Horrible Customer Service at All Levels of Sears

I called to schedule service on my garage door.The service center,
after taking all of my information three times, explained that the
computer was down to call back in half hour. I did. I was scheduled
for a technician to come to my home two days later between the hours
of 8-5. I called the service center to obtain an approximate arrival
time and learned that I was not scheduled for any service at all. I
had rescheduled all appointments to be available for the service call.
I asked individuals in the service center for their supervisiors and
was told that individual was in a meeting. The various individuals
that I spoke with would not give me the names of their supervisors or
a contact phone number. Two hours later I was connected to the Mesa,
Arizona center. The individual there called the technician in Tucson
to add my service call to his route and provided me with a 1-5 time
frame. I am appalled by the lack training for those in customer
service. I wasted a half day waiting for Sears, two hours on the
phone, and the fact that only one person at the Mesa, Az. service
center cared enough to provide me with a service technician. I had
considered purchasing three other appliances from Sears but will not.

Edna Tucson, Az.

I wasted three weeks trying to get my Maytag repaired. After time and
expense it would have been better getting a different brand. The same
machine broke down 6 months later ( only owned it five years). As for
Sears..horrible horrible repair service. My parents bought a central
air conditioning unit. It was August in Florida. It took them three
weeks to get out and after coming out they would have to order the
part.When the part came in it was the wrong part. My dad was so mad.
It was sickening hot. They ended up calling an air conditioning
company. It was fixed the same day they called. Sears never refunded
any money or apologized. You end up waiting on the phone for ever. My
parents used to think highly of Sears but now will not even go near
one.

It seems like every place you go to these days no longer values
customer service. It's completely ridiculous. I've had a similar
situation happen to my mother with Sears and they lost our business a
couple of years ago. Big corporations are taking over and they have
enough business to eliminate their reliance on valuable customers.
This is why I mainly shop at smaller businesses now.

I am currently in a similar situation with a refrigerator which I have
recently realized is not an inconvenience but a total necessity in a
household. Washers & dryers can be solved by laundromats on a
temporary basis, stoves & microwaves by a BBQ or takeout temperarily
but there is no option for a fridge!

My technician was WONDERFUL but the National Service Center leaves
much to be desired. I waited 25 minutes on hold today waiting to speak
to someone who spoke poor english & was not at all helpful. In
contrast, I called one of their national SALES centers in order to get
their mailing address..... it took all of 2 minutes for a
representative to come on the line! I think that speaks VOLUMES to me!

I have had similar experiences with Sears. The last time was for my
refrigerator. It was completely broken,freezer and all. I had an
appointment scheduled for the 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.slot. My son was home at
the time and had to leave for work at 2. The night before the
appointment we got the obligatory recording that told us we were
scheduled for repair service and to call them if we needed to
reschedule.

At 1:15 with no service person in sight I called Sears and found out
that we had been rescheduled to an afternoon slot with no notice. I
told them no one would be home. I asked about them calling to confirm
the appointment and was told that was not a guarantee. Basically I was
told "too bad for you" and had to reschedule for an appointment
several days later. By this time all the food in the fridge and
freezer was a complete loss.

I asked if a supervisor was available and was told one was but would
not take the call.

For many years I have been a Sears customer. Until now all of my
appliances were Kenmore or Kenmore Elite. This was not the first bad
experience I had with Sears but as far as I am concerned it will be my
last. This spring I decided to buy a new washer and dryer. I did not
go to Sears but did business with H.H. Gregg. I was treated very well
and purchased the appliances from them. Apparently Sears doesn't need
my business. I know the thousand dollars or so I spent elsewhere will
not affect their business but it made me feel better to go elsewhere
and spend the money where I felt like an appreciated customer!

Sears has a very poor reputation these days and so it is forseeable
that you might be put into fustraiting situations if you call them. I
think the main reason why is because they subcontract out so many of
their repair work to other companies. This creates less accountabilty
and poor customer service.

However, I think it was very very inappropriate for you to scald the
tech over the phone. Afterall it wasn't his fault the office
overbooked him. He has a family too and I'm sure he'd like to spend
time with them, especially if your not willing to pay the regular
price because your upset. (HMMM, would I rather spend time with my
wife and kid or go to some irate womans home and thanklessly repair
her appliance for less money??? I think I go home.)

Yet they probably wonder why profit is down 62%! I hate Sears, even
my husband doesn't shop there and he used to love craftsmen tools.
The name Craftsmen and Kenmore are not synonymous with quality and
service anymore IMO.

Our refrigerator we bought at Sears quit working properly and it was
EIGHT weeks before it was repaired! We had no show appointments, wrong
part ordered, etc. We had to use an ice chest and the freezer for the
duration. At least with a washer you can use a laundrymat.
I won't even buy a pair of socks at Sears now.

Not such a great idea threatening the repair guy.

What you describe is standard (crappy) appliance service in 2008. I'm
not surprised they didn't offer you compensation, because this happens
to everyone. Misssed appoinments, time missed from work - status
quo.

An apology would be nice, but compensation? Eh. The CSR wasn't upset
that you would go elsewhere because they treat everyone this way.

Sears contracts A&E Factory Service out for repairs. So, you might be
getting the same person anyway!

Heck, A&E sometimes even comes into the store to do repairs on in
store merchandise if we can't get one of our own guys out.

I think you were very demanding on this repair person. He had probably
been working all day and he can't help sometimes if there is a big
delay. Believe it or not, service guys have a life and they have a
family. He should be able to go at a decent hour back to his home.
Most service guys don't work after 5 or 6 anyway. I can't believe you
told him "he'd better!" That's rude, IMO. Yeah, it sucks that the
service guy couldn't make it out.

I think you should have asked for the first available appointment for
the next day and then a heavy discount on your service call. I feel
that they probably would have agreed to this option. Or at least,
another appointment late in the day for the next day, so you wouldn't
have to miss out on work.

If you do not want Sears to service your washer, then you will have to
open your phone book and go local.

If you are not going to patronize Sears again, what's the point of
this letter? You want discounts, but you make it seem like even if you
do get them, you won't be a customer. I don't get it.