Can't believe I haven't written about the saga of my ordeals with Sears yet. I think I was just too pissed off about it before to address it, but I think the time has come. Sears-- that bastion of American retailing has really sunk to previously unplumbed depths in the realm of customer service.
It all started back in May when we went looking for some home gym equipment. We priced the offerings at Decathalon Sports and Sears and decided that Sears had better quality merchandise to offer. We didn't make a purchase in the store, but after we got home I decided to check out their prices again online and saw they also offered an in-store pick up option rather than delivery. I checked out how much the order would be with home delivery and laughed at the $500 charge and then placed my order for IN STORE PICKUP online and was promptly charged $500 for home delivery. Knowing that this kind of situation was better addressed with quick action, I called the Sears customer service number to get the order cancelled as soon as possible. I was then told by the young Sears representative that it was not possible to cancel orders placed online. I explained the situation to him and he transferred me to his supervisor. She told me it was not possible to cancel orders placed online, even if they were placed less than 5 minutes ago. I told her I could not pay $500 in delivery charges. She asked if the problem was my credit card limit. I told her the problem was my household budget and the stupidly expensive delivery charges that I DID NOT ORDER. She put me on hold a half a dozen times and then told me the order would be cancelled but it would take a few days for my online account statement to reflect that.
A week later the order was still there in my online account statement, so I called again and asked when it would be removed. Got more run around and was told the charges were in the process of being removed. A couple weeks later I got another online statement with the delivery charges still included. This time I sent an email to Sears and they sent me back an email which said, "As you have requested, we have cancelled your order. " "Finally!" I sighed with relief.
The next week a large truck pulls up in front of my house and when I answer the door and ask the delivery guy what he's bringing me he says some weights from Sears. I told him that order had been cancelled and he should take it back. That was less stuff for him to lug around, so he said OK and drove away. I thought about calling Sears but was so disgusted with the whole thing that I just shook my head and tried to forget about it.
Today I received a billing statement with $500 in delivery charges from Sears. I see on the bottom of the page in miniscule type there is an address for sending billing error notices to. I may just print this out and send it to them. I sure as hell am not going to pay them.
21 comments:
Holy Crap!
I hate sears too!
Good luck getting your money back!
They suck big time!
Have you gotten the number for Once Source? Apparently it's their customer services boss....
good luck!
Katie
I know exactly what you are having trouble with. Our dishwasher broke down on April 9, 2008. I went online through Sears.com and created a service order for Sears to come out and inspect/repair our broken dishwasher. Needless to say, when Sears created our ticket, they transposed the last two numbers of my phone number. So, when their repair man tried to call me, he was not able to verify that I was home. Sears did not show up on April 16th as per our contract and said it was my fault; they did not write the correct phone number- remember. They said they could not get anyone out until April 23rd, a whole week more. I called everyone from "at home" to the local shop, to Sears customer "no" service in Chicago. No one would allow me to speak with a supervisor, in fact the "customer service operator" said that there was no one higher that I could speak with. Sears has burned me and I will not use them again, for anything.
Hello, I have also had the worst horrible experience with Sears too.
I will never go into one of their stores too. You are not alone. It seems hundreds of customers are not happy with Sears. Consumer Beward.
DO NOT BUY FROM SEARS. Their customer service sucks so bad... they don't have ANY!! My front load washer stopped spinning. I called Sears repair - BIG MISTAKE. 1st they told me on the phone it would cost $65 to have them come out. The guy comes, goes down into my basement for 10-15 mins., comes up and tells me "the motor is all rusted out - it's shot." Tells me it'll cost $400 to put in a new motor but that I can just buy a new machine for $400. Then he bills me for $75 not $65. I go online to see what is involved with replacing the motor, maybe my boyfriend and I can do it ourselves and save money, right? I found MULTIPLE appliance repair websites that said the same symptoms my machine had (filling and draining but only humming when it should spin) could be as simple as a clogged coin trap. In less time than the guy was in my house we cleaned the trap and I have since done 3 loads with my "rusted out and shot" motor!!! So you have to ask yourself; was he totally incompetent or was he malicious? If you look you can see NO RUST on the motor. I am voting malicious! And you have to know - had I run out and bought a new machine they would have taken away my old one - like they are so nice to take it off my hands right? But then I bet they would clean the coin trap and sell it as "refurbished" for another $250 profit for them! And to add insult to injury they refused to refund the $75 it cost me to have their guy do NOTHING (and no offense, but, he was about 5' 9" yet weighed like 400lbs., not sure he could even really get down low enough to actually see under my machine) and then try to rip me off! :( Plus, the attitude I have run into again and again with them on this makes me believe this is SOP for Sears repair; do nothing, lie, get them to buy new and then resell their old thing.
