We’re Waiting For A Miracle From Sears Canada
“Sears Canada is a multi-channel retailer dedicated to providing its customers with quality merchandise & exceptional service, coast to coast.” Sears Canada Mission Statement
Three years ago our venerable Kenmore dryer finally met it’s maker. It was 25 years old. We had purchased it, along with a Kenmore washer, second-hand, in Toronto, just after getting married. They became international travellers, those appliances, as they were moved to Kitchener, then to Washington State, and then back to Ottawa. We often boasted of how reliable they were, and when the dryer finally died, we replaced them with Sears products again; this time the top of the line Kenmore front loading washer / dryer combination. At over $2,000, the new appliances were pricey, but our last experience with Sears had been outstanding. Moreover, with 5 children to wash for, it’s important to know you can rely on your appliances. Laundry piles up fast at the Saunders home!
It’s four months since our extended warranty expired. Yesterday, the washer started pouring water all over the floor. This morning we learned that the seal on the door of the washer had torn, and that it would be $160 for the part, plus labour, to replace it.
Janice called the Sears Center in Belleville and spoke with a woman named Tara. Janice’s point of view was that the washer was nearly new, and therefore the rubber seal must have been defective to begin with. Tara explained the “reality” of business today. Sears used to treat their customers well, she told Janice, but they don’t anymore. Sears used to fix products for customers in order to generate goodwill, she said, but goodwill isn’t profitable. ”If we did that”, Tara said, “I’d be out of a job”. If you bought something at the Brick, or at Leon’s, Tara told Janice, and it was out of warranty, they’d say “tough luck”. According to Tara, that’s now Sears policy as well. Tara related an experience she had buying a television at Future Shop, and how she had been disatisfied with their warranty service, and said that Sears now had the same policies.
I don’t know what Leon’s, or the Brick do for warranty service, but I’ve always had a great experience at Future Shop. To me, it seems the height of stupidity to be slagging your competition on the complaints line, and justifying your bad behaviour as “the norm”. It makes a mockery of the Sears Canada mission of providing “quality merchandise and exceptional service”, doesn’t it?
Anyway, Janice explained to Tara that she hadn’t bought the products at Leon’s, or the Brick, or Corbeil because she wanted Sears products. We paid a premium for those appliances at Sears, rather than walking next door to Corbeil Discount Appliances (who sell the same products under the Whirlpool name for less money), because we believed that Sears stood behind the products they sold. Moreover, Sears Canada executives apparently also believe this. In their latest annual shareholders report, they write:
Sears sells more major appliances than any other retailer in Canada. Although we sell all well-known national brands, Sears private brand, Kenmore, is the best selling brand in the country. We service all major appliances coast to coast to provide continued confidence and peace of mind to our customers before, during and after the sale.
It seems, at least according to Tara, that they’ve lost their way. Tara suggested that Janice write a letter to Lisa Miracle at Sears Canada in Toronto. Apparently Ms. Miracle can intervene. There is no email address online for Ms. Miracle. Tara says to write to the head office at 222 Jarvis Street. I guess we’ll do that.
In the meantime, while we wait for the Miracle, the laundry continues to pile up.
July 6th, 2006 at 6:28 am
I picked up on this message because I was looking for a name and address to write to someone at Sears that may want to know how poor their service is becoming. We bought a 300 dollars weed wacker last summer but didn’t take it out of the box until this month. Tried it twice and it wouldn’t work properly so we took it to service and were told it was our fault because we didn’t start it up when we bought it. (of course we should have known that) We tried to return it and basically we were told tough luck your 90 days are up even though the machine had never been used. We have been married 37 years and almost everything in both our home and cottage was purchased at Sears. They have just lost another faithful customer because of 300 dollars and poor service.
August 22nd, 2006 at 5:41 pm
Hi. I found this while searching for an address so that I can file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau against Sears. While they are actually financially helping us at this point, I am fed up with their warranty process. Our new dryer, top of the line, purchased 3 months ago, is broken for the 3rd time since we’ve had it. The latest in the process is that we had to wait 6 days for a tech to come out and tell us we need to order a part before he can fix it. The part actually came in the next day, but we now have to wait another 6 days before it’s ‘possible’ to get someone back out here to install it. I’ve been pretty patient with these folks, but every time the thing stops working I end up waiting 5 or 6 days to get someone to come work on it. At this point, that adds up to a third of the time I’ve owned it. And when I am able to get an appointment, they expect me to stay home all day for an 8 hour appointment. I’ve had it with this company. I’ll never purchase from them again.
October 14th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
I am truly greatful that I found this website online. My husband was out today looking for a Sears washer/dryer combo. I too have a houseful of Sears products, but because of their declining quality of customer service, I will definitely bring my business to Future Shop. Thanks for the plug!
October 14th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
You’re welcome Monica. For the record, Ms. Miracle has never called us.
October 18th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
We purchased a Kenore stainless steel refridgerator from Sears Yorkdale on August 24, 2006. It stopped working on October 18, 2006 and food has spoiled and continues to spoil because a Sears Customer Service Manager named Erin (ID: Eguath4) told me that I need to have a tech come out and look at it before I can get my money returned including the delivery. If it is my fault that this new fridge is not working then they will charge me for the tech’s visit and if it is a defect then I can have it exchanged and I am hoping returned but she emphasized exchanged.
Erin did not give me a time for the tech’s visit and initially wanted me to wait until tomorrow so the rest of my food can spoil. When I pressed for a tech to visit today then she told me that she doesn’t have a time but I will have to wait until they phone me. When I told her I would go to small claims court then Erin threatened to terminate the call. She has no respect for the customers.
So far, no one has contacted me.
I tried to contact the salesperson who was not there. I also spoke to the store manager, Diane, who started telling me that I wasn’t entitled to a refund and I would have to pay the delivery charge on a return etc…Then she told me that she has to call me back. When I offered to be put on hold, she told me that she needed to use the phone. Everyone knows that the store phones have more than one line on them and if not then another phone is close by. She hung up on me. What a liar. I still did not receive a call back from her.
Two other Sears CSRs also kept putting me on hold and talking about the need for a repair tech to come out before they can issue a return/exchange.
Sears sucks! I will never shop at Sears again. Ten years ago I was able to get an exchange on appliances that stopped working within the first year. I have to wait for a tech to examine a supposedly brand new fridge that stopped working before I get my refund or exchange. What is going on Sears???? You are losing your customers. I will be happy to take my business elsewhere
Erin was dictatorial and forgot who the customer was in this situation. Too bad this has become the Sears method of satisfying customers. I doubt that they will reimburse me for the food that spoiled. Eaton’s did just that and more. When I encountered the same problem with an Eaton’s product then I received a refund/exchange and reimbursement for the spoiled food. It is apparent that customers mean nothing to Sears.
I would like to know how to get in contact with the executive staff who work at Sears.
October 18th, 2006 at 8:54 pm
Monica, beware of Future Shop as well. We had awful after sales service from them
October 18th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
I received my new front load washer and dryer this afternoon, the delivery company sears hired to bring me my new appliances decided that it was to much work to get the washer/dryer team into my bathroom and left it in my kitchen, then explained to my wife that if we paid them 75$ ( above the 50$ charge I had already paid) they would return in two days to put them in my bathroom.
I should mention that I did purchase a floor model and thought to be getting a good deal, after coming home to find my kitchen overflowing I went strait to a competitor of Sears and managed to make a deal to purchase an Identical pair of appliances, same models for the same price, fresh out of the box.
With my new found information I returned to the store to talk to the salesman, (who was with a customer earlier when I called) and explained to him the adventure of my day. When his manager joined the conversation he explained to me that I purchased my units AS IS, and that I had no grounds for concern or attention.
My negotiating skills are somewhat aggressive when I’m treated like an idiot.
They will apparently be calling me in the morning, Either way they will hear from me.
3 cheers for TA appliances.
October 19th, 2006 at 8:07 am
[...] I had the exact opposite experience at Sears. Keep in mind that the Sears brand, for generations, has stood for dependable quality appliances, and excellent service. Certainly that was our conviction. When Janice and I got married we purchased a second hand Sears washer and dryer. When those two appliances finally bit the dust they were 25 years old. We were so happy with them that we bought a Sears refrigerator, and a new Sears washer and dryer for a rental property we have. We’ve bought Sears vacuum cleaners as well. And when the original washer and dryer died, we bought the top of the line front loading washer and dryer from Sears to replace them. [...]
October 19th, 2006 at 8:08 am
[...] In contrast, Sears Canada is a bricks and mortar business which has chosen to ignore the blogosphere. In May of last year, at the Saunders household we had a washer breakdown, and a very unsatisfactory experience with Sears. I wrote about it at the time, and since then that page has continued to attract a steady stream of disatisfied Sears customers, all vowing to never do business with Sears Canada again. If Sears had responded to my complaint, I would have written about that as well. They could have turned my complaint into a win for everyone, but they didn’t. [...]
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:31 pm
http://kiersteadathome.blogspot.com/2006/10/things-that-make-me-feel-better.html
http://kiersteadathome.blogspot.com/2006/10/sears-called.html
October 24th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
[...] In contrast, Sears Canada is a bricks and mortar business which has chosen to ignore the blogosphere. In May of last year, at the Saunders household we had a washer breakdown, and a very unsatisfactory experience with Sears. I wrote about it at the time, and since then that page has continued to attract a steady stream of disatisfied Sears customers, all vowing to never do business with Sears Canada again. If Sears had responded to my complaint, I would have written about that as well. They could have turned my complaint into a win for everyone, but they didn’t. [...]
November 2nd, 2006 at 9:40 am
Here’s another “dissapointed customer” story for you. I had purchased a Kenmore Stove and Fridge in 2002 and have purchased the 5 yr “Total Warranty”. Last year the digital timer on the stove showed an error message and I called and someone came within 2 days and changed the timer which controls all the functions ie baking, selfclean, etc… but not the acutal stovetop since they have knobs to turn the heat settings (thank god!).
Just recently, the timer went off again but it keep beeping error every 10-15 mins until someone presses the cancel button on the stove. I called the Service dept and one rep said it’s the stove error and to unplug it for 20 mins to reset this. I left it for 30 mins and still it didn’t work. Called back and another rep said has to be 1 hr unplugged to reset so I left it overnight unplugged 10 hrs and next day plugged the stove and right away it started beeping again. I called Service again and this nice lady booked someone to come the next day 12-2pm. So I took a day off and waited, waited, waited, nobody came but the tech guy called at 3:15pm and asked me what was wrong (don’t they have this on the computer print out for him) anyways, i explaned to him the problem and he said it was the timer defective (ok, i know that!) and had to be replaced. He said he’ll call me back. 10 mins later he calls and says the part is not available till 3 wks (no stock) I said what can I do I can’t do any baking in the oven and the horrible beeping noise is driving me crazy, he said there’s nothing he can do about it but wait till the part comes (i think that’s their motto!). At this point I was getting upset and called Service Dept and they said that “oh yes sir, the part will not come till Nov 17, and there’s nothing we can do about it). I told them I have warranty till next year and if this part is defective every year then I’m screwed and don’t want this defective stove and to change it for another one. They said they will have to pass me to Customer Service. So, now I have to give my name, phone#, address each time and the CSR says that the 90 warranty has expired and that I will have to go to the store where I purchased this to discuss to the store manager. I asked him so now for the next 3 wks I will have to plug, unplugg (at night) and I loss my enjoyment of baking. He said, “there’s nothing he can do” (is this their slogan?) and I can go to the circuit breaker in the basement and turn it off and on when i need to use the stove.
So now I did some research and called Sears USA and taked to Service Dept and they had access to my account and said that they DO HAVE THAT PART ! but it’s in the USA and they cannot send it to me nor send it to Sears Canada. I told her that you are SEARS right ? and they said that they are 2 different entities and cannot cross the border. I called back Sears Canada and informed them that the part is in stock at Sears USA but they said the same thing “we can’t get that in since it’s different entity” PLease!!! Sears is Sears just like McDonalds or KFC is the same thing am I correct ?
As someone who is experience in Customer service we are taught to extend and exceed customers’ expectations meaning that if it was me I would have Fedex that timer part from USA and have technician install it the next day and when the part arrives in Canada to redirect it back to Sears USA and everyone will be happy. Only thing lost is the shipping fee which can be absorbed via expenses. How’s that for Customer Service. This is the last time I will purchase anything from Sears. I tried to email corporate and received the same message as the other lady from above (generic auto responder) and it’s been 6 days and still nobody has called or contacted me (this is so messed up!):
Thank you for taking the time to bring your concerns to our attention.
We value you as a Sears customer and regret that you have had an unpleasant experience.
We have directed this important issue to our Corporate Customer Service representatives, one of our specialt
agents will be in touch with you soon to rectify this matter.
We are looking forward to discussing this matter further and working with you to find a suitable resolution.
We appreciate your continued patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Thank you for shopping at Sears.
Sincerely,
Wendy
my 2 cents
November 14th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
Well isn’t this interesting, I was trying to find a email complaint site for sears and came across this sit. I also have an unhappy sears experience.
In June of 2002, after 13 years of marraige to my 2nd husband he underhandily left me homeless. After 6 months of struggling ,in 2003 , and living out of my suitcase and car, I finally was able to get a home of my own again.
You can well imagine that at 40 years I was starting over again, I am telling you I did not even have a spoon to eat with. Well after working 3 jobs for 10 months I started purchasing funiture, using cash and credit. I wanted to buy from sears, as in the past 15 years and more ago I had purchased many things from sears and was allways very pleased with their quality and policy for backing up their name. SO I TRUSTED THEM, SEARS, and felt safe to purchase several items, such things as a 32 in t.v, a microwave, a vaccum cleaner,
dvd player, a camera, tools, lawn mower, roto tiller, electric shaver for new boy friend, many strings of christmas lights, a kareoke machine, and just too many more items to list. I have worked very hard in my life and have this belief that if you work hard for your things with respect and care of these things, that they should last a long time. NO SUCH LUCK, SEARS DOES NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR NAME ANYMORE,! THEIR ANSWER TO EVERY THING IS TO BUY EXTENDED WARRENTY, WHAT A JOKE THAT IS!!! (I truley believed in the sears from the past that they would back up their name and products, I felt that extended warrenty after 1 or 2 years was not needed.) AGAIN I TRUSTED AND BELIEVED IN SEARS. I feel that I was sucked in and taken advantage of by, SEARS, I no longer have the t.v the tuner went 4 months after warrenty was up, sears would not even here my story when I called, as well as the microwave died 2 years after I bought it, the electric shaver did not work for more than 2 weeks and I went and exchanged and six months later it quit too lol. The camera froze up, the lawn mower needed a new sterter the 2nd summer, The dvd player that I gave as a gift to my new inlaws is dead, it did not even last 2 full years, and of course only 1 year warrenty, and now My switch on the kenmore vaccum cleaner is gone and yes I had bought extra warrenty, but they will not stand behind it because it was due to wear and tear they say lol. I heard a repair man say one day while I was job shadowing that the retailers say we live in a throw away world and this is what makes there money. Unfortunatley I wish I could say that I could accommidate the retalers, however I would like to not have to work 3 jobs again for the rest of my life.
SOooooo…., do I feel that sears gives two hoots about me and how hard I work for my stuff, absolutley not!!!
So Now I have purchased Items from future shop and london drugs and all is good so far at least the t.v is still working and it is almost 2 years old now. morale to this story if you do not want to be a sucker… please don’t shop at sears, they do not back up there name, these days they are only worried about looking good!.
November 20th, 2006 at 11:59 am
Nightmare with Sears Canada or when to purchase an extended warranty?…
Adrian on Hardware 2.0 quoting a study from consumer reports says that you probably don’t need that extended warranty. However there are just sometimes when you really do need one. When you’re purchasing a mechanical device that’s prone to certai…
December 14th, 2006 at 2:39 pm
I came online and googled “Sears Canada Poor Service” and up came this site, portraying the woes of the front loading washing machine from Sear. I too have a front loading washing machine. I have had it for 5 years and had NUMEROUS service calls on it. Most recently 6 calls in the last 2 and a half weeks to try to get the intermittent spin cycle to work. Fortunately, we have the extended warranty as the first breakdown occurred fairly soon after purchase and we were worried so we continued to purchase it. I don’t remember what we paid for the machine, but I know we pay over $200 every year or two for the extended warranty and it has paid for itself over and over… that being said, trying to actually get it fixed is where we have come to a screeching halt. Trying to talk to someone in my city about my machine is also impossible, when I call the service centre, I am told that there is no “incoming line” – you have got to be kidding me!! The drive to the service centre got me some quicker action today as they don’t like live people coming in to complain – it is much more convenient if they service managers just get an email about the problem – much less stress and mess for them. I have taken multiple holiday days to accommodate the 9-4PM service call times, I have surrendered my Saturdays in wait of the elusive repair person. Today they added insult to injury, calling to offer a “buy out” – they will pay half the value of my machine…. sorry – between the fees for the extended warranty and the time off work, they can buy out my machine in full or they can fix it, and in the meantime, I will fill my spare moments by spreading my “feelings of goodwill” towards Sears alternated with calls to the Centre to find out if I will ever get to do laundry in my home again.
December 15th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
wow, I thought me having a problem with SEARS wasn’t a common thing, but as I read here, IT IS !
Today I was scheduled for 3 (of 5) appliances to be repaired under the almost $900.00 extended warranty plans I purchased, figuring that I’ll get all 5 looked at & checked out to be sure they are all in good working condition.
They scheduled 3 for today (Friday) & 2 for tomorrow (Saturday) stating that they can’t do them all on the same day. I thoght that it was odd, but I said fine.
So I took a morning off work NO PAY so I could get these serviced. Tomorrow they also are suppose to come for the other 2.
The repair man never came nor did he bother to even CALL to let me know, so I could have gone to work & could have gotten PAID !
I called after 12:30PM today to say they haven’t showed up yet, after waiting for a good 20 minutes on the phone they said sorry we will have to reschedule both days as she said she didn’t see my Saturday appointment at all in the computer. I wanted to SCREAM, but I didn’t, I spoke to a manager who said he’ll send me a $50.00 gift certificate for my trouble. By the time that process was done & I was ready to get back to work, I called work to say I was on my way, they said that they already replaced me for the afternoon !!! So I didn’t just lose 1/2 pay, I lost a COMPLETE days pay. $50.00 doesn’t cut it !!!
I lost close to $250.00 !!! due the SEARS neglect !
I called SEARS back to say that I now lost a FULL DAY PAY, they said sorry we do not cover lost wages, I said well upto the point where I thought I only lost 1/2 day, they gave me a $50.00 gift certificate, I said now that I’ve lost a complete day, I would like an additional $50.00 gift certificate. She said no, that’s all we can do. FURIOUS, I hung on on her & looked for a site from Sears so I could complain but I found this one which is quite an eye opener.
Sears had a choice, to make right what they did wrong & keep a good customer or for a measly $50.00 gift certificate, they couls have tried to compensate a little for my lost wages, but they chose to lose me and whoever I tell about my experience to.
BAD BUSINESS if you ask me. Word of mouth can cost them far more then $50.00
I have been a loyal SEARS customer for years, always purchased appliances and pretty much everything else because they always had great customer service, that was up till now.
Thanks for listening.
~Louise~
December 17th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
Sears Sucks, they can,t spell the word customer service. Here starts the story, purchased three appliances Oct 20/06, cost $2,500.00 paid $100.00 for delivery (two hour window) and to have the handle on the fridge changed to the other side. Delivery day was Nov 21/06 took a day off work, appliances arrive the range is damaged and the handle on the fridge is not changed to the correct side nor is the handle attached to the fridge. The delivery people do not plug in appliances nor do they attach handled, not our job. Call store tell them the situation, tell them to forget about the handle I will attach my self(credited $35.00) they reordered another range told us we would get delivery Dec 5/06 Dec 5/06 took another day off work Sears calls at 9:30 to say that they can’t find the range in the wharehouse so the delivery is cancelled. Told Sears that I had no intention of taking any more time off work so they had to deliver after 5:00 or on a Saturday. We called Sears on Dec 8/06 told that they would deliver after 5:00 on Dec 11/06 again no delivery. Called Sears Dec 12/06 told we would have a special delivery between 9:00 and 3:00 Dec 16/06 again no delivery. We called the store from 3:00 until 5:30 on Dec 16/06 only to find out that they could do nothing as it was in the control of a delivery company. In complete defeat and frustration we took a part credit for the damaged range just to be able to get out of this hell we were in.
I would not buy a pair of socks from Sears forget about applianced.
Sears customer service sucks, I hope Sears go bankrupt.
January 2nd, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Voice me in. Horrible, horrible customer service and quality of products degrades dramatically. I bought washing/driver combo (top line, front-loaders) just like others. Both are broken now and I am facing dilemma to meet service man for 80-90/hr (already rescheduled 3 times, every time I had to take day off to accommodate 9 to 5 schedule) or buy something from maytag or any other competitor. Sears no more! What a combination: overpriced, terrible customer service, poor choice, bad quality. Brick and mortar or grave for traditional business?
January 2nd, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Sears Service Sucks!
January 4th, 2007 at 4:16 am
I am so glad I took the time to look at this website! I was starting to wonder if Sears was out to get me! Customer service people are rude and their repair service is the worst. I have never had a company play so many head games with me. I bought all new appliances from Sears when I moved into my new house. I have had nothing but trouble with my frontload washer. They have been to my house six times in the past year and I am now going on seven times. I am still having the same problems. I have never heard such double talk in all my life!! They said I must be using the wrong detergent or wrong fabric softener. Then the gentleman on the phone making the appointments (who was not a gentleman at all with his rudeness) was trying to tell me that I needed to have the valves on my plumbing looked at. Since when did he become a quilified tech? What does my plumbing have to do with the way my washer dispenses detergent and fabric softener? The seal on the door holds water in the bottom of it that becomes stagnant and smells horrible. They said that the seal was designed wrong and there is nothing I can do but wipe it out. Laundry takes up enough of my time. Now I am suppose to wipe a cup of water out of the bottom door seal when I do wash. Oh, and don’t forget the cup of water left in the detergent dispenser that needs to be emptied after every load I do!! Sears is going to pay a cost for all their nonsense. Word of mouth plays a more important role then they could ever imagine!!! If they do not change their policies, I look to see them out of business in the next few years. Don’t they know that they have lots of competition out there with stores that sell simular products, but without all the hassle? Is it my imagination that companies like Sears work so hard to build a good reputation, only to become so arrogant that they think they have nothing more to do to keep it? Shame on them!!!!!
January 4th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Just letting Gabriella Sakus the presedents line for Sears Canada Inc is 1-800-973-7579
January 7th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Wow…..imagine if this is what you get from Sears which is renowed for it customer service..imagine how you would be treated by all other retail outlets that sell the same product under another name.
Come on..maybe it isn’t the Sears of the past, at least they are there doing there best to give you the service. Yes times have changed and the garanties have changed also.
I have been shopping at Sears for over twenty years. I have never had any issues with them. And to top it off, if I had a problem, knowing I purchased it from Sears I knew that it would be handled with professional service. The only thing that becomes a bother is that I have to wait…and the Higher Power knows that nobody likes to wait when the have something that is broken in todays world.
Don’t be to hasty to change to another store to buy your new products, Sears still offers the best after sales service in Canada. They are there for you when you call, in todays business that is a plus.
With all that said..they will still be around when most of the others will have closed up due to the poor quality and the poor customer service.
Remember too, Sears does not make what the sale, they service what they sale. Yes, their delievery could improve greatly. However..when your having outsources doing the job for you, you have to except that there is going to be problems…..and that becomes frustrating to us as customers.
So… coming to there defence, I believe that they are still the best retail and after sales service in Canada. The others have to cut prices and skate on thin ice to keep up with them.
Michael S.
January 10th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Here’s a good one for ya. I purchased a Kenmore stove 2 years ago, out of the blue the start button, along with the 3, 6 and 9 digital push buttons don’t work. (So I can’t start to heat up the oven) I called to have a tech come look at it and they said that I would be contacted in the next 48 hours to set up a time. After no call, 3 days later I call servicing again, they say for sure in the next 48 hours someone will call me. A week and a half later and after 4 of my phone calls to servicing I finally get a response from the tech. He sets an appointment for two weeks form the day he calls. So now I’ve been ovenless (is that a word?) for 3 and a half weeks. He shows up, asks what the problem is and says he needs to order a part. The stove was on sale for 500 bucks when I bought it, the part he says costs $350 plus a 75 dollar fee. Thanks, but no thanks. I’m off to the Brick or Leons to buy a new stove for $400. Thanks for letting me rant…..
Matt
January 22nd, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Well, same here suprisingly when i googled sears poor customer service and distribution contact, i came accross this site.
Since, Sears worked “so hard” to tell them that there is “nothing they can do at the moment” i figured i would leave my story out for everyone to see and be a warning from shopping at sears again.
WE have just purchased a new house and were in need of appliances. So we went to sears and purchased 4 appliances fridge, sihwasher, stove and microwave. Unfortunately, to our great dissatistfaction the fridge for hte 3 time comes defective and unfunctional, and we basically end up stuck without a fridge for almost a month. When i called customer service to enquire on the next deliver their lame exuce from a manager called Tara, that there is nothing more they can do than place a trace and hope that the next one is good.
They would not tell me when the next delivery is estimated, and when i told them what are my options they basically said that i can either wait, or you guessed it… “wait some more”, At this point, i told them that for us waiting for a month for a functional fridge must not be “ENOUGH” waiting for them to get the point that they are screwing up time after time again. So i had it with them, and have canceled the entire $6,000 order with them ….as a great thankyou to them and when the manager asked me my, i told them “as there was nothing else i could do” for them. we then went straight to bad boy, and had the same appliances purchased from there for pratically the same price and delivered all functional the next day. Take that for a service sears and learn from your competition.
So i certainly can say that sears will not see us shoping with them ever again.
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I have a dryer that needs to be repaired – I had two appointments and both times they said they would show up between 8 and 12– they never showed up or called.
when I call the main service number to see what happened – they look my record up in their notes and it says” homeowner not home”. I called back again and they said it would be another 10 days before they could come back – EVEN THOUGH THEY NEVER showed up. The service is absurd and whoever is the CEO should figure this out immediately. I will never buy another appliance from sears again. OH yeah and I will tell everyone I know to do the same. Treat you customers badly and they don’t come back.
January 26th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
I am so glad I am not alone in getting bad service and product. I purchased a kenmore central vac from Sears 2 years ago and last week when i was vacumming under the bed I smelled smoke and when I looked down pass the handle there was fire(not a spark) fire shooting out missing my hand by a few inches. I can’t imagine what would have happened if I didn’t pull out the vacuum in time, the bed may have caught on fire. I would have thought customer service would have done something to accomodate me, perhaps waving the service fee but no such luck. I could understand if it had just stopped working then I wouldn’t mind paying the 78 bucks for service but when a vacuum catches fire then I see a problem and i refuse to pay for that. Anyways we’ll see what headoffice will say about this.
February 1st, 2007 at 1:09 pm
I’m currently dealing with Sears and what a NIGHTMARE. I purchased couches and when they arrived they were damaged. I called sears immediately after delivery (Dec. 23) to notify them of the damages to the newly delivered product – the customer service rep said that they would have to send a “Medic” out to my home to look at the couches before any actions can be taken – WHAT IS THAT!!! The couches are damaged and if I want to return them I have to pay a 25% restocking fee. Its now Feb. 1 and NO ONE has come to look at the couches! I’ve called sears 15 different customer service numbers, been bounced back and forth between service reps a dozen times and still nothing has been done! Sears should be ashamed of themselves for treating their customers in such a fashion. I thought Sears was a trustworthy retailer and that is what swayed my decision in the first place to purchase my couches there after this current experience I have lost all respect for the organization!
I am searching for the contact address or telephone number of the CEO at so that I can ship them a copy of the novel titled “Raving Fans” this book can offer sears insight on how they should be treating customers and rebuilding their reputation.
February 3rd, 2007 at 3:54 pm
At Sears, Customer Service is an oxymoron ! I’ve been a sears customers for what? 45 years. In Nov 06 we bought all new kitchen appliances for or custom dream home. After saving for 33 years , we wanted the best. Boy, were we f**ked! In Jan 07 ALL applicnaces were delivered by 2 men who spoke no English and had no idea how to drive in snow. They tore up my yard. ALL appliances had some sort of damage as did my front door. They dumped all appliances in the kitchen and left. Tearing up my yard again. In a nut shell, Sears hired an outside contracter who then hired someone else. The fridge, dishwasher and stove were for our dream house. It was the delivery from hell. Neither Sears or the delivery company will take responibility for the damage so my next option, which I will use fully, is legal action.
I will NEVER used Sears again. Not for anything!
PS Has anyone noticed how crappy Land’s End has become since Sears took over?
February 5th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Your Comments will be Noted!!!!
I have been an avid SEARS supporter and customer for over 30 years. You name it, and I have probably bought it at SEARS. My parents before me! Truly the end of another family tradition. How sad!
What a great opportunity to share my DISGUST with SEARS CANADA and my local SEARS OUTLET! PARTNERS IN SLIME!!!!
We purchased three appliances on Jan.3,07. Kenmore dishwasher, washing machine and matching dryer. Over $2000.00 of machines. And believe me that’s all we got. Don’t even think about SERVICE or CUSTOMER APPRECIATION.
The local outlet owner basically talked us into buying directly from him and not ordering from the catalogue because he would make more money or something like that. Okay, we thought we could help out the little guy, right. WRONG!!!
All the smiles rapidly relocated to some other planet as I am pressed to find one here.
We had to pick up the units ourselves, we are on a budget and couldn’t afford the $100 the local delivery guy wanted. Once home we noticed the bottom of the dryer was worn right down to bare metal. Even the raised areas were rubbed raw. How the heck do ya manage to do that? After making this clear to the outlet owner, he agreed to replace the dryer. He did mention that he called his service Tech, who buy the way lives in another town 40 min. away, who told him, “What’s the problem. It should be okay”.
After listening to the condencending tone from this man, we left thinking everything was good.
Now comes the fun part with the washing machine. Five days after getting it home, my wife notices a chip out of the inside of the drum. The enamel was gone down to the base metal or whatever it is. I asked my wife to call the local outlet owner and see what we could do about an exchange. Just a note that I still have my 12 yr. old kenmore washing machine in the garage and it is still in immaculate shape. Not one chip, inside or out. We care for our things. The local owner said he would call a technician to replace the drum. It’s done all the time. OH REALLY!!!!
My wife said she was not comfortable with this arrangement. He said he would look into it and get back to us. We then recieved a call the next day from the Mystery Technician from the other town. He said he would have to travel to our town so he could look at the washer and then render his verdict on what needed to be done. This is sounding very familiar after having read some of the other postings.
My wife called the catalogue number and the agent said she would expect a new replacment too. Oh Ya! She said unfortunately they couldn’t help us because of course, we bought from the outlet instead of the catalogue. Oh NO! She even apologized that she couldn’t help us. She gave my wife the parts and service number who were of no assistance, who then passed her on to the warranty dept. They said they could relate to our predicament but couldn’t help us even thought they questioned the way we were being treated by the outlet. HMMMMM! They then passed us onto the SEARS PRESIDENT LINE.
We contacted the SEARS PRESIDENT LINE which I asume is set up to help rectify situations similar to ours. YA RIGHT!
My wife talked to a lady who basically said if your appliances are fixable, that is what will be done period. WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? (Don’t cha just wish you could reach through the phone)? That is how we do things here now. She also told my wife that, ” YOUR COMMENTS WILL BE NOTED ”
When I got home, my wife told me about the call and I picked up the phone and got another lady. I went through my tale, and this particular lady agreed that I had every right to expect and exchange seeing that we only had the units 5 days. HELLO!!!!
This nice lady, ( we’ll wait and see how nice , we won’t hold our breath ) said she will contact the local outlet owner and try to work this out. We are still waiting as of Feb.5, 2007.
We called and cancelled the Technician from that far away land, he was actually kind of peeved that we actually did that to him.
My position at this point is one of two possible scenarios. We continue with the exchange of the washer and dryer, or I haul the units back to his front door and tell him to repair them as he is want to do, and sell them as is!
This is not the END, but JUST THE BEGINNING! MOOOWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
February 8th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Oh bother. After reading all complaints issued by loyal Sears customers, I must put my two cents in from a different stand point. I’m one of the furtunate ones taking these calls in Parts and Service. The 800 number you dial is servicing ALL of Canada. Three call centres. Regina, Montreal and Belleville.
Our parts and service units are scattered throughout who are responsible for jurisdiction, yes some may be even two hours away. For rural areas, Sears sub contracts their repair service to local companies. When you dial that 800 number you are not getting someone in a different part of the world, but a fellow Canadain, whom if I may, really does care because you are not dealing with a cold heartless being on the phone, but rather somebody who does sympathize and is doing their best to please and make sure you are a returning customer. BUT, there are channels we must go through to reach that level of service. Yes, I do agree it is frustrating for the client when the appointment made for service is scheduled and you wind up with an eight hour window. It is up to the rep to negotiate a day that will suit the client. And it is up to the service department to assign a smaller time frame, such as four hours or two hours.
You have all heard, “The next earliest day for service is…..” That is because the contact centres are open 24 hours 7 days a week with a call volume that exceeds thousands a day, we can only schedule our technicians work day accordingly within, ahhh a normal business day, 0800-1630 hrs, or in some cases, 0900-1530 hrs. They do service on rotation Saturday’s because they are aware that everybody works and has busy schedules too. They do also offer some evening shifts as the service units, where the technicians are based, will do over time for the sake of the customers who work past 1730 hrs and can’t commit a full day off work. With those special hours, there comes time to negotiate the day of the week. Most days are normal business hours. As for the contrator areas, we fax them the service request, the contractor has 24-48 hours to contact the customer. If no contact has been made within 48 hours, it is your responsibility to contact our 800 number so we may then let the service unit know that no contact has been made. If another 24 hours disappears with no word from that contractor, then we must get our Corporate Customer Service involved. Obviously there is a problem and we need to investigate.
We attempt to please by narrowing the day down and the tech’s schedule to four hours. In four hours, you are not the only one person whose appliance needs servicing, he’s running around repairing each and every call that has been made, the estimated time of arrival is based on when the tech is finished the last call. Like any trades person, business owner, machanic, dentist, doctor, hydro, bell canada, when that phone rings, there is a schedule to be followed. We do our best to please.
