 years we became very friendly with the Sears repairmen. I knew though I was in deep doodoo when the last Sears “Repair” man I let in my house told my husband and I to “push this button every day and the refrigerator will work”, well you know the story, it died less than two weeks later. So.. this time my husband took the lemon Kenmore on and fixed it, 2 years later we continue to have a happy fridge, yet when it dies permanently, I am returning it to Sears with a large bow and sign on the front!
We purchased a Kenmore Washer and Dryer on December 13th. But after speaking to friends about the low quality of the the models we purchased we returned to Sears the next day, cancelled the Washer&Dryer order and just bought a new GE dryer.
With the first order for the Kenmore W&D we were charged $75 delivery, given rebate info. When we cancelled that order we were not given credit for the rebate because we were told we might have already applied for the rebate. Fine, however, when we made the second purchase for the GE dryer we were charged another $75 for delivery and given info to apply for the second rebate. We were told by the store salesman that we needed to wait 30 days before the rebates would be sent since Sears has a 30 return policy. Fine, ok, we understand. We applied online for both rebates since we had now paid $150 delivery for one dryer. We applied online to have the Sears rebate cards changed into MasterCard debit cards. At the end of 30 days we received two Sears store debit cards in the mail. But we had printouts from mysearsrewards.com that we had requested MasterCard debits not Sears debit cards. When we looked at out account online, all it ever said was “In Process.” So we went back to the Sears store and were told, we could not get two rebates for one delivery–told that the sales person should not have charged us the second delivery fee. They gave us credit for the second delivery fee, which was great, but said since we had applied for the MasterCard debit cards, we had to give them the two Sears debit cards we had been sent. All this time our online account still reads “In Process”. Several emails to customer service asking when we would receive the Mastercard were answered with the same response even though I asked different questions. Guess it’s just a standard reply to appease us. Today I called hoping to find out when we might receive the MasterCard. After talking with Peter and then his manager Lillie who said she was in Wilmington, Delaware at the Sears Cust. Service center, she first said to call back in 4-5 business days to find out the “Status” of our rebate. As I asked her why so long, she changed my call back date to 7 business days, then 14 business days. She said I have to wait in line for my account to be processed. I tried to explain that online my account has been in process for nearly 2 months and no one has been able to help. We had been to the store twice, I had emailed Cust. Ser. three times, and spoke to two people at Sears, no of whom seemed overly concerned at my frustration. This whole rebate has been so screwed up by Sears from the beginning. Now they have our Sears card and we have nothing but being told repeatedly that all we can do is continue to call back every two weeks. Sears is big, they can afford to lose my future business, and they surely have. NEVER again will I step into any Sears store. When I asked if I would ever receive my MasterCard debit card, all I’m told is call back, call back, call back. I am so done with Sears–
When will sears start listening.They sit back and get richer while some have not seen or heard our comments yet.They go into the store blind and believe the phony warranties and promotions.We have now had problems with almost all of our appliances.We are left with inferior products that they makes us accept after we buy them.I work with a home builder, directly with the buyer.I will not recemend sears again. GOOD JOB SEARS,YOU OBVIOUSLY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!
Wake up to the Master Plan – and I’m not talking maintenance and service agreements here! Corporations and manufacturers have been deluding the American consumer for years when they discovered you would have to purchase certain items for the home that would inevitably require repair or replacement. So, in addition to the expense of the item they would tack on “maintenance protection plan” charges to extend the mfr’s warranty. As you have read from previous publishers of their stories this is where your nightmare will probably just begin.
So keep in mind when you buy a big ticket item today – electronics, appliances, etc – undoubtedly the majority of the product will be made overseas in substandard conditions with less than quality parts by slave labor. When you need to “service” said item under that exorbitant extended maintenance plan you purchased you will be given the runaround by barely English-speaking personnel in some offshore call center paid minimal wages and no vested interest in company product or service.
America, you truly DON’T get what you pay for! But it will continue to happen as long as we let the corporations rule and don’t stand up for the Buy American-Sell American-Nation First policy of doing business with the American consumer. It has to change or we will continue to slide into third world status. Just go back and read a few more of these postings or check out other sites with the same issues, repeated over and over. It’s a trend and it’s going to get worse until we wake up and change the system. There is a way – think about it and use that anger and frustration constructively. Put the power BACK in the hands of the people.
Wow. Thats all I can say. First off, I see alot of people whining about how long it takes something to get fixed with the protection plans. Really? How long do you think it would take to get fixed without the protection plans? Yeah, it may take a week or so to get a part in, but what do you want? A Sears repair man driving a semi full of every part for every appliance ever carried by a Sears store? Thats just unrealistic. Yes, I work at a Sears appliance store. Every appliance I buy, I get with a MPA.
Not just for show, but because I know that most problems with the MPA come from ignorant customers who don’t understand that our repair people do what they can. By the way, I love the “slave labor” quip, and how overseas construction is inferior to American made. Now, this is just from my experiance, but I don’t even sell maytag, whirlpool, or frigidare. I have alot less customer problems with LG or Samsung. If people use their protection plan and don’t forget about it, they will get their value out of it.
so please. Stop whining.
I want to ad my name to this list of discontented customers. I bought a hot water heater with a “order before 12:30 and you get same day installation” guarantee. THREE DAYS later I had the installation! Sears never sent the order to the installer. The installer had a computer malfunction and never got the order when Sears did finally send it. Sears NEVER ONCE called to tell me there was any kind of problem The installer was dirty and rude. My carpets need cleaning after he tromped around in my housed with dirty work boots and dragged the new and the old hot water heater onto my hardwood floors and carpets. I was told I would be given “compensation.” It’s a $50 gift certificate.. to SEARS OF COURSE. I DECLINED THE GIFT..I will never buy another thing from them. I just wish I had come across this website before I ordered!