USE ANYONE ELSE BUT NOT SEARS!
I hate Sears too. We will never, ever buy one thing from Sears again. Our front-loader washer (2.5 yrs old and thank goodness we had the extended warranty on it) has broken yet again. And now after numerous repairs (one repair alone was $897.00) they are 'replacing' it. The funny thing is, what they are giving us in credit is less than what we paid for it AND less than what they paid to get the freakin' thing "fixed". Unbelievable! It's been a nightmare and it's still not over. We have been battling with them since November 2008 and it's February 2009. Customer Service? Ha! They do not know the definition. Hate them and will tell everyone we know how much they suck.
My husband and I have been at war with Sears since Black Friday 2008. We attempted to purchase a TV, paid for it (nearly $1000) and had the confirmation receipt. We waited for it to "come in" until after Christmas at which time we were told----after MANY trips to the store, calls to the store, and emails----that they had "over-sold" the TV and we would be receiving a refund. Eventually we did receive the money and ATTEMPTED to purchase another one (we didn't learn!). This time the TV was $800, we paid for it, received confirmation that it was on the way INCLUDING a so-called tracking number for UPS. We tried tracking the progress of our order, but the number never worked AND the system rejected our email, saying that we were not in the system. We called Sears who offered NO assistance. When the date came and went that we were to receive the TV we called Sears once again and were told that UPS had not picked up the TV, but that Sears was not at fault for the delay. Supposedly we'll receive a "real" tracking number once UPS has the TV. When my husband reminded them that we wanted to track the item in order to be home when it arrived he was told that no one had to be home because UPS would leave it on the porch. WHAT AN IDIOT! Who wants an $800 TV sitting on their front porch all day???? When he offered to cancel the order, the "customer service" rep informed him that he'd still have to pay the shipping fee....even though the TV is still at Sears. Certainly Sears must not wonder why they are having to close so many stores. I think it has less to do with economics and more to do with poor service! As of today, 3-3-09, we still have no TV! Consumers we VERY WARY!
Out of 6 high-priced appliance items I bought from Sears, this unit gave me a lot of headaches after a month's use. One time the door jammed after running a cycle and I was unable to open it and had to call Sears' 1-800-4MYHOME for repair because it was still under warranty.
I was confident that I will be taken cared of. BUT I WAS WRONG!
I called them up on a MONDAY and was patched through to tech support for directions. We ended up scheduling for a technician to come over on Wed.
WEDNESDAY came and I HAD TO FOLLOW UP on 4MYHOME regarding what happened. They had to cancel because they have in their system that I bought a coin-operated washer w/c was not covered under any warranty. I think they need to coordinate better with their retail store where we bought those units from. Sears, what kind of system do you have? Are yours even centralized, or do you even talk to each other for consistency?
Because of this I was rescheduled on FRIDAY. Now by Fri my kids' clothes would be sitting inside the washer for 5 days! So a tech guy came and was able to open it (thank God!) but the door locked again so the washer really needs to be fixed. However, tech guy doesn't want to lift the washer out of its plastic tray platform. Reason: IT'S NOT HIS JOB. dang!!!
I talked to 1-SOURCE-SEARS that Fri and told me tech guy should have handled it. Also said he'll send 2 tech guys to lift the washer but needs to schedule it on Tue.
TUESDAY, w/c is today, 04.07.09, same tech guy called and told me it's not his job to lift the washer (I wonder why he's still employed) and told me that I need to do it.
I reported the incident to 1-SOURCE-SEARS who then talked to the tech guy to no avail. When tech guy came over, he waited in the van (to talk to his mgr.) while we lift the washer out. Next thing we know, tech guy left w/o giving us any word. GOOD GOING SEARS.
My business question for Sears: Is this how you treat your customers who buy products from you relying on just its warranty? Better yet, does your warranty service designed in such a "crappy" way to push customers to buy your Master Protection Agreements?
I used to work for Sears as a Sales Associate. I left with no grudges but for reasons of going back to school. I actually wanted to return the favor to Sears by buying 6 appliances from them-- for giving me employment when I needed it. But BIG DISAPPOINTMENT on my part.