Call outs with the estimated time of arrival should come the morning of service. That’s when the print outs of all service calls are reviewed and scheduled and assigned to each technician. We can’t guarantee a time, because we don’t know where that technician will be enroute. No, there isn’t a direct line to contact the service branch that’s why 800 numbers were implemented to take care of the call volume. Frustrating, yes it is! We take your phone number so we may have your profile up and review notes in the system and see if the service department has made any updates, such as if the tech is running late, if there’s been an accident, if the tech has fallen ill or if the tech is so far behind we may have to reschedule. Yes, we want to please, believe me, nobody likes answering the phone and before you even have the greeting out, somebody is shouting profanity at you because the tech hasn’t shown up yet. We don’t know where they are…they are on the road doing their job. We are not the only company who gives out estimated time of arrival. We do that more so to gurantee service that day. Some company’s will go as far as a 12 hour window with no estimated time of arrival. You just know that you have to wait for service. Four hours really isn’t that bad and if all you’re doing is sitting and thinking about how Sears has screwed you over, then of course…in your mind we do have terrible customer service and it will be a miserable expeirience that you should go and rant off to your friends and anybody else that will listen. Everybody is free to their opinion, as closed minded as it may be.
As for not showing up with parts, does a mechanic know what is truly wrong with your car before he inspects it? Will he know what parts to order until the diagnoses is complete? Does a plumber know where that leak is coming from when you describe it over the phone? No. That is why we say before the end of every call, which falls on deaf ears apparently, and of course, different scripts for each type of service call, depending on which you fall under. Cash call, for those out of warrenty appliances, “There will be a $________charge. that will bring the technician to your home to DIAGNOSE the problem, once the diagnoses has been complete he will then give you an ESTIMATED total cost of repair which will include the basic charge plus any additional parts and labour.”
In warrenty call for those who have just purchased, “Your warrenty covers any manufacturers defect, based on your comments this service would appear to be covered, (again, can’t diagnose the problem over the phone, that’s why there is quallified technicians) however, once the diagnoses has been complete the technician will determine if charges apply. If the warrenty does not cover this service request, there will be a basic trip charge (same as above) of $_________plus parts and labour.”
It is not considered a manufacturers defect if little Johnnie thought it would be cute if he put play doh in the filter screen of the dishwasher, or put lego in the washing machine and it’s been trapped in the drum. It definately does not cover removal of shipping bolts when the unit has been put in place and used for the first time, without being removed first. Does not cover drain pipes if there is any problem with the existing drainage to the dishwasher, it covers the machine, not the plumbing.
The dreaded extended warrenty for those who feel it’s a waste of money, but again every company is offering it and those who just let it go feel the manufacturer should extend their one year warrenty because a service call is needed after the expiration.
PA agreement, “As per your manufacturers warrenty, most parts and labour are covered under your plan, based on your comments this service would appear to be covered, however once the technician diagnoses the problem, he will determine if charges apply.”
For those of you who are most offended when we reiterate this statement, it’s all in your contract, you just have to read it carefully…after all you did sign it. AND NO, the filters, for your refridgerator are no longer covered by the pa agreement. That stopped with any agreement purchased as of January 31 2004. If you purchased your agreement prior to 2004 and it is still in standing, without renewing it after that date, then yes, you are entitled to one free filter change. Any policy renewed after January 31 2004, no more free filter change. When purchasing that agreement, don’t sign anything if all you want is free water filters. It’s not going to happen. BUT most of your parts and labour are covered within the policy….all you have to do is refer to that agreement CONTRACT you signed with Sears.
Lets touch up on warrenty. Do you believe that Sears is the only company that follows the one year, sometimes two year warrenty? NOOOOOOO. If you actually sat down and read the manual that was provided with your new purchase the manufacturers warrenty, not Sears warrenty, manufacturer’s warrenty clearly explains that you are covered for defects. DEFECTS. Sears will honour that warrenty if the problem with the appliance is due to manufacturer defect. One year, that’s 12 months. Not a very long time, but the warrenty is not responsible for existing problems say with the plumbing, electrical or what have you. It is not responsible for that vacuum cleaner that ran over little army men on the floor and has now just totally demolished the brush agitator, or the sock the tech found while inspecting the hose. Or that filter light that is blinking in your fridge for the last month. It’s all in your use and care guide also supplied to you with your purchase.
Sears covers a lot of name brand appliances, each with manufacturers warrenty, some with exceptional warrenty which too is covered in your owners manual. For major parts such as seal systems and compressors, drums and on some models, motors.
If your unit burns out after the warrenty expires, we have no control over that. Perhaps the extended warrenty isn’t such a bad idea after all. We do stand behind our product, and if you have taken the steps to insure your expensive purchase, then the service and parts will be covered. If you laugh off extended warrenty, we are only going to be responsible for what the standard manufacturers warrenty will cover. Once that expires, there is no sitting back at the table and renegotiating. As unfair as that is, we are not the only company that has that policy. Once out of warrenty, the cost for service will apply, including parts and labour. REGARDLEASS how old that unit is.
It’s not that Sears is insensitive or out to get their clients, everything is spelled out for you in black and white. It’s a standard policy with any company selling any merchandise with a manufacturers warrenty.
You do have 90 days to confront the store you purchased your appliance from if you are having problems with it. If purchased from a retail store, you contact the store. If purchased from the catalogue, you contact the catalogue, if purchased over the internet, you contact catalogue and they will direct you to our Corporate Customer Service who will then address the issue. After 90 days, yes you have to call for service and if it falls under the warrenty, then by all means, Sears will stand by that product and repair the problem. They won’t exchange or replace it after 90 days. Again, return policy is explained on the reciept of your purchase. You can also view these policies at http://www.sears.ca
Prior to that, if the problem is repairable, then Sears has that option to repair it. Set up service and let the warrenty take effect. If it’s irrepairable, then our technician will report back to the unit, the unit will then fax the report to our Corporate Customer Service, or the Store and will then advise on the next steps taken with care to satisfy our customer.
You may not like the steps taken, but Sears is a huge company and they do aim to please their customers and the way they run their operation, I think we are doing the best we can. For those who don’t understand the operator when they answer the phone, at least we are an equal opportunity company who has no discrimination in the work place.
Sears truly is a great place to shop, work and invest.
Thank You.
February 9th, 2007 at 8:07 am
[...] Take the example of Sears Canada. In May of last year, the Saunders household sent up a call for help. Our new-ish washer / driver combo had just come out of the extended warranty, and had a rather catastrophic failure. Water was pouring all over the floor when the washer filled. A call to Sears resulted in a $300 repair. The overall experience was entirely dissatisfying, and we felt we had been badly treated. In fact, I was so peeved with Sears that I wrote about it here. That post has since become a bit of a magnet for unhappy Sears customers, attracting four or five new (and usually lengthy) comments per month from people who need a place to air their beefs with Sears. Most of those posts start with “I’ll never buy another Sears product again.” [...]
February 9th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
More of the same but with a twist…I purchased a Kenmore washer in Jan/07; paid for delivery and set-up. The delivery set-up guy damaged the plumbing..did not notice the leak for 3 days…called plumber (not going to wait for Sears) cost $289 to remove wall panel and repair leak…talked to Sears store manager…he promised to make it good…long story but yesterday he called and said he would not make it good…so I called Sears head office..they said they would look into it BUT – “that is not a Sears store, it is a franchise”! The huge sign says Sears, the ads say Sears, the flyers say Sears…etc the Sears manager says I need to deal with the delivery/installers; Sears head office says I paid only for delivery not instal…the installers say my plumbing was at fault….I face reflooring 3 rooms in my home as well as the plumbing bill. I see that Sears does not belong to the B B B and infact has faced fines from the Competition Bureau..and the BBB says “this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau” well duh! I am a pensioner, I do not know where I can find the money to either A) replace the flooring or B) hire a lawyer….Cass
February 19th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Morning,
I am having a poor experience with customer service. I have spoke with service rep Lois and Tina and am getting upset with the run around.
I had called customer service about a Delonghi Dehumidifier which was not working and I wanted to return it. I was given the OK (right at the 90 days) and was told to drop the unit off at the local pickup center. The local pickup center questioned the response and followed through with contacting customer service again to verify. After about 15 minutes I was asked if it was OK that Sears try’s to fix the unit, and if they couldn’t they would refund my monies. I am a reasonable person, so I agreed that they could send the unit off to be examined and if possible fixed. I picked the unit up on this past Saturday and the unit still does not work and I wish to return the unit for a full refund.
Customer service Tina could not help me so I asked to speak with a Supervisor, but was not at her desk, so I asked for a call back
Tina called my house and spoke with my wife and explained that I would not get a refund because the tech guy said you shouldn’t be running a Dehumidifier during the winter. That is Crazy
This quote is from a Humidifier Manufacturer
Would I need to run a dehumidifier all the year round?
Running a dehumidifier from early October until the spring is generally sufficient as more moisture is generated during the winter. It’s also better to start using your dehumidifier before the winter starts, this reduces the risk of moisture soaking into your walls. If you do start your dehumidifier part way through the winter it is advisable to run it continuously for around 2 weeks to ensure your home is properly dried out.
Also, no where in the manual does it state such nonsense
I called back again this morning at 11 am and spoke with Lois, who again could not help me and could not get the Supervisor either.
I have a hard time believing the Supervisor has been in a meeting since 8:45 this morning.
I am waiting for a call and asked to have it by noon (not holding my breath)
Please check my purchases (905) XXX XXXX on my Sears card alone, I have been a solid customer for a long time
I am very upset with the mis information from the tech
and I feel that I am being lied to and I would like some answers
12:09 pm and no callback yet :(
Thank you
Jason N. Fitzpatrick
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Well heres another dissatisfied customer,
I too thought Sears was a name you could not go wrong with when we bought our Bosch Nexxt Washer and Dryer from the Sherway Gardens Etobicoke store 3 Years ago.
The machines have broken down four times since we bought them. Right now my washer is out for the count, the door locked, half full of water and clothes and not a service guy in sight to fix it.
Sears has next to no trained Bosch repair people on staff. One of them even admitted to us he has to read the manual to figure out what to do to repair the Bosch washers and dryers.
Today was the kicker, after our third call to service this week, the CSR told us maybe we should go on the internet and find manuals and parts ourself….and this machine is still under warranty !
Looks like well be after a “Miracle” too very soon.
Adrian Dunevein
February 24th, 2007 at 2:32 am
ok i just started to read a couple of these and you people are retarded!!! ok for the first letter you say your washer is out of the waranty period so why would sears fix it for free??? they have to draw the line somewhere!!! sears is a great company not a great charity so don’t expect something for free. i buy just about everything i own (2 large house fulls) from sears and i couldnt be more happy. and thats why i keep buying from sears. yes some of my new apliances have broke but sears have great repair men that take care of it fast I did go to another company and found a washer and dryer a little cheaper then sears and bought them. the washer broke about six months down the road i spent 3 weeks with out a washer because there repair men were unsure what the problem was so i called sears there was a 6 day wait for the repair man to get here but he had it fixed that day and its still working (7 months later) So basicly sears has been great to me so i figured i would stand up for them after i read all your letters crying that sears is giveing your free service!! also i now buy sears extened warranty on all my apliances so i pay 1 fee every 3 years and sears now fixes every aplaince i have at no charge and they come once a year to check them over and prevent them from breaking. what more could you want.
February 27th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
A colleague of mine forwarded this site to me. I agree with everyone out there who has had problems with Sears. Trevyn you are so totally incorrect that it is a joke what you had written. You are a “loyal” Sears employee and I guess you must never buy anything there or else you too would have the same problems that everyone of us has had !
Dec.04 we purchased top of the line Fridge, Stove, over the stove Microwave & Dishwasher from Sears. That was our first mistake. Each item had to be redelivered 3 times – due to wrong product being ordered by Sears, but mainly damages.
When the we actually did get the deliveries – someone had to take time off work every time we had a delivery about 8 in total – the delivery people were awful – they dropped and damaged the stove and acutally expected us to take delivery, damage my walls, dirtied my carpets, and used foul language in my house, and did nothing but curse Sears.
After a lot of “discussions” with the store manager, department manager, and our sales person, we finally got all our products delivered by Feb.05. It only took 2 MONTHS to get our order – in the meantime Sears took our payment real quick.
Two years later, Feb.10/07, I had to throw out my over the stove microwave because it died and I bought a new one – not from Sears. Now the compressor is gone in my 2 year old fridge. It will now cost me almost $500 because it is over the 2 year warranty – warranty starts the day payment is made and not when final delivery is made. When I called customer service – what a joke – I made the major mistake of not getting this person’s name, but his answer was “well you had plenty of opportunities to purchase the extended warranty, maybe you should have”. I am going to try to call the President’s Line, but from all the comments that I have seen, I really think that it will be a total waste of my time. All I can say is that the SEARS SERVICE IS THE WORST I HAVE EVER SEEN AND THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS EVEN WORSE. I agree with everyone else, I will NEVER shop at Sears again. I haven’t shopped at Sears in 2 years. Perhaps we should all get together for a class action suit !
February 28th, 2007 at 5:53 am
Everyone with Sears Canada issues…… Send a note to Paula.Edwards@sears.ca about your issue
March 2nd, 2007 at 10:35 am
I am beyond confused how this company trains its customer service personnel – we purchased a new Kenmore stove (Nov 10, 2006) with a nice added feature – covered bottom element, it makes the stove look really finished inside and keeps the bottom of your oven very clean. Well guess what I turned on my self clean oven and the splatter marks that should have come clean on the element cover baked on and took the finish right off of it. I now have an element cover that looks dirty all the time. I called customer service and he proceeeded to tell me, well this won’t hurt the oven it will still work fine, I told him that was not the point and after a 10 minute argument he finally dispatched a service technician who arrived 3 days later opened the oven door and send, nope its cosmetic, your lucky I do not charge you for the service call!
I then called customer service again who confirmed that the technician was correct, I then told them they have two choices replace the element cover or pick up the stove. They now have put me onto a sales associate who is not in until today and I am going to see her personally as she is the lady I purchased the stove from. I cannot believe the attitude of these people, I asked them to point out in the stoves manual where it tells you this can occur, I had no reason to believe I should have removed this cover prior to cleaning and when I questioned customer service about this they said “few very people had this experience” If they think I am going away they don’t know me too well! I am fed up with having to speak to so many people to get something so easily resolved. To the Sears employee who wrote on this site, please put yourself in our shoes, you buy something and 3 months later the first time you use a feature of your new appliance it does not perform to standard, how would you feel?, how many people would you like to speak to? It all comes down to common sense and I believe Sears is lacking in customer service.
March 3rd, 2007 at 3:15 pm
OK here is my story….that guy who says Sears cares is blatantly lying.
I purchased a stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher from Sears in late 2002.
The refrigerator went 1 month after warranty was up, needed a new fan. Was fixed within three days..ok..but out about $150.
The oven just went…here’s were it gets good…I called the day it went…Wednesday…told agent would be here Thursday….they called me Thursday and said it would be Friday, because the repair agent is too busy…he (for the record he is good and not the brunt of my complaint), shows up Friday and says it is the temperature sensor, he needs to order a part, if it comes from Calgary it will be here Monday, if it comes from Toronto, it will be here the next Friday….So on Wednesday the next week, we haven’t heard from him, so we call him, he says the part isn’t here yet now it will be the next Monday….I call Sears Canada to complain about the time required to get the part…I figure in todays market, I can get most things to my house within 2 or 3 days max when I order on the net….the parts and service agent I call says they can’t do much with a part backorder…but he’ll transfer me to a customer service agent….I wait and wait on hold…the customer service agent comes on laughing….I explain my complaint…sir I’ll note that….then I guess I’m supposed to go away….no action…no recognition from Sears that there is a problem…..no “I’m sorry” even…..I WILL NEVER BUY FROM SEARS CANADA AGAIN..EVEN IF IT IS A PAIR OF SOCKS!!!!!!
March 3rd, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Hey I live in US and have had problem with a brand new washer from Sears. Can’t get anyone to help. I won’t buy another thing from them again and neither will anyone I know
March 5th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Well this was all very interesting. I too am trying to contact somebody at Sears Head Office. We bought a new water heater power miser 12 and they came to install it last Friday. True they did phone to ask my husband what sort of floors we have and he said hardwood with carpet on the stairs. We have had a lot of snow in Calgary and it had started to melt so they proceeded down the staircase with their shoes all covered in muddy snow! Installed the water heater which proceeded to leak. When I phoned on Friday afternoon to complain the installer told me he was at the other end of the planet and wouldn’t be back until Monday 5th March. I phoned the head plumber and he cam in to look at on his way home and said there is nothing wrong. This morning there is a nice puddle of water under the heater and leaking down the side. I phoned again and he is coming in tonight to look at it on his way home – we await with baited breath! We too have always bought Sears appliances, furniture etc because they used to give good service but it is sadly lacking these days and they wonder why they are losing money.
March 11th, 2007 at 1:55 am
Not sure why people are flaming at the Retailer…
The appliances are covered by the Original Manufacturer Warranty. Retailer has no obligation to extend that even for 1 day.
If Whirlpool / Frigridaire / Maytag etc.. only has 1 year warranty, it is 1 year.
I would not bitch if my stove is even 1 day out of warranty, as I agree to buy it in the first place. Owner’s manual is there for us to read. If you don’t agree to it, you have 90 days to return at Sears. Buy it from another competitor, same warranty. If you don’t want to buy from Sears, go somewhere, who cares?! If you are angry, get a laywer and sue, and see who wins. BTW, your lawyer fees would cover approx 10 stoves as they charge avg. $300/hr (conservative avg.).
A lot of people said they would take legal action… actually how many of you actually did, and how many of you win?
March 15th, 2007 at 10:18 am
I can Not believe what I am reading here. This is totally outragious. I am becoming very upset over this. We to have run up against Sears.
We had our roof done, on a Bunglao, semi, Only one side, shingled in 1995. We did have the best money could buy 25 year shingles thinking this is great. We live in such a bad environment that is better to be safe than sorry.
We were told less than a 1 1/2 ago by a contractor that was doing work outside our home on a seperate project OF course, when he turned around after looking at our roof that we need a new roof. We said, “Our shingles and roof were replaced entirely in 1995″. I asked him what do you mean it needs replaced? He said that look at your shingles, They are curling up on the edges. I said yes your right.
Then a couple of weeks go by and another contractor came in to complete the projuect that we had started. In fact he, is a building contractor in that he builds Million dollar homes for crying out loud. This guy says to my wife and I, “You need a new roof” I replied the same way I did with the Other contractor a couple of weeks earlier.
He turned around and said to me, Wayne, Look at your shingles, they are curling up on the edges. I couldn’t believe my ears. I said yes they are. He went on to say, “Look at the waves in your roof. I did just that & yes there is waves in the roof. It is not a steep pitch roof, in fact it is really nicely slopped and 40 feet in lenght.
We then got on the phone with Sears. My wife explained to the lady that we had our roof replaced in 1995 and we have been told that we need a new roof. In fact we said you need to come and look at our roof. This was 2004. Now keeping in mind, the roof will not need to be replaced until the year 2020.
Sears sends there guy out, we were both outside at the time, he starts off by saying, “i’ll measure up for your new roof”. My wife replied by saying that no we want you to look at our roof and tell us what you think? We didn’t say anything about the roof being done in 1995. He comes down off the ladder and says, “you don’t need a new roof, there is nothing wrong with it”. We said there must be something wrong if we have 2 professional contractors here at the house told us we need a new roof.
He leaves, then a couple of days later, This guy pulls up in a car gets out and comes to the door saying that he is an IKO Representative, that I am going to see your roof. We said that is fine, we gave him the ladder to get up there, he didn’t even go on the roof itself, he comes down off the ladder and say’s ” Your Roof is fine there’s nothing wrong with it”. I then said well that’s funny we have had two, contractors, well known I might add that have told us the oposite. The IKO Rep. says, “They don’t know what they’re talking about”. In fact he said, “they are full of s H eet
We said fine, you are a Shingle professional that is for sure.
Just the past weekend, March 10, 2007 early saturday morning around 9:30 am. My wife is standing at the kitchen window waiting for her hot water to boil so she can have a coffee, then all the sudden she notices water on our window. That is unusual because we have large over hang which the only way we get water on that window, is if we are getting Very high winds in a thunderstorm, and this day wasn’t doing that. She reaches over to the window and puts her finger on the glass and low and behold it’s water alright, on the inside of the window.
She shouted me to come look at it, by the time I got to the Kitchen, I reached up to see what the heck was going on and water is coming through our Recessed Light above the sink. Man, did we get water. Then I thought I better poke a hole in the celing right there to let the water out so it doesn’t do any more damage. When I did that, It ran 3 streams of continuous water fall from 9:30 am. until late that night. We had a unusually warmer day, which was melting the snow nicely. On our roof we had a lot of ice, about a foot thick in spots and snow. I told my wife to call the insurance company right away. I just didn’t know what to do. I knew though, that we were in big trouble. Wow, did we get water.
The insurance adjuster came in about 2 2-1/2 hours later and it is still running water into our house. What a mess. He to took pictures of the water falls. He put a Imaging camera on our Kitchen Wall and said, your whole kitchen was is soaked. You will have to have the whole wall taken out completely. We were just about sick to our stomaches. I couldn’t believe we had that much damage.
The following day the Insurance clean up guy came to the house to take some of the snow off the roof and put some calcium on the ice so it would melt faster and get the evel’s troughs flowing again. I go outside while he’s on the roof and guess what he said?, You need a new roof. I was absolutely beside myself. I should of been a twin. Actually I am a twin.
He went on to say, The reason we got water is because of the ice up there. It was backing up the roof. I still said, the shingles still shouldn’t need to be replaced though. Your shingles are shot. Look at the valley on your roof. It is wavy.
That was it for me. The next day, Monday March 11th/ 2007 I put a call into Sears. Here’s a News Flash for you. They told me that there is no numbers to call to speak to anyone other than the person that answers the phones. She said, there are no telephone numbers to call, she said I will put through a complaint to head office but it will take 24 to 72 hours before anyone gets back to you. I said “What the heck are you talking about”? This is an emergency. She said that doesn’t matter. She will only put a special email through to the office. I couldn’t believe my ears.
Sears still today, Thursday March 15, 2007 Have NOT called us yet. Now we are going to get a lawyer. That is enough. Then I bumped into this website. There is a God………..
March 16th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Just got off the phone with Sears parts and service and was told that I couldn’t order a new part because I didn’t go through the proper channels. My dishwasher was very noisy and the quit so I decided to check things out for myself. Took the thing apart piece by piece meticulously and inspected every inch. I got down to the motor and decided I could do no more so I took the motor to an authorized repairman and was told that yes the motor was shot. I then phoned customer service and had to pursuade the guy to believe me when I said it had a 2 year warranty on it. I purchased the dishwasher Sept.2005. Now I have to pay the repairman a call out fee in order to have the part ordered!!!!How stupid is that…All I want is the damn part so I can put it back together and start loading the dishes again. You can tell how desperate I am when I have to take the thing apart myself. Anyway after many appliance purchases I will no longer buy a thing from sears again. Oh and I wonder when and if I’ll get my part.
March 20th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Yes that’s right sears sucks !!!!!!!!! big time in 2004, we bought a whirl pool stove from SEARS!!! after the first year we had to get the tec in to see what was wrong with it, Well we were stunned when the tec said that we need a new circuit board and that it would take 3wks.for the part to come in from Ont. in turn I CALLED SEARS to say that I wasn’t happy with my stove and wanted to send the stove back! But sears told me that I HAD [TO HAVE THREE CALLS TO THE TEC] before I could return the stove, I tried to explane that if it did brake down in the first year!!! what other problem would come up!!! the sales girl said not to worry that I had EX.warntery…. Well here we are 3years later and still a bum stove with same problem and getting Jacked around.Phoned SEARS to tell them that F6-E5 was blinking, sears sent out a tec to fix the problem,well they the tec did come out, with the wrong part he put the part in even though we didn’t need it the tec was ready to leave, my husband told the tec that part wouldn’t fix the problem and sure enough it didn’t fix it. so here we are it is now March 19th, and we have gone to the store and explane to the store manger the whole story again the manger said that she [Wendy] has no inf. about this problem isn’t that funny!!!!!!!!!! in turn she[Wendy]not me,took are phone no. and would get back to us by the end of the day……. Wendy did phone us back to say that there was nothing she could do for us. I asked Wendy that I wanted to speak to her boss,and that I just wasted my time talking to her. O yes did i say that it was the end of the day so another day goes by and still no working stove!!!!!!!!!!this is the 4th call out to SEARS[ WHAT HAPPENED TO 3 CALLS AND THEY REPLACE IT] They are playing with the wrong person [I’ve taking the brick to court for the same problem and won.And I’m not scared to do it again, as for them not belonging to the BBB sears wouldnt get in the door they [SEARS has to many strikes against them to be contained class action suit sound good to me
p.s. did i mention the order sheet had the part that the tec CONVIENTLEYdidn’t have!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was a loyal customer for years, but never again will you people have my buisiness
March 21st, 2007 at 10:27 am
Wendy, can you take it to the court again please, just do it. It’s boring to read forums about people flaming. Do something folks if you are that annoyed with Sears.
March 25th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Sears techs are over booked. The tech has to run the calls in the order they are on his computer…he can not change them. They have no new training. So if your very lucky you get a tech with years with the company…most likely you will not. See, Sears treats techs worse then they do the customers. So the older techs….the ones that really know how to fix things….leave the company. A&E service is also run and owned by Sears. Needless to say….that service also sucks! I could spend hours on here telling you how Sears has screwed the techs. How do I know all this? I am a Sears tech. I have over 35 years with Sears. I have my tetirement papers in my truck. If they ever tell you the serviceman called in sick….that’s pure bullshit. We get 0, nil, none, NO sick days. If you think Sears service sucks…..try working for the son of a bitches!
PS. We do love our customers. Every time Sears asked YOU how you feel about us….it always comes back the same. 98% of our customers loves the techs….yet hates Sears service.
March 26th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Sears Customer Care Centre
This email is in regards to my 20 mth old fridge that stoped working
Thursday March 15/07.
We are extremely disappointed in Sears; 8mths past the one year warranty our
Kennmore Elite Fridge (serial number ES427072; model number 106.7420641 mg
date 2005.06) breaks and when the company tries to compensate for the
repairs we are blackmailed. The CSR told us they would
cover 1/2 the service call and 1/2 the repair costs only IF we purchase a
maintenance aggreement and an extended warranty. This tells us their
products are unreliable and likely to break hence the need for extended
warranties OR are these extended warranties and maintenance aggreements just
a way to get extra money from the customer.
Why do they prioritize service calls to the people who have maintenance
aggreements? We were told the next available service call would be in 5
days. My father-in-law who live with us (has a maintenance agreement with
Sears) fridge needed to be serviced as well, called after us and recieved an
appointment the next day between 8am and 12 pm.
Is the company so large that they cannot service the customers promptly and
efficiently? Parts needed for our fridge take between 3-6 buisness days to
arrive and be processed to a service technician. Why is it so difficult to
contact the service technician on the road. Why do some technician require
telephone contact before coming to the service call and others do not? Do
they coach their employees at the Customer Care Centre to say anything to the
customer even thou they have no intentions of following it thrrough?
The service techinician was to be at my house between 12pm and 4pm Friday
March 23/07. We were home but did not answer the phone and recieved the
message at 2:30pm and the service department could not contact the
technician to let him know we were home. Countless employees guarrenteed us
someone would be out that day or at the latest Saturday morning. IF they had
read the file properly or taken the time to do their job appropriately they
would of noticed that the part required after the first technician diagnosed
the fridge wrong was back in Toronto and the earliest anyone can recieve the
part and come out is Tuesday March 27/07. This information was provided to
me Saturday morning when a CSR called to tell us they were very
sorry but they were unable fit us in Saturday morning anyway.
I asked them if they had any idea what it is like to function without a fridge with an
active household? We both work full-time, we have 3 elementary school aged
children. I have to make a trip to the store everytime I want milk for our
children for every meal – to make their lunches – to make supper means
anouther trip to the store! The food I have to waste and time and
aggrivasion caused because they cannont fix my fridge in a timely manner is
unacceptable. IF I had gone with a smaller, more customer oriented buisness
this would not have happened. Not to mention I had to take the day off work
so someone would be there for the technician.
Sears has lied to us. Purposley misled us and did not give us
appropriate information. The Customer Care Centre lacks continuity. Why
can you not speak to the same person twice even if you request too? Why
will people not give you supervisors numbers or email addresses if you are
not satisfied at their level? One person does not know what the other
person is doing because they do not communicate and fail to communicate
information appropriately. We never thought we would of been treated like
this from Sears with the reputation and core value of standards you
advertise. We both regret purchasing our appliances from Sears and will
relay our story to others to prevent a simular encounter. Word of mouth is
one of the strongest tools for advertising hence why smaller buisnesses do
well. You may have to pay a little more but they will back their products
without purchasing extended warranties making going to the smaller buisness
the better deal!
Kelly and Dwayne
Just a little experiment I sent the same email to sears 10 times and recieved 10 automative replies from 10 different people with no resolution to the problem.
March 26th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Past warranty is again past warranty. You buy the appliance knowing warranty is 1 Year.
Sears does not sell “extended warranties”, they sell Protection Agreements and they are different.
Protection Agreement provide more than just “extended warranties”. It is strongly advised to educate yourself in what you are buying and your warranty entitlement.
It is common among the industry to offer Protection Agreements / Extended Warranties, etc…
1) Profit is high, and retailers need to make money.
2) To protect you, it is true. I hope all of you who complained looked at purchasing one of these.
No these doesn’t mean the appliances are inferior. Do you buy life insurance / drug plan?? Same idea. For those who bought life insurance, are you thinking that you are inferior to your neighbour who didn’t have the $ to buy???? HAHAHA. Of course not, it is for your protection, or your families’ protection.
It is so funny to see how folks get so mad when they don’t understand their warranties / appliances / service etc…. keep in mind, when you buy, you are entering a legal binding contract. Please read your owners’ manual, warranty material.
Keep it coming folks, your stories are really funny and highlight how ignorant consumers are these days.
March 26th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Oh by the way, I must point this out:
1)All service calls, service trips offered by companies is a cost.
2)Costs are then added to retail price.
3)At the end we are paying for it.
If the appliance fails within warranty, it is the obligation of Sears to get it repaired. If it’s not, I am telling all of you, You ALL pay for it. In essence, when we shop, we are actually compensating these “out of warranty” complaints. This is a very funny forum, yet when we think about it, we pay for it everyday, unknowingly perhaps.
Keep condoning the customers = we all keep compensating them. If my appliance broke 1 day, I’m sure to give Sears a call and flame, and you all can pay my part back. Funny but true.
March 29th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
What Omni says is very true. I am a manager with Sears in Ontario. Peoples attitudes towards entitlement when it come to after sales service, and Sears’ liberal exchange policies over the years has put them in to a crisis situation. Quite simply Sears must do what they are doing in order to survive. The focus in the stores is not on making sales but preventing returns. Our return policies must be enforced or Sears will cease to exist. It’s as simple as that. Whether they deserve to exist is another matter. They have more deep seated problems than changes in customer service. I will detail this in a post later today.
March 30th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
I disagree. Bottom line is Sears does not stand by their products anymore like they used to. They are selling inferior products, period. I am also a very dissatisfied customer that will never again buy from Sears. Even the technicians that have been to my house too many times to count in the past TWO years (shouldn’t appliances last longer than that without needing MAJOR repair?) have told me that they wouldn’t buy the Sears products because they are just not made to last anymore. Nice, huh? I have been getting the run around from Sears so called customer service for the past 3 1/2 weeks to get my 2 year old washer fixed for the second time.
Like I said, Sears does not stand by their products.
March 31st, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Send your concerns to all these people.. laurae.denton@sears.ca, paula.edwards@sears.ca, ssimic@sears.ca, smclau4@sears.ca, rick.gaboury@sears.ca
April 1st, 2007 at 12:27 am
Thanks for not shopping at Sears. Then I don’t need to compensate for your service calls. 2 year old is “old”. Cars generally only have 4 yrs warranty even my BMW. What more do you expect from a $4000 washer/dryer or ur $3000 fridge??? No one is obligated to even service your appliance out of warranty. You are more than welcome to purchase other namebrand products.. But Kenmore stuff are made by Whirlpool / Maytag / Frigidaire anyway. If your National Appliance broke down, it’s still 1 year warranty.
They stood behind throughout the warranty as far as I can see. Nothing wrong with your service at all Karen.
Your appliance is OUT OF WARRANTY PERIOD.!!! haha
April 1st, 2007 at 12:35 am
Yea, by the way, you got to send to those folks, so they’ll be busy. If you don’t they’ll be out of a job soon. Funny. It is policy of Sears to do that, it’s at the back of the receipt and I would assume the policy is approved by the most senior executives. Who are those folks by the way?? If they can overrule, I’d like to send a letter to Dene Rogers myself about the integrity of Sears policy.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:38 am
If I were lucky enough to be working there and got emails sent to me about these stories, I’d be laughing my butt off everyday. Save me another few pennies to buy newspaper, as I don’t need the comics section nomore. HaHAHa
April 1st, 2007 at 3:57 pm
“Waiting for a miracle from Sears”
Dear people
Be aware I have never ever ever seen a frontload washer with a failed boot after many months of use without the customer having caused it! What, Sears is expected to go good for something you or your family did?
Did you buy the extended warranty or are you another freeloader that thinks appliances don’t need care?
Hey, go buy from FutureShop or the Brick and see what they will give you. 5 seconds after the warranty is up!!! THEY, won’t do it man!!! They, DONT HAVE INHOUSE WARRANTY!!! THAT EXTENDED WARRANTY IS OUT OF SOME FLORIDA INSURANCE CAMPANY………DID YA KNOW ?
Sears is the best reatailer ut there and don’t forget it!!!! I do them all and Sears cares.
Tired of customer like you.
We servicers are tired of your complaining!! We get concessions for customer that take responsiblity for their actions.
April 1st, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Doug, I sympathize. I’m sure it isn’t fun getting yelled at by irate customers. But let me ask you this… How do you know that my washer wasn’t in perfect condition, and well maintained by our family? Answer: you don’t, because you weren’t there.
And you know what? We did buy the extended warranty, AND we bought from Sears rather than from their discount arm, Corbeil Appliances. We wanted TOP NOTCH SERVICE — the kind that Sears was renowned for providing. We didn’t want discount service. We PAID EXTRA — a premium on the appliances AND an extended warranty for that service. My view is that we got taken, because we could got discount retailer service from a company that prides itself on premium service.
Even so, if Tara had been in the least bit empathetic on the phone, I would have let the whole thing slide. But she was an idiot — rude, and unsympathetic. I don’t think that Sears is the retailer they used to be. They’ve certainly not demonstrated it to us, nor to the hordes of others who’ve commented on this thread.
