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 warranties are just a way to steal
Posted Wed May 17, 2006 11:42 am, by Donald V. written to Sears, Roebuck & Co.
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I bought a rider mower in May of 2003. I had always wanted one and felt that Sears would give me a good value for the money. I spent a bit more than I had planned, but I wanted a good product so I was willing to pay a little more. I was offered a protection agreement from the sales person. At first I said no, but he told me what a great value this would be. I was told that this would cover one preventive maintenance check per year as well as any repairs to the mower.
A year later, in 2004, I scheduled a maintenance check. When I called, I was told the maintenance was covered and someone would be out in a week or so. My wife took the day off from work but Sears called that day and canceled the appointment because they had no service people in the area. We rescheduled and the same thing happened. In September, after six canceled appointments a man finally made it out to our home. He told us that maintenance was no longer covered and drove away without doing anything to the mower.
I was pretty upset by this so I called to cancel the agreement. I was told that since the man came out to my house, I could no longer cancel the agreement and it didn't matter that he did nothing. I asked if the maintenance was covered and was told it was and that another man could be sent out to the house. I decided against this, since my wife had already missed seven days of work with nothing being done to my mower. The woman on the phone said that there was no reason that my wife had to stay home and it certainly wasn't her fault if I lived in a bad neighborhood where the mower couldn't be left outside for the man to service. This made me furious and I decided to tell all of my friends never to by a maintenance plan from Sears.
I decided after this that I would maintain my own mower and take the over $250 that I spent on the agreement as a loss. Last weekend, a woman called to get me to extend the warranty on my mower. I told her I already paid for one and got nothing. She put me on hold and checked my agreement. She came back to the phone an apologized for my trouble. She said that Sears stopped offering the maintenance on mowers but that her records did show that mine was covered. She said she would talk to her supervisor and get back to me but I never heard from her again.
Later that afternoon, I went to mow my lawn and my mower quit halfway through the job. I called again and suddenly there was no record of my mower being covered under maintanence. Now each time my appointment was canceled, I had been told it was covered. After the man came and did nothing, I was told I could no longer get a refund but that maintenance was covered once a year. Then when they called to extend the warranty, I was again told maintenance under the old warranty was covered. Yet when I called, the woman told me that they stopped covering these agreements a year before I made my purchase. I made an appointment just the same (even though I am sure it will be canceled) but was told I would be billed for the call if maintenance was the problem. I then asked to be connected to the warranty department and was immediately disconnected. I called back and was told that my mower was never covered under maintenance and that this changed in 2001. Now I have spoken to nearly a dozen people who have all told me something totally different.
I have come to the conclusion that my warranty is an agreement for Sears to charge me extra money for absolutely nothing and that all employees are instructed to do whatever it takes not to honor this agreement.
I am very disappointed with how I have been treated over this. My family has always been loyal Sears customers. When I finish writing this letter, I am calling my father to see if he can still get a refund on his agreement so that money isn't stolen from him too.
I will certainly NEVER buy another warranty from Sears and will seriously consider shopping at another store the next time I need any lawn equipment. I will probably stop shopping at Sears altogether.
Give me a refund for the warranty that I never got to use or give me an agreement that Sears can honor.
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by Fred Hoeffner Posted Fri May 11, 2007 @ 8:47 AM
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I once had a bad experiance at a Sears at the Wyoming Valley Mall
here in n.e. Pennsylvania.
While shopping at the store for a multi meter ( a tool used to
measure electrical current )...and only beacuse I had a gift card..( I
dont ususally shop at any Sears )..I had a few questions for anyone
who would help me..
Help was hard to find even though there were enough sales people
standing around with nothing to do as it seemed....and no one offered
to say "can I help you sir" or "is there something youd like to see or
ask about"?...
I aproached a group of young gentelman who were employees just
talking in a circle. As I aproached one saw me and remarked to his
buddies as he looked at his watch..."Oh look its break time"....and
with that they all scattered like mice...
I was always taught the customer wasent an inconvienance....a
customer was the reason I HAD A JOB.
Personal customer service is a lost art at Sears at the Wyoming
Valley Mall in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Gift card or not....Ill NEVER darken the doors at Sears
again.........
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We almost bought a mower from Sears BECAUSE of that warranty last
week. The sales person said that the warrenty was a great deal
because it includes yearly maintenance (we usually avoid those
warrantys because they are usually a rip off but this seemed like a
great deal). We ended up buying a Toro at the last minute. BOY AM I
GLAD!
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I bought an expensive lawn mower from Sears. My son talked me into
this expensive one, because he said he was going to do a lawn mowing
business (ha!). Anyhow, I bought an extended warranty for three years,
which I was told would cover TWICE a YEAR maintenance, tune-ups,
whatever they are called. I'm a single mom so I don't know about lawn
mowers etc., but the salesman explained you need to do this in the
spring before using for the summer season and again in the fall before
putting it away for the year. I did have Sears do these several
times, and it was covered, although they charged me if there were
extra parts needed for some reason. Then I moved and haven't had this
maintenance done for about a year now. My warranty is about to expire
in a couple of weeks and mowing season is in full swing so I took it
in for its maintenance two days ago. I was told by the clerk that
maintenance is NOT COVERED by the service agreement. I told her that
it had been covered in the past. I said "You can't change what is
covered on something that has already been paid for." She said she
had worked there for three years and it had mever been covered. I
told her I'd had it done several times and had not been charged for
it. We were at a standstill! She said it would cost me $75. Finally
she agreed to take it and write that I want the technicians to call me
before doing any labor that I do not want to pay for labor. I said ok
to this. What am I supposed to do? I found my owners manual but I
can't find a copy of any service agreement! I don't think it was in
writing, but I'm not sure because I've moved and I did keep everything
like that together and have all my other service agreements, etc. I
KNOW what they did in the past, but if they call and say I have to pay
I guess I have no choice if I want my mower back!
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Service
by Jack_Daniels Thu May 25, 2006 @ 12:08 AM
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by Jack_Daniels Posted Tue May 23, 2006 @ 5:59 PM
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This is weird, because in through all of 2004 that I'm aware of,
maintence was never covered by the homerepair agreement for the riding
lawn mowers. It was just a breakage warranty. If you have problems
with service, call your local Sears store and talk to the manager of
the deparment of the item you are wanting reparied.
Usually, if you talk to the manager at the store, you can get
something done. They aren't a computer, they aren't in a far-off land
scheduling appointments, they are right in the area and they can
usually get something done. I've seen it happen.
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This is an absolutely outrageous story - you might expect to hear
stories like this about companies that are fly by night, but you
certainly don't expect to hear them about companies like Sears.
I hope you will update us if an when Sears ever responds. Thank you
for making your voice heard!
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This is an absolutely outrageous story - you might expect to hear
stories like this about companies that are fly by night, but you
certainly don't expect to hear them about companies like Sears.
I hope you will update us if an when Sears ever responds. Thank you
for making your voice heard!
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by Iconophiliac Posted Sat May 20, 2006 @ 9:31 AM
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This is the most unbelieveable thing Sears has done yet. I definitely
won't buy appliances from them in the future. (The...distant future).
This was a good letter. Good luck.
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by Venice Posted Wed May 17, 2006 @ 11:02 PM
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I have to say that your letter describes one of the worst, if not THE
worst, display of Sears' customer service I have ever seen, yet you
still managed to convey your story in a calm and coherent manner.
Some will say your letter is too long and should have been more
concise, but because it's well written, easy to read and contains
pertinent information, I think it's just right.
You ended by giving Sears two choices, and I think they should pick
one and do it now.
I would love to know what, if anything, they do for you.
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