Dear Everyone Who Is Complaining about Sears,
wah
Sincerly,
A Humble Employee
I hate sears. I bought 4 new tires from them and had an alignment done and they sent me on my way, i was happy. Until my front tires started to wear and not in a normal way. so i got the papers and took it to sears to get new ones on the warrenty. they told me the unusual tire wear was from an alignment problem which they did so it would be covered in the warrenty. then they asked if the tires have been rotated and i said no. they said because of not rotateing them it voided the warrenty. well their warrenty is not even given to you, or any instructions like how or when to rotate your tires they asume everyone knows your suposed to do that so they dont tell you. so i had to take my car to les schwabs to get new tires because sears is stupid. dont buy tires from sears.
I've been an employee for Sears on the northshore for over 8 years and I can't believe what the Store has turned into..6 years ago Sears had a solid manager staff that understood store policy and stood behind it.Customers left pleased and returned to buy again and again.The managers did so well that they were promoted to a bigger store in New Orleans in return the store received a reject human resource manager from K-mart that doesn't have a freaking clue about what's going on.He was hired as the store manager which was the worst move upper management could ever make.The store manager is very rusty on store policy,he changed a store with moral and value into a complete mad house.Customers are denied their rights to wrong signing issues due to lower manager mistakes and many other issues that is costing the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.The department managers careless about customers spending the big money and the store has lost customers to Lows and Home Depot due to bad decisions and untrained salesmen.Trained salesmen of many years often quit because managers don't care about store policy and customer's rights.Then some kid with no people skills take the position and run more customers away.If this continue Sears of the Northshore will loose a vast margin of sales before they get a idea.Buyers beware!!You just might get some flaky deals at this store
I just became a cashier manager of Sears in Slidell and I just lost one of my most favorite cashiers.I was sad because she didn't deserve termination Our lost prevention manager did a totally unjust thing that will forever stay in my mind.My cashier made a simple mistake that could have resulted in a correction write up but the lost prevention manager turned it into theft to fill her internal theft quota.She also made me bias to justify her actions.I went home and thought about how she just ruined the girls life by blaming her for stealing.I know that my cashier made a mistake and I was forced to fire her.I now don't trust our loss prevention team or Sears period I need another job
Cool article as for me. It would be great to read something more about that matter. Thanks for sharing that information.
Joan Stepsen
Cyprus escort
I work for a Sears Auto Center in Arizona. I would have to agree with everyone here. Too many times I have seen cars going late (past their commitment times) because the mechanics take their sweet ass time knowing they won't have to deal with an angry customer. Furthermore, they push sales WAY too hard. If a customer comes in for an oil change, Sears doesn't give a fuck whether the customer leaves with nothing more than fresh oil. They won't be happy until that customer leaves with 4 Michelin Tires, an alignment, premium oil change, new brakes, rebuild front end etc... I'm not saying that Sears will rip off their customers, but they definitely push sales too hard and treat their employees like shit. I can't even count the times I've been yelled at because my sales have not been up to date. They can't be happy that I give the customers what they want. And the pay is commission, so Sears doesn't have to pay me shit unless they feel I've made them enough money and ripped off enough customers. As soon as I get another job, I'm leaving...
To anyone and everyone complaining:
1.) If you have a Master Protection Agreement or Repair Protection Agreement that covers FUNCTIONAL failures of the machine. This means that if your machine is completely out and not performing its primary function that it falls under your warranty coverage. Also, cosmetic issues (scratches, dents, fogging in oven windows) are not covered. If the thing is scratched, but still does its primary function it won't be covered under your warranty. If you want someone out you will have to pay the service charge.
2.) Light bulbs, batteries, & water filters are the CUSTOMER'S responsibility to maintain/replace. This is just like the tires and gas with your car. You are responsible to replace them. They are not covered under your warranty (even manufacturer's warranty which ONLY cover's a year's worth of service/part calls) and its says so in the literature. Please read your owner's manual. It has all the information in it.
3.) If you have a washer drum, internal components & whatnot that are covered under the manufacturer's promise (20 years or something like that) then ONLY the item mentioned is actually covered. This does NOT mean that you won't have to pay to get a person out there to replace the item in question. You don't have to pay for the replacement part but you will have to pay for services rendered by a technician.
4.) When you call the customer service number please have the following things ready: a.) The phone number that you PURCHASED the item with. Do you know how many phone numbers the average customer has? A CS rep cannot locate your customer file to highlight any appliance to set for service if you do not provide the correct information. We don't mess with receipt numbers, model numbers (until we get into the file) or serial numbers. We can look you up by your phone number or address/last name. If you don't have this information or you have like 10 addresses or phone numbers please don't shout/curse/verbally abuse the CS rep. We are only able to work with the appropriate information given to us. b.) Some understanding/common sense-- we may inform you that X or Y is not covered under warranty. We are not making a determination of your EXACT situation. We are merely giving you the information so that you are aware. The only person who is able to determine what is going on is a technician that comes to your home. Please don't verbally crucify a CS person for merely stating information. They are not doing it to cause you grief, they are doing it because that is their job to make you aware & keep you informed. Information doesn't change just because you don't like or want to hear it.