April 1st, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Come on.. be real here again people.. your appliances were 4 months out of extended warranty. 1 yr manufacturer, usually people buy 3 years extended. So approx your appliance is 4 yrs old. As I said, even cars warranty runs out. Your PREMIUM PAID was TOTALLY USED UP already.
I have a question: What part that people don’t understand. 1 year is three hundred and sixty five days. If you pay for 3 years, times that by 3. If you want to buy 5 years protection agreement, then times that by 5. Did you folks need to go back to grade 1 to understand multiplication or how the calendar works?
If you understand the above concept, then you only PAID EXTRA for that EXTRA YEARS of service, not a day or a week, let alone 4 months more.
If you still don’t get it, I suggest you read some math book and mark down on your calendar when your warranty entitlement ends.
April 1st, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Omni, I would have RENEWED an extended warranty. No arguments about the value of service. It ain’t a Sears value any more.
April 1st, 2007 at 8:50 pm
My apologies Alec, I don’t really understand your value concept.
You were talking about Value. Value = Tangible and Intangible goods or service / price.
That’s the equation. So if you don’t need to pay, than your equation would be Value = $300 (say service call) / $0. Math book would tell you anything divided by 0 is infinite. That’s also where Newtonian physics break down, and Einstein’s take over. So your value if you don’t pay is infinite gain, opposite for retailers would be infinite lost.
So here you get all the value (infinite) and retailers lose. And as I stated before, all retailers are here to make money, so they will pass costs onto other customers, like myself. And I end up paying for your “value”. Does it make sense?
April 1st, 2007 at 8:56 pm
If you had renewed or “paid” for your entitlement for your service, it’ll be another story.
Then you are entitled to the service governed by the agreement. Since it is a contract, it is legally binding. Then your remedies would be to file lawsuit, cheapest I believe is through small claims court where you do not need legal counsel, and seek for damages. So if retailers do not fulfill their part, go for it, and you have every single right to flame. And believe me, I’ll cheer for you too.
Unfortunately, most of the folks here are again “out of warranty”.
April 1st, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Omni, again, I will say this… you’re missing the point. BRAND is built around customer perception. Sears BRAND is “dedicated to providing its customers with quality merchandise & exceptional service, coast to coast.†Those are their words, not mine. If your brand is service, then you have to deliver.
When we bought we could have bought those appliances from many retailers. We bought from Sears, and with the Kenmore brand BECAUSE we believed in the Sears promise — the promise that Sears articulates in their own marketing materials. I do not dispute ANY of your arguments. I DO argue that Sears brand, the promise that they make to their customers, implies that they will be more than Future Shop. And that’s the reason we bought from Sears, and if they don’t fulfill their part of the bargain, it’s the reason we will never buy from them again. Why should I pay a $300 premium for the promise of service when that promise is patently a lie?
And once more, I will point out that I paid for that promise AND I would have paid again for a further extended warranty had it been offered. Sears has lost their way. The premium customer (which I represent) is not being serviced… AT ALL. If all I can get from Sears is discount retailer service then I have no need to pay premium prices.
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:03 am
Only question again is – Was your appliance in warranty when it broke down?
If your answer is YES – Then the appliances did not perform too well. According to warranty entitlement, you should get serviced as long as it is manufacturer’s defect.
If you answer is NO – Then you got to pay for service, no matter how much premium you paid. As it is all used up during warranty.
If your complaint is regarding – FREE SERVICE AFTER YOUR WARRANTY IS EXPIRED, then you are a Freeloader as the tech has mentioned.
And your point is total invalid. As customers of Sears – no I do not want you to shop there, as I will end up paying for your costs. So go to other retailers please.
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:07 am
Sears Brand is “dedicated to providing its customers with quality merchandise & exceptional service, coast to coast”. Those are their words.
Everyone read this one more time. Does it say “FREE” merchandise and service??? Does it say “FREE” service after your protection agreement is over?
NO. I don’t care if you pay $10,000 for your protection agreement, if it’s over, it’s over.
There’s no free lunch in this world. If you go food bank, you still need to line up, and time is what we called opportunity cost. Everything in this world has a cost associated to it. And someone, somewhere, somehow has to pick it up. And it better not be all the good customers of Sears in Canada that deligently follow Sears’ policy and live up to the spirit of contract law.
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:20 am
How come people do not come to understand this: Yes you paid for warranty say 01/01/07 to 01/01/08 for $500. Your appliance breaks down on 01/02/08. Your warranty is out, it’s over.
I sincerely hope you understand how a calendar year work and that your premium used up and you have to pay for service call like all other customers. It is only fair that way.
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Again, you’re missing the point. I am not talking about the letter of the contract, nor am I talking about the beans that the finance people at Sears are paid to count. I am talking about customer perception and brand. Valuable, but intangible assets which are being damaged by their approach. That’s all.
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Omni, you are missing the point. You are portraying the “NEW” Sears where the customer now comes last and sears profits come first.
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Quite the opposite… Sears is enjoying sales increases in top line and profitable growth in the bottom line.
Shares of Sears Canada are in high $20 as oppose to high $10s couple of years ago.
Top Line growth by:
1) Better qualifying customers by explaining product features and warranty at point of sale.
2) Ensure customers are aware of warranty entitlement and educating them of the value of Protection Agreements.
3) Enhance the floor layout and strengthen revelent lines of products. Eg. Stainless Steel, Front Load washer/dryers etc..
Bottom Line growth by:
1) Sticking to manufacturer’s limited warranty to minimize costs.
2) Adhere to clear and written in black and white warranty entitlements again to minimize unexpected costs.
So far, all I can see is they’re doing quite well.
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Today, Sears seem to tighten financials. And I applaud them for doing so.
Any retailer can give customers all they want, in this case service. But again, that comes at a cost.
So you folks will now enjoy Free service after warranty is over. Good. Then what about the rest of us, we will be ending up paying for your service call. By sticking to the policy. Every customer that pays will be treated equally.
Unless Alec and Concerned Person would like to pay more, you are not getting more than what I and other customers get. I totally love the “NEW” Sears, so far, all my service calls have been answered, without cost as I’m still in Warranty. When I’m out of it, I will pay. There’s no free food in this world. And if you think there is, you are dreaming.
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Profit / Customer / New / Old Sears…
Customer and Profit must be balanced. You are certainly not treated “last” as your warranty is up, and you WILL NOT therefore enjoy free service calls.
Sears is just balancing profit/cost and customer service. No retailer or company will EVER put you to a point where they’ll lose money. And keeping you happy but lose money will in turn hurt Shareholders, all other customers, suppliers, employees, and so on…
So keeping you a minor % of non-profitable customers happy and hurt thousands of folks out there does not make sense.
Alec, you are a business person or owner as you said on other forums. Does your company condone this type of practice in giving free service? If you do, can you let me know? So I’ll purchase from you and end up haunting you 3 years down the road. You reside in Quebec as you quoted Corbeil. I live in ON, maybe we should look at advertising your business and make promises that you’ll look after your customers after their warranty is up, or your return policy is over that you’ll still satisfy them out of your own pocket.
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Corbeil is also in Ottawa, Omni. And yes, we do spend a lot of time working on customer service, and giving service free. Then again, we’re a startup with an early stage product. It goes with the territory.
Omni:
1) There needs to be a balance. Sears has swung hard toward the bottom line, and while the short term gains you’re pointing out are undoubtedly there, my contention is that they will be hurt in the long run. At the end of this about face, the New Sears won’t be any different from Future Shop or the Brick, and the cost associated with rebranding and differentiating versus their competition will be high.
2) Sears could go a long way to making customers more satisfied by simply being more empathetic on the telephone. Have you ever noticed how hard it is for you to get off the phone with Bell Canada without buying more? Go ahead… try to cancel your cell phone. Chances are, you’ll end up keeping it, and maybe even buying some more services. That’s how good the Bell agents are. Sears needs to put some polish on the service reps they put online.
I would never have written this piece if the person on the phone hadn’t been such a jerk, and if it hadn’t been such a profound difference from every other experience I’ve ever had with Sears.
There you have it. And now, I am done with this conversation, because each side keeps saying the same thing.
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:41 pm
By the way Concerned Person / Alec,
I understand all your points, that your appliance is kind of new, shouldn’t break, serviceman at your door the next day and so on.
But unfortunately, you won’t get that anymore. Because it is not profitable.
Companies need to make money, and they’ll transfer those costs somehow, and it could mean higher prices, lower wages, or if the company absorbs it, profit go down, shareholder value go down, employees get less wages etc…
So can you explain why any retailers should do that?
*My anticipated answer would be: they need to keep customers happy, so we will come back and purchase more.
*The response would be going back to balancing service and profit. If I were Sears, to keep you as a customer I would be incurring $x amount of dollars since you have a history of coming back and ask for free stuff after your entitlement is over. So, I have to either jack up prices to cover cost / or report lower profit. No way out. Or to start off new page, and align you along with all other customers with the policy. That way, everyone is treated equal, less unexpected cost therefore higher profit.
Sears is enjoying BOTH top and bottom line growth. That is a strong indication that they’re doing the things that a lot of customers want. If customers are fed up, you will not see top line growing. Well today is April 2, 07. So the first quarter is over. Usually retailers report quarterly financial results, and see for yourself if you don’t believe what I’m trying to say, that most customers actually like the NEW Sears. And this policy is making a lot of folks out there including myself as a customer very happy (as I don’t need to pay for your free service). The financials will be the testiment of how well the NEW Sears work.
April 2nd, 2007 at 6:33 pm
2006 same store sales -1.10%, EPS excluding non-comparable items +29%. Annual report for 06 is online. We’ll see how they do in Q1, 07.
April 9th, 2007 at 12:28 am
The way this Omni talks he must be getting kick backs from Sears Canada. He talks alot about out of warranty stuff but I don’t hear him trying to help people who have problems with things or the kind of bad service they are getting while their product IS still under warranty. I know what it is like to be bounced around by a big company. It all comes down to the the P.R. person you get. If you get someone like Omni you are s++t out of luck. But if you get one that does have a human bone in their body I believe they can and will do their best to help. ALL big company’s think you are just a number and like Omni could care less if they keep your business. The old days when we cared about our customers are long gone. All we have left in the PR sectors are Omni’s. We need to set up an e-mail address that people who have a problem with big companys can work together to try to get back the respect and service we should be getting and stop this ping pong game these big company’s are playing with us. This is a serious matter to most of us and people like Omni should not be shooting their mouth off and refering to this matter as like reading the funny paper. Omni you need to grow up. If you are not part of the solution you must be part of the problem.
April 9th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
We purchased a kenmore portable washing machine in April of 2006 which was on sale for $639.00 . This machine has a 1 year warranty on it.In march it leaked from the bottom flooding my room and water staining our basement suite ceiling.Our tenant helped us clean up the mess and the next morning we called for an appointment from sears customer repair service.The repairman came and put 3 loads of plain water through it and it did not leak.He was not interested in seeing the ceiling stain downstairs and told my husband that sometimes these things happen. I have dealt with sears since 1979 and their service was always the best.Practically every appliance in our home has been kenmore and now our married children WERE buying them.They have told us that since it didn’t leak it must be o.k. and they will not replace it even though it is under warranty.We had ordered a $600.00 b.i. dishwasher with a 3 year warranty which is now being returned.Ihave documented what happened to my washing machine along with a statement from my tenant to my insurance agent and if my machine leaks again then my insurance will go after sears even if the warranty is over.I just wonder how they would like to come home to a flooded house? One agent even suggested that I stay home while I do my laundry!!!I know that I will never shop or buy anthing from sears again as they may as well have called us both liars and that is certainly NOT CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!!
April 11th, 2007 at 10:44 am
I read all of these reports with interest (no personal problems since a previous owner put GE appliances in the house and they are holding out). However, I am surprised that no one has focussed on what seems to me to be the real issue, which is the quality of the products themselves. Omni talks with glee about expired warranties and top-of-line and bottom-line issues and maintaining profits and profiles, and disregards what I think is fundamental to people’s insistence that they are not getting what they deserve.
In my opinion only a terrible cynic could be satisfied with the knowledge that objects that take hours of human time and valuable resources from the earth to produce and significant cost to the atmosphere in terms of greenhouse gasses to transport and be disposed of should be ‘old’ in three to four years.
This fact is quite simply an affront to human decency, and I believe it is at the root of rage that is being directed at Sears (although the communication and run-around practices there are obviously so bad that the higher-ups–so-called managers–who develop or tolerate them can only be considered to be de facto pirates.)
April 11th, 2007 at 11:35 am
We purchased a mattress from Sears! We were given a $700 credit towards our new mattress since the one we had was defective and did not stand up to the 25yr warranty (2yrs old) We purchased a new one and paid the $ with the credit towards this one. This new mattress buckled up in the centre after a short time and we had to send that back. They refunded our money all right, but the not $700 allowance, which should have been put towards the next one. We were sold “up” to a $2700 mattress (on sale) When this one arrived at the house, we noticed the memory foam had a terrible odour and when you sat on the bed, the sound from the bed was like someone crunching a pamper! I wanted to send it back immediately, but was told their “furniture doctor” had to come so I had to go thru the routine. Incidently, he is not very knowledge and I think gets paid a commission of some sort for his “good reports”. Then we had picked another one out which when was to be delivered they called and said it was dirty. So that did not happen. I took another month of chasing to get them to credit the delivery charge on the acct…How can they charge for something that never left the warehouse. To this end, we have been struggling with Sears and their “President’s Line, Customer service for 4 MONTHS! on this one issue. All we wanted was a mattress that didn’t stink, construction was solid and didn’t make any noise. We were told that we have lost our $700 despite everyone telling us that it was no problem it would be done. We were told that we could not return this mattress until we purchased another one! To me that is blackmail. In the end after spending many hrs. on the phone talking to umpteen people in different offices, they will pick up this one and credit our accout….but the $700 they are calling useage, hmmmm…..rather than allowance. so that is in the wind too! I have neighbours and friends that have purchased mattresses, treadmill and have been chasing them forever and have finally given up. Sear has poor customer service, poor follow up and very good at passing the buck. Buyer beware!! Sears not what it used to be years ago. It’s get a quick buck and run! I will never shop at Sears again!
April 11th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
My parents convinced us to buy from Sears (appliances, bed etc.) when we bought our first home because Sears USED TO BE the best company out there for service. We bought all appliances (GE Profile), a king size bed, all of our baby’s furniture, couch, outdoor equipment (lawnmower, garage door opener etc.) from Sears thinking we were making a wise investment. EVERY SINGLE APPLIANCE HAS TURNED OUT TO BE GARBAGE, OUR MATTRESS WAS GARBAGE AND OUR CRIB PRACTICALLY FELL APART!!
We were told by the actual sales representative at the Sears store that they do not make appliances like they used to, and to expect to be placing service calls. That was her awesome sales pitch to make money on the extended warranty. I kick myself now for not walking out the door right then and there! But, I was an idiot and agreed to buy them. And sure enough – everything broke down!
Now, I understand that these warranties are in place to cover service calls, whatever Omni – god – I will pay it – get over yourself, what I am disappointed in is the absolute crappy customer service! I couldn’t even tell you how many people I have talked to on the phone, every single one of them giving me different information, no one has a clue how to do their job and some of them are even rude enough to hang up on you! NICE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! I wouldn’t buy a pillow from that pathetic store now, let alone a new bed! Which, by the way, the actual service tech from Sears told me the first time that he came out when our mattress basically fell apart on the inside, that Sears tech’s are told to deny you any service the first time out! THE TECH HIMSELF TOLD ME THAT!!! It took me a year and a half of sleeping with my head lower than my legs to finally get them to replace my mattress!! And the tech that came for all of my appliances told me that GE is known for selling garbage appliances! GEE – THEN WHY DO YOU SELL THEM??????
PLEASE OMNI – GIVE ME SOME INSIGHTFUL RESPONSE! I CAN’T WAIT!!!
April 11th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Folks, I have given you advise about SMALL CLAIMS COURT where you have every right to sue for damages IF YOU ARE UNDER WARRANTY.
If you are out, too bad, live with it.
This is pure business. All of you are customers of sears including myself. We are doing BUSINESS as you can say. Not a charity.
Bad service too bad, it’s your perception, cannot be measured. I will never comment on rudeness or politeness at all. Your perception of Bad service, could be OK to some people.
April 12th, 2007 at 12:21 am
If you are entitled to something, I’ll be on your side. But if you are not, you better not make all other customers worse off by compensating you. That’s all I need to say.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:28 am
Ah!
“This is pure business. All of you are customers of sears including myself. We are doing BUSINESS as you can say. Not a charity. ”
So you ARE a Sears Canada employee, Omni. Thank you for confirming that.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
my quote reads that All of you are customers of sears including myself. So the “We” in the next sentence includes myself being one of Sears Canada’s customer are doing business with Sears Canada.
I did not state that I am a Sears Canada employee in any part or full in any of my posts.
This implication fallacy of yours maybe the cause of your misunderstanding of your warranty entitlement and interpretation of mission statements in your previous posts.
Please read black and white and take the FACE value of it, and please discount your expectation and your personal implication out of warranties.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
By the way, how many of you guyz have taken businesses to court? Why don’t you guyz try that avenue instead of wasting time waiting for months to get your appliances fixed etc?
Basically, most of you said you won’t shop at Sears, and that’s fine, you’re going to tell some friends, relatives etc.. so that’s fine too. Do you know how many people actually shop there? Their sales are at the billions range.
I am not implying they don’t care, but you are just a peanut compare to the rest of the folks like me shopping there for big ticket items. Do you think your forums and your findings are going to change how they operate and the shopping habits of millions of customers that make up the billions of sales?
This forum is very funny in 2 ways, 1) ignorance of consumers with their purchase and warranties. IF you think $4k per appliance is a lot of money, please educate yourself carefully what you’re buying etc…
2) Living in the 80s where Sears was throwing money at you folks to make you happy, but your purchase maybe $25000 a year out of Billions of sales.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Alec you are a business owner, you must have some business lawyers that knows contract law right? Ask him for some help.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Oh by the way Cara, did you or did you not buy protection agreement? Was your appliance in or out of warranty? Wasn’t clear on your post. Thanks.
I know you’ll pay, but did you pay?
April 12th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Speaking of GE. I don’t follow GE stocks or financials, so I can’t back up their profitability with facts.
But by obervation, they’re around for a long time, make a wide range of products. If they’re selling Garbage Appliances, they should not be around already, or would have been bought out.
A lot of places are selling GE in Canada. So, I don’t know why so many retailers are selling Garbage then.. I think you can ask the other retailers too the same question.
Hmmm.. let me see.. if you want like quality appliances, I suggest you look into Sub-Zero, Viking, Bosch etc… You can purchase them at Tasco. Merchandise Sears carries are not top of the line within the industry. They’re not Mercedes or Porshes of the appliances. $2-4k per appliance is just the average prices. My appliances are all from Sears, 3-4k each piece, Kenmore Elites. I see them as midrange appliances at best.
They’re certainly not the Cream of the Crop, but they’re not Garbage either…
April 12th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Apologize, mistake on previous post. My appliance are not even at 3k range. Diswasher only 1.9k, Washer at 1.6k, Dryer 1.1k, Electric cooktop 2k, Fridge 3.3k. They’re kind of economical when looking back at the receipt.
April 12th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Omni, glad to hear you’re not a Sears Canada employee. I’d have even less respect for Sears if they sent employees here to troll anonymously.
April 13th, 2007 at 10:51 am
I do not think Sears will send people here, but any Sears employee could come on here to “troll”. That is a beauty of free speech in Canada.
April 17th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
I am a very satisfied, happy Sears customer all appliances I have in house from radios to central air, heat, everything is from Sears and I never had any problems with any of them, they all are in good working condition and for all of them I have purchased the maintenance plan and every time I need a tech I get a tech in without any problems, I am a very understanding person and if it takes a week to wait for a tech then I will wait for a tech.
sears does sell Maintenance agreements and they do cover till the expiration date and so far I have had no problems with it.
Sears is not any deferent then other retailers out there, actually I have had problems with wanting to return a simple DVD to walmart because sceenes were missing they claimed they could not exchange it, as I had a DVD I purchased from Sears and Sceenes were missing I had no problem returning or exchanging it.
I had a problem returning a Digital Camera that did not work at The Bay and I know for a fact that a friend of mine had purchase a Digital Camera at Sears that did not work and she had no problems exchanging it, I had a problem with a microwave I ppurchased at sears and was not happy with the performance of this apliance and I took it back and they repalced it for a new one. I have no idea why you people have problems with Sears, I D NOT.you get what you pay for and if you did not pay for extended warranty then you cannot get it, it expires then it expires, it is what it is, you can’t get what you not not pay for.
April 27th, 2007 at 10:19 am
I read all this with interest because I was about to call Sears for some repair work.
I don’t think I’ll be calling them now.
I sincerely hope Sears’ public relations department reads this discussion. They are in obvious need of immediate damage control.
Omni is clearly a Sears’ employee. He/she is not acting in the company’s best interest with his/her arrogant posts.
The warranty discussion is moot. What’s in jeopardy here is the customers’ perception of Sears as a caring company. Money talks. If it’s perceived you don’t care about your customer — who bought at your store in the first place precisely because they thought they’d get good service — they’ll walk. And THAT is the bottom line.
April 27th, 2007 at 11:19 am
I should have also mentioned that this doomed franchise system has also affected water customers all across Canada, many paid for water they never received, because even after they were canceled Roy Lewis continued to debit their accounts or Sears Credit Cards. And they also never received their bottle deposits back.
What a nightmare!!!!!!!!!!
April 27th, 2007 at 11:22 am
I bought a Sears Premium Bottled Water Franchise in 2005, through Watertowne International, thinking it would be a lucrative business given that Sears was involved and all their other licensed sideline business seem to do well. We were totally suckered in by Roy Lewis, the then President of Watertowne, who lied and cheated all of us!!! We are now going into legal action against Sears Canada because they let this man rip off people and investors all over Canada. Sears Canada knew there were problems with his man and his inability to run a franchise system, yet they continued to let him use their good name to sell franchises. They even advertise on their website! Watertowne has now gone into receivership, owing over $4 million to franchisees, investors, suppliers. etc. Sears Canada has refused to take any responsibility in this matter. I’ve lost over $150K as has most other franchise owners, which has forced us into bankruptcy and financial ruin.
Our webblog says it all… http://watertowne.blogspot.com/
April 27th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Good service comes at a cost. Sears as well as other companies will offer service as long as you pay for it.
No company in the world would give you FREE service. Business are set up to make money, unless you are a non-profit organization.
Caring company does not equal giving customers free service. If you have paid, and not receive your entitled service, it is a legitimate claim, and everyone in the right mind will support you. And please post your specific story if you want to share. And I will flame Sears if your story is legit. The stories I have been flaming on are OUT OF WARRANTY CLAIMS. If you want to pay higher price to cover some freeloaders, please write to Sears to charge you extra not me. I am a Sears customer, and I care about the prices of my purchase. It might be interesting to work at Sears given the funny stories here, I would have tons of jolks during my beer time. LOL.
Franchise water is a great example, if he got ripped off, he is suing and I am proud of his action. I totally trust the legal system in Canada would honor you a fair resolution. Please if you have legit claims, you can go to court. I am interested also in how your verdict would be regarding out of warranty claims.
April 27th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
HAHA Errant.. u seem more like a Sears Employee than I do, as u’re the one who suggested “damage control”. If you’re not a sears employee, why care? Looks like you’re the first to care about Sears here.
But on the other hand, you’re not calling Sears for repair work?
So 1 hand you seem to care about Sears, but the other is not doing business with Sears. So your left brain doesn’t talk to the right brain, or vice versa? Need some explanation here.
Oh by the way, if my “arrogant” post turns you off, I apologize, but on the other hand I’m so glad that I’m that influencial lol.. Now I’m really trying to think just like you.
April 28th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
ANy one whom is paying for extended warranty on anything they buy off Sears should call on Sears to repair fi something goes wrong, Think about it, Why should you call some other repair company if you are paying for extended, unless you just like throuing money around then Sears should be the one to call. If you were having open heart surgery and your doctor said to you that half way through I will have to leave so I will call in another doctor, would you like that.
I have had Sears come in to fix items under extended warranty that I was paying for, they came they fixed and that it that, no complaints, no problems, they fixed what they had to fix and that is all. So much complaining but let’s face it Sears this Sears that, I wonder what everyone else out there is saying about every other retaillers, is Sears the ONLY bad one out of all of them or is it just because Sears decided to jump on the band wagon and do what all other retaillers are doing.
Look at the phone companies out there I purchased a Solo whe they first came out, I love it and would not change it for any other phone, jus went out and bought one for a gift and the whole thing just changed, no more FREE text message, no more FREE web browsing, no more FREE chat I guess Solo was woke up and got on the band wagon that every other phone carrier is out there. after all it is a dog eat dog world out there and if you don’t step up to the plate you go belly up.
Stop all your complaining we all know nothing comes for free out there, everything comes with a price tag and there are costs to everything in life.
AND NO I DO NOT WORK FOR SEARS, I simply think that any ratailler that does not jump on the band wagon that evryone else is on might as well close the doors because FREE is NO MORE.
April 28th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
People out of the old and in with the new.
How do you think Trump makes it out there, giving people everything they want as they want it and when they want it NO NO NO it’s his way or the highway.
I agree with OMNI and Doug even brand names can break
Nothing in life comes with a long term life warranty, read the fine print and if you can’t then wash clothes by hand, drink your water room temperature, salt your meats instead of freezing them, grow your own vegies, no need for fridge, heat your meals in a put over natural fie wood, sleep in a straw mattress, don’t vacum no need to, heat water for a bath over fire in a big pot, eh go for it.
I lived this way many decades ago, but thinking back, I would rather still buy that Kenmore or that phillips or what ever other brand I could find at Sears or any other retailler.
April 29th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Just a general comment.. sometimes I don’t understand why people are so frustrated about appliances breaking down in year 3 and higher. If it breaks down during year 1, I’d be angry.
Let’s compare it with automobiles as cars probably are Canadian’s 2nd largest inventment. (largest being usually real estate).
Car carries usually 4 yrs of warranty, and it is serviced usually at least every 6 months, if you follow the manufacturer’s guildline. And sometimes your car will still break down in year 2, 3 or 4.
Car also costs maybe 10 times more than an average appliance, also you need to be off work to get your car to dealership to fix. If it’s engine related, you also need a rental.
Sometimes you need to wait for parts too. I drive import, and I had waited no lying 2 months to get a leather seat cover from Germany.
Think about it now.. did you ever service your appliance as often as your car? Should your car break down less (even electronics – like power window/door/air/up to anything) as it costs 10 times more? Why are people selling cars at Year 5 after warranty is out? Why do we even need to change air filter?
Sears protection agreement offers its member a maintenance call per year, just like you bring your car to dealership for a regular oil change. Did people ever use it? You won’t be charged as it is already pre-paid when you purchase the agreement.
Oh don’t forget, Titanic sank during maiden voyage. A number of space shuttle blew up that probably costs billions to make.
April 30th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Well, Omni and those who urge us to take it to court..I did…and “won”..but now must go after Sears for the money..they simply stonewall me..no response..just head office saying that the local store “is not a Sears store, it is a franchise.”, so I must go after the franchise owner for damages….the small claims court disagreed and awarded me all costs but now, out of my pension, I must hire a lawyer to enforce the award. Does anyone have a phone number for the Public Relations dept? I intend to make a sign and walk up and down in front of the “not a Sears store”…I have made sure everyone in my neighbourhood knows of the problems I have had,,,very short-sighted of Sears to allow this kind of news to get out. Cass
April 30th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Cass,
Yes, winning in Small Claims does not mean you will get your awarded damages right away.
You said Sears stonewall you, did you call or did you communicate with them in writing? You also mentioned the phone # for PR. So I’m assuming you’re calling. I apologize if my assumption is wrong.
Instead of calling, creditor (Cass) you should start with written request for payment to debtor (Franchise Owner) asking for prompt payment. If this fails, you have some other choices to go about getting money.
For example, you may want to pursue via Examination Hearing. This will give you and the court infomation regarding debtor’s financial status for possible garnishment. This hearing requires both creditor and debtor’s presence. You can bring a lawyer if you wish.
If debtor does not appear, he/she could face charges for contempt of court, which could lead up to 40 days in jail.
People usually represent themselves in small claims, but you can get lawyer of course. If you need, you can call 19005654577 $6 per call I believe (operated by Law Society of Upper Canada). GIves you lawyer info and some consultation.
I’d strongly suggest you keep your cool and follow the system, if you haven’t done so, instead of wearing a sign running up and down the street. It doesn’t help, at least I don’t think.
*Nothing contained, expressed, implied in this post is intended as, or to be taken or understood as, legal advise. If you have any legal questions, you should see a lawyer.
May 1st, 2007 at 6:33 pm
we have the same problem with sears right now…. we’ve been with out hot water now for three weeks due to sears not making good on there word to come out and fix our hot water heater when they said they would….. we have three small children and are a family of five with a 9 year warrenty on our hotwater heater which by the way is only six years old anyway my husband called every day for three weeks with sears promising some one would be out to fix it the next day….. never happened… now that my husband has treatened to hire his own contracter to fix the water heater and bill it to sears they are saying sorry you can’t do that sir because your water heater was installed in 2000 and there is no warrenty on this appliance anymore… failing to tell him that there is infact a manufacture warrenty of 9 year limited warrenty on both parts and tank surprise, surprise any way it’s now been a long three weeks of heating water on the stove to wash all five of us an everything else on top of that ….. our power bill is hurendious but what is a person to do when they can not and do not have the kind of money it takes to replace the water heater……. needless to say.. sears will never take my money again p.s this is only one bad ordeal i’ve had with sears i so don’t even want to get into the rest!!!!!!!!!and so we go with out.
May 2nd, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Sears customer satisfaction guarentee is a complete joke…my 16 month old fridge purchased with full 5 year warranty had problems…after numerous visits and repairs sears offered me a discounted value for it as they could not fix it..all other reatailers would have replaced to the original purchase price..not sears and after dealing with 15- 20 customer services reps was forced to take another fridge(at retail) from sears as they would not actually pay me out…this fridge did not work from new and we have had 5 more visits from repair guys. The “let them eat cake” attitude of the customer service office is joke and anyone who shops at sears is either desperate or hasn’t done ther research(me)…
May 6th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
After many many many sears tools, tractors and appliances the best thing I can do about sears is NOT BUY A THING with SEARS or CRAFTSMAN on them. Sears customer satisfaction guarantee SUCKS. There people don’t know how to help anyone only take there money.
Steve
May 8th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Extreamly unhappy sears customer
I purchased a Steam cleaner on December 28 2006, tried to use it the first time after the holidays in January. It had a broken part. Called Sears they said they would replace the part VIA FedX. Got the new part it was the wrong one. Called Sears again they said bring it in, I did. It’s May 8th 2007 and I still have no Steam Cleaner…. No call back that was supposed to come last week. $376.00 for a Steam Cleaner I never got to use…. No responce from Sears….. Good Service? Hmmm I think I’ll take my money and whoever I can tell elsewhere. Perhaps a small claims file is best way to handle this then I don’t have to sit on hold forever and wait to be told I’ll get a return call that never comes.
May 9th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Well this sucks. I too WAS a loyal customer of Sears. We purchased a MayTag Washer/Dryer and the Washer has just died. If I had done my research I should have not bought a MayTag as I seem to come across complaints of quality issues. The washer is 7 months old and used lightly. I now have discovered Maytag is sh*t.
So now I come across complaints of service from Sears. I share the experiences of others at this site. It has only been almost 2 weeks for me and I am still waiting to have this unit repaired. A service person showed up for 5 mins. to diagnose the problem(Something I could have done over the phone) and said we need a part that is on B/O and should arrive next week. I have made numerous calls with no response and agree the service sucks. I will never buy anything from Sears in the future. Does any one know if you can have Maytag machines services by other authorized dealers? Can I purchase extended warranties from other authorized dealers? I think that I will have to buy an extended warranty before this one expires as I feel this product will have more problems and i will need it to be serviced within a reasonable amount of time.
The temptation at the moment is to throw both units into the back of my truck wheel them to the returns departmant at Sears and ask for my money back, if they refuse then the can keep the sh*tty products they sell with their sh*tty service and i will move on with life. Two days cost in lost wages waiting for a service man to show up as well as the costs for extended warranty are starting to make this option attractive
May 10th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
I have a Kenmore Central Vacuum purchased in 2003. The very same think that happened to Miki K. happened to my cleaning lady almost 2 weeks ago. She was vacuuming under one of our couches when the handle started to get very hot and then flames started to come out, nearly burning her hand. She had to pull the cord from the wall to make it stop. The plug for the power head was burnt to the point of being crispy and there is quite a bit of soot from the flames in the lower part of the handle. I brought the hose and wand to Sears Home Central to report that there must be some kind of defect. I know that my warranty has expired and wasn’t expecting a free replacement, but I thought it was the responsible thing to do to let them know so they could investigate, but they wouldn’t even take down the serial number. The person at the counter told me that arcing is normal (w/ flames?) if you remove the handle from the wand while it’s in operation. I asked the price for a replacement, but said I likely wouldn’t buy a Kenmore replacement because of the whole fire hazard problem I’d had. They promptly told me that this will be the same no matter what brand I purchase. If anyone else has seen the same problem, someone should be made aware of it. I tried to open an incident report with the CSA, but it hasn’t been CSA approved. In any case I don’t plan on letting this rest. If anyone wishes to reach me, maybe Alec could pass my email address along.
May 10th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
I’ll be happy to do that Stephen
May 10th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Sears simply does not give a shit. They do not care about YOU, and they damn sure don’t care about ME. I know this because I work for the sorry son of a bitches. I am a service tech with over 35 years with the company. This is not the Sears Roebuck we all knew and loved. It is now the company from HELL.