5.) "Accidental damage" is NOT covered under any warranty. If something happens to your product and even if you didn't intentionally damage it-- its still not covered and you have to pay the service charge to get it fixed.
So let me tell you what IS covered under your warranty. Under the manufacturer's warranty (this is any brand, not just Kenmore) you get parts/labor for a year. This is to perform repair for FUNCTIONAL failures of the unit.
Under MPA or RPA (Master or Repair Agreement) FUNCTIONAL failures are covered. Under the MPA you get one preventative maintenance check every 12 months to keep your machine in working order. You have to call & request that maintance check be scheduled because we don't know your schedule. You have to tell us when its convenient for you and then we have to reconcile that with what is available.
If you have a technician out to diagnose & repair your machine he might have to order parts. This process often involves drop-shipping the item from the manufacturer. This takes time and there is no way around that. If you have your washer repaired on the first of the month it will take at least 7-10 BUSINESS DAYS (not including weekends) to get the part to your home. After that when you call in you will be given the first available date in your area. What people don't understand is that in the meantime (those 10 business days not including weekends) that there are other people who have had issues with their machines. When you call back to get a repair person to complete the repair with parts then you are most likely going to have to wait 3-5 days. This is because we service ALL calls in the order we receive them. Everyone thinks that their situation is the most important problem in the entire world and they don't understand that it is just good business to schedule as we receive.
4.) When you call the customer service number please have the following things ready: a.) The phone number that you PURCHASED the item with. Do you know how many phone numbers the average customer has? A CS rep cannot locate your customer file to highlight any appliance to set for service if you do not provide the correct information. We don't mess with receipt numbers, model numbers (until we get into the file) or serial numbers. We can look you up by your phone number or address/last name. If you don't have this information or you have like 10 addresses or phone numbers please don't shout/curse/verbally abuse the CS rep. We are only able to work with the appropriate information given to us. b.) Some understanding/common sense-- we may inform you that X or Y is not covered under warranty. We are not making a determination of your EXACT situation. We are merely giving you the information so that you are aware. The only person who is able to determine what is going on is a technician that comes to your home. Please don't verbally crucify a CS person for merely stating information. They are not doing it to cause you grief, they are doing it because that is their job to make you aware & keep you informed. Information doesn't change just because you don't like or want to hear it.
5.) "Accidental damage" is NOT covered under any warranty. If something happens to your product and even if you didn't intentionally damage it-- its still not covered and you have to pay the service charge to get it fixed.
So let me tell you what IS covered under your warranty. Under the manufacturer's warranty (this is any brand, not just Kenmore) you get parts/labor for a year. This is to perform repair for FUNCTIONAL failures of the unit.
Under MPA or RPA (Master or Repair Agreement) FUNCTIONAL failures are covered. Under the MPA you get one preventative maintenance check every 12 months to keep your machine in working order. You have to call & request that maintance check be scheduled because we don't know your schedule. You have to tell us when its convenient for you and then we have to reconcile that with what is available.
If you have a technician out to diagnose & repair your machine he might have to order parts. This process often involves drop-shipping the item from the manufacturer. This takes time and there is no way around that. If you have your washer repaired on the first of the month it will take at least 7-10 BUSINESS DAYS (not including weekends) to get the part to your home. After that when you call in you will be given the first available date in your area. What people don't understand is that in the meantime (those 10 business days not including weekends) that there are other people who have had issues with their machines. When you call back to get a repair person to complete the repair with parts then you are most likely going to have to wait 3-5 days. This is because we service ALL calls in the order we receive them. Everyone thinks that their situation is the most important problem in the entire world and they don't understand that it is just good business to schedule as we receive.
If you have to be rescheduled or the route for your tech is overbooked then that stinks. I understand your frustration but please keep in mind that the techs are people too. Their cars break down, they get sick or something happens to them. They may get stuck on a long job before they come to your house. If that is the case they will get to your house ASAP, but they have to finish the last customer's call before they come to you. You wouldn't want a tech to stop in the middle of your repair to move on to the next customer so they could "be on time" would you?