JIm
May 14th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
I purchased a 13 hp snow blower in December 2006. When I went to use it the machine would not move. I called Sears repair hot line and asked for it to be fixed. They tried to coach me over the phone on how I could fix it. Having some mechanical ability I explained that what they were suggesting was not the problem and they needed to come and fix it. Eventually they came and fixed it, but not really. I went to use it agian and it still didn’t work. I called again and they tried coaching again………… Eventually they came back to fix it again, but not really. They took it apart (it is still in pieces in my garage) and said I needed a new transmission and they would order it. The winter stretched on. I called to inquire and asked for service to call me back to tell me when I can expect to have the machine fixed. No call back. I called again. No call back. I called again. They called back to say the part is on back order. I called again and again and again. No call backs. Finally when I called (in May) they said the part is in and that unfortunately the service man is on vacation (It is now mid-May). I asked to talk to customer service (small ‘c’ and small ’s’). I waited for 15 minutes on hold and they picked up the phone and hung up on me before a word was said. I called back again and only waited 10 minutes on hold. I talk to Tony and said that a long term customer was not very happy and was wondering what Sears would do to redeam their poor performance. He said their is nothing he could do but schedule the repair as quickly as possible (It’s May – no snow). I told him that I have lost a year of use of the machine and wanted the year back in warrenty or replace the machine with a new one or return my cash. He said he could do none of these. I got a little more aggressive and he then asked me to be put on hold, I assumed to talk to a ‘higher power’. He came back and said he had 2 options for me. Option # 1. I buy a 1 year extended warrenty and he would give me the first month free. Good deal, which month? July? I said that by the time I use the machine again a full year will be gone and that warrenty coverage needs to be replaced. He explained that it is a seasonal item and that the only months lost are those that I could have used it, not 12 months. I asked him if I could then just have 6 months extended warrenty, but only the months that I would use it. He said no that I had to buy the warrenty for the full year. I said but I thought it was a seasonal item and that you can’t suck and blow at the same time. Option # 2 was a $100 gift card. I asked him what a years warrenty was worth. He said he didn’t know but he would transfer me to the warrenty dept. (obviously wanting to dump me on someone else)(this guy nis customer service). I ssid that he can take his $100 gift card and buy the warrenty. “Sorry sir, I can’t do that”. I ended by asking for the phone number and address to the head office. He gave me the Bellville address but said he had no phone number for the office. BS.
Long story short. I will never, ever buy from Sears again. I will tell everyone I see (and go out of my way) to tell them how bad Sears has gotten.
Spread the word. Spread it far and wide. Local retailers will do you proud.
Sears sucks large.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Post from Stephen Hall is quite alarming. If you don’t want to let it rest. I’d suggest you look at Consumer Product Safety info from Health Canada. You can report the incident to Health Canada by mail, email, phone, or on their website.
This incident to me is awkward. I’d report to Health Canada even it is out of warranty.
May 17th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Mack, if u r gonna throw ur “sh*t” back at sears return dept. Y dun u just donate them to some charity… I’m sure they would hv volunteer to fix it (if even a non-trained person can identify wat part it needs). Then u get rid of ur sh*t, and the less fortunate folks get some use out of it rite? Then u can get move on w/ ur life.
May 31st, 2007 at 2:34 pm
I’m totally disgusted with Sears Canada. I ordered some blinds. The sales consultant who came to my house ordered some incorrectly sized blinds. Part of the order was okay but these were blinds for the basement. Nobody would respond to me and when they finally did, it was indicated that it was my fault because the contract did not stipulate 2 in. blinds for the basement windows. It stated 1 in. at the top but this was only for the main level of the house. The contract is a joke as the sales consultant writes everything in hand (no template). She was at the house for close to two hours and my wife was there as well so we know what we ordered. By the time the blinds came in one month later, do you think the sales consultant remembers anything after having been to who knows how many more houses?
I finally received satisfaction only after writing to the President but of course, he did not respond and I received a call from somebody at his office. I was billed last month according to the contract on my Sears card less an agreed upon credit which I had suggested would be in order due to the problems.
I thought that mess was over and done with but when I got my statement this month, there is a whole series of new charges – two separate charges plus GST. The amount does not match up with last month’s charge so it is not strictly a double billing although the amounts are close but this month’s chrges are less.
I thought that I could just call the President’s office since I had the number of the woman who called from there last time. When I called, I found out she’s no longer there (surprise, surprise). This was only two months ago.
The dimwit who answered the phone was of no help offering only to submit an e-mail to someone in charge of the drapery department, I believe.
Here we go, back to square one.
Prior to calling the President’s office, I initially tried the credit office who advised they couldn’t help and connected me to Home Central, some office in Regina. The fellow there says he can’t help and gave me another number to call – you guessed it, the credit office number…and on it goes shuffling from one number to the next with nobody being able to help.
The people answering the phones have no skills in dealing with customers. They make it look like you are the idiot and that you don’t know what you are talking about.
June 5th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Update – well, nothing really to report except that I am a bit calmer but still fuming. My credit card statement has a due date of, I believe, June 13th which is coming up next week and if I don’t get a credit, I know they’ll be tacking on those horrendous interest charges. How long does it take to look into a problem? I forgot to mention that I had e-mailed the local installations manager and asked him to call me. “Zak” is “Mr. Attititue” which I discovered in the one time that I spoke with him which was only when I had the inital installation problem. It appears that he does not respond to e-mails from customers. National Customer Service asked me to fax them a copy of my statement (they don’t have access to this?). I spoke with them last Thursday, June 7th and the person who offered to help was not going to be there on Friday, Saturday or Sunday but said that she would “investigate” on Monday.
I looked over my statement closely and it said that if I recognize any errors that i must notify them “in writing” within 30 days (or the statement is deemed accepted) so I fired off a letter advising them about the “unauthorized charges”.
I’m not sure how this works exactly with the Sears Credit Card but I know that they have NOTHING to support these other charges (in writing) because I did not sign anything nor is there any other contract except the original which amount was correct and covered off last month including the promised credit.
When this is all over, I do not intend on ever setting foot inside a Sears store again and I plan on cutting up my Sears Card and sending it to the president (for my own satisfaction, not that they will care). My Sears Card indicates that I have been a customer since the eighties (can’t remember the specific year as I no longer carry the card with me). I have my Long Distance with Sears as well as cell phones for my wife and me (Sears Connect). Once the contarct expires, they are bye-bye too.
June 6th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Update: sent follow-up e-mail to home@sears.ca and webmaster@sears.ca (address from where I received last e-mail). I had sent them an e-mail following receipt of my statement and they replied that they were adding my comments to the previous issues. Also, they indicated that the matter would be referred to the “installations manager”, our friend Zak.
The follow-up e-mail said in no uncertain terms that I should have heard from him by now and if he was not available, someone else should have responded on his behalf. I advised that I e-mailed him as well with details of the problem but he never responded. I did indicate that I was very unhappy about the situation and would never shop at Sears again. I’m sure that’s no big deal for them based on the prevailing attitudes I see over there. I also requested a conatct name for someone in PR or customer service at the executive level at head office. They responded that they will send the installations manager a “reminder” – a reminder for what? – that he has an unhappy customer, a reminder that he has outstanding messages and issues to deal with? They conveniently ignored my request for a contact name at the executive office.
I fired off another e-mail reiterating my request for a conatct at the executive office. I advised that the matter has escalated beyond the level of sending a “reminder” to the installations manager. It’s clear that these e-mails are not the way to go and that obviously clerks are looking at them who don’t have the skills to recognize when matters should be escalated.
I called 1-888-473-2772 and asked to speak with the person to whom I had faxed my statement. Brittany rambled on about how they cannot connect to individuals as it’s a call center environment with 3 different call centres. Unfortunately, I did not get the number for the person who requested the fax from me (my bad). Brittany put me on hold and never came back. Yep, it’s definitely Sears on the line.
After reviewing a few more websites, it’s amazing how many people have run into roadblocks with Sears Canada. Ironically, the problems seem to stem not so much from what Sears does or doesn’t do but more so from the lack of responsiveness that anyone gets.
I’m at the end of my rope and am now waiting for a miracle from Sears. So much time and aggravation could be minimized or eradicated by just dealing with the problem. How can a company be so ill-equipped to deal with problems?
June 6th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
I too was looking for an e-mail address to send a complaint to Sears and came across this site. We purchased an electronic furnace filter from them a number of years ago. Now it is not working. We called and set up an appointment for a “free” estimate for May 30th and confirmed with them the Friday before that they would be coming. On the 30th too the day off, no one came, no one called. When contacted on Thursday there was no explanation for the no show. Re-booked the “free” estimate for June 6th. Yes the tech? came, he immediately said, not under warranty, am charging you a service call, we were never informed of any charges when booking. He said one cell was dead, perhaps also the other, he did not know how many cells were in a package, we could order them and Sears would install them for only $60.00, as far as I cam tell it would take no more than 5 minutes. We have been long time customers, but from reading and seeing all the complaints it leaves one to wonder
June 7th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
John, did you pay for the service call or are you disputing the charge?
I checked my e-mail this morning and either the good folks at Sears can’t read or believe that you have no right to the information you are requesting. One e-mail request that basically, for the second time, asked for an executive contact and they come back with – sorry for the delay, we’ll try and speed things up, totally ignoring my request. Last I heard, Sears was a publicly traded company which seems to suggest to me that I should be given that information if I request it.
Nobody from Sears has ever called me to even acknowledge the problem.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Hmm … Credit Card Disputes……
Like any other credit card, card holder writes to the card issuer for any disputes / billing errors. All credit card statements will have that clause about putting it in writing. If you don’t believe it, look at the back of your AMEX / MC / VISA statement. Please note, you’re writing to the Card Issuer so per say, Citibank MC, you’re writing to Citibank to file dispute. Not MasterCard nor whoever who charges you errornously. Card Issuer should take care of the work for you.
So in the case of Sears Card, you’re pretty much dealing with JPMorgan Chase & Co. who owns Sears Card.
Generally, VISA / MC / AMEX have $0 liability against fraud. You don’t pay, and don’t accrue interest until they finish their investigation. I am not sure about Sears Card.
ASIDE:
Oh by the way, a lot of people talk about cutting cards in half. Please as a reminder to cash out your points b4 you guys do that. You folks must rack up thousands or even 10s of thousands of points, as you folks always say you shop at Sears a lot. Don’t lose your points, you can sell the GCs to someone easily and get cash if you don’t set foot in Sears anymore.
If you don’t even have points – haha, you’re not a regular shopper!!! And who cares if you are from the 80s if you don’t shop there. I found it so very strange why people would just rip the card apart if they had collected points. If you really hate sears and you have points.. at least donate them to boys and girls club to help the needy.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
OMG, you use Sears Connect?? I’d switch to Rogers / Fido in a split second, SConnect phones are ugly haha.
Not that they’re pretty, as they’re outdated as well.. but at least they look better (and possibly even cheaper – depend where you buy)
iPhone FTW -> Rogers ! haha
June 7th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Ummm. Mr. John, you should order the cell and install yourself during commercials between some tv programs. Sometimes commercials take about 5 mins. Or go install it while waiting for timeouts during some NBA games.
Now not only you can save $60, you could also have something to do during the boring commercials. Nice idea eh?!
June 7th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Umm.. I wonder what Steve can do besides entertaining us here. Someone help the poor guy please.
I don’t think a Publicly Traded Company does not equal Publicly Information Ready Company.
Publicly Traded Company is 1 of several business entity that exist in the world. It means it is required to file fiancial reports eg 10ks, elect board of directors, hold annual shareholder meetings, and issue shares etc…
It does not mean it will give you all the info you request. Do you think Sears will offer the Bay when their next promotion would be when the Bay asks?
If you have read my previous posts, Sears Annual Report will give you the most senior executives names and position. Make sure you send your cut up card to the right person too. Forget about asking them for execs, do your homework and you’ll get to know all the head honchos in the so called publicly traded company.
June 8th, 2007 at 12:42 am
Two years ago on Jan.05, 2006 we bought Sears’ range and refrigerator. Because we were in the process of building a new house we used the appliances for the first time after four months from the date of purchase. From the beginning the range computer board displayed F-20 code with a long beep. It happened at night as well as during the day. My husband called Sears technical support. At first we were informed, that there is not such an error code, and later on we were advised to turn the power off. It was our mistake that we did not call back at that moment, because the beep and the code were coming back. The reason for it is that the range was working perfectly in other ways, until last week when we decided to clean the oven. Another code came up, F10, and the range did not work for the first time. We were informed by the Sears service technician that because our warranty was expired, we have to pay for the repair. I understand that perhaps many people would take advantage of the fact that Sears provides good services, but this time it is Sears that takes advantage of a customer who is unaware of his unlucky purchase. It is obvious that there was something wrong with the range since the purchase date. The product we bought was unfortunately not working well, and perhaps there are more problems with the computer. If this is the case, our cost can be even higher. Although there are many different places that offered good quality products and services, we have decided to choose Sears because of the good reputation. Please let us know if there is anything that can be done and we hope to hear from you soon.
Fragment of correspondence received from Sears
“Hello Tony, Lidia Senczek
Thank you for taking the time to bring your concerns to our attention.
We value you as a Sears customer and regret that you have had an unpleasant experience.
We have directed this important issue to our Corporate Customer Service representatives, one of our specialty agents will be in touch with you soon to rectify this matter.
We are looking forward to discussing this matter further and working with you to find a suitable resolution.
We appreciate your continued patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Thank you for shopping at Sears.
Sincerely,
Fran”
My response: Well , Fran, it looks like Sears reputation is going down the hill, possibly my next 20,000 bucks I spent at Walmart, same shit, same customer appreciation, Maybe your Corporate Customer Service is gone to some kind of conference in Vegas, well , I am planning to do my small share of changing history, Next Friday the piece of faulty equipment manufactured by SEARS is going to the front of my street with big sign attached to it, warning people of my experience with .
Response from CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALIST: “Hello,
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
Your range’s warranty expired at the beginning of January. If you wish you can order the part by calling 1-800-469-4663.
Sincerely,
Kathie”
There is no Timothy EATON’S , Sears is next
June 8th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Omni:
You state “you can sell the GCs to someone easily and get cash if you don’t set foot in Sears anymore.
If you don’t even have points – haha, you’re not a regular shopper!!! And who cares if you are from the 80s if you don’t shop there. I found it so very strange why people would just rip the card apart if they had collected points.”
Sell the GCs? I dubt that they can be easily sold except at a discount; otherwise, why buy them?
You make an assumption that if you don’t have points “haha, you’re not a regular shopper”, etc. Just because you have a Sears card, it doesn’t mean you necessaily have to use it. Someone may prefer using a Visa or pay cash for whatever reason.
June 8th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Omni:
You say “OMG, you use Sears Connect?? I’d switch to Rogers / Fido in a split second, SConnect phones are ugly haha.” Sears Connect uses the Rogers network. They don’t have phones as such. Their phones are the current ones available such as Motorola, etc. They may not be the latest top end phones but I think that the Sears Connect market is geared for somebody who just wants a phone, not high-tech features.
June 8th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Omni, you seem to be missing th e point again when you say “Ummm. Mr. John, you should order the cell and install yourself during commercials between some tv programs.” I’m sure that John is aware of his options but was offered something that he didn’t get, that is the point.
June 8th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
One last comment to Omni – why do you insist on being rude and ridiculing people with problems? Do you understand why people are writing here in the first place? It’s not for entertainment value.
The point of the matter is that I shouldn’t have to go get an Annual Report. I should be able to call a publicly traded company and request the identity of the CEO or other executive and be supplied with contact coordinates. Having employees who ignore the question or not respond just adds to show the calibre of the company and the people working there. If they don’t know, they should be researching it for me.
June 8th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Wow, if you talk about the Razr that they have for $29? Before you could get it for $0 at a lot of places. Sears Connect, you save SAF, but if you stick with Fido for a little while, you could have waived it too.
High tech feature phones could be $0 at a lot of places too. Why people wanted to pay for older phones is sometimes mind-boggling.
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John did get information from the call. Cell needs to be replaced, and he also got a quote. I am not talking about the “free” estimate vs. him being charged for the service trip.. But if indeed Sears would offer him “free” estimate, he got his information. Dianostic of the problem-faulty cell, and the cost for repair.
So now, he could install the cells during TV commercials! 3 points I see on John’s case.
1) Free estimate
2) 1 no show
3) Now is not Free
4) $60 for 5 mins work
I am on John’s side for point #1 (if it is indeed free), #2 and #3. I was only mentioning point #4. Techicians cost a lot, as they’re trained labor. I would pay more than $60 if I know the cell is replaced properly, disposed of properly etc…
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Some of the posts are entertaining seriously to me. Your case… The Statement told you what to do in the first place -> dispute through writing !!!! They’ll take care of the rest ! Who did you write too? Email? I don’t see any email on the statement. I see an address for Sears Card though.
Entertaining Value here is :
1) people don’t read statements, in your case you said you read it in 2nd post. so you read it yes.
2) people wanted to call the CEO of Sears, but as I said JPMorgan owns the Card.
3) disputes should be in writing within 30 days to JPMorgan Chase, not emailing to webmaster.sears.ca
4) so far on all your posts, I still see Sears Sears Sears.. and no mention of the Chase folks who should be helping you to dispute.
June 8th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Arhh Sorry, missed your posts about the GC.
Yes a lot of people buy them, at a discount. You’re looking at 10%-18% off. A lot of retailer’s GC is in demand.
Why waste your GC just by cutting up card, cash them out! Even at 50% off, you stil get some cash for dinner. Better than just to “cut the card” and “never set foot at Sears”. As I also pointed out, if you don’t plan to shop Sears, that’s fine, at least donate your points to Boys and Girls Club for the kids will you?
(Or now, you’ll cash them out and shop Sears again?!) Give us an answer!
Umm.. I agree with you totally that customers can use other Cards at Sears. However, SC offers 3% redemption that is highest in the industry (for sure before where you cash $600 out of 15000 points). Now is not that favourable anymore. So if a regular always shops at Sears, but not use their Sears Card, they’re probably losing out on the 3% redemption.
June 8th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
On the last issue, you have some valid points. However, when I called the credit office, she should have simply told me that if I want to dispute a charge, I need to submit in writing. All she said was that she couldn’t help me and actually transferred me to another department (as I mentioned Home Central, I believe, where the guy said he just books appointments and handles gift cards) and then I was given another number to call – it was for the Sears credit office that I just called. I believe that this is called the runaround, otherwise known as a circle.
Yes, it’s Sears, Sears, Sears because who do you think submitted the charge to the Chase folks? It’s the Sears folk who have screwed things up from the start. I agree that Chase should be helping but they certainly didn’t help when I called them.
I wonder if your comment would have been different before Sears sold their credit division.
June 8th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Out of Warranty is out of warranty.
To your point, F20 on for 2 years, and now F10 is on. F10 does not equal F20. If they were at the very least same code, I probably have some sympathy for your story. Entertaining again here.
Like I got a headache for 2 years, my doctor said i’m fine. 2 years later I am disabled because my leg has cancer.
2 totally different things happening here. That is the same for your stove. F10 and F20, same thing? Probably not.
Get a tech to take a good look at it, good luck.
June 8th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Yea, I didn’t forget about the “points”. I’m not about to donate them back to Sears. Yea, I’ll rip up my card but I don’t do things spontaneously so it will be done in due course. As for the points, I’m not about to get a Sears gift card that I have to sell to put money back in the Sears coffers. My plan is to convert the Sears points to Petro points. I get my points and Sears gets no more business from me nor would some other poor soul be forced to deal with Sears because I sold him a GC.
Despite all the people I’ve spoken with, I have not heard from anyone. I guess I’ll wait for the next bomb to drop – Sears Card telling me what letter, we didn’t get any letter.
June 8th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Omni, you must work for corporate retail because you don’t think anyone has a legitimate beef. Regarding Tony’s problem, it’s not an F10 vs. F20 problem. I think he’s trying to relay that it’s a general error code problem on the unit. It was never fixed. Out-of-warranty is not out-of-warranty as has been proven time and time again. You need to look at the big picture, not approach it in a vacuum. The Sears’ employee is just being an automaton, looking at dates and spewing out policy. This is not how it works in the real world without alienating customers.
June 8th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Switch to Petro Points is good move actually. But it’s ironic that you said you’ll rip it apart and mail it, and now not “spontaneously”? You act like the Sears employee that do things slowly yourself LoL.
F10 vs. F20. 2 yrs ago if customer pursue with it it would have been looked at free of charge regarding F20. So F20 is on for 2 yrs and it is working fine. Suddenly F10 on and stove did not work. I am not a tech, but ordinary people with logic would tell you F10 and F20 probably mean different things. If not why bother creating different codes.
Out of warranty is plain and simple out of warranty. May I ask your proof of out of warranty is not out of warranty? I would like recent proof if possible. Tony quoted from Sears just days ago that out of warranty is out of warranty. If you can proof otherwise, please help Tony out.
Too bad, the real world is if you’re 1 day out, you’re 1 day out and it is expired. Policy is there to ensure Each And Every Customer Is Treated Equally. To give you 1 day extra warranty or to cover your cost is in effect ALIENATING ALL OTHER CUSTOMERS THAT ABIDE TO SEARS POLICY. Because as I say over and over again, to give someone extra means other customers have to chip in to pay for the cost. So Steve, you are essentially paying for Tony’s problem too. HAHA
June 8th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Sometimes I wonder… aren’t people embarrassed of claiming out of warranty stuff? I mean, it’s like begging a corporation to give you something that you’re not entitled to…
In this case folks here are not “begging” but even worse arguing that retailers are bound to offer things that are not entitled.
June 9th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Your comments are so illogical that all I’ll say is that you must still have a black and white TV.
June 9th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
I could have if say my dad was like some of you who call and call for repair services year after year lol.
No.. I have 1080p panny plasma, my 3 yrs old one suffers from burnt in problems by playing 2 much xbox, so it went to the trash couple months ago. Warranty is over, didn’t even bother placing calls as it was my mistake using it on gaming. Fair enuff!
June 9th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Oh BTW… just a tip u folks might find useful…
Pay everything with ur Visa / MC / AMEX that will double the manufacturer’s warranty on ur purchase. Some cards limit that to a certain timeframe though. Most cards have it anyway. So when things falls apart, call your card issuer. Again I stress ur Card Issurer, not the retailer.
It’ll help you (a bit, just a bit maybe) who thinks that appliances / electronics last should last years.
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Also, I havn’t really seen posts with Helpful Info as well, everyone is just complaining, complaining and complaining. At least while I’m making fun of your situations, I sometimes list how to go about small claims, health canada for safety issues, and this credit card warranty.
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June 10th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
“At least while I’m making fun of your situations” – yeah, you’re a real nice guy. From what I’ve seen, you’re not helping anyone. Did you notice that the topic is Sears? Have you not drawn a pattern concerning their (lack of) customer service?
June 10th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
I agree only to those within warranty claims, and so far, I haven’t flamed any in-warranty claims I believe. Any claims that are outside of warranty period I am on Sears side.
They’ve picked up the phone to talk to you, answered your questions, that is already more than enough. If you need tangible actions like a service call, replacement parts, you got to pay. When pay your part, you get service.
Oh by the way Steve, besides ranting about “sears” here, I don’t see you’ve help any people who posted here either.
June 11th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
My intention was never to “help” anyone. You, on the contrary, have implied that you are helping people. Ha, ha! However, I have “helped” by sharing my experience and educating people about my experience with Sears. This is the point of all the posts (perhaps with the exception of yours).
Sears – Satisfaction or Money Refunded
Time to put qualifiers (small print) on that claim.
June 11th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
They have already put qualifiers (small print) on it long time ago! Time to open your eyes.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Not on my credit card they didn’t.
You must have the employee version, not the customer version.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:31 am
LOL. Go to http://www.sears.ca and you can check it out, it is a page long.
Or buy something and read the back of the receipt. When was the last time you shop Sears? 3 years ago?
Loyal customer as you say? Or like some customers who don’t even pay attention to the policy and argue that they don’t know the policy. It is the customer’s responsibility to understand the return/exchange policy. Retailer has done enough by putting it on receipt. It doesn’t have to be on your card or everywhere in the store.
Media including major newspaper also covered this matter a while back, and legally, retailer doesn’t have to take any returns back as well. (Although there’re also ways to rescind the contract).
For interest sake, I did call a Store Manager, and that there’s NO difference between employee and customer version. There’s only 1 policy.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:45 am
From the posts here I have some general observation:
1) some people don’t even look at back of receipt for return policy, either they think they can return anytime they want, or they’re too lazy to even read
2) don’t read the back of the statement and don’t even know how to dispute error charges
3) don’t know how warranty works for major purchases, again, either they’re lazy to read the manual, forgot to ask when they make purchase, or the salesman mentioned but forgot after 2 years
4) don’t understand contract law and realize retail purchase is a form of legally binding contract. So what it means is, once consideration has changed hands, neither party has to honor return / price adjustment / free service call etc… Legally, they don’t even need to talk to you about your purchase anymore, as the contract is over. Unless you can find ways to rescind contract legally, eg. you are intoxicated. Like drunk while buying the fridge.
5) posting their funny stories thinking that other people would be scared away from Sears
June 12th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Hey Omni — what’s your point? That contracts matter more than service?
I guess it doesn’t really matter to me how many insults you throw around — calling people stupid or lazy, for instance. From where I sit, Sears has lost my business. I have bought clothing, major appliances, furniture, beds, mattresses, kitchenware, small appliances, dishes and many many many other items from Sears Canada over the years. I won’t EVER set foot in one of their stores again. They’ve lost the OPPORTUNITY to win my business back. Life is too short to deal with unsympathetic, arrogant, unresponsive and stupid retail employees. Business goes where business is wanted, and today there are plenty of choices.
And as for posting funny stories — crack open your browser and Google any of
Sears Canada complaint
Sears Canada washer
Sears Canada poor service
Sears Canada warranty
the litany of complaints from hundreds of dissatisfied customers ought to be something that the folks in Toronto are paying attention to. Too bad for them, and their shareholders, that nobody is.
June 12th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
…well said Alec and no doubt why Sears stock is not doing well and a recommended “sell”.
Look at the list of retail stores which have closed or sold in Canada…Woodward’s, Eaton’s, K-Mart, Woolco, Simpson’s.
Granted these failures are not necessarily due to bad customer service but in some way, the lack of success can be traced to not being able to meet customer needs. I echo Alec’s words: “I won’t EVER set foot in one of their stores again. They’ve lost the OPPORTUNITY to win my business back.” Successful retailers or businesses do just that…whatever it takes to win a customer’s business back when a problem has surfaced. Granted, there are unreasonable customers but these do not form the majority by any means.
Look at what happened to Sears Auto service outlets – gone. I believe that they had some kind of tire fiasco as well.
Omni obviously has no business sense as a reputable retailer uses the policy as a guideline, not a “black and white” screw the customer policy.
June 12th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
TSX: SCC -> 52 week High $29.98. 52 week Low $17.21. Day High $28.49. Day Low $27.59.
EPS: 1.69, P/E: 16.5089
Shares O/S (MM) – 107.7
Strategic Ownership: 70.2%
Price Target I see from bank analysts: $23-$24.
SCC rated as Sector Underperformer with average risk.
I am on the sell side as well based on the numbers. Target price evaluation look like EV/EBITDA is approx 4-5, not particularly strong at all.
key points to look at SCC IMO.
06 EBITDA increased by $139M
sames stores sales -1.1% over -2.6% prior year.
merchandise revenue -0.7%.
GP up 81bps.
EBITDA Margin up from 2.05% in 04 to 3.95% in 06.
If you look at the stores, service level, policies etc.. you might see a trend that they’re going for profitable sales. Their policy is competitive within the industry, say Wal-Mart has the same 90days return policy. It is a tool in itself to minimize costs. Same goes to warranties. Personally I think it is fair. I would not expect Sears to WIN me back if my fridge stops working after warranty without me paying for the service charge. And I would not expect Sears to WIN me back if I try to return somethings over 90days. I am a literate customer who can read the receipt, a post graduate who understands the spirit of a contract, and a responsible consumer who would not even try to argue for anything that is not entitled to me.
I am a very happy customer to hear that Sears is actually standing behind their policy to ensure you and I are both treated equally. That I’m not paying for your troubles, and vice versa. I will definately shop at Sears, as anything that is broken for me, and my friends and family, either we buy new ones right away or pay for service.
And if Sears do not WIN freeloaders back, it’s just good news for me and my fellow beer buddies who browse this site and shop Sears regularly.
If Sears Canada folds or bought out by another company that is fine with me too. We have a lot of choices to shop at in Canada anyway.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
“and a responsible consumer who would not even try to argue for anything that is not entitled to me.”
ROFL!!!! damn… gotta go find a cloth now. Sorry, that line really made me laugh… shot coffee out my nose onto the keyboard. I’m gonna post this one on my Kenmore fridge for the whole family to enjoy.
June 13th, 2007 at 1:37 am
Ya Alec, please do. And educate yourself and your family members please be responsible.
Hopefully you can achieve that one day. Maybe your grandchildren will understand, as I have no hope for your generation.
Do not “beg” for anything that is not entitled to you. And please accept that your dryer that is 4 months PAST EXTENDED WARRANTY is Not Nearly New !! HAA HAA, Now that is funny still as well.
June 13th, 2007 at 1:42 am
Your wife asked for goodwill from companies, I suggest a store for her – Salvation Army. You can get dryer there for a fraction of the cost if they have one. Or there’s a fellow who is throwing the “Sh*t” away, I suggested him to donate, maybe you can buy it from him.
June 13th, 2007 at 7:17 am
It’s funny you should mention the Sally Ann… when we were students we bought lots and lots of stuff at consignment shops and thrift stores. I don’t recall ever being treated as badly there as at Sears. As I said… business goes where business is wanted.
And that is the point of this little exchange, isn’t it? Premium price doesn’t necessarily mean premium service, even if that’s the brand the retailer portrays.
June 13th, 2007 at 9:45 am
premium price of course doesn’t mean premium service or premium products. Consumer report rates Camry more reliable than Volvos. I drive german car and it is 20k more than japanese same class. Service takes longer due to the design of the car, and subsequent parts and service is more expensive as well.
But it’s all good to me. Again, I wouldn’t expect Mercedes to even honor their warranty if my car is out of warranty.
In your case, if you had claim it under warranty it’s fine. But you’re 4 months out of warranty. No one is obligated to satisfy you on your terms even you pay double premium over Corbeil, or over brick and future shop. I would be 100% on your side Alec if you had the problem 4 months or even 4 days BEFORE your warranty expires.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Nobody is ever OBLIGATED to do anything outside of warranty, Omni. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t make good sense to be courteous on the phone to the customer, to help solve the problem, and to look at the long term value that customer has to the business. And if that means eating some of the repair cost, or going the extra mile to service the customer in a timely fashion, then that’s simply good business.
Example:
I service my car at Sonny’s garage in Manotick. Recently I needed to have a light changed. I brought my car to him, he changed it, and then when he put the hood down it wouldn’t latch. He got a can of lube out, greased the hood release cable, and got the whole thing working again. Total time expended: 45 minutes. Total bill: $8 for the light.
On another occasion I brought my car to Sonny because I thought I detected some brake fade. He took, drove it around for a half day, pulled the wheels off, checked the fluids and gave it back to me. He did no repairs, because he said he couldn’t detect any problem. When I asked how much I owed him, he said “nothing. I didn’t service your vehicle”.
I’ve got a hundred stories like that about this guy. The entire village of Manotick (probably 2000 homes) takes their cars to him to be serviced. Whenever I talk with people, and the topic of honest mechanics comes up, I tell them about Sonny. He has more business — fixes more cars, sells more gas, and helps more people — than anyone should have a right to have. And it’s profitable business too. Not only does he fix cars, but he’s rumored to be one of the larger commercial landlords in the area, having invested the profits from his business.
You can’t convince me that treating the customer well won’t pay dividends. This guy has earned my loyalty and the loyalty of hundreds of others who live around me.
Sears is making a mistake by letting pencil pushing bean counters dictate how they treat customers.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
You’re right Alec. Sonny implicitly does and understands what a store like Sears only claims to do. Part of the the problem is that the big giant corporation spends millions on marketing guarantees, etc. which originate in head office so the idea may be good but the company then hires part-time people and won’t pay two cents to educate them or provide training on how to effectively deal with customers.
June 13th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Agreed. Business can go the extra mile. You have every right in applauding Sonny’s gesture. There could be other stories, and Sears could very well be doing that some time ago.
However, if a business choose not to, and sticks to the policy, it is perfectly fine too. Extra mile is to me a bonus . If someone is not going to offer you the “bonus”, why cry and argue over it?
To steve’s point. Again all the policy is from HQ and the part-time folks are there to follow it. Management is there to see that it is adhered to. I disagree with pointing the fingers to the service folks and the pt workers.
I certainly do not see any clause to make exceptions to anyone. It is there for a fair resolution to each and every customer.
Say, you go to a bank for mortgage. You sign a mortgage with variable interest rates. Ottawa decides to raise interest rates. I would not believe that the branch at the bank would keep it fixed for you just to make you happier.
June 13th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Steve, I don’t think it’s the part time employees at fault either. As you point out, it’s a matter of culture. As an example, I know a woman who used to run a team of customer service reps for Bell Canada. They dealt all day long with complaining and irate customers. What they were trained to do was rescue customers who were ready to cancel their service. Nobody counted the minutes spent on the phone, or the number of calls handled. Bell counted the customers retained, and this teams bonuses were dependent on making those customers happy.
I’ll bet you that if Sears compensated their telephone reps that way, we would all have a very different opinion. Money has a funny way of motivating people.
Here’s another example: when we bought our house, we were concerned about the inherent conflict of interest that real estate agents have — they get paid by the seller. So, we made a deal with our agent where we gave her and her team 4 percent of every dollar we saved on the transaction. Our team knocked the price down with very little negotiation (we didn’t have much time), we saved thousands of dollars on the purchase price and commissions, and our agent walked away with more money in her pocket, and in her brokers pocket.
Aligning the interests of the people in an organization is critical. Sears management clearly doesn’t make it important to employees to retain customers and solve their problems. Therefore employees treat customers badly.
And Omni, it’s ironic that you chose a bank as your example. I have banked at the Royal Bank for over 20 years now. They have always matched or exceeded the rates offered anywhere else, simply because I ask. When they’ve made mistakes, they’ve addressed the issue promptly, and compensated me. In one case, they waived my banking fees for 12 months. I’m on a first name basis with the people at the branch. They’ve even called to remind me to pay my Visa bill, to help me avoid paying unnecessary interest. And you know what has happened? All of my accounts, mortgages, credit cards, and investments are with them. Both of the businesses I’ve started also maintain their accounts with the Royal. All of my children’s accounts are with them too. The Royal has earned the business.
So I go back to what I said at earlier. Business goes where business is wanted. From where I sit, it looks like Sears doesn’t want my business anymore.
June 14th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Good News from Alec. All RBC customers should ask RBC to give you lower rates. By the way, interest looks like it’ll take a hike next month. Please talk to RBC to save. Hopefully you’ll be treated specially like Alec.
For those who havn’t asked yet… too bad, you’ve paid more than you could have…. bad news 4 all of u out there eh?
Anyway… as 4 Sears, I have total respect for their employees both on the phones and from the service arms. It is not always easy to solve your issues being bound by the warranty limitations and policies. If they were given the go-ahead to give you the world to make you happy, I’m sure the service reps would have done it.