On "emergency service": There is no emergency service for dishwashers, laundry items or cooking items. When we offer you the date in the call center for repair we are only able to work with the dates that are populated in our scheduling programs. That means if the techs only come out to your area once a week then that is all we can offer you. Our call-center managers can't change that and really neither can the routing offices. The schedules are determined by the technicians and if they are not able to make it out to your area until then then going on, cursing, telling us how much we suck at life is NOT going to get you anywhere. We offer you what is available. If there was something sooner do you really think that we were go through all the complaining, cursing, yelling & general douche-baggery just to mess with you?
Oh yes, and a pet peeve of mine. When you have warranty on your product & call customer service. Often you will get a technical specialist on the phone. Our primary function is to troubleshoot with you to narrow down the problem. There are many problems that are solvable right over the phone. PLEASE take the time to answer our questions. If we ask you to do something its not because we want to frustrate you. Its because we need to eliminate possibilities. If you pay for a MPA or an RPA this is part of what you are paying for. What we want is to help you right now versus waiting on a technician to solve something simple. Often this can be as simple as flipping your breaker on/off.
Ceramic cooktops etc. USE THE RIGHT PANS, the right size & watch out for tomato sauce! If hot tomato sauce (or other acidic sauces) get on the cooktop it will create pits/bubbles/stains that are NOT covered under warranty. This would be counted as "accidental damage" as well as "cosmetic issues". As long as the thing cooks then a repair technical specialist can't get someone out there to fix it. Our focus is on maintaining the functionality of your machine. I'm sorry it looks bad, but if you read your manual you would see that they give you tips and warnings about how to properly use the cooktop. If you don't read your literature then it is no one's fault but your own that your product has these issues.
If you don't want to pay for the service then please let me verbally direct you on how to service your machine. You pay for the warranty and that means you also pay for me to help you. Help me help you and work with me. Often all the time a customer spends bitching to me about the injustice of having to touch a machine themselves could be solved by taking THAT time to troubleshoot the thing & fix it right then and there. Instead they want to argue that they "shouldn't have to" and want a service person out. So they have to wait and then they complain. Well, there is just no pleasing some people.
People who work in CS jobs honestly come to the job because they WANT to help you. Its really hard to do that when you approach us like secondary citizens.
There are also sometimes when that is the way the company works. No amount of complaining will fix that. So a customer will vow never to buy at Sears again. Then they go out and buy somewhere else. They see how truly awful the alternative is and come back. Our customer service may be hard at times, but really if you help us help you then we are more than happy to do so.
You paid for a product and we do want you to be happy with it. However, happiness is subjective. If you read your manuals, take good care of your machines (this includes using the machine correctly!) and call for help (and take the help when its offered) then you should get stellar service. If you don't empower yourselves with this information as the consumer then you can't be surprised when you have a bad experience. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. That is how I feel with some customers. They have all this information at their fingertips but rather than use it to maintain/use their machines they would rather waste their time complaining and tell everyone how much Sears stinks.
The last thing is that ALL of these products are man-made. Men are fallible. This means that the machine will break. It doesn't mean that its a cruddy machine. It means that there is a combination of user error & wear/tear on the item. People expect their machines to be like Gods. Immortal and untouchable. Its time to have a more reasonable expectation of exactly what your machine is about.
I am really sorry if this comment offends people but I think it is healthy to consider things from the other side of the fence. I understand that you are a consumer who paid significant amounts of money for your appliances. All you want them to do is do their jobs. I understand that. I really do, but rather than fight the system its best to find a way to work WITH it so that you can do your part to have a good experience.
As I say, I understand that it can be frustrating (I've read a lot of encounters with Sears on the internet which is how I ended up here). I'm not saying that you don't have a reason to be upset in most cases, but bashing Sears (as opposed to working with them) is not going to work as well as if you inform, empower & just be friggin' nice to the people that work for Sears.
Thank you for reading.
Dear person who works for Sears:
Your diatribe does not convince anyone of anything. Sears sucks - if it didn't, people wouldn't make these complaints.
Last week a customer service rep called my husband a liar in the middle of the store.
If you're good at your job, good for you. But people who are good at their jobs are few and far between at Sears. That's why when you google "I love Sears" you get 1 MILLION fewer hits than "I hate Sears." But your comments would probably be more appreciated there.
Sears blows! There is no good reason to go into any Sears store. The service is crappy, the items are junk, and the stores look awful.Why would I buy an appliance from Sears and pay a $60 delivery fee when Lowe's delivers for free? Lowes, Home Depot, and even AutoZone offer "lifetime" tools, and they do not limit the amount of tools that they will replace in a day if they are broken. Sears clothing is crap as well. I am looking forward to the day that Sears is out of business for good.
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