I’m not sure about the people who wrote on this forum will ever shop Sears again, but for myself, I will. Simply I understand their way of service BEFORE I enter into the contract and made the purchase. It’ll be of no surprise that I will have to pay for service outside of warranty or cannot return items after the legit return period. I had my mower serviced after 3 yrs of use. I knew it is out of warranty. Took it to a store, ship it out, paid a dianostic fee ahead of time, which could be used against any repair. They fixed it in 2 weeks, they charged me, and I’m still happy. Because I know that it is going to cost me, and it’ll take time to fix it.
And I knew that along 3 years ago when I purchase that mower. And I was told by the assoc at the time of sale to buy maintenance agreement and was phoned to buy it a year down the road. I declined the offer, so I’ll not use that against Sears as well.
I am also not angry at the manufacturer as well. 3 years or even 2 years for it to break down is totally acceptable to me, same goes for my appliance and automobile. They’re mechanical stuff and they’re bound to break down, it is just a matter of when. Everyone knew what happened to Titanic and Space Shuttle Columbia and Challenger. Even the most sophisticated machine in its time could fail. Same goes for any other machines.
June 14th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
“If they were given the go ahead…” That’s my point. All businesses that want to continue to be businesses should measure customer retention. All businesses that want to retain customers should empower front-line employees to make the decisions that retain customers.
I don’t give a darn what’s in the contract. The contract is a coward’s tool that bean counters and lawyers hide behind to justify decisions to stiff customers.
Business goes where business is wanted. Sears doesn’t seem to want it, plain and simple.
June 14th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Sears is more than fair for me to shop at though. I rather shop at retailers that offers same service for same price.
Contract is binding only if both parties agree to it in the first place. It’s a two way street. If you do not agree, no one can force you to really. Lawyers are there to enforce a fair resolution, so parties won’t lose out to what they’ve agreed to in the first place. If you don’t read or ignore what it is all about, that’s your fault…
June 15th, 2007 at 12:26 am
Contracts and lawyers are speedbumps that get in the way of doing business. They’re a necessary evil for when relationships go bad, but mostly they’re just obstacles to be overcome.
I’m sure with a little more business experience you will see this also, Omni.
June 15th, 2007 at 7:49 am
I enter into contracts many times a days, ranging from 4 digit to 7 digit figures. That’s why we have legal dept and lawyers in a company.. to make sure we know and understand the terms before signing.
If I got business partners or customers acting in a similar fashion like complaining about deals that they’ve signed, I’d see them in court long time ago. I live up the same spirit even for a $1 contract.
My dad have told me this when he started up his business when I was in Grade 2 or 3. Read and understand everything before you sign. Business world could end up like a battle ground and no one will feel sorry for you for your own mistakes or ignorance.
June 15th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Great advice. Once signed, however, you usually only refer to it in the case of a dispute. That’s why I don’t care what’s in it. What’s important is whether you want to do business or not. Most commonly, the time that contract terms are brought up is the time when one party has decided they want out of the deal.
So, bringing this back to topic… Sears doesn’t want my business any more. That’s why they’re so rigid on their warranty contract. Rather than offer sympathy, or to cover part of the cost, they told my wife that she was out of luck. You know what they could have done instead? Offer to discount the repair in exchange for us renewing the extended warranty. They would have had a happy and satisfied customer, and would have sold another warrant contract. That’s what a business person would have done.
Business goes where business is wanted.
June 15th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Sears has terible service and I will never buy anything from them again. I purchased front load HE2 and matching front load dryer and Kenmore Stove all the same day.(less than 1 year ago) I also purchased the extended warranty. I have been trying to get the washer fixed for 58days gone through 6 people making promises from 2 weeks to 1 week to 2 days and then 1 day when they will call you back. but they never do call you back. Finally today I reach the last person who promised me he will be calling me back in 1 day and says there is nothing he can do we are out sears service dept area and the work is contracted out. It the contractors fault that I’m not getting service. I explain that I purchased this product from Sears and the extended warranty from Sears not from some local service contarctor that they sub on the work to that Sears responsibilty. When I go to the local Sears where I purchased these units teh store owner tells me I purchased the wrong ones and should not have purchased Kenmore, Great idea Store owner doesn’t stand behind his product or company that he represents. Yellow paint on You tube could be one way. But Local medi may be my only avenue.
June 16th, 2007 at 7:47 am
Hey Troy — those were the same ones we bought, that started this whole conversation.
June 16th, 2007 at 9:37 am
I think it’s been said over and over again to Omni…he’s missing the point. Yes, people are making complaints about service and warranty, but the common complaint here is that people are simply dissatisfied with the treatment and service provided by one of Canada’s largest appliance retailers. Most people have spent alot of money purchasing appliances from Sear’s, because there is (or at least was) a certain reputation held by Sears Canada. When quality and service become an issue, the response from Sears employees is definitely lacking.
Here’s my story; My wife and I purchased a dryer on June 11. Unknown to us at the time, we are charged $20 over the ticket price. That, I admit, was our fault for not checking over the sales receipt. When we bring that to the sales associates attention, we are told that we were actually charged $30 above the retail price, and the floor tag was incorrect. We are told at time of purchase that delivery will be on the following Friday, between 7:00 am – 5:00 pm. Not great, but the cost of business, I suppose. Friday comes and my wife waits most of the day for the dryer to be delivered. When the delivery finally arrives at 2:30 pm, the dryer is found to have a huge dent on the side panel. Not your typical run of the mill dent, but a dent that appears as if a small child ran head first into it. As my wife points out the dent to the delivery driver, he states “Ya, I told them you wouldn’t be happy with that.” That leads me to believe that Sears makes it common practice to send out deficient merchandise, which was later confirmed by the lady at the customer service line who told us that they will often send out dented and scratched merchandise and offer the customer a discount (but only if requested).
Needless to say, the dryer was returned by the delivery driver, who told us somebody would contact us before the day was over regarding the replacement of the dryer. That never happened. We had to place two phone calls to the so-called “Presidents” line regarding our complaint. This is where my complaint begins. This is not a warranty issue, this is an issue regarding the simple lack of care extended to us by the customer service rep (who by the way I assumed was NOT the Sears Canada president). We were told point blank that another dryer was simply not available. When I expressed further concern, the customer service rep did offer to call the store, where I purchased the dryer, personally. She then told me that she spoke with a store rep who stated another dryer would not be available until the following Wednesday “but don’t tell the customer that.” The customer service rep then had the audacity to say “it’s just a dryer. Hang your clothes on the line.” Excuse me, but who is she to provide alternatives to me. If I wanted to hang my clothes on the line, I wouldn’t have purchased a dryer in the first place.
These employees who answer calls at the customer service/complaints department should expect to speak with dissatisfied customers and should not return with rudeness and ignorance.
Omni, if this site is so irritating to you, don’t participate. It would only make sense not to read the posts provided by these dissatisfied customers. I would certainly not log on to any site I found annoying or irritating. You put it so eloquently yourself earlier, this is a forum where freedom of speech can be exercised and enjoyed. Allow these dissatisfied customers to “flame” and keep you two cents to yourself. Tell me you’ve never been dissatisfied or complained about anything ever before.
It should say something about the quality of service provided by Sears after reading more than 64 pages and over 100 complaints on this site alone. I know the common response is to say “If you are a dissatisfied customer, don’t shop there”, which is exactly what I intend to do.
Very disappointed.
June 16th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Greg,
You’re definately on the right, and Sears wrong. I am surprised that that associate won’t refund the $30 back to you. They have the ability to check the prices on June 11. Easiest way out is to do price adjustment on that since it is so current. I’ve done that before within like 2 weeks after purchase.
Dryer I would ask to waive the delivery fee as it was never performed as per contract and compensation for time lost due to losing a day of work. If you need the dryer, ask for a loaner. My friend had similar situation regarding a delivery damage fridge, and the new one won’t be available for a week. She got a loaner, although it was smaller, it did the trick. She got free delivery and compensation for that although I don’t know how much exactly she got.
June 17th, 2007 at 8:04 am
Not that I disagree with what you’re saying, Omni, but I thought you were mister “no special treatment”. Is what you’re counselling Greg to do in the contract? Do they provide loaners? Do they provide compensation for lost work time?
June 17th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
1) No special treatment for all my previous posts are to customers who are not entitled to, eg. out of warranty.
I’ve mentioned so many times I will flame sears if customers are on the right.
2) No, not in the contract. You did not and will not be able to ask for loaners in the bill of sale as I have never seen anyone buying a fridge asked to put in a loaner on the bill of sale in case the fridge is broken.
3) Yes, you can try to ask for $ due to work time loss, I can’t guarantee you get anything as I don’t work there. But the truth is that my friend did get some $ off the purchase due to time off work. It is similar to consequential damages.
June 17th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
have been trying to get somebody at sears to actualy do what they say they will is a miracle, does anyone out there have an email or phone number to a sears executive. My next course of action may be give all this to the media “CTV” or take them to small claims court for breach of contract as they will not fix my broken washer HE2 which is still under warranty purchased June 6, 2006 I also spent the extra and got the extended warranty. for what I don’t know ??? I wonder how these store owners would like some public attention. Sears is the worst company to deal with as they don’t live up to what they say they will . DONT BUY AT SEARS, and DONT WAST YOUR MONEY ON AN EXTENDED WARRANTY. One sears rep told me I should have purcahsed from Walmart , as I would have gotten better service and less hassels. watch for my video of my sears crap on you tube soon.!!!!!!!!!!
June 18th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
I’ve been reading the stories customers have been posted. Yes there are some who have a ligitimate complaint. I am a Sears employee and no matter where you work there will be bad eggs in the bunch. There are many associates who are excellent workers and put customers first. Sears use to have a no question asked return policy but many abused it. Case in point buy a lawnmower in the spring return it in the fall for a snowblower and keep doing this all year round . It got to the point they had a floor full of used merchandise. Same with major appliances, they take them home and try to wash 10 pairs of jeans in one load. Things do break and need to be repaired. Service is separate from the store and they are very busy . They don’t how long it takes to fix a problem so they do what they can. As an employee I have had to get a service call and got no special treatment, I had to wait also. I put the customer because without you I don’t get paid. But as i said there are bad ones and the company (Sears) is slowly weeding them out. We get evaluated also. Thank You
June 18th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Mavericks77 — thanks for dropping by and providing a counterpoint. As you can tell, many people have had unsatisfactory experiences (including my family). Still, it’s nice to hear from someone at Sears.
June 18th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
You state that “there will be bad eggs in the bunch” but I think the whole carton is bad. While much of what is written here has to do with appliances and service, my issues dealt with being stood up for an appointment, no phone call from either the installer or his department, improper order of blinds, refusal/reluctance to correct the error, double billing, etc. I had all these problems at the front end (Sears store) and Sear’s response is basically to tell me to suck it up. I then contact various departments both locally and national. I have spoken to Sears in Regina, Montreal and Belleville. Nobody returns calls despite promises to do so. They shuffle you off to another department or person who also cannot help you. There is a distinctive pattern here. If there are good employees, they are certainly far and few between and what’s the point if your chance of dealing with one of these people is unlikely to happen. You can write to the president but he won’t write you back. When the President of the company has no time to deal with or monitor an issue, you no that there is no care or interest in the customer. I’m convinced that this President’s line is just some fancy marketing strategy disguised as another call centre.
June 20th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
well, the saga continues…I “won” the small claims case and waited the appointed time..demanded, in writing and by registered mail that they pay…Sears Appealed!!! said they did not get the original paperwork in time…I had to go back to court..two big bully-boys turned up to say they (the franchise holders) would take the case for Sears..the judge was not pleased but had to allow a new date to be set due to the “lost paperwork”…also had a settlement meeting with a judge in which the franchise holders mentioned people like me who believe Sears has “deep pockets” …it cost me over $2,300 to have the floors torn up and replaced – one quote was from Sears flooring..no one questions the damage…they say I insisted on installation even when the installer knew there was a problem..this little old lady “forced” the installer to do a poor job! So, another court date to be set…another round of me having to get and serve several documents…call witnesses (the plumber) and pay all expenses. I think Sears is waiting for me to die of old age – maybe I will… this began at Christmas…Cass
June 20th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Hello everyone.
First off, to those writing on behalf of Sears, save your breath. The topics have already covered bad service in regards to warranty issues, ability to keep appointments and even something as simple as a phone call.
If the people you are using to do house calls do not keep/show up for scheduled appointments, why are you still using their services?
Also, if you’re paying to have a warrantied appliance/piece of furniture etc., then that should mean the problem is taken care of quickly, easily and without dispute, the consumer PAID for that piece of mind.
In regards to your phone personnel, if they cannot speak fluent english/french, and you are unable to understand said fluent language, why are they employed in a position which requires constant communication with the public? This is a problem with almost EVERY company, so I cannot limit it to Sears. I can, on the other hand, limit the snotty/ignorant/rude attitudes I have had to contend with when calling for the last SEVEN days. There is no reason for this, ever. I am not rude, nor do I lack respect for the people I speak to, if I treated any of my customers this way I would be repremanded, if not fired.
Our story goes as such:
We have sold our home, the microwave/range hood combo from Kenmore which came with the house had a fuse blow in it. I at no time felt that they were responsible for anything warranty wise.
I called the number in the manual and spoke to a very nice rep who told me that all I had to do was take it in to my local store and pay a $24.95 estimation fee. This fee would be absorbed in the costs to repair it if we so chose to after receiving a quote. My husband dropped off the microwave, and was told at the store that no money was needed at that time. The next day I got a call from Sears stating that they had picked up the microwave and needed us to pay the $49.95 estimation fee, after informing them of the price I was previously quoted, the told me that I had been told an incorrect charge. Not wanting to delay the process any longer and not minding the initial fee to try and get it fixed (as new microwaves of it’s kind run in the $300 – $700 range) I went back to our local store. The lady at the store decided to double check the amount due to the confusion and was told it was $39.99. After an hour of standing in the store trying to get the correct information, I ended up paying the $49.95 fee and was told that someone would call the next afternoon with our quote.
Noone called. We attempted to call Sears and after being put on hold for 20 minutes, hung up and tried again, the next lady had no idea where to find the information we were looking for and couldn’t even give us a number to call. We asked to speak to a manager. She took over the call, found the information, and apologized. She assured us that someone would call the next day.
They did! I was given a quote of $22.11 over the phone on top of our $49.95 initial fee, and after confirming what number I needed to use and then with my husband that this was ok, he called back.
He gave the rep our information twice (phone #, address, name) and was then told that it was finished. He commented that it was odd that it was done as we hadn’t yet aggreed to go ahead, but the rep insisted that our vacuum was indeed done….. my husband laughed and informed the rep again, that we had a microwave in for repair, and went over our information a third time. She told him to calm down. After finding our CORRECT information she confirmed the $22.11 charge and he told her to send our approval through. As they were finishing up, the rep said ‘Uh-oh. Sir I’m sorry, but it says on the next page that it’s $222.11 for repair.’ as we’d already recieved the quote twice, had our information somehow confused and the rep was becoming rude, he asked to speak to a manager. She turned out to be the same one as the previous phone call. He went over the above situation and she said she would figure it out and get back to us.
Someone called today. I answered the phone. I was now being told that a mistake on their end had led them to quote us the wrong price. I politely explained that I worked for a company that did large projects at many of the large campuses in the GTA and that if I made the mistake of quoting them $300,000 to complete a job when the cost to the company was going to be $3,000,000 that we would be obligated to stick to our initial quote. I explained that the disorganization and incompetence of Sears on a whole the last 5 days was getting tiring and that if she couldn’t give me a straight answer as to what was so confusing, that I’d call back to speak to a manager. My husband came home shortly after and called the manager we’d been in touch with earlier.
She tried her ‘best’ to help us out, but none of the higher ups were willing to allow her to do anything.
My husband (persistant man he is) told her to put him on hold as long as she needed to in order to come back with something that even resembled a solution.
After going back and forth for over an hour she informed my husband that they would give us a $125 voucher.
Then she explained we couldn’t use it towards this particular purchase.
We move in a month, all we wanted was to have the microwave fixed at a reasonable expense and timely fashion. Not only has Sears essentially lost two potential money spending customers (we were going to buy the 5 appliances we need for the new house there, but instead went to Leon’s for the free delivery and price matching as well as the quick, easy transaction and knowledgable staff), they have also lost copius amounts of other business from our word-of-mouth anti-advertising.
It isn’t so much the cost as it is the inability to perform a simple task that bothers me.
Their disorganization, crass manner, and merry-go-round of excuses they mask as answers has sickened both of us.
I plan on trying all the avenues that have been listed on here, at this point, it’s just another few hours on hold, and if I do get ANYWHERE with them I’ll be sure to come back and let you all know.
June 20th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Omni:
You keep saying how you don’t mind things breaking after a few years.
I just keep thinking about how I have a TV that’s well over 15 years old, my parents have a microwave almost 20 years old and my 86 Cutlass Supreme still runs like a dream. None of the things I’ve listed have required any special repairs and do what they’re built to do.
Why should consumers be ok with the fact that what they are investing their money into is going to break down in less than a few years?
You also state how well educated you are, but yet you can’t seem to fathom why people are upset that everything they’ve invested in Sears has had no return.
No logical person wants everything in life for free, but when you drop a few months’ wages on appliances, having them work as they are built to do should NOT be an unreasonable expectation.
June 20th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
To respond to Steve I am one of those eggs and I know I’m not bad. The store I work in the associates in the department (appliances) I know bust there butt to please the customer because they are on commission and they need word of mouth. I read everybody’s complaint and agree some do have a case and some don’t. As I stated Sears had a no question asked return policy and many abused it. They were losing lots of money . You say Sears is the worst but I hear Walmart is worst or Canadan Tire Or Zellers. I’m glad this site is here so you can discuse your situation and vent a bit. I may not be able to fix your problem but i will talk to my fellow associates about this site I ran into and discuss some of the things . It may not do much, but if it helps out one customer , it’s one less story posted here. I may be a cracked egg ……but not a bad egg.
June 21st, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Nice try, Maverick but I shop at Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire and Zellers and since I’ve been around a while, I have lots of experience with different issues. The stores you mentioned have always acted promptly and courteously in resolving any issues I’ve ever had with them. HBC, particularly, is great at taking care of issues. My wife happens to work at the Bay part-time and she has mentioned about how people abuse the returns policy but as she has stated from her own experience in the store, HBC will take anything back if you push a little. I don’t condone this, particularly abuse, but it does show the extent that the store will go to, to please its customers. As for Sears’ change in policy, they should look at things on a case by case basis rather than penalizing those with valid issues.
Jennabella sums it up correctly in her post when she talks about the attitude of employees and how they treat you even though they made the error. Maverick, you may be one of the good ones but I cannot spend time wading through a sea of incompetence to find you.
Update: It looks like Sears has finally credited my account for the almost double charging on my account. I’ll believe it when I see my next statement. Despite the letters and faxes to various areas of Sears, I received a call from Zac who is the manager of the local Home Central installations department. It’s funny but why didn’t he respond to my original e-mail when I explained the incorrect charges upon receipt of my statement and asking hime to call me? Two weeks after the e-mail, he gets back to me and I am guessing that it is only because someone from either head office or some call centre got on his case.
There is no apology or anything and, in fact, I had to fax him a copy of my statement showing the charges as his initial call to me indicated that he was looking into the matter but did not know why I was billed a second time. How can this be when the charges originate from his department? Sears Bank also never contacted me either in reference to my letter to them about unauthorized charges.
I guess these posts can serve as a warning. God forbid should you ever have an issue with Sears because you will get shuffled around, given misquotes, broken promises and negative attitudes from Sears’ staff. This is not a customer-friendly operation.
June 21st, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Anyone thinking of buying a major appliance from Sears should understand that the quality of their Customer Service is now infamous. In my experience, it is an excellent example of how not to run a Customer Service organization. Virtually every aspect of its response is tuned to make a bad situation worse.
I won’t bore anyone with the details of the five (and counting) service calls to repair a high-end Kenmore refrigerator that is incapable of regulating its temperature. Sometimes you get a lemon, or simply a badly designed product, and that’s where the product’s warranty, or extended protection agreement, gives you peace of mind. You are counting on the Sears service organization to correct the problem quickly, efficiently, and courteously. If you firmly believe this fiction then that’s where your trail of tears will begin.
If you plan to purchase a major appliance from Sears, here’s what its Customer Service department has waiting for you:
1. Nothing is ever in stock.
Some of the most basic parts of my refrigerator took 1-2 weeks to arrive. Just because you’re dealing with a major retailer like Sears, don’t expect a modern and efficient inventory management system.
2. Innaccurate scheduling estimates.
Whatever schedule I was given was rarely accurate. From the time a technician would arrive to when you should expect a callback, the waiting time was much longer than what was promised. The discrepancies weren’t minor and would deviate by half-days to several days from the original forecast. Sears may be a large, extablished organization but that does not not imply their business processes are refined and efficient.
3. Rude and unhelpful customer service representatives.
A representative was unable to help me resolve a problem so I asked to speak to her supervisor. I was told she had none and there were none. I asked for confirmation that she had no boss and she promptly replied ‘yes’. I remarked it seemed improbable that she and her colleagues did their own hiring and firing. That was the cue for her to curtly inform me she’d leave a note for someone else to call me back (never did) and then hung up. Sears appears to lack the means to weed out employees who tarnish its reputation through lies and rudeness.
4. Misleading statements.
A representative indicated that my situation was serious and they would dispatch a ‘911′ call and someone would call me back promptly. Unfortunately they couldn’t predict how long it would take (not even a rough estimate). In practice, the first 911 call was answered several hours later and the second time it was two and a half days. Representatives will explain how a situation is handled (you’ll get conflicting versions from different people) but are unable to predict how long it will take or the name of the decision-maker. Sears appears to have staffed its Customer Service department with hurried ‘call-closers’ reading a script rather than knowledgeable, courteous, and effective mediators.
Sears has lost my business and I will never recommend Sears to anyone.
If you enjoy having your time liberally wasted, being misled at every turn, and stonewalled by Sears employees who insist they answer to no one, then I suggest you buy a major appliance from Sears. Should it fail, Sears will quickly sate your appetite for misery.
June 21st, 2007 at 11:48 pm
To Jennabella’s point. Yes I guess you won’t appreciate your appliances break within few years time, but they do. Examples are all over the site. Some a few years, some a few months. Generally they’re made by large manufacturers. I don’t know how many percentage of the appliances sold break within that time frame.
In MY opinion, and I don’t care if you agree or disagree, it is just my 2 cents. If you buy something and if you agree to the original manufacturer’s warranty, and if it breaks after that you’re the one bearing the cost to repair or replace. If you need more, you can buy extended warranty. And if you don’t like the warranty or the extended option, you’re free not to buy it. Arguing it After the Fact is kind of pointless.
Oh.. mind you.. today’s tv, either lcd or plasma will generally not last as long as your 15 yrs tv. I always buy plasma, and all of them will lose brightness over time, and that is the design of the product. LCD will suffer from dead pixels over time and that’s the design of the technology as well.
A landline phone can probably last for 30-50 years, but the Ni-CD battery from indoor wireless phones might die in 2 years.
So, you might want to either lower your expected life expectancy of certain new technology or live with the 70s product. I choose to buy a new tv anytime over a curved screen, SD, 2 channel sound tv.
June 23rd, 2007 at 6:14 pm
I rarely buy from Sears, and here is why. Some years back I bought a TV Corner unit. The catalog and website said it would hold a 37 inch TV. When we got it home, we found that their measurements were wrong, it only held a 32 inch. It was returned. I bought a dishwasher from Sears and asked for an extended warranty. Store clerk asked 2, 3, or 5 year. I chose 5. The dishwasher broke a year and a half later. The repairman fixed it and gave me a bill. I pointed out that there was a five year extended warranty. He said there wasn’t. We both got out our documentation, and sure enough, he was right. The idiot sales clerk didn’t include it. I never paid for it either, but that’s little compensation when the bill for repair is at least twice the price of the warranty.
Now we come to the latest problem with Sears. In December, my three kids Christmas list all included a pool table. I saw in Sears Christmas Wish book that pool tables were on sale, plus if you ordered by December 19th, it would be delivered before Christmas. I ordered on the 17th, two days before the cutoff. I also included snooker balls, a Billiard deluxe package, and a ping pong conversion top. The order was placed over the phone, and charged to my credit card. A day or so later, I emailed to get a firm delivery date as I had to move stuff to make room. The email came back . . . March 2nd. I immediately phoned and said that date must be wrong. The woman on the other end checked and said that yes it was wrong, the date is now March 15th. I said that this was supposed to be here by Christmas. She replies that Sears cannot say when things are going to arrive. I point out that the website and the catalog both have in large letters “Order by December 19th, and it will be there for Christmas.” The conversation was getting a little difficult for her, so she just hung up on me. I phone back, get another woman, who after listening to my complaint, gives me another number to call. I call, give all the details, and this new woman says that this number is only for people who want their names removed from the mailing list. Eventually I call the Head Office and a supervisor there is very apologetic and agrees that it was totally their fault, they didn’t think there would be such a demand for the tables (at Christmas????). Okay, no way around it, March 15th it is. A week or so later, I get a call, it’s now March 20th. A week or so after that, I’m told they cannot deliver directly to me, it was to go through my local store. As I will be away when the item comes, I make arrangements with the local Sears to deliver the stuff. The woman on the other end tells me it will cost $300+. I point out that it’s a free delivery. Not from Sears local she says. I phone the H.O> again and they agree to absorb the cost, though she makes it sound as though she’s doing me a favor. I go away for six weeks, coming home on April 18th. Sure enough, theres no pool table. I phone Sears asking where it is. I’m told the order was canceled. I ask who canceled it and I’m told Sears did. Why? Because they have had major problems with the manufacturer, they have none in stock, and they are not going to be making them any more, Sears will no longer be dealing with this manufacturer any longer. As she is telling me this, I’m bringing up the Sears website. Sure enough, all the items I have ordered are on the website. I get her to put me through to Sales, and the guy on the end tells me that yes everything is available, they are dealing with this manufacturer, and asks if I wanted to place an order. As the old order had been canceled, I had to reorder. I put this one through as a COD as we had lost the credit card and was awaiting a replacement. The prices have gone up, but I get a supervisor to agree to the original prices. However, the new delivery date is June 11th. A week or so later, I get a call. Delivery date is now July 9th. The next week I get another call. Delivery date for the Ping Pong conversion top is September 4th. In the meantime, I’ve contacted Paula Edwards (thanks to finding this site and getting her name). She emails back that she’ll be getting a buyer to look into this and getting things sorted. On Friday June 15th, I noticed that the price of the snooker balls has been reduced. I phone and ask if the new price could be substituted. Yes it can, but she will have to do the balls as a new order, and cancel the balls from the other order. Why can you not just make an adjustment. Cannot do it that way. Okay, that’s what she does. The following Monday, I get a call from the buyer. They can give me a different pool table that’s more expensive and more elegant. I tell him that I will have to take a look at it and he gives me the item number. I check, and yes it is more elegant and expensive, however, a customer review on the site says that despite that, the table is actually worse as instead of being slate, it’s actually MDF. I decline the table (which is good as Paula Edwards assistant emails me with details about the same table she reveals that the Ping Pong conversion top won’t fit it anyway). As the time difference between the deliveries is only two weeks or less anyway, I stick with the original order. I phone to check the dates again, and I’m told that yes, the snooker balls will be there on the date given, July 9th. What about everything else, I ask. There is nothing else. I bring up the order on my screen and say the pool table, billiard deluxe package and the conversion top. This order was canceled she replies. “No,” I say, “the snooker balls were canceled, the rest of the order is okay.” She checks. “No, all of the order was canceled.” I ask why, and she says that there is a note saying the customer was unhappy with the delays and so the customer canceled the order. I point out that I am the customer, and I definitely did not cancel the order. At this point, I might add, I am literally shaking with anger. Can you reactivate that order? She says that she will redo it immediately. She does this and I ask if it is exactly the same order. Yes it is, everything is exactly the same. She asks how I would like to pay. As we now had the new credit cards, I tell her by credit card and give her the details. Once she has done all this, she says the price is $2386.01. I tell her that the price is wrong, it should all be at sale price, total $1455.40. I’ll have to make the adjustments when it comes in. Then she tells me, delivery date is September 4th. What happened to the July 9th delivery date. Oh, that order was canceled, which means I go back to the bottom of the pile, my next date is Sept 4. But I didn’t cancel, you did by mistake. Apparently, that’s just my bad luck. “In that case,” I said, “DO NOT put this on my credit card, I’m not paying a $930.61 overcharge for something that isn’t coming in for another three months.” She agrees. Sure enough, checking my credit card account a couple of days later, there’s a charge of $2386.01, putting my credit card over it’s limit. I phone Sears to get them to take it off immediately, but that cannot be done, it takes ten business days to issue a credit, making it July 3rd before that goes into my account. I can understand that, they don’t want to lose that 10 days interest they make off of my money, which adds to the three months interest they got from the first order. I ask how fast it would be if I reported the unauthorized charge to the police and I’m told that that is my right (with the unspoken opinion that we are a multi-million dollar company who can afford the best lawyers and you are nobody).
And that’s how it stands now. Without doubt, Sears are the worst company I have ever come across, rude, unhelpful, incompetent, uncaring, and unable to complete a simple order without resorting to lies and half truths, even when the actual truth would have been acceptable. Once this order is complete (whenever that will be) I will never again buy anything from Sears, even if someone was holding a gun to my head. A bullet through the brain is much faster than the lingering death of Customer Service hell.
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Still frustrated, 66 days stuck with crap from sears and can’t get warranty work done units are less than 1 year old. On a positive side I have convinced friends which were looking at all new appliances not to purchase from sears and had them read this site first. Now that their eyes have been opened and seeing that my case is not a 1 in a million they have purchased from another store HA HA HA . If Sears had a spine they would deal with their problems.
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Just afound this really funny here the web site but read the last line
http://www.sears.ca/gp/node/n/16398001
Parts
Sears has the largest and most comprehensive parts and service network in Canada. We have more than One Million parts available and have a network of over 2,400 experienced service technicians coast to coast. Sears not only stocks parts for its own Kenmore line of major appliances but also for brands such as Maytag, Frigidaire, Whirlpool and Panasonic–just to name a few.
It’s easy to order — have your model number and/or part number ready. (You may need to check your owner’s manual or model plate for this information.) Parts can be delivered to your home, to one of our 123 retail stores or over 2100 catalogue sales offices across Canada, or to one of our 42 Parts stores. Our Service Delivery department can also arrange for a service technician to install and make the repair for you. One call can do it all — 1-800-4-MY-HOME (1-800-469-4663).
We’re here to help you protect and improve your investment.
THEY ARE THERE TO HELP???? THEN WHY DON”T THEY?????
June 25th, 2007 at 3:14 am
Wow Mark. That is one unbelievable story. You have my sympathies.
June 25th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
It’s evident that they are not prepared to help. Everything you read is only corporate marketing the claims of which are not supported at the front end.
June 25th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Our microwave was to be fixed and brought back to the local store today, and was not.
No promised call was received and the gift voucher is nowhere to be seen.
Called, again, and the first lady said she did not want to speak to me anymore and was promptly transferred to someone else. (I was on hold for 35 minutes, initially)
After speaking with ‘Bruno’ and asking him what had happened, I was told that it would be 2 weeks before we would have our microwave back.
He threatened to hang up on me, informed me that no, there were no managers I could speak to, and summed everything up with ‘This happens occasionally.’.
That’s where I am at currently, still waiting, and being shuffled around.
After my husband is finished on the phone, I am going to continue through the web of Sears’ customer ’service’, see if I can’t just find someone to talk to that has some sort of clue as to where my microwave is, where the parts are and what the hell is taking so long.
Omni: I agreed with you in regards to warranty, I’m not an idiot, and I realize that when your warranty expires, you have to then pay for repairs. I get it.
My POINT was that it is astonishing that with so many technical advancements, they (whether large or small manufacturers) cannot create a product which is sound in form and function.
You can keep your tv’s, or get rid of them after a year which sounds like what you do, apparently having a disposable income has made you blind to the fact that some of us work and live on budgets.
June 25th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Jennabella,
I do not know why the new tech have more problems that we might experience… To me, it might be more electronics inside it. Say new stove, fridge, cars, there’re more electronics in it. Engines and Transmission in a car can last for a long time, however, some stuff like power windows, a/c, heated seats, sunroof seem to have problems much sooner… Really not sure, as I’m not mechanic nor engineer.. but it seems to be more widespread though…
Only thing I do is look at forums about a certain brand or consumers report for reliability…
By the way, I got to work too heee.. i just aim for the stuff I want and adjust my workload accordingly…
June 25th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
Jennabella — I’m with you. Things should last. I drive a 1997 car (it’s paid for), and repair things. This past weekend, for instance, I dismantled our propane BBQ and replaced burners, flavor bars, and grills. It’s 12 years old, but the exterior was still fine. Last weekend, I finally retired a computer I bought in 1998, after numerous upgrades over the years. We shouldn’t have an expectation of premature obsolescense as consumers.
June 26th, 2007 at 12:50 am
We’re living in a disposable society. Remember the TV repairman? Nobody repairs a TV today. If it’s broken, you go and buy a new one.
June 26th, 2007 at 7:32 am
I hear you Steve, and I don’t necessarily have an expectation that things won’t break irreparably. They just shouldn’t break so quickly.
June 27th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
I’m going to throw out a new one for everyone. As mentioned earlier, I am on Sears Connect for mobile service. Sears Connect, in turn, uses Rogers as the carrier. Lately, I have been having problems with my Motorola phone (which Sears Connect supplied). Yesterday, for example, I was trying to retrieve voice mail messages from my land line and just as the new messages would start to play, the phone cut off. This is not just a dropped call. It is a problem with the phone. The screen goes black and it’s like all power has been lost. Other problems include: a message saying check SIM card, frequent “no service” despite being in a metropolitan area, inability of the phone to connect to a number, etc. I tried playing a game on the phone and within a few seconds, the screen goes black. Yes, the phone is fully charged. It just seems to lose power all of a sudden but when rebooted, it powers up again. I am well-versed in cell phone operation and have used them for years. I could be wrong and will be happy to entertain all suggestions but I’m convinced that the phone is malfunctioning.
I have about one year left on a three year contract. My wife also has a phone and contract with Sears Connect. So the question is what would you do and what do you think my entitlement should be or what should customer service do for me?
I’ll save Omni the trouble of responding because he would say the warranty is up so just buy a new phone. Personally, I’m of the opinion as Alec just stated that things should not break so quickly and the phone, to my expectations, should last for at least as long as the plan. While Sears Connect may not have any obligation, what do you think they should do or what would you expect if this happened to you?
June 27th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
I’d take the opportunity to buy a iPhone, as stated before, SearsConnect phones suck… now you see what I mean…
June 27th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Your phone is toasted.. you can switch your wife or anyone’s sim card into your phone and see if it is your sim’s problem.. Sim cost like $25 to replace only.
If your batt is the problem.. you’d want to get a new phone, coz batt is expensive to replace. Not worth it.
Rogers has courtesy phone and repair program, but you have to pay for the repair if phone is out of warranty, estimate fee up to $30 up front, can be used towards repair bill. I don’t know if Sears has this option cause is only exclusive to rogers. The problem with it is you won’t have a phone to use during repair period.
Ask how much to fix, or how much to terminate contract and you can start fresh. Experience moto’s batt dies fastest, Sony Ericsson and Nok lasts longer. iPhone you can’t replace batt as far as review goes. Out on Fri, hv to see if ppl can unlock it for Canada, or hv to wait for Rogers to carry it later, which no one knows when that’d happen.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:43 am
Don’t think you can unlock the iPhone Omni. Read somewhere that the SIM is sealed in the unit.
As for your problem Steve — you have my sympathies. Cell phone companies are bandits. I don’t think you can get out of the contract, but most of the majors will offer you a free upgrade / replacement on your phone if you’ve been with them two years or more, provided you sign on for another contract. I haven’t personally paid for a cell phone in quite a while. Now, since the phone is broken, you may be able to just get them to replace if you complain loudly enough. Cell phone’s are different from other kinds of goods because it’s in the retailers interests to keep you happy… that’s how they earn their money on those 3 year terms.
June 28th, 2007 at 2:45 am
Omni, you say “SearsConnect phones suck” but what does this mean? It’s a Motorola phone and would make no difference where I got it from. Your own statements seem to indicate that the newer technologies reduce the expected lifespan so why would I bother with the newest and latest technology for features?
Alec, you say “since the phone is broken, you may be able to just get them to replace if you complain loudly enough” but remember that we are dealing with a company that includes the letters S-E-A-R-S and I am worn out from my last escapade.
I did call and they offered me an upgrade. Since I just want a basic phone, I can get one for free if I extend my contract for 2 years. I can get the phone for about $50 if I extend the contract by 1 year. Since there is about 1 year left, I would be stuck with them for about another 2 years.
I’ll check out what the contract terms are for cancelling but I expect that they’ll be too high to make it worthwhile to go elsewhere. I wouldn’t even consider repair if I had to pay anything. I don’t think it’s a SIM card problem nor a battery problem but who knows? The phone shuts down and then just powers up again.
June 28th, 2007 at 6:46 am
I would encourage you to argue, Steve. When they sell you a phone on a contract, it’s contracted for a period of time because they’re subsidizing the phone. While you’re not making phone calls, they’re not earning money.
That’s why they will do a lot to retain your business. Now sometimes it takes the form of other kinds of credits. So, for instance, when my BlackBerry broke, I got Rogers to give me an upgrade to the latest model, PLUS enough airtime credits to cover the cost of the new Berry. I wasn’t out of pocket any cash — the cost of the new Berry came on my next bill with an airtime credit equivalent. It was that, or see me switch to Bell, and Rogers chose to keep my business.
June 28th, 2007 at 9:01 am
Stevie.. sears phones do suck… it is moto’s phone.. but it’s moto’s OLD OLD phone. datz y it sucks.
As i have commented iPhone’s design will not let consumer change batt, however I did not comment how long it would last. If you’re interested, read the reviews, batt life for iPhone is a concern as it has to power the phone, a large screen and the iPod within. General consensus is it won’t last long, or it runs out 2 quickly.
I suggest u change it becoz it’s the latest, most advanced, not most long-lived. If you want to buy the most long-lived, get the huge nokia’s years ago, they last forever, someone might give you for free as it is worthless.
I would not suggest anyone to extend contract just because of free phone. If you hate sears as much as you do, do not commit to it. Stick with your guns, get a new phone and go to rogers/fido. The phones you’re getting for free, blah blahblah, they’re really free say in europe or asia, coz they’re really outdated. I wouldn’t use it even you give it to me free.
June 28th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Not everyone is interested or needs new technology. To me, a phone is for that purpose, to phone someone or receive calls. I don’t need a built-in iPod or even a camera. Generally, the more features you add, the more the quality will suffer somewhere in the line.
Alec, I here what you’re saying but with these all-inclusive plans, the company is pretty well guaranteed their money per month unless someone has a serious habit of going over the allotted amount in their plan. However, I will certainly take a stab at getting something additional but the problem as I see it, not unlike dealing with anyone else at Sears, is that the front lines people don’t seem to have any authority. I found this out when I had a billing issue once.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
If you need a plain phone, and if sears can’t help you.. or you want to go to another carrier.. then just go ebay to get one.. some of them are bidding for $1 and some starting bid for $0.01. I guarantee you no one will really counteroffer you. There’re some old old models there that have nothing but a plain phone, and they last for a long long time!
June 28th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
Alec should be rite about the iPhone.. it will be tough to unlock if it’s even possible.. guess will hv to wait for rogers to carry it….. and by then it won’t be a hot item anymore.. neway..
Ya Rogers/Fido customer reps do have authority to upgrade in order to retain customers. They’ll give you free phones, offer extra free airtime, unlimited wkends, waive your saf fee etc…this is normal for them, the catch is you probably will have to sign another contract and stuck with them for another year or two.
Try telling Sears Connect you going to Rogers, and see what they say, but they know you still hv 1 year contract and that works in their favor. Good luck though.
June 29th, 2007 at 8:47 am
The same thing happened to us as written by Stephen and Miki…our central vacuum caught on fire when my cleaning lady was vacuuming…VERY DANGEROUS…people need to be aware of this before buying a Kenmore vacuum…it is definitely NOT a common thing that should happen with a vacuum cleaner…I am not sure which model Stephen and Miki have but ours was purchased (I believe) in 2004, top model Kenmore…we have already been in touch with Sears Canada Head Office and are now fighting for them to make this information public…Alec, could you please forward my e-mail address to Stephen & Miki in case they are still interested in pursuing this further???
June 29th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Deborah,
Just to let you know. We bought ours in the summer of 2003 and it was also the top model Sears offered and included a garage hose (black) and the tools to go with it. We had just moved into a new home and purchased around $20k in appliances as well as a Craftsman 3/4 hp garage door opener (which is also just starting to give us problems). It’s very disappointing to spend more money to buy what you think is the best and have it not only fail, but be a hazard to your safety.
June 29th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Received my Sears statement and the matter has been cleared up. Lots of wasted time for nothing.
Cell phones: I wouldn’t buy a cell phone from e-bay, not when I can get a brand new free one form my cell phone provider. I cleaned the contacts of both the battery and SIM card and seems to be working OK for now so I’ll see how long this lasts.
I’m going to stay with Sears Connect. The company is actually Cityfone and is not run by Sears. I left Telus in the first place because of this System Access Fee which I refuse to pay. I checked with Telus, Bell and Rogers and they all have it. Sears Connect does not. For those who will argue that it’s included, fine but the rates are lower if you compare plans and I don’t have to look at any additional charges on my bill + 911 fee etc. Bell charges an $8.95 fee while Rogers and Telus are still at $6.95. I noticed that Bell and Rogers seem now to also have a $35 activation fee.
June 29th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I did transfer my Sears points to Petro-Canada as a mini protest and did also transfer my long distance which I had through Sears.
June 29th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Umm.. Steve if you want to waive SAF fees, go for fido. They have what they called a retention plan, where you call in and cancel service, and they’ll give you a better plan (contract usually). SAF fees can be waived fairly easily under retention plan. However, you have to be a Fido customer for a year or so to qualify for retention plans. Activation fee can be waived easily, they use that for promo very often esp. rogers and fido.
*Note the retention plans can vary a lot between different customers, so you are not guarantee what your neighbour will get, it all depends how you approach it and who you get.
June 30th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
72 days and Houstin we may have made contact . I contacted a call centre in Ontario which actualy said they would call me back in 15 min. and they did. My washer is now on the unrepairable list and they have issued a request for the local dealer to replace with a new unit. Prior to my call I called the local outlet and inquired about ordering a new unit and if I did when would it be available Wednesday was the date they gave me. I did this so that when Sears told me they were going to replace the unit I figured the next excuse was going to be”we will repalce as soon as we have it shipped which will take X # of weeks”. Not so I have also given this web site to the sears CSR so they could pass along to others that I am not the only unhappy consumer. Sears store owner continues to be arrogant and informs me that all this is my fault as I didn’t listen to him and purchase another line other than Kenmore, His margin must be better on non kenmore products. The product is fine it’s the service that sucks, and it would be the same miserable repair service regardless of who made it. I’ll Keep you up to date.
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Omni, I’m familiar with customer retention as many companies have such departments (obviously, not Sears as it’s clear they have no interest in retaining customers). This doesn’t help non-customers. Weren’t you the one griping about how people shouldn’t take advantage of situations such as when the warranty is done, it’s done? Why are you suggesting to cancel a service when it appears that you have no intention of cancelling but just want a better deal? Personally, I would never do this unless I was, for sure, planning to cancel. As for Fido, I did almost hook up with them a while back, just before Rogers was about to take them over. The rep told me something to the effect that there would be a surcharge after the takeover for calls placed on the Rogers network (as opposed to the original Fido network which was pretty well limited to major metropolitan centres).
July 3rd, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Steve, based on your experience with Sears, I thought you were done with it, no more Sears, that’s why I was telling you fido’s retention system. I suggest you move to the competitors if your current provider is causing you grief. Warranty done is warranty done. Retention package has nothing to do with warranty does it?! A lot of people’s phone is in good order, and they go for retention. Many people get to retention after their contracts end, some before. It all depends on your situation. But for your case, since Sears is not doing you any favor, I’m just here to show you other providers that might based on your length of patronage.
Yes, it doesn’t help you now, but it will 2 years down the road. You need to plan ahead. If I were you, I’d throw my phone in the toilet, terminate the contract, switch, and take retention after 2 years and get SAF waived, other free phones, and airtime packages that are limited to retention customers.
If you stick with what you have now.. we’ll see you on this forum talking about your phones 2 years later and the grief you’d have then.
July 4th, 2007 at 1:05 am
Funny how one can carve out arguments to serve one’s own needs but fails to see the analagous argument applied to a different situation.
Do you really expect me to invest 2 years in the hope that I will then be eligible to get something from a retentions department? How does paying SAF during the first 2 years alleviate the problem?
Fido is Rogers. Sears Connect is Rogers. They just use a different name and different plan to re-sell the service much like Sears Kenmore appliances are not made by Sears but by a manufacturer and then Sears puts its own brand on it.
Done with Sears is one thing but I won’t be paying any penalty fees and let them get the edge. Yes, I am done with them but I don’t need to sever things today to my detriment.
July 4th, 2007 at 1:07 am
HAHA, looks like an angry sears customer still bows to sears. Another example of sears for the win!
Sears gets happy and unhappy customer sales still !!!
July 4th, 2007 at 1:13 am
If I work for sears or I was the person dealing with ur cell phone issue would just laugh like no tomorrow ! hahaha.. u called sears so angry, u got nothing, threaten u r done with sears, at the end?! u stick with it!!! hahaha
No guts, all talk. Is that what a typical sears customer is all about? Whine complain, can’t take no pain?!
So disappointed … pointed out some good deals for u, so u can get urself out of ur cell phone troubles, at least u will be treated differently, or better couple yrs down the road. And you still stick with the company that pisses u off all the time. My god, I would really be working at sears, get paid listening to your rants, but at the same time, I KNOW U STILL SHOP SEARS !!! HAha
July 4th, 2007 at 1:43 am
This would pretty much be my last post.. it has been fun looking at the stories, some are really stupid things I have to say. Some are legit concerns esp. those regarding product safety. In all, I’m getting a bit bored about this sears thing, people complain, and yet you see them buy sears… like are you joking me?!
There’ll be more issues / troubles with Sears, they will pop up here and there, and there’ll be brick walls that you’ll hit ur head into. It’s business, run by people, and people make mistakes. I take it for granted even for my own business. As always, customers choose where they shop. The only thing I hope is that if you say you’re fed up with Sears, done with Sears, then be truthful to yourself. There are already so much issues that affected people and yourselves, if you say you don’t set foot in there, then don’t. Cash your points, sell for cash, cut up the card. Buy from competitors, go rogers, buy from Crappy Tire, The Bay, or whatever pleases you.
But please, if you say something, do it or at least mean it please. Don’t be like, oh well, let me wait 1 more yr then I’ll leave sears.
============
Oh.. to troy’s point, no, house brand always carry higher margin. That’s one reason you see president’s choice / Kenmore / Holt Renfrew brand etc around.
But yeah, the service would be the same for house or national brand. So at the end, you still need to wait to get it resolved.
July 4th, 2007 at 2:54 am
Omni says:
“This would pretty much be my last post”
Hallelujah! God love us all!
Omni, don’t let us down. Remember your own words:
“But please, if you say something, do it or at least mean it please.”
Omni says:
“some are really stupid things I have to say”
No further comment required here but adequately sums up.
July 7th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Bough a Sears Kennmore Elite Stove in February 2007, soon as we boght stove, we started getting smells from oven. When sears was contacted they said it was new stove smell and to set oven to 425 for 15 minutes and wipe clean, that we did and smell continued and got worse, when I called service I had appt for service call, which I had to take off time from work for. They came and as well smelled the strong odour they took the stove completely apart and found nothing wrong, the technician called me the next day and asked me to run a self clean in case there was something on walls of oven causing smell, I always insisted the smell was coming from the vent located above cooktop, you never smelled anything in oven, but I ran self clean anyways cause I would try anything. When the self clean was running there was a small drop of spilled food which I cleaned up before running self clean, needless to say the smoke and smell pouring out of vent was disgusting and the smell was through our whole house and chocking us up so we had to stop self clean after 1/2 hour, another technician was sent out higher up and with more knowledge and again smelled strong odour, he again found nothing nothing wrong and said to ask for a new stove, which we did. Within days I had a reply that I would receive new stove, I again took more time off work to receive stove on a Friday, time for delivery was between 2-7pm I waited and waited and at 6:50 called and Sears said that they tried to deliver and I was not home, I than snapped…I had been home since 1:30 I asked where they heck they tried to deliver to and they gave me my old address…. I thought this is the last straw, I asked why in the heck would it get delivered there when the appliances got delivered at new house as did the service technicians, the person I spoke to appologized and said they would get special delivery to make a special trip to my house for me and would call me back, which never happended, I called again the next morning and explained what happend and she too promised to call me right back which never happened, than Monday morning I called again and I spoke with manager, I told him nothing more pisses people off when someone says they will call you back to solve problem and don’t, I finally got stove the following wednesday, I was told to run stove for 15 mins and 425 degrees, which I have done. I had a few friends over and cooked a huge dinner and guess what no one could smell my nice dinner cause all they could smell is the horrible smell coming from vent again…… Thought buying the top of line stove was great should have stuck with the bottom of line stove….. Unhappy customer
July 10th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Well, after 81 days plus or minus, I have finally found the right person, well actually it was June 30 but it took till last friday to actually receive my brand new washer, They picked up the old HE2 which was less than 1 year old (which they tell me is no longer made???) and replaced it with an HE2 plus. The old unit was suppose to be repaired but because it took them 72 days to even figure that the repair man was never going to show up, they decided to tag it unrepairable. The new unit was delivered by the store owner who still says not buy Kenmore as LG is his what he recommends, You can do what you want but I don’t recommend buying anything from sears.There product maybe OK but their customer service (or lack of) is where the problems are. My unit works great and we are done dealing with sears for ever, and yes I mean for ever.
Later
July 11th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
I’ve had it with Sears too. A few months ago I bought a Craftsman wood sign making kit and didn’t use it for a couple months. When I did go to use it it was missing parts and then another part broke (plastic). After several phone calls and a lot of time on line I was told that Sears does not carry parts for the kit but if I bought it within the last 90 days I could exchange the whole thing. The receipt is over 90 days so I’m out of luck. No more Sears for me.
July 11th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
OMG! I’ve had it up to here with Sears!!!!
I put a bedroom set Chateau Louis on my wedding registry. It was purchased for us by my in-laws back in February 2007. It was explained to Sears that because of superstition and bad karma that we didn’t want to open the bedroom set and sleep in it until we were married even though it was given to us as a bridal shower gift. Sears agreed to comply with that request. GREAT!
So we get married on June 16, 2007 and go away on our honeymoon for 1 week. The day after we come back I am all excited to open up this gorgeous cherry wood sleigh bed and bedroom set – just to find out that EVERY SINGLE piece of the set is scratched. Our armoire was the worst! It looked as though some child had taken scissors and played the ‘doodle’ game on it! I couldn’t believe Sears would even send an item like this out.
Just to let you know this is NOT a cheap bedroom set! The entire set is well over $5500.00 NOT including the mattress and boxspring – which we were smart enough to buy at Sleep Country as opposed to Sears. Thank GOD!
Needless to say we have had a new shipment coming to us every week since then. The most recent came this afternoon, and we made the delivery guys open it in the driveway instead of climbing up stairs to find out it was terribly scratched once again!!!
But of course when we called the store – there were no managers in, and for whatever reason they aren’t due in until Friday!!! So now we have to sit on it for 2 full days grunting and groaning about it.
I am soooooo upset about all of this! And Sears is doing absolutely nothing to make us feel any better about any of it.
No apologies even! Not as though an apology would even be acceptable after 4 delivery attempts now.
I’m so frustrated with Sears and will NEVER refer anybody to them
*rant over – for now
July 13th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Follow up to June 23rd message. Things have been moving along with the pool table fiasco. Jennifer Boutilier,
Corporate Customer Service Manager became involved and arranged for Mr. Billiards to make a special order. She also reduced the price of everything down to $630 and change, which was okay with me. The table and everything else arrived in my town today. It couldn’t be delivered direct to me as roadworks have screwed up the route to my home. The independent truck line that is used by Sears HO has massive trucks. However, the driver asked me to meet her downtown and we could transfer the pool table to my van. I had some immediate suspicions which were confirmed when I arrived. The pool table had not been assembled. This was annoying as the catalog makes no mention of having to assemble it, though others say assembly required. The catalog makes it sound as though it’s fully assembled. The truck driver pointed out that the packaging on these items was pretty poor, with the result that some of the pool table rails were chipped as they are exposed. Lastly, the bed for the table is not synthetic slate as stated in the catalog and website description. It is in fact MDF. What makes it even more frustrating is that I checked on the web and found Kingston Billiard Tables (www.qbilliards.com) having a sale and selling full 1 inch thick real slate tables, elegantly designed for just $200 more. The same for http://www.pooltablesdirect.ca. I cannot wait until this ordeal is over.
July 26th, 2007 at 9:45 am
NEVER again will I buy from Sears. Like many people my house is full of Sears products, tools, furniture, appliances, garden equipment, clothes etc. Last summer I bought a snow blower and it hasn’t worked right yet 12 months later. I tried to use it the first time it snowed and it sprayed gasoline all over. After two missed appointments it was determined that the part needed was out of stock. 6 weeks later the part was replaced but no snow to test it on. When it next snowed and I tried it, the drive belt smoked. Another missed appointment and another 6 weeks for an out of stock belt. Remember this is on a new snowblower. When it was fixed I tried it again and the blower wouldn’t steer straight. It is now supposedly fixed but I can’t try it since there is no more snow. So for the entire winter I did not have a working snowblower and they refuse to replace it and/or allow me to return it since it is seasonal equipment. I even so far as to demonstrate when it snowed in my area compared to my calls and their service. It is not like I was using it when there was no snow.
My two year old lawn tractor stopped moving this spring. Started fine but wouldn’t move. I called for service and told them to come and fix it and while they were here replace the blades etc. The service man came a day late from what we were told, but took a look and told my wife who was home nothing was wrong, “maybe the brakes had seized”. She said go ahead then and do the tune up etc. I got home to a $300 bill which I was actually pleased with. Got on the tractor and it started fine but wouldn’t move. SEARS came back out a week later to relook at it and said the transmission was shot. $1500 to fix. I wasn’t upset that it was a $1500 repair since the tractor is out of warranty and not worth fixing for that price, but rather the $300 I spent when I wouldn’t have if the technician had actually tried to move it when he first came out and correctly diagnosed it.
Calls to SEARS were met with a “too bad” you authorized it attitude and no where to elevate a complaint to except an email address that replied too bad.
Am mailing my SEARS card to the corporate office.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:00 am
I too have been miserably treated by Sears. Below is a letter I sent to the Executive of Sear Canada. I suggest everyone call Karon – at 416 362-1711 ext. 2186. She is a representative of the Corporate Head Office. The more phone calls detailing these problems, the sooner satisfaction may be delivered.
David B. Merkley,
SVP and CFO,
Sears Canada Inc.
222 Jarvis St.
Toronto, Ontario M5B 2B8
Canada
Mr. Merkley
I am contacting you with regards to problems I recently suffered at the hands of your Sears’ employees. Attempting to go through your Customer Service department only increased that suffering. I think as a business leader in Canada, you should be aware of the pathetic quality of service your company represents in this instant.
First, I have been a Sears’ customer for years as have many members of my family including my mother, ——–. My mother purchased a washer/dryer combination from the Sears Oakville Place Mall on May 2007. It was installed in June. My mother had a massive stroke and died July 4th. This was sudden and devastating to my family.
While cleaning out my mother’s apartment after her death, I used the washing machine. It was not working properly. I phoned Sears’ Parts and Service department and spoke to Julie and booked a service call on Friday, July 27th. I made arrangements to come from out-of-town and to sit in my mother’s apartment for the day to wait for your service personnel. By 4:30 p.m. the serviceman had not arrived and had not phoned. I phoned your Parts and Service department to inquire whether he was still coming. I was told to continue waiting because he had not indicted he was finished for the day and it could be as late as 8:00pm before he would arrive. This had not been told to me when I booked the service call. Instead I was told he would be there by 4:00pm. Again, I had come from out-of-town and had been waiting for 8 hours at this point in my deceased mother’s apartment. This was extremely painful for me.
I phoned again at 6:30pm and was told by Kevin that the serviceman would not be coming at that late hour. No one at Sears had bothered to phone me to inform me of this, despite the fact that you had multiple phone numbers. When I asked Kevin what Sears’ was going to do about this, I was put through to Customer Service. I was on hold for 20 minutes before a Michelle finally answered. I was then cut off. I phoned again. Getting through your constant prompts to speak with a real person takes time and perseverance. This would be my sixth attempt to contact someone.
I finally got through to Sears’ Parts and Service again and spoke with Rachel. When I told Rachel I was a very upset customer and to put me through to Customer Service as quickly as possible, she proceeded to lecture me on my attitude. To re-cap, I am sitting in my deceased mother’s apartment in grief for 8 hours, waiting for a Sears service man who does not show or have the decency to call and now I am being lectured by one of your Parts and Service representatives. The final insult was that Rachel hung up on me.
When I waded my way through your voice prompt maze once again, I spoke with Chris, the supervisor in the Parts and Service department. He could not put me through to Customer Service because at that point they were closed. How insulting.
I am sending copies of this letter to every member of your executive board. As a loyal Sears’ family, we want action taken. None of us will continue supporting Sears’ stores until this is rectified. We will also be encouraging our friends to do the same. My mother was a well-respected member within the retired community of ———-. They will not take kindly to Sear’s final insult to her as well.
My family and I are requesting a letter of apology from Sears in regards to this, and prompt service of my mother’s washing machine. I also personally demand a letter of apology from Rachel for hanging up on a grieving daughter after being so bitterly treated by Sears for 8 hours. I spoke with Rachel between 6:45 pm and 7:00pm on July 27th 2007. I phoned from xxx xxx-xxxx. She works in the Sears Parts and Service call centre. I am sure you can use your employee work records to find her.
Mr. Merkley, I am a strong supporter of the free enterprise system. However, when a large company like Sears treats their most loyal customers in the disdainful manner you have treated my family, it blackens the whole business community. It is imperative that action be taken quickly to re-affirm our faith in your company. I am sure you would not tolerate Sears’ insensitive treatment if it was a beloved member of your family.
I leave it in your hands.
July 30th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I always purchased from Sears despite the higher price believing Sears stood behind their products and provided good service. Up until recently this was true. On February 22 2007 I ordered two new patio doors, a storm door and new garage doors (a porch enclosure was also ordered through a different sales person). Needless to say this was expensive and thankfully Sears had their “extended payment offer (3 years) – I was unhappy to learn I would not receive any points. Any way back to the problem.. the patio doors were installed in April however the installers neglected to bring the required trip to finish off the inside of the doors. Additionally, they refused to pickup the storm door supposedly due to damage however they neglected to tell anyone the door had not been reordered. Here we are now July 30 – 3 months after the initial installation and my patio doors are still not complete nor do I have the storm door. I am now being told the week of August 6th. I tried to get through to the president’s office but was put through to Customer service where I was only HOLD. Sorry to say Sears has “dropped the ball” with their loyal customers. Damn I am mad about not getting my points just because I paid monthly for a very expensive purchase.
August 4th, 2007 at 11:01 am
I have recently had the same problem with my Kenmore central vac as Miki K (comment Jan 26/2007) and Stephen Hall (comment May 10/2007). I came upon this website when I was looking to see if there were any recalls on the product. I have yet to go to Sears with the problem and was wondering how Miki and Stephen made out. It would be great if I could have Miki and Stephen’s e-mail addresses to contact them.
August 6th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
does sears make big money doing house calls ?
we were told each repair was a house call , so that 2 repairs at one house
at one time would be 2 charges $ .
my real question is :
does Kenmore ask thier supliers to make
certian appliences deficiant(like doors, knobs, ice makers, etc., and more)to make money on service calls?.
I sure sounds this way to me ,
we bought these appliences early 2005
and had these low grade problems :
the microwave with a upper rack, the
thinge which hold the upper rack turned to carbon and fried, the service guy said that the rack was only to be used
when needed, and needed to be cleaned each
time of use.
lets go to the refridge :
Right away the shelves iced up making
the bearings in the slide not work,
this happened 5 times till I gave up on it,
then the ice maker iced up, it’s not really then, it’s been constant.
lets go up to the fridge:
the plastic parts for the slides, drawers don’t work well and the swivel parts for the vegi vents seem to fly off .
this comes down to the kenmore range:
the only problem up to now is the oven door, the screws which sandwich the handle to the sheet metal ( oven side pannal) is short ( I think on purpose for house calls ).
this is the 4 th time in which I have had to put the doo back together.
please if you can help , or if I can help .
alan1954@comcast.net
August 7th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
We bought A Sears Kenmore front loading stackable washer and dryer last Aug. replacing a working whirlpool stack (big mistake)
I phoned July 7/07 asking for a repair person as my timer on the dryer does not work…….I’m still waiting for a call-back or repair person! It is now Aug 7/07!
They actually did call to see if I wanted to extend my warranty…can you believe them!
August 7th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Wow – glad to see we’re not alone. I came across the site by accident, and am really glad I did. I am sending a fax to Sears today letting them know the dissatisfaction my husband and I have experienced with our product, and their lackluster service. The long and short of it, is that we bought a Kenmore stacked washer/dryer in December of 2006. We explained we were undergoing renovations, and were invited to leave our purchase there until they were done in the Spring. Apparently, the warranty does not kick in until you take it home. 2 weeks later we were called, and the person on the other end insisted we come pick it up immediately. We finally finished renovations in April, and took our product out of the box. Our tenant moved in a month later, in May, and tried to do his laundry. Nothing worked. From then on, the headache of many, many calls began. We final had a repair person come by, and it turned out our brand new product was missing a part. As this thing has dragged on, we are now 2 more “missing/faulty” parts into our nightmare. They have told us the product is not “new” and they won’t exchange it. On June 11th, the repairman yet again came back, and what do you know, the part he ordered was wrong. We have 4 months left on our warranty. The dealings we have had with the Customer Service Centre, and with the repair person, have been a complete joke. I’m sure they’ll be very happy to see our 2 page fax. Here’s where we’re sending our written complaint to, via fax, in case anybody needs contact info:
National Customer Service Centre: 613-391-3047
Headquarters Building: 416-941-4793
Metrotown Branch (Burnaby, BC): 604-433-4314
August 10th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Ana…..What you can also do is talk to the people where you bought it from meaning the Store. Explain to them that you were not to get the kenmore stacked washer/dryer but it was not to picked up until your removations were done. They maybe to help you. Ask to talk to the store manager. If you have paper work of when you were to pick it up that would be a big help for your case. Good luck
Presidents Office
500 Collage St East
Belleville, Ontario
K8N 5L3
Presidents office number 1-888-473-2772
Fax number 613-391-3047
Email home@sears.ca
August 11th, 2007 at 1:00 am
Dear Citizens, did you all who wrote these kind opinions know, how many idiots
the sales associate have to face hour by hour while their working and what they
get for it except the “cheap & dealshopper” clients? Did you know to work with people is the hardest work in the Earth? Did you know what “intelligent” wonderer
can suck your brain power what makes you suffer the whole day?
Everybody who works in retail should get the same salary as their engineer colleagues, then everyone will leave the stores with the purchase wrapped in
gold paper…how is that?
By the way, Sears offers very good quality product, with very good sales deals.
If you aren’t a dealshopper if you are then you better look after your treasure in
the W…..t or C….o chainstores…that simple is.
August 14th, 2007 at 12:29 am
hi again
Ex Sears Worker: We had tried that as an option earlier on, but were told to contact Customer Service. However, I’m very happy to say that as of Friday everything has been resolved!! We sent a copy of our letter to the Presidents Office as well, and a really nice lady from back east got in touch with us immediately, and stayed in touch with us. She agreed that this was way too long of a time for the repairs to have gone on, and had everything resolved quickly. We’re now happy, with a very functional machine. I think the whole thing took about 3 days from start to finish after the letter was faxed off – and a 1 year extention on the product too!
jen litzer. I think it’s completely irrelevant how much people are getting paid. I don’t believe that customers who have paid hundreds or thousands of dollars for a large purchase should forfeit their right to have it work properly because the person on the other end of the phone isn’t happy with their salary. I too am not happy with how much I get paid at my job and deal all day long with angry callers. I don’t think they deserve to get any less than my best attempt at great customers service because of it.
August 14th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
No really, someone stole my appliances while they were in the Sears warehouse.
I selected a set of appliances (washer and dryer) at the Winnipeg Sears Home Store. I charged the full amount to my Sears card. At the time, I was in the middle of renovations at my home and was unable to take delivery or pick up the appliances. I asked them to hold the appliances for me until I was able to pick them up. They told me that this would not be a problem. When my Sears account came due a month later, I went into the store and paid it off in full. At that time, I once again said that I still wasn’t able to pick them up and that I needed Sears to hold them a bit longer. They, once again, told me that this was not a problem.
When I finally called to arrange for pick up, I was told that the appliances were no longer there. They informed me that, according to a warehouse employee, someone picked up the appliances and sped away before signing anything and without providing identification.
I have been working to resolve this for 6 months. In the past 6 months I have contacted and/or worked with the store manager, the store resource protection manager (who allegedly carried out an internal investigation), head office, 3 separate customer service individuals, the 1-800 customer service line (who provided me with the president’s line email and phone #), and finally the president’s line. They have all told me that there is nothing they can do. The president’s line (Nicole) told me that if I wanted to speak with anyone else at this point, I would need to get a lawyer (great customer service!!).
Just yesterday, I was told that the legal department has made an official statement that the appliances were picked up, and therefore there is nothing they can do for me.
Immediately after that, I went to the Small Claims Court building and filled out a claim. I registered the mail and am now tracking it through canadapost. The president of Sears Canada will be served with a Small Claim notice for $1800 by the end of the week.
Through all this, I have been treated like a criminal, like I am trying to scam them.
Doesn’t Sears have an obligation to protect any paid merchandise while in their warehouse?
Doesn’t this sound like a clear cut case of negligence on their part?
Who picked up my appliances?
On Oct 5th, I go to Small Claims Court. I will let you know how it turns out. In the meantime, any advice would be appreciated
August 15th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Appliance were stolen … really how long do you expect Sears to hold on to your merchandise? Their warehouses are filled to capacity .. if you couldn’t pick them up the after you asked them to hold it once you should have got a storage unit! They were doing you a favour by holding them! Good Luck getting your money.
August 15th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Well i worked at sears in belleville i remember the old policy but the problem is people use to buy 6 to 7 items at a time and then take it back used in a month or 2 about time sears wised up pistol pete no 2
August 16th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Cath,
I don’t disagree. Sears is not a free storage facility. However, when I asked them to hold the appliances for me, they did not ask me for an estimated date, they did not advise me of any storage limitations. I was not made aware of any policy. At that very moment, they had the opportunity to inform me of a 90 day storage limit, or to tell me that a storage fee of $x a month will apply after 90 days, or whatever…the policy is theirs to make and I would have abided by it – no problem. The fact is that they told me storage was not a problem. No caveats, no conditions.
FYI, the appliances were “stolen”/”given away”/”released”/”picked up” a mere 60 days after I purchased them. Is 60 days unreasonable? If so, they have an obligation to advise me as such. To date, of all the Sears employees to whom I have spoken, not one has been able to tell me what their policy is on storage of merchandise.
Besides, since when was fraud/theft justified by not picking up merchandise? It is attitudes like yours that have warranted the consumer protection act.
That is really not my issue. The real issue is that they released appliances to someone that didn’t pay for them. This could have happened a week after I purchased them, or it could have happened a year after. I had a contract with Sears whereby I gave them $1800 in exchange for a washer a dryer. I upheld my end of the contract, but they didn’t uphold theirs.
If a forklift ran into my appliances while in storage I would expect a replacement set.
If my appliances go “missing” while in storage, I would also expect a replacement set.
August 16th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
My appliances were stolen: After re-reading your original comment I realized that this would not have been stolen from a warehouse but rather from the store which would have held it for you, Sears does not allow pickup at their warehouses (and there is not one in Winnipeg). I would suggest 60 days to hold merchandise at a store is far too long and yes the store should have told you. Obviously, you have gone back to the store and spoken with the store manager face to face but if you haven’t spoken to him directly do so and ask him to see the loading dock where they would have held your appliances and ask him to re-look for the appliances.
As for my attitude, I assure you I believe in the Consumer Protection Act … I too am a customer but I feel that customers do not realize what any retailer is up against in today’s business environment. I apologize if my attitude appeared bad and as I said good luck in getting your money (I mean that sincerely).
August 16th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
My Appliances Were Stolen:
Sorry to hear about what happened to you. I do agree with you that this is their problem, as they agreed to the storage. For those of you who may not be aware, this is actually quite common practice, as many people who buy large appliances may be building a home or renovating. If you paid by credit card, you may want to check and see if there is any insurance coverage. Was there a security camera in the area at all? Perhaps you could suggest to them to change their policy so that they ask for ID before releasing merchandise, rather than later, as to avoid people having people run off with the items. Best of luck to you.
August 16th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
Cath,
Thanks for the second response. I didn’t think that you were an evil person. Thanks for clarifying. When I bounced my story around the office, and of course my co-workers all know me and know that I am not the scamming type, I got some interesting responses. One woman told me that she purchased a complete set of kitchen appliances (from a different vendor – not Sears) while her new home was being built. The kitchen cabinets were then all designed around the appliances. She told me that it was a full year before the home was complete enough to pick up the appliances. She called the store, arranged for pick up and had no hassle.
As for 60 days being too long? I don’t know what the industry standard is. Apparently a competitor was willing to hold my co-worker’s goods for a full year. I am not in the retail business so I don’t what is reasonable or what is the norm. What I do know is that if Sears had a problem with my request or if they had a policy, they should have made me aware when I asked for the storage “favour”. I would have abided. I don’t want the root issue to be lost here while people get hung up on the time in storage.
I still don’t think that any judge in the free world will make a ruling against me. Can you imagine… “Sorry, Sir. Sears is not a storage facility and they are not responsible for the security of paid merchandise. After 60 days, they do not need any identification to release the merchandise. Anyone is permitted to show up and claim the goods, because they are likely tired of storing them for you. You left the appliances there too long and thus you deserve to have had them stolen”. I would hope that our justice system has maintained some level of common sense.
As for talking to the store manager, I have been advised by her that any further communication with Sears needs to be done through their legal department. I was provided a name and number and have left a voicemail every day for 4 consecutive days. No response.
Ana, I have been told that I am not entitled to any information (ie; security cameras, investigation details, pick up documents) without a lawyer. However, I just found out that my small claim papers have been received by head office, so if they decide to defend the claim in court they are now obligated to share all of their evidence (whatever they have) with me.
As for a policy to ask for ID before picking up appliances…Don’t you think that they already have one? I certainly think they do. I just think that it wasn’t followed. For what reason, I don’t know. I would bet my last dollar that this has happened before and I would bet your last dollar that there have been rulings in favour of the plaintiff for identical situations. I just need to get into the court library to find one of those such rulings and all should be good.
Honestly, I would be really surprised if Sears does not settle out of court.
August 23rd, 2007 at 12:37 pm
I would like to share my SEARS experience. Purchased a Kitchenaid side by side fridge back in 2002, and purchased the extended warranty. After about a year the fridge did not work and I went through much of the same problems; service no show’s, no call back’s etc. but persevered and after about 6 months they replaced the fridge, not once but twice! This model is a lemon.
Now in this 3rd fridge there is a crack in the liner, it most likely was there from the beginning, it was behind the light cover. Sears service says it is not reparable.
The Kitchenaid warranty says that between years 2 to 6 the liner is under full warranty.
According to SEARS Service their policy is to prorate the value based on a ten year live span for the fridge and will give me a credit worth 50% of the original purchased price, but only towards a replacement.
Does any one have an opinion on this matter? Full warranty to me means a replacement. I have looked through my purchase agreement, and warranty papers and do not see any mention of depreciation of coverage.
After reading most of this blog, and my own experience, I don’t believe it is worth dealing with Sears.
Should I just have them fix the hinges on the fridge door ( another problem, but under the service contract) and keep this fridge or fight for full replacement?
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Umm, I’m an honest worker and did my very best to serve the customers at Sears Canada with respect. Sadly, I was fired on Christmas Eve after finishing my shift at 5:00 pm. There ya go….They don’t care about anybody!
August 25th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Bought a 2800.00 Sears Craftsman lawn tractor in May of ‘05. This unit came with a standard 2 year warranty on it.
In or about May of ‘07 Sears dutifully called me to ask if I wanted to buy their extended warranty for some 400.00 – a very healthy sum when they also want close to 100.00 mechanics charge to come to your home.
In June of ‘07 I noticed a strong smell of raw fuel around the rear of the tractor so we took it apart to inspect. We found that the fuel tank was made up of two halves – upper and lower and that a wear spot had developed on the seam and this was leaking.
Called Sears parts office and told them of the problem, received a price for the part about 92.00 plus shipping.
Emailed to persons at the Sears offices told them I knew the problem and asked for a little relief in the costs of the new tank and was told thanks and someone would call after looking into the problem.
Several emails later I have been told “your warranty has run out and if you had bought the extemded version this would all be covered.
Then I was told that the matter had been forwarded to the buying department for study and a further reminder that I should have bought the warranty plan.
Still further e letters and I’ve been told that I can buy the part or pay to have my tractor inspected (at my cost) to depermine the problem.
I’ve gotten no where with this and the more one delves into Sears and their service ect. it is very obvious that all they want to do is book work for their service department or sell outrageously priced warranties.
I for one will never buy another Sears product of this nature.
August 27th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Anne-Marie
I am so sorry to hear that you were let go from Sears but I have to tell you it is the best thing for you. I to was let go from sears in belleville. Or what I like to call it now “SEARS FREE” At first I was pulled in for missing to much time at work so as you know you get put on probation never missed a day after that. Then I was taken in the room for my not ready time….got that down then i was taken in for my dress code yeah right like people care what I look like when I am on the phone with them. I went out and spend $200 on new pants. About a week later I was called in again and told that I was taking to much time on breaks. Again a week later I was taken in for my not ready time. Then about 5 days later I was taken in the back room and told I was no longer working at Sears. I was made to stay in the room while my “NEW” lead went and got my books and papers. I was made to take everything out of my books and made to go through it all I was not aloud to have any Sears items on me when I was led to the back door. I was walked out by the “new”lead (I say new lead because I have went through 6 or 7 in one year) and the door was closed in my face as I walked around the building to the bus stop I was watch by one of the “rent a cops” that are to old, way out of shape or that are so tiny you could breath on them to blow them over. The sad thing is they are always looking for people to come and work for them. I was there 7 years which for a call center is a very very long time. but you are right they treat their workers just like their customers. I have family that still works there. One of them came to me the other day and said guess what they are doing to us now…As a sears worker they would get a discount of 15% off of anything. However now the workers only get 20% on clothing. 90% of the workers that work there can not buy from sears to start out with what do they need a 20 % in clothes. It just goes to show you that the only thing that Sears cares about is the bottom line. They are will to do anything it takes to make the money. Right now I am just enjoying my SEARS FREE DAYS !!!!
August 29th, 2007 at 11:19 am
I too am another Sears customer (from Calgary) who is extremely dissatisfied with the service I have been provided with from Sears – and I don’t even have the product yet! (have only received half of my order). At this point I would love to cancel my order but unfortuntely I have only pieces of ensembles and I would like to complete the sets. My complaints are due the home delivery side of things. I have been living in half furnished home for almost 6 weeks now and still waiting for the items to be delivered, despite their promises that things will be taken care of. I have been left waiting several evenings for the deliveries to arrive and only then to not have them show up. I am now interested in taking this beyond the customer service level as they too have proved to be inadequate. I am curious if any of you could tell me of those who have made complaints to those “higher ups” if you got any reply or feedback?
September 6th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
To Georgette.Bigelow
This is a note to Georgette.Bigelow who posted on July 30th.
My condolences go out to you. I can understand that this would have been a painful experience for you. I was wondering if you ever received anything…I mean anything from Sears following your note to upper management? A phone call, letter, email…anything? And I also want to compliment you on a very well written letter to Sears. I can imagine that Sears receives far too many letters from disgruntled customers and I suspect that the tone, vocabulary and subjectivity in a lot of them would not motivate Sears to take action. Your letter, however, was intelligently and diplomatically written. The kind of letter that I, if I ran a company, would take seriously.
September 11th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Sears is an absolute joke of an organization. I have had nothing but displeasure any time I have called to get their assistance with any of our appliances. I just spoke with 7 different people and received NO resolution to our issues. I’ve had it with them. I will NEVER purchase something from them again. I don’t care if I have to pay more somewhere else. I’d rather pay more and actually get treated like a valued customer. $10K in appliances and NO resolution.
I have just written a note to the president. We’ll see if a response is ever received. I’m not holding my breadth if this is where the strategic direction and internal policies come from.
I can’t wait to see the day when their doors are closed permanently in Canada. They are an absolute disgrace of an organization and should not be able to use the .ca at the end of their website name. This would actually imply that they were Canadian and treated their clients with the dignity and respect that the majority of Canadians are treated with every single day.
September 12th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
POCOS, it is unfortunate that you had such a bad experience with Sears however to wish that a company would close it’s doors forever would have over 29,000 people (who are Canadian) out of work, who are probably hardworking and just trying to do their best, it isn’t fair to paint the entire organization with one broad stroke. I’m sure no one intentionally sets out to not help any customers out …but I totally understand your frustration when you have spent the money you have and do not get the resolution you deserve. Good luck with your issue.
September 12th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Follow up to my July 13th message. Finally got my pool table. Ordered it from Kingston Billiards, regular price $5999.99, reduced to $1490 (or $90 more than the crappy MDF damaged one that Sears was trying to sell me). My one is real hardwood with leather pockets and genuine 1 inch thick diamond ground slate. It also comes with balls, four cues, and a bridge cue, chalk, wall mounted rack, etc, worth $500.00, Sears would have charged extra for all this. One of the other things I ordered, a ping pong conversion top, has STILL not arrived. It was supposed to be here on July 11th, then it was moved to September 4th. Last week, I called, and was told that it was in the warehouse and they would be immediately shipped out to the customers. A couple of days later, I called again to see if they could give me a specific date for delivery, and I’m told November 19th. I would say that I’m stunned by this, but if you have read my previous posts, why would I be, this is Sears after all. I tell the woman that it surely cannot take that long to get to me from the warehouse, and she tells me that there were none delivered. I tell her that her associate told me that they were actually in the warehouse and were in the process of shipping out. I’m informed that whoever told me that was completely wrong, and she asked who it was who said this. I pointed out to her that I’m not in the habit of taking down everyones name on the off chance that I’m talking to an idiot (a comment which apparently offended her), I just presumed that as this is pretty much the only thing you have to do in your job, you should be halfway competent at it. In any case, this is not coming in until November 19th, making it 329 days late (thats if it arrives at the warehouse on the November date) To say this company is incompetent is an insult to incompetent people everywhere. To add insult to injury, the dishwasher that should have been on the five year extended warranty that the store “forgot” to include with my purchase despite the conversation we had about it (see previous posts) has broken down again for the second time, and today the engineer came over and replace the water pump in it, at a total cost of $193.00. Ran it this afternoon, doesn’t work. What a bunch of morons.
September 13th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
Wow, I am quite surprised to see the number of upset people who were involved in dealings with Sears. I have yet another story to add to this list. I was finishing our basement, and I required laminate flooring to finish the project. I went to the flooring cemter in Brampton, and had a estimator come out to our home, to measure how much flooring we would need. At the time, I was also going to have them install the flooring as well. This becomes an important point as you read on. After I found out they wanted $3.00/ sq ft to install, I told them to order the flooring and I would pick it up and install it myself. At the time of purchase, I was told the flooring was “final sale”, and since they had estimated what I would need, I thought no more of it. When I finished installing the flooring, I had nine full boxes of flooring left over, worth approximately $600.00. Now, I thought, okay, obviously they overestimated and I should be able to return the extra flooring. How wrong I was. According to the store, I must have not installed it all, or we showed them the wrong area to measure, as it was “impossible” for me to have that much left over. After three calls to the store, I finally contacted Sears customer service. After a couple of weeks of E-mails, explaining the situation, I got a call from the Flooring Centre manager. This person informed me that since the flooring is special order, and the bill did say final sale, that they would do nothing and considered the matter closed, despite the fact that they measured the area. I am now going to write a letter to the head office, and see if that gets me anywhere. But, like the rest of you, Sears lost another customer for a mere $600.00. Pity really, I always liked Sears.
September 19th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
what you want to in a dispute case is call the credit call center and ask for the number for corporate customer service. The presidents line no longet exists and all you will get if you call that line is transferred back to the store. If you have billed your stuff onto a sears club card or sears master card make sure you tell then you want a dispute sent back to the store. They will tell you to call the store yourself. If you drop it at that point you will be responsible for any interest on that account, if you make them send a dispute it will block the interest until it’s all settled. The store will give you your money back if you make enough fuss…. they rely on you getting tired and walking away. Call the store, the credit card and then corporate, the more departments you get involved the harder they will work to give you what you want so you will go away.
September 19th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I have a problem with Sears too,but I have a BIG problem with the Catalog dept,because I tried to place three seperate orders about four days apart in three seperate first names,same family names and phone numbers,that does not work there,the computer appairently wont except that we all have the same family,same address,same phone number,because we are a family maybe,thats so stupid ,so the lady on the other end said the only way I could order all orders seperate was to be charged the seperate shipping costs,so I agreed,no problem,I thought! Well when we were called by the recording things were in I went to the willowbrook sears catalog to pick up the ORDERS. First the two ladys there couldnt get even into the computer,but I was fine everyone needs a chance,then they said I had to pay for everything together,before a code would come up for them to tell me what had arrived,Of course I explained about the three seperate orders and everything,but almost right the older lady Lori blamed the catalog people,and said it cant be done like that because of the new program,any way things went from bad to worse,the order were all mixed up,only about 1/3 of the orders were there so I told them to give me the money back until they could seperate the orders and figure it all out,WHAT A MISTAKE,when they refunded my money they kept,(charged me two shipping fees)just over seven dollars they said because I was returning what have come,all mixed up I might add.I couldnt believe it.I had gotten nothing and charged just over seven,the worst thing about it was the ladys saw nothing wrong with it and said I needed to contact the catalog order people because it was all there falt.this is just crazy,there I was standing there on my crutches as I am waiting for knee replacement surgery on my left knee and knee repair surgery on my right knee, do you think they even notived I was handycapped.So not happy and confused I went back home,called the catalog people told them what happended,then I waited over a week,then the lady tina called said sorry over and over then told me my orders got caught in the new computer program and that they were sending me a coupon for !0.00$ off my nexy order,but I had to reorder.this is just terrible service,I dont want to shop at sears ever again.thank you for listening.mrswiesner@yahoo.com
September 20th, 2007 at 8:59 am
In response to Sear Employee:
Well, thanks for your ideas in helping to get some sort of resolve about my problem. Unfortunately, I did not charge this purchase at all, so I can’t hold off payment or anything like that. They already have my money, so I can’t pressure the credit department. I guess the thing that really upsets me is that if I didn’t install the flooring myself, I know all too well that the nine extra boxes would have never made it off the installers truck, and I would have paid for it anyway. I have written a letter to Mr. Mercer at the head office (09/14/07) and will post what actions, or non-actions are taken. Again, thanks for your input, it’s good to see some Sears employees try to be helpful.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Follow up to September 12 entry:- Called the engineer back and told them that the dishwasher still does not work. He came out two days later, examined the machine and said there were several things wrong with it. It would be too expensive to fix, so advised me to junk this one and buy one new. “What about the water pump you installed?” I asked, and he said that I may be able to get a discount on a new one if I take the old one in and tell them that a new water pump had been installed. Yeah right. I argued with his boss on the phone and got them to drop all the charge except for the call out fee. I’m now looking for a new dishwasher (and coincidentally a new refrigerator) and I’m not joking, I’d rather travel all through the world, war zones, the arctic, or the deepest darkest jungle to find one, rather than buy through Sears. For those of you who are having problems, there is a woman named Kyla Shorey who seems to be quite helpful. It was Kyla who sorted out the delivery for the pool table, and it’s not her fault that the table was absolute crap and damaged, so maybe everyone with a problem should phone or email her. The phone number is 1-800-973-7579, ext 3074, and the email address is kshorey@sears.ca. You may also try Paula Edwards at paula.edwards@sears.ca, who I think may be Kyla’s superior. I’m pretty sure they don’t want hundreds of you calling so maybe to avoid that, they’ll get moving on your problems. And in the future, DON’T BUY FROM SEARS. Hope this all helps.
September 26th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Well I thought I was in the same boat as the rest of you, and I do still agree that the customer service I recieved from both London Sears stores sucked, but I do still have faith in Sears. I sent an e-mail to head office and within an hour, I had a response from a lady named (Paula). A very nice lady (Jennifer) called me within hours and totally, 100% took care of my situation. Thank you Paula and Jennifer for your AWESOME customer service you have definately kept me as a customer. If the store employees would have these customer service skills, then this site would not need to be here. Once again thank you and I will continue to shop at SEARS so long as I don’t run into problems again, or have to contact head office in the future!
September 29th, 2007 at 1:48 am
I don’t see what the big deal is, I deal with seras customers almost everyday. The whole misunderstanding is the fact that the warranty policy is overlooked, the reason why stores have warranty time frames is because of the fact that people abused it in the past. Just because a washer and dryer didn’t work, it doesnt mean it is Sears fault. It’s called blame the manufacturer. Sears sells it for the manufacturers. Sears is only passing along goods for u, so be nice.
September 29th, 2007 at 6:47 am
Read the thread from the top, Sears Employee. This discussion started with a Kenmore Brand (Sears own….) washer and dryer. One would expect that Sears would stand behind the Sears house brand. AND, one would expect a more professional and sympathetic ear than Tara gave.
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Response to Marks comments;
Reading this blog is certainly an eye opener as a customer of Sears. I have noticed an incline in the service rendered by the organization, but this is true of a lot of other business’ as well. Blog the brick and leons and see what you find.
What bothers me is that someone in the organization helped resolve this situation which is great, but is it fair to pinpoint that person out and advise ” so maybe everyone with a problem should phone or email her. “? How fair is this really?? All big companies have problems, as an ORGANIZATION, it is not one individuals responsibility to satisfy every unhappy customer.
Call me crazy.. but when did customer responsibility get thrown out the window?
October 5th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Get a life Omni and Sears for that matter, whatever happened to reliable products lasting problem free for lets say…more than two-three years. Unsatifactory with the quality today and the product service.
October 11th, 2007 at 5:12 am
Response to Lost In Translation.
I’m sure all big companies have problems, but Sears compounds the big problems with employees that couldn’t possibly care less. If you read my original submission, right from the beginning I was hung up on, given a fake telephone number, and during the whole of the time I have spent with this problem I have dealt with customer service people who tell me the first thing that pops into their heads rather than say ‘I don’t know, I’ll try to find out.’ They are not interested in helping anyone unless it is an easy fix. Now I’m not saying they are bad people or that they are doing this on purpose, but what they are doing is taking the easy way out. They know that if they say whatever they want and get rid of me, the chances that they will get me again the next time I call are pretty remote. I used to work in publishing back in England and part of my job was customer service and dealing with the public. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes it is hard, but whatever the case, my job is to help the customer, that is what I am being paid for. If for some reason, I cannot help the customer, I’ll say so, and explain why. Not once did I hang up on a customer, never did I say heres a number to call knowing that it was a fake. And this to me is one of the main problems with Sears, customer service reps who have no desire to help, but just want to get through the long day with no problem. Great for them, crappy for us. Now the reason I gave the names of the people who did help is simple, they can help and they are high up in the organization. They cannot do the same as the customer service people and dump you off on someone else. It’s bad luck on Kyla that she was the one person who helped out, but if you want satisfaction from Sears (and I guess everyone who is adding stuff to this blog does want that) then you have to bypass the low paid drones of customer service and get someone who can actually help. We the customer are the important factor in the success of a business, if it wasn’t for us spending our hard earned money on their goods, they would be selling stuff out of suitcases on street corners. Instead, they are a multi million dollar company thanks to our purchasing, not through an act of God. As for ‘customer responsibility’ I’m not sure how it applies to my situation, but as far as I’m concerned, I did everything right, I made the phone calls, placed the orders, paid the charges exactly as per their instructions, only to find that their inch high letters on the website and in the catalog “Order by December 19th and have it delivered by Christmas” is actually meaningless because they cannot get the product and have no control over it’s manufacture or delivery. How far does my responsibility go? Do I have to call the actual manufacturer of the goods to make sure everything is okay, is it my responsibility to handle the trucking company who is going to ship it out. Should I question the manufacturer and find out that when he states that it is synthetic slate that it actually is synthetic slate and not MDF. Is it my responsibility to make sure the packaging material is sufficient to prevent damage to the product? If all of this is the customer’s responsibility, then why should I order anything through Sears. If I have to do all this, then I’ve become a small businessman doing the same job that Sears is supposed to be doing. You say it is not one individuals responsibility to satisfy every unhappy customer, and you’re right. But when the section of your company who express sole job is to satisfy every unhappy customer and they cannot do it, then as unfortunate as it is for the one person in the company who can do it, I’m afraid the burden has to fall on her. And if everyone contacted her about their problems, it would soon become apparent that the people who were supposed to be doing this job and were failing were dead weight and would either be trained in the art of customer service or shifted over to some part of the organization where they had a job the could handle, and their old jobs given to people who were competent and knew what to do. As you say, all big organizations have problems, that’s not the issue. The issue is how you handle the problems, and on the Sears customer service falls flat.
October 11th, 2007 at 11:27 am
I purchased a dishwasher from Sears (Kenmore) in July
and the bill came before the machine. It was Not working repair men came and did not fix it. Now Sears is charging me for the installation 140.00 freight 40.00 taxes and they still have not refunded me my money. They do not reply to
my phone calls. I have written several letters and waited for hours with customer service. They have applied a credit to my account and have not returned me my money. This dishwasher was noisey and did not dry the dishes. I have a kitchen aid and love it.. Audrey
October 19th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
Repair No-shows?
I wonder how many people out there suffer from no-shows from sears canada servicemen.
I had a no-show yesterday, (which I called to confirm the very morning). They automatically rescheduled the appointment to a day next week WITHOUT consulting me. When I called, they offered to come today instead, but the tech called in the morning to cancel on me again. They are totally oblivious about what it costs us to drop everything to be home for their stupid 4-hr window.
I encountered the same indifference with the customer service. More than one customer rep pressed the “transfer to operator” button when they heard the word “complain” or “supervisor”. I bought every piece of appliance from Sears and I am totally disgusted that I have contributed to the good fortune of this lousy company.
October 19th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
I had always had great service from Sears Canada until recently. Everything in my home has always been purchased from Sears. I grew up in the States and my parents bought everything from Sears & Roebucks. We moved to Canada and my parents bought everything from Simpson Sears.My Grandparents bought everything from Sears & Roebucks. I am like a third generation Sears consumer.
My husband purchased a Berkline recliner in 2006 and returned it before the 1 year warranty expired because the seams and fabric were failing. They were very courteous and the recliner was replaced with another. BUT, THE NEW RECLINER NOW HAS SEAM AND FABRIC FAILURE!!! He phoned Sears and politely inquired as to whether they would do anything about the replacement. He assumed that a new warranty came with the replacement and began upon delivery of the replacement. They said that they would send someone out to inspect the recliner and make recommendations. We have not had a phone call to date or anyone in to inspect the chair. I made a phone call today and was that the recliner is no longer under warranty and even if someone does come out, we are responsible for the repairs. I was informed by a very snotty individual who didn’t or wouldn’t identify themselves that we didn’t pay for the second recliner, so why would we expect a warranty.Of course I didn’t pay for the replacement. You sold us a dud. Oh and by the way, the warranty is only good for the original recliner.I HAVE SPENT AT SEARS SINCE THE MONTH OF APRIL $5,000.00 FOR WASHING MACHINE/DRYER AND SOFA/LOVESEAT. APPARENTLY , THEY DO NOT WANT OUR BUSINESS ANYMORE. I WOULD LIKE TO DIRECT EVERYONE WITH A COMPLAINT TO THE CANADIAN CONSUMER INFORAMTION GATEWAY – COMPLAINT COURIER – CANADA’S GOVERMENTS AND PARTNERS FOR THE OFFICE OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS.
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:33 am
Response to Angela:
Angela, have you tired contacting Berkline at 1-800-465-1443, they may be able to help you out, I know it’s not the answer you may be looking for however it is unfair that you have to keep something that was defective in the first place … good luck.
October 24th, 2007 at 12:25 am
Our new washer and dryer was delivered last week. Unfortunately the stacking kit did not make it at the same time (as ordered). When I called the store the Sears sales rep tried talking me into buying another one – $39.99. Getting through the Sears “customer service” priority sequence arrangement and trying to confirm the delivery time for the stacking kit proved to be an experience from hell – they never called me back as promised anyway. Well, the kit finally arrived at their distribution centre and I was assigned a delivery date two weeks after the original scheduled date with no option to pick it up anywhere in between. In the meantime I am enjoying the looks of our new dryer dwelling majestically in the living room of our condo. Did I mention that it had been delivered with a dented panel? The Sears “customer service” quickly assessed the damage at $80.00 and tried to push me into accepting the deal, which I did not since without the stacking kit I cannot properly connect and check it.
Several things remain to be seen:
- will Sears charge me for the delivery of the stacking kit,
- will it be delivered as promised,
- will the damaged dryer work,
- will they replace it if required,
- how soon will the appliances break down.
Several things are done deal already:
- I WILL NEVER SPEND MY HARD EARNED MONEY AT SEARS AGAIN,
- IF POSSIBLE I WILL NOT USE SEARS FOR WARRANTY REPAIRS,
- MY STORY WILL BE TOLD AGAIN AND AGAIN.
In short it seems that the new and improved Sears business model doesn’t have enough room for customers any more and whether you like it or not you should act accordingly.
October 25th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Well, its been six weeks since I sent off a package to David Mercer at head office, including copies of the E-mails I had receicved from Sears customer service. I have yet to hear from this fellow, so it would seem obvious to me, that Sears really could care less. I’m not giving up, and will follow up again after my next attempt to contact the mysterious head office of Sears Canada. Seriously, I have never in my life had such a tough time trying to get some resolve to any problem. Truly a disgusting waste of time and effort so far.
October 30th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Well, I just had the “pleasure” of speaking with Sears customer service again. Apparently, David Mercer no longer, or never has worked for Sears Canada. They were good enough to remind me that they had already dealt with this issue and considered it closed. When I asked for them to give me a contact, higher up in the Sears hierarchy, the person on the phone, would not give me any information on who to contact. I can’t believe the utter arrogance of these customer service people. Whatever happened to the customer is always right? I’m sure the customer isn’t always right, but in MY case, I AM. The girl told me they are guided byu thier department head, to address all problems at the customer service level. If you are not satisfied with thier solution, apparently there is no where else to turn to in thier company. I really am in awe, of the sheer power of the Sears customer representative. I know in my company, if someone has a problem with something and they aren’t happy with the solution, you can keep going up the ladder, until you finally reach the pinnacle of our company, the president. It looks like I’m out $600, and Sears can remain in business for yet another year. Thank goodness, for it surely would hurt them to admit they made a mistake.
October 30th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Paul … I think the name you need is David Merkley, who is the executive VP of Finance.
November 1st, 2007 at 11:18 am
Aaaah, thank you so much.
November 1st, 2007 at 11:35 am
Actually, I did use the name Merkley, don’t know whta I was thinking. I decided to copy and paste the actual letter that I sent to him, although i still have no respnse as of yet. Thanks.
David B. Merkley 09/13/07
SVP & CFO
Sears Canada Inc.
222 Jarvis St.
Toronto, ON M5B 2B8
“Sears Canada is a multi-channel retailer dedicated to providing its customers with quality merchandise & exceptional service, coast to coast.” Sears Canada Mission Statement
Mr. Merkley,
I have never before felt compelled to write a letter to a business, but due to my recent dealings with Sears “customer service” department, I felt I had no other recourse than to send a letter to the Head office.
Over the years, I have had many pleasant dealings with Sears, as I always felt you put your customers first, and really appreciated their loyalty to your store. I recently had a less than satisfying experience with one of the Sears Flooring Centres, and then a more frustrating and maddening experience with Sears “customer service” people.
I have enclosed copies of the E-mails sent by myself to “customer service”, and their responses. If you would take the time to look over these, you can get the history of my issues with your company. I have taken a while to write you only because I was still very agitated over the whole situation, and did not want to come across as such.
I believe that your company’s mission statement above, has somehow become lost to some of your “customer service” employees. I do hope that I can come to a better resolve to this issue, by dealing with the Head Office.
Thank you for your time,
Paul L.
November 16th, 2007 at 1:35 am
The stacking kit arrived! I was finally able to connect my dryer. It worked OK. I called the customer service, waited and asked for the promised $80.00 credit. The credit never showed up in my account. I called the card only to find out they knew nothing about it. I called the customer service again, waited patiently, and was told that everything looked fine at their end. I assured them that certainly at my end the things did not look resolved at all. “Well we can send a note”, the rep said unconvincingly. At that point I was almost ready to give up. My last attempt was to tell the customer service rep that I am not going to pay for the dryer. The answer was quick and to the point: “You will have to deal with a collection agency then”. “I do not think it is right to threaten me with a collection agency while you clearly did not honour our agreement”, I countered, and added “Send the note, please”. The whole dryer and washer purchase story concluded 2 days later with the $80.00 credited to my account.
As a final observation I think a company threatening its dissatisfied customers should count its days realizing how lucky it is to still have them. Well Sears Canada rest assured I am no longer one of your loyal customers.
November 16th, 2007 at 8:03 am
Glad to hear that you got it resolved, Les. At least that part is good news.
November 16th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Glad to hear you have resolved your issue Les. Me, well, I’m still waiting. However, I did send an E-mail to this David Merkley fellow, and he did respond to me, saying that he never received my letter. He was good enough to say if I emailed him the information, he would look into it. That was November 9th, and I’m still waiting to hear back from him. I’m sure he must be doing an in-depth investigation (O.J. style), so I’ll allow him some time. Thanks.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:21 pm
as a sears employee i’d like to express myself for both sides of all these scenarios..forgive me if i repeat anything that’s already been discussed
the bottom line here with everyone i believe is that customers are not treated or appreciated as they were in the past.but this is not only true of sears,but of other major retailers as well.in my opinion,it’s not fair to judge sears unless you have compared the service/quality and reliability of the other such companies.i have dealt with a few others over the yrs,and yes they have all been the same.
i believe a lot of these issues should be dealt with at the manufacturer’s level by the retailers selling these poorer quality products.i can vouch also for the quality of clothing as well.
it seems retailers don’t give a hoot as to what the manufacturers are putting on the market.the almighty dollar is what both of them care about these days.
you will be told the reason major appliances for example are built the way they are because it’s more economic and the units aren’t as heavy for the customers to deal with!!bolderdash!!has that decrese been passed on to the consumer? i would rather a unit anyday that was heavier,with less plastic.have we as a consumer been given that option?..how are units more cost effecient because of this?…NOT!.
it used to be a rule of thumb..you pay more you get better quality..what happened to that?..i have personally dealt with many customers with higher end appliances that break down shortly after purchase.do you know what the customers are told when they try to return these faulty appliances by the sales people? you have to have a tech out to look at it first in case it’s something minor.well, i’m sorry but i paid good money for a functioning unit,regardless if minor or not..if you read the refund policy in any of the catalogues..and i strongly suggest you do…you have 90 dys for most major appliances. ..don’t blame the salesperson for this..they have been trained to do this.and unless this has changed recently..they work only on a commission..the last time i spoke with a local sears retail associate.
sears internal policy is to “keep it sold” so everyone is told they have to attempt to get the customer to keep the product no matter what as often as is possible.
oh, i’m sure you are all aware how well you are treated when you make your purchases..oh no problem we’ll service it…etc…etc…then when there are probs you have the opposition to a return,the wait for a tech and the prt etc..etc.now i cannot speak for other companies re their service end except for the fact,the service people were more dependable for coming out for the service…although they could take a few days as well.as far as similar problems with products..i have found there is no difference..remember they sell the same name brand as sears does..and remember kenmore is made by major manufacturers as well.
WARRANTIES: to be fair to sears,they will honour the manufacturers’ warranties within that time frame.you must read your manuals to find out exactly what is covered and not and for how long..this can vary greatly from product to product..or ask your salesperson at time of purchase.after the warranty has expired sears shouldn’t be held accountable for the problems..i know, i know a lot of you disagree with this but it is what it is and if you go anywhere else it is no different…i agree these products shouldn’t break down that soon but again who made them?who should actually be held accountable?
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENTS: there are mixed feelings with these agreements..i find in general they are good to have but shouldn’t be necessary.i have had every one of my appliances break down under 5 yrs old and i am very very disappointed in this..so i am glad i do have them…if you do decide to choose that option,please,please find out everything you can about them and make sure you receive the contract..if not call them..a lot of customers claim they don’t receive them.oh yes,another thing you may want to take note of, is that when you receive that call for renewal, they charge you for it right away,they don’t wait til the last one expires..they usually call 1 month prior..none of these warranties will cover normal wear and tear or abuse or parts that wear out under normal usage..ie: belts,filters,bags etc.
COSMETIC ISSUES: both types of warranties do not cover these
issues,ie; discolouration, marks etc.
BUYOUTS: these technically are not offered under any of the agreements but is done generally as a good will offer.for those of you who would like to know how it works…all major appliances have a life expectancy(another difference from the old days) which can vary.you must meet certain criteria before this will be offered to you.
1)3 major repairs for the same component within a 12 mnth time frame that inteferes with the normal functiion of the unit
2)the unit has been deemed unrepairable(major function)
3)you have waited for a service call extending the time frame of one mnth(this may have changed).
depending on the life left on your unit..sears will go from there..ie: it’s deemed unrepairable you have had a washer 5 yrs but has life expectancy of 10 yrs..you have 5 yrs left of life on it….so if the cost of the unit is 1,000.00, you would receive 500.00 towards the purchase of another one through sears…i hope this helps you understand the process a little easier.
CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS: you are all concerned with this end of it. of course, just like anywhere else you will speak with one that isn’t very helpful,but if you forward a complaint about this individual,it is dealt with,in the context of them being rude or brushing you off..but there are a number of them that will go out of their way to try and satisfy you as well as the company.these representative will do everything they can within the company policies.it is not their fault you are kept on hold as long as you are,and they are very understanding of this,they can only do so much for you.they do understand your frustrations..remember they are customers too with feelings as you have.they are not just a voice on the phone.most of them feel the way you do,so that’s why they opted for that dept…to help…what is difficult for them is the constant internal changes so you may get different answers from time to time.this is beyond their control.
you may wish to speak to the same rep each time,which personally i’m in agreement with, but they have now been instructed not to transfer those calls.you must speak with the one answering the call.notes are mandatory after each conversation.
SERVICE: this is probably the most frustrating of all for everyone.getting a tech out there.i’m not sure what to say there,when you are told they are all booked up,they do mean this,sometimes it goes it spurts.we can’t control or forecast how many customers in a certain time frame will call in.that’s impossible.unfortunately it is also difficult to hire techs as the # of people interested in this field has dwindled dramatically..many opting for computer careers in some capacity…we also have no control over how soon a part will come in,that’s up to the manufacturer if we don’t have selective parts in stock.there has been a lot of closures of service units across canada which was a decision made by head office..so i know the ones that remain are often swamped with the excess work load and is very frustrating for customers especially when i comes to picking up parts.i believe it’s frustrating for the service units as well.
i don’t understand why customers are not contacted sooner then the same day or night before to confirm the service,as i know a lot of customers are very upset,and rightly so for a no call or show at all.personally i feel this could be dealt with far better.there is no excuse for that.
my comments above are based on my personal experiences with sears as an associate as well as being a past customer.
joline
i strongly feel that if you want a more personal individual interaction with a company..the small businessman is the way to go..they actually remember who you are!! i feel the large companies like sears have forgotten the small person and they have grown into such a large corporation that all that matters is the money..nothing more..nothing less…we really can’t blame it all on one company..at least from my experience they are no different..we just have to do a more thorough check on the next product we purchase..it’s great having this forum…now if we could only create a consumer advocate group to protest act out against these injustices..hmmmm..wonder where it
would take us?..personally i’ve decided to buy used from now on..a lot less cost involved ..you pay a 100 or 2, you made need a repair in a couple of yrs..maybe another 1 or 200,but do the calculations with a new unit + warranties..hey at least with used you can get a different look more often at less the cost!!
November 21st, 2007 at 1:03 pm
i believe it was paul who mentioned there is no longer a president’s line..he is correct..and for those of you who are interested..when you send that letter to jarvis street in toronto..it mostly goes back to belleville as well as the emails.just to be honest this also happens within other major companies as well.
sears employees are treated like a # very indespensable..all they care about is the # of clls you make..and how short you can make the clls..not how well you serviced the customer or how fast you get their issues resolved.many associates want to stay with a customer and see their problem through to a resolution but this is no longer possible..no wonder customers are confused when told different things each call.
the turn over is unbelieveable..if you are part time..your hrs can be cut way down to maybe 11..have seen it happen..and it seems..they just keep piling up more and more responsibilites on the associates despite whether they’ve been trained or not…you don’t get paid more..but you’re told if you don’t keep up…hey guess what?..they get rewarded for good compliance or attendance with maybe a piece of paper,a rice krispie square or..to watch one of the supervisors dress into something rridiculous…WOW!!..what an incentive!!..they try to manipulate you into changing your avail work hrs..by telling you that if you don’t..you may not get many hrs on your future schedules.
when i started,they claimed they were family oriented.that was a good one..also if you give notice from the doc you will be off for awhile..you are treated as absent until you submitt their form?needless to say..that’s why i no longer work for sears
hey, have any of you noticed,you don’t see that commercial anymore re “great place to work shop and invest”?..hmmm wonder why.
November 22nd, 2007 at 8:35 pm
I,am a sears employee for 22 years and would like to give my 2 cents worth. The company doesn,t care about it,s workers. All they care about is the bottom line,they over work there employees changing there job discription from day to day. They take away benefits from there workers every year. The senior workers who have been in profits sharing for years to help out with there little pension [after 30 +years of service around 300 dollars a month] was taken away 2 years ago only to see the shares double within a few weeks,sounds fishy.As we speak their taking our discount away.SEARS saying it,s a great place to work, shop, invest. I DON,T THINK SO. Well i,am glad to get that off my chest,so people fight for what is RIGHT,and keep posting.
November 23rd, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Great “forum” for venting about Sears, “the company we have all learned to hate”.
We had always been loyal Sears shoppers, now we spend less than $200 each year with them, mostly for long distance service.
Our issue was with some occasional tables. We placed a $2000 order with the Richmond Sears Home Centre with the understanding that a $500 credit adjustment would be applied the next day when the tables would be “on-sale”. The credit was not applied for 11 calendar days. Evidently Sears process is to charge the customer for the main order immediately and then go through what can be as much as a 10 working day process to apply the credit.
Sears Customer Service advised us to pay the bill in full or “they” will charge you interest and a credit will be available on your next statement. We didn’t want a credit as we had no plans to buy anything soon from Sears. We cancelled the order.
Our next statement included the full credit for the cancelled order and an additional charge of $500. Now our outstanding balance is $500 which we have never received any product or service. Sears simply made a double entry and no one at the Richmond Store, customer service or credit seems to be able to help. In fact the parting words from the Richmond Store was to call Customer Service and “Good Luck”.
Our suggestion, shop anywhere but Sears.
November 27th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Bought a maytag washer from sears in March 2006 It stopped working In July 2007 called Sears and the customer service rep. told me it wasnt covered under warranty.Not believing them I called Maytag and was told that the washing machine was difinitly covered under warranty but it was sears who was responsible for it. Armed with this information Sears was called again and after being transferred a dozen times I was finally told YES it was covered but a sears rep had to come to look at it.I would have to pay $120 for a service call and the labour to put the part in,on top of that it would be a month before they could come to look at it.Having three young children I told them to forget it.I have a house full of sears appliances which all (knock on wood) work well but after this I will not buy from them for the simple fact that I was lied to about the warranty on the washer
November 28th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Last week we purchased a Kenmore Elite dishwasher, to replace a previous Kenmore we’ve had for 18 years. They added $139.00 for installation.
The dishwasher was delivered yesterday. The installer told me that due to changes in building & safety codes in the past 18 years he’d need to modify the water and electric lines, and charged me $326 extra. The whole installation, beginning to end, took less than 45 minutes – and I doubt it would have taken less time without the modifications. I also doubt that whatever parts he used could have been that expensive.
Anyway, the kitchen was being re-tiled at the same time and I didn’t have the luxury of shopping for cheaper installation. I feel that I was really taken to the cleaners. On the plus side, the dishwasher is as silent as advertised, and I’m quite impressed with it.
November 28th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
Sears*connect Long Distance has good rates but sub-standard customer service. I was on hold for over an hour today waiting to talk to someone before I finally gave up. I decided to call card services who transfered me over to Sears*connect where I got a recording telling me they were closed! By the way this was at 4:02 pm Mountain Time! Sears*connect customer service closes at 4:00 in the afternoon??? Wow, I can not believe that Sears would even allow their name to be attached to a such a pathetic long distance provider!
November 28th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
I have worked in Corporate Customer Service for a little over eight months in the PRS department. For six plus hours per day I take calls from customers with problems ranging from missed service appointments to problems ordering parts to buyouts on defective appliances. I have my strong desire to help people to motivate me and the Sears policy to guide me through the calls of my day. My job satisfaction level is high; I love my job. There is nothing more rewarding to me than helping a customer with a situation that has been ongoing. If I can wrap up the details and get the customer happily on his/her way, I go home feeling proud. My co-workers think I’m nuts because I look forward to going to work and I often work through my scheduled breaks, something frowned upon by management because it affects our statistics, more on that later. The novelty of actually having a positive impact on people’s lives every day is a high that I don’t expect to wear off any time soon.
However, what is beginning to wear on me is the administrative side of Sears for employees. I recently had my second review and I was struck by a few things that give me pause. Up until my review I thought I was an outstanding customer service rep. I really pride myself on returning calls, investigating customer complaints, getting to the bottom of things and resolving issues so that people can stop making dozens of calls to Sears and getting nowhere. The policy for a lot of people at Sears seems to be “pass the buck”, but I tell customers, “The buck stops here.” They’re reluctant to believe it, but I really feel that for the time I have left at Sears, I’m going to do my best to have a positive impact on people’s interactions with Sears. Which brings me back to my point….. my review. It seems my average call time is high. Well, that’s because I listen to people and I do what it takes to get matters resolved. That includes calling service units and tracking down reports from technicians, calling stores to arrange loaner appliances when customers are facing long repair timetables, sending follow up emails to supervisors, etc. We are supposed to handle 6-8 calls per hour, I average 3.25, so you can see the problem. Too much talking says my supervisor; too much listening is what she means. My “not ready” time is too high. That means that I’m using Sears’ time to finish up loose ends when I should be ready to take the next call. I’m not conforming to Sears’ break times.. well sometimes calls go past my scheduled break time and I can’t get away. That affects my “compliance” and gives my team bad results. It doesn’t matter that I was providing excellent customer service, take your breaks on time I was told. Next on the list is attendance. I am a single mother of three children with no family in the area. Affordable, reliable childcare is not in abundance here and I have struggled with finding good care since I moved here. It doesn’t matter how good the care is, when your kids are sick ya gotta stay home with them. Since my employment began, I have missed 6 days of work. Well, did you know that in one calendar year we’re only permitted to miss eight days? Sears is supposed to be a family oriented company, yet I’m getting a written notice about my absences. Forget Sears associates wanting onsite day care, how about a little compassion when my kids are sick? I have a near perfect attendance record of 97%, above the requested 96.3% and yet I’m given a written notice. What exactly do they expect me to do?
Well, I guess I’m still dedicated to my job and I still love helping people, I just don’t know how much longer I am going to have this position. I fully expect a termination in the new year. Why? Well, because I’m doing my job the way that I want to, not the way Sears wants me to.
To those who have posted before me with legitimate concerns, don’t give up. Somewhere in Belleville CCS there is an associate waiting for your call.
November 29th, 2007 at 8:08 am
[...] may remember a couple of postings I wrote from the summer of 2006 about how Sears Canada had forgotten their brand promise. The essence of what I wrote was that Sears, by quietly abandoning their commitment to [...]
November 29th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Boy, I really feel for all of you. It is true, Sears just doesn’t care.
I sell Sears appliances at KMart. in fact, I am the dept manager. I am told to tell customers to call the 1-800-4my-home # anytime there is an issue. Problems are rare, occurring once out of every 100 sales or so. Maybe I am lucky?
But that one sale that goes wrong is usually a doozy. I am the go between, with everyone putting the blame on me. I am the SALESPERSON. I have no control over delivery issues, broken appliances, or waits. I do my best to be as honest as I canbe with the customer, on the appliance they are looking at. THAT is my job.
I had a CSR threaten to have me fired because I did a return on a fridge that was the wrong size for the customer. I then resold her the correct fridge, making her very happy. All this was done on her Sears Card. Customer comes back later and says return was never credited to her card. I told her it can take up to 30 days. Okay, at 40 days she come back, still no credit. i call card services, who say they never received it. I then call specialties, who ADMIT they sent the money back to her card 48 hours after the return. But, somehow it is MY fault customer never received credit. CSR says i had better fork over the 700.00 or it is my job.
Customer was stunned by this, and had enough sense to realize I didn’t take her money.
being the salesperson is no piece of cake either.
December 4th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
I came to this site by typing into Google “How to complain to Sears Canada”. The amount of hits I got were nothing short of SCARY!. Conversely, type into Google “How to complain to HBC”, or “How to complain to Hudson’s Bay Company” gets you virtulally nothing remotely related to customer complaints (at least at first blush anyway). Wonder why that is? Humm…
I digress. I scourered this site trying to find information on who’s name I could throw around to get some action, and thank the few of you who have made an attempt to find this information out and have shared it with us, the stupid naive idiots who chose to pay more for their appliances so they could have the privilege of getting the crappiest service ever. If I wanted crappy after sales service, I could have shopped at the Brick and saved money. Anyway, my sister and I are in the same boat as Yvonne (August 29th post). Sears sales reps can sell you appliances, you’ll just never see those appliances for a very long time. They sell you the stuff with promises that “No miss. you won’t have to book multiple days off and pay multiple delivery charges to get your new front load top of the line LG 4.0 capacity washer and dryer stackable combo with the controls in the centre and your new top of the line Kenmore dishwasher and your new sofa and loveseat…I am the salesman extrodinare and can arrange one single date for delivery and installation!” I should have known better when I saw my boss in line behind me at the sales desk ready to grill “Kenny” from the South Edmonton Common store about why her front load washer still hadn’t been delivered yet (found out later she has been waiting since August). So, stupid me, we end up purchasing the lot, so they are into us for quite a bit of cash now. We even purchased the extended warranty after they explained the cost of the electronic sensor parts (suffices to say, I just went down to Sears to cancel the extended warranties after seeing this site and the incompetence I’ve experienced thus far). Well, my beef is with the coordination of installation and delivery of the appliances (or lack there of). They can sell you the stuff, you just will never see the stuff at your doorstep because of incompetence at the managerial level, the crappy database they go off of to give you the bogus install and delivery dates, and the lack of knowledge about how their system is even set up. They don’t even know that they can’t possibly schedule a washer/dryer and a dishwasher install through the same installation scheduler phone number they’ve been using since the dawn of time (perhaps we are the only ones who ever purchased a washer AND a diswasher all a the same time). They have a fax number and a phone number, but it’s just for the dishwasher dudes…not the washer dryer installer. You would think they would know that after selling (how many did Omni quote….billions of items). No, the customer gets to find out that little gem after booking time off and having no one show up, and after several calls to kick some butt, you slowly figure out how incompetent Sears really is. So far, four full days off work…no freaking new item to be seen in my home. I’m trying valiantly to get some answers as to why Sears can’t find their ass with both hands let alone coordinate two installations for appliances for the same date. So far, I’m looking at more than likely three more days I’ll have to take off, and that’s if they can stick to their new promises, (which I know they can’t since they have no control over their trades). This could end up taking up all my holidays just waiting around for these morons to get their act together, and I haven’t been able to get any answers as to why they can’t figure out something simple coordinating installation dates if that’s a good part of their job.
Reading this site, I’m strongly considering NOT taking delivery of the items and buying from someone else before it’s too late!
December 4th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
[...] with a smile on its face, with telling customers to go, err, interact with themselves (here and here), I thank TNF for anticipating this situation of a failed lace, and for having a process that can [...]
December 13th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Purchased a dishwasher from Sears in Thunder Bay in April 2007. I didn’t install it until August 2007 (to busy with other stuff). It began acting up almost right away. Start of October it stopped working. There have been two attempts by Sears to fix it already. The third attempt is tomorrow (14Dec07), if they can be bothered to show up. Dealings with customer service and parts people have been brutal at best. Called store today and complained to sales guy in major appliances, he hung up. No matter what happens this is the last purchase from Sears.
December 18th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Oh my, looks like my problems are not over yet!
I just looked on the net to try and find an email for head office.
My gripe was a frig I purchased that is super super noisy. Sears sent a repair man to replace the compressor yesterday. He worked for 4 hours, and then declared he could not repair and left. SO there I was emptying the refrigerator at 7:00 in the evening after a full days work. I was furious. It being xmas time, it was packed full as I have been prepearing foods for the holidays.
This morning, I called. Yahoo they brought a replacement….now that it is plugged and running..hell it makes TWICE as much noise as the old one.
Called the salesman…like he cares…will battle again tomorrow…the store is closed now.
I am still furious…
December 20th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
I MAY OF FOUND SEARS CANADA. HEADQUARTERS…..STAY TUNNED!!!! From Just Another disappointed Sears Customer……..Marianne
Try calling your local branch and ask for the Head Office Customer Service number. The number I got was 1-888-473-2772you could write Home@sears.ca or write: Corporate Customer Service, 500 College Street, East, Belleville, Ontario K8N 5L3 or The President Mr. Dean Rogers President of Sears. 222 Jarvis Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2B8 I writing both places. Good Luck!!!
More Business & Investing News… Featured Broker sponsored link
¥ € $ – Learn. Practice. Trade.OTTAWA, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Sears Canada (SCC.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) has sold its headquarters and adjacent land in Toronto to the province of Ontario and will relocate to surplus space in its downtown Toronto store, the retailer said on Wednesday.
Sears Canada did not disclose financial terms of the sale and said no staffing cuts were expected as part of the move.
The company plans to occupy the top four floors of its eight-floor store in the Toronto Eaton Centre, where the department store will continue operating on four floors. While planning the move, Sears Canada will lease back its current headquarters on Toronto’s Jarvis Street from the Ontario government.
“The sale of our Jarvis Street building is a single event based on the availability of space in a location we already occupy,” Chief Executive Dene Rogers said in a statement.
“There are no plans to sell other Sears Canada properties other than those which have already been disclosed. In fact, we continuously seek opportunities to add new store locations to our current roster.”
Sears Canada has 196 corporate stores, 179 dealer stores and 61 home improvement showrooms.
Its shares rose 5.7 percent, or C$1.56, to C$28.98 on the Toronto Stock Exchange in early trade on Wednesday. The stock is up about 5 percent so far this year, underperforming a gain of 8.4 percent by the market’s consumer discretionary sector , which includes retail issues.
December 27th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Well, well, well, I guess this is where we poor folks have to nag is it? Better here then on the invisible lines that Sears calls the Customer Service arena.
I have supported Sears all through my married life, appliances, clothing, toys, shoes what have you…not anymore!
In the past 30 years of marriage, thousands of dollars have crossed our accounts and into the “dependable” depositories of Sears, and with great trust I purchased extended warranties on all my appliances, I even prepaid years in advance for such service! Crap! This is where the old adage Buyer Beware certainly fits the bill.
I have seniors living with me, who are bedridden, I work, I have to bring outside help in for our elderly parents, and I do this lovingly because we are all they have. Our latest horror story concerns the washer and dryer, purchased in 2003, dryer fails, takes a week for someone to come in, I use up a sick day to wait for him to show up. Two days after this “fix” the dryer fails in the same way, call in, ask that the service person put me through to someone who can help me, as I have a situation at home that is urgent. I am furious as the girls pass me from one dept. to the next, and finally to the answering service because customer service managers are in a meeting. I am upset with the run around and state my case, where a certain Anna hangs up on me! On Monday before Xmas day a serviceman shows up, (now I really cannot believe that there are so many servicemen for Sears, because it takes so long to get them to come to service anything) so he shows up, they know what the problem is or have my 5 calls explaining everything not been noted? This is what I figure, so he has no parts, and no one to help him move the sucker. They should know back at the “service dept.” that this house has stacked machines and that two people are required to move them for service. So he leaves, guessing at what the prolem might be and says he will return Wednesday Dec. 26th. Of course I have nothing better to do than to wait for him on boxing day….he doesn’t show….Thursday, no one shows….I call the service dept., where Natalie promises me a call back from the dispatch dept….I’m still waiting…..and waiting….and waiting.
January 4th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Sears Sucks!
I work in retail myself and I can tell you that our customer service, returns, and warranty policies are nothing like Sears. We always put the customer first, even when we know they are wrong. Sears is pathetic to a point that I will NEVER buy anything else from them again. I bought a $2000.00 snow blower and using it the forth time the lever that controls the chute position broke off in my hand. Upon examining it, I realized that the design was poor and the metal used was poor as well. The lever had actually been broke for a very long time because rust had built up in the broken area. It was probably broke during the assembly process.
I called customer service which really should be called sears service – screw the customer any way you can, and was told on the phone that this was a “normal wear and tear part!!!!” After trying to plead my case I was told that I had to either buy the replacement part or have a technician come out to my house to evaluate whether or not the part was defective. In respect to the latter I would have had to take a day off work so I told them to forget it. The customer service agent hung up on me.
I sent a letter to Sears and never received a reply. For anyone trying to defend this type of after market service, give your head a shake.
For anyone thinking of buying anything from Sears, think again!!!
January 6th, 2008 at 1:48 am
I beat the Sears runaround!
A few years ago, I was in the Army, and deployed. My wife called to have the central vac (under warranty) repaired as it was making a howling noise. The service tech arrived and diagnosed it as a plugged hose and left. He did us a favour though and didn’t charge the poor helpless female the not a warranty call charge.
When I got home and saw what was actually wrong, I was floored. The brushes in the motor had come out of there housing and it was litterly howling when running.
I called the customer service line, and anyone else who would listen; to be told it was now out of warranty, and to basically get lost. Also found out the replacement motor was more than a new unit.
Being on to take on a challange, I put the unit in the truck and drove it to Sears. Walked inside with it and plugged it in. People from the other side of the store came over to see what was going on. When the appliance manager yelled at me to ask what I was doing………..I replied the noise was from a plugged hose. He of course walked right into it when he said “but there is no hose on it” I then said “Bingo”
They wouldn’t put the new motor in, but I was presented with the new motor unit, and told that the matter was settled.
Anyways, the is the last time I bought anything from Sears
Just bought a new HE washer/drier combo from Leons. Missing the shelf for shoes and such. Phoned in and told, with an appology, that it would take 5 weeks for delivery. No muss, no fuss, just a sorry it didn’t come. And yesterday, a thank you card from the salesman.
Sorry for all you folks with a sad story to tell, but now when I have a problem with a company and stop buying their product; I email them. My HP computer is also a piece of junk, endless problems with no resolve for manufactuing defects they know about. So, when I replace it, I will email HP and tell them I bought a replacement, and they were not in the running. If we all did this, then the big faceless corps would have some paperwork to show then what they are doing
John
January 6th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
I would just like to point out to most of the people on this site that sears rarely if ever manufactures any of the products it sells. The Kenmore brands are usually just re-branded machines made by major producers of products.
I recently purchases a Power Miser 12 Hot Water heater and had a plumber I know install it for free. Well when we went to hook up the gas valve in inlet connection was cracked. I put a call into them and after a little discussion was able to get them to declare it an emergency so they are sending someone first thing in the morning to replace the part. We will see how this is handled as it may be the make or break event for me as far as buying anything ever again from Sears.
January 7th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Re: Sears Sucks (Jan4th)
Still no reply from Sears…go figure. Because we are
receiving a record amount of snow this year I redesigned the control lever arm myself, took it to a machine shop and had it welded and a different (lighter) spring installed. It cost me $35.00. Sears wanted $65.00 for the part and it would have been the same junk installed in the first place. The repaired part works great!
As af as everyone going on about Sears not being the manufacturer of their products, it should never matter. Sears is in the business of selling product for a profit. Who made that product is irrelevant. The fact that Sears is making a profit on the merchandise should hold them accountable for after market service on product sold. It’s that simple.
It’s a pity that Local Newspapers, Better Business Bureau, Ombudsman, Consumer Affairs, etc., don’t read and react to this blog.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:24 am
http://searscorporatecustomerservice.blogspot.com
January 10th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Well, I bought three major appliances with extended warranties from Sears. The service has been pathetic. I am always polite on the phone but have been treated poorly by call centre staff anyway. I handle all calls on speaker phone so my wife can hear them and me — puts them on notice that they are being monitored and prevents me from getting irate.
The only thing taken seriously was when the fridge went down after the first two days. We had life preserving drugs in the fridge. They showed up fast because I told the we had hundreds of dollars worth of drugs (don’t get excited it was insulin) but still too late — I asked and got our money back.
I am done with Sears we are closing off our credit cards. We will not be extending our warranties beyond what we already wasted our money on. Our appliances will come from Caplan’s in Toronto.
I know appliance service can be difficult but Sears call centres make it a lot more difficult than it has to be and there is no one to complain to. No one will take any responsibility to resolve customer issues — that is not an accident. It is how the employees have been trained.
We had two appliances dead on arrival, multiple missed appointments for repairs and poor responses from the call centre. There seems to be no way to get statisfaction. Tonight we decided to treat it all like a Monty Python episode but we will NEvER buy another appliance at Sears.
January 11th, 2008 at 12:04 am
I faxed the President of Sears in August and have yet to get a reply. I am in a black hole of customer service – ha! reps. I bought new appliances for 7 grand from Sears in May. The washer was damaged and the delivery personnel smashed a ceramic tile in the middle of my kitchen. That was in May. I have talked to a dozen people, some quite rude, many promising satisfaction. I have spent days on the phone and waiting for service personnel to come to the door. It is now January and nothing has happened. My advice. Don’t shop Sears. I have never had worse service. Tell everyone you know. I am.
January 13th, 2008 at 3:14 am
Heads up everyone! All letters, faxes, and most telephone lines go directly to Belleville to the Corporate Customer Service team. If you want your inquiry answered, you really should think about mailing your letter to the previously noted address on College Street in Belleville. Faxes get thrown in the garbage all too often and lately they’ve been finding PresLine letters in the recycling bin instead of in the locked cabinet. Also, there is no President’s Line for customer complaints anymore, you’re stuck with the same people who tried to help you the first time around. We actually tell people now that all “paths” lead to Belleville and there really is no point in trying to circumvent our authority, we know the policy and we enforce it, there is no back door anymore.
January 17th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I’m not clear if “Current Customer Service Rep” is trying to provide useful information or just taunt us with the fact that Sears doesn’t really value the consumer and there is no place left to go once Customer Service has failed you.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Sorry I couldn’t resist adding to the disatisfaction please read e:mail attached;
Will,
Thank you for your response, however this fails to address my issue or concern. I have a two year old fridge that cost $1400+ dollars, and it has now been down for two weeks. Understanding it may very well be a compressor problem which is under warrantee for 5 years, I can’t get someone to check it in the first place. I have no reliable service representative in my area (he has yet to attend my home). Your analogy with respect to the car is unfounded as a car repairman is at least available or accessible, and it too has at least a 3 year bumper to bumper. Secondly, yes this may very well happen to an appliance purchased from anywhere, but I did not purchase it from anywhere, I purchased it from Sears.
I did not take the time to bring forth my concern to have you acknowledge it and thank me for shopping online. I would like some genuine customer service. I would expect some form of assistance in rectifying my issue. I would like concrete options on how this will be repaired or how Sears would like to negotiate return of this product for repair or replacement with fair market depreciation. I would be more than happy to discuss this with the customer service manager at their convenience.
Respectfully,
Joel Campbell
—–Original Message—–
From: webmaster@sears.ca [mailto:webmaster@sears.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 5:53 PM
To: Joel Campbell
Subject: CASE: 1248410 parts issue
Hello Mr. Campbell
Thank you for taking the time to contact us at Sears regarding this matter.
I wish I could give you reassurance that this is an isolated issue, but I cannot. An appliance purchased from anywhere is the same it can go for years with no problems, they are very similar to a car.
Thank you for using Sears online
Regards
Will
Corporate Customer Service
From: “Joel Campbell” Joel.Campbell.com To: home@sears.ca
Hello,
The fridge I purchase from Sears in December of 2005 has recently failed. When I called for assistance the lady at the help line advised she was faxing out a work request. This was on a Thursday or Friday. I heard nothing back from anyone and began calling area repair personnel myself Monday. I did locate the Sears repairman on Tuesday but he could not come and assess until the end of the week. We trouble shot the issue over the phone. I then took the initiative to order the part on Tuesday because being without a fridge (especially on that is two years old, with two small children in the house) is really inconvenient. The lady who took the order said it should arrive via UPS on Friday. Friday came no part as did Monday no part. I called back to the parts department to attempt to track and Dustin advised the part was scheduled to be shipped Tomorrow (Tuesday January 15th). Living in a remote area is tough and this is why we rely on Sears’s depots and Sears brand names to avo
id issues like this. So as it stands I am fridge less for two weeks on a fridge I would have assumed would be trouble free for 10 or more years. I guess I am looking for some reassurance that this is an isolated issue. I am even tempted to just go buy a new fridge, but would it be from Sears?
Anything you can do to help or alleviate my concerns would be great. For the record those I spoke to on the phone were courteous and appeared to have the best intentions.
Sincerely,
Joel Campbell
January 18th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Worked corporately (Toronto Head Office) for a number of years. A couple things. If you do not like the response from Customer Service Tell them “not acceptable” as there is no room for negotiation on Sears part, and escalate to the next in line. Customer Contact / Service should now go to Ajit Khanna Senior Vice-President Home Services, Travel and Contact Centres. Paula has left Sears for Direct Energy.
January 19th, 2008 at 1:27 am
I’m not taunting anyone, just providing up to date information. If you want action from Sears, it’s hard to come by, you really have to stick to your guns and hope your next call is answered by someone with some integrity. The Sears policy is pretty clear, you have 90 days to return most merchandise, but Sears’ front line will convince you to have a tech come out to assess the situation for appliances and furniture. If it is dire, chances are you’ll get to exchange it. However, if it is repairable, we definitely prefer that route. Why? Because returns are costly and we do all we can to KIS – keep it sold. We might reimburse part of the cost of the appliance as a credit on your account or we might send you out a gift card. The same goes for compensation for missed service, bad repairs, poor service, etc. If your product is clearly out of warranty and you need service you have to cover all costs yourself, which is fairly standard I think. However, if it’s just one month out of warranty there is a fair possibility you can get Sears to pick up part of the cost of the repair. In most places the cost of a tech to come to your house is about $77.95. He will assess the situation, order parts and come back to install them. The average repair takes three weeks to complete. Yes, it is a long time. You have to wait 5-7 days for a tech to come out in the first place. Then another week for the parts to come in from the central warehouse in Belleville, ON and then another week for a new scheduled appointment. If the item is a fridge and you have no other form of refrigeration, the service may be quicker and if it’s not possible, Sears will find you a loaner fridge from either a service unit or from the local store you purchased your appliances from.
Also, if you want the truth from the associate you’re speaking with or you’re not happy with the information you’re getting, ask to speak to a supervisor and if you don’t get “accidentally” disconnected first, you might just get transferred to customer service and that’s when the real fun begins, well for me anyway.
January 19th, 2008 at 1:41 am
Yikes, Joel. I would contact the Home Central telephone number and ask for corporate customer service. If Sears cannot service your appliance in reasonable period of time, it will replace the product pro-rated. Sometimes in remote areas Sears doesn’t have personnel to do the work and have to rely on contractors. If more than three weeks go by without contact by the contractor or if we simply don’t have anyone to service your unit, Sears will again buy out your appliance with usage/restocking fees. I don’t know if you have extended warranty with Sears (maintenance or protection agreements), but it does entitle you to annual food loss of $200 or in the case of laundry repairs, laundry expenses up to $20/week. These are goodwill gestures by Sears and often even customer service associates won’t volunteer that information. Good luck with your situation. By the way, that email from Will in CCS is absolutely laughable. If bringing it to my supervisor’s attention wouldn’t mean copping to these posts of my own, I would advise her of the really poor response you received from “Will”.
January 21st, 2008 at 9:59 pm
the sad thing is that sears built its reputation on world class customer service and now has decided to join most other large companies in the way they treat customers due to cut-throat competition. The products have never been more costly-complex-finicky. Made all over the world with small parts coming from anywhere the big companies can get the cheapest price for them. Nobody blames the manufacturer for this.
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I too have a over 2month ordeal with Sears Canada and I am getting nowhere. They have the attitude that they just don’t care. They have now today charged me 2 times for a product (loveseat) that was part of an esemble that never arrived. You can’t find a head office, or legal department…only there 1-800 numbers that you keep getting bounced around and around and around to people who just don’t care, screw up things even more, tell you they care and will call you back but never do, or just plain “tough luck for you…see ya!”. I would like to start a class action lawsuit with Sears Canada with other unsatisfied Sears customers. I think it will only take that to get their full attention.
January 24th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I bought a Kenmore washer from Sears and will never shop there again. Enough said. Home Depot …Wal Mart … anywhere but Sears from now on.
John Lombardi
January 26th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
We purchased a snowblower in December/2004 and loved it until Sears sent a repair person to do a recall,they changed the oil, spark plug .and the recall part ,this was done in fall of 2007.
The fist time out with it this winter the oil plug on the bottom of motor that the repair men had taken off got loose and came off the belt was full of oil and jammed at the bottom causing damage to the auger pulley.
We then called Sears in Cornwall and told them the story the lady said that they would look after this problem and that she was sorry it had happen .The reapir people call us 3 weeks later and tell me the bill is will be $199.00 so i told them to go to hell.
I then purchased a pulley from the usa at a cost of $25.15 and took 15 minutes to install everything .
So just let me tell you we will never buy any appliance ,snowblowers,tv.or anything of this sort from sears every in the rest of my life
January 26th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
NOTE
For your information
Sears owns a company named Parts direct and they just don’t care about customers and if you think you will get parts from them forget it .
Just have a look at complaints in the USA about Sears
January 27th, 2008 at 11:48 am
I am amazed at this website. I came to the net looking for the email of the president of Sears to vent my own frustration at poor service calls on my washer that is a year old. My poor wife nearly went mad with lack of training, the rudeness, the poor communication. Rather than detail my woes I would rather like to express my sadness and shame at a president of a company to allow things to get this bad. Clearly, he takes no pride in his job to allow such a fiasco. I am embarrassed for him. And, to top it off, to have to hire blog spoilers like ‘Omni’ to harass good customers with his (or is it her?) abusive tones is reprehensible. I am sorry for him despite his multi-million dollar salary. Does he shop at his own company? Possibly. Which would lead me to further question his character. What leader would have the temerity to patronize his own business when even his employees are utilizing this blog to vent their very real concerns? It is time for Dene and all the execs at Sears to take pride in their jobs and do them right. Only then can they hold their heads high, accept their compensation rightfully, and patronize a great company they helped to build. Until that day, ladies and gentlemen, I’m done with this pathetic corporation. I hope their shareholders begin to realize they have invested in a sinking ship.
January 29th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Well, I have to finally admit defeat. After six months of trying to come to some sort of resolve with Sears, they have finally worn me down. I guess I’ll just install the rest of the laminate flooring in my workshop (filled with Craftsman tools by the way. Damn.) and use it up. However, I will never, ever, EVER, deal with Sears again. What a joke of a company. With all of thier constant sales and promotions, you can see they are struggling to stay afloat. Hmmmm, I wonder why, you bunch of morons. To the
rest of you dissatisfied folks, best of luck. Thanks for letting me vent, at those Sears &%#&%$’s!!
February 8th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Never again will I purchase a big-ticket item (appliance or otherwise) from Sears. I assumed that if a person paid over $3000 for appliances, most of that being a top-of-the-line Jenn-Air stove, that they should last more than 2 years. And if a problem SHOULD crop up, at least I thought (foolishly it turns out) that I was dealing with a company which stands behind its products. Which is why I went to Sears for these purchases (and have done for 40 years: carpets, furniture, etc.) in the first place because they could have been bought cheaper elsewhere. No wonder the company is in trouble. Word gets out through blogs such as these. OMNI: please DO NOT respond – you’re ruining this website with your rants. You’re very tiresome.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Like many others, I came across this eye-opening site after googling “sears canada poor service”. Like many others, we have for 30 years bought all our appliances, furniture and many other major purchases from Sears. Like many others, we pay hundreds of dollars per year, for a service agreement on these appliances (for us, this is 2 fridges, microwave, stove, dishwasher, fridge, washer and dryer!!!) Like many others, I thought we were the only ones experiencing poor repair service: after all, this is SEARS!!! Isn’t the brand name synonymous with quality appliances and great customer service? And finally, like many others, we will NEVER buy another Sears appliance. As our appliances die, one by one, we will replace them with other brand names from other retailers.
I consider myself a mild, uncomplaining type, but Sherry at Sears Customer Service got an earful yesterday (I don’t believe in yelling–I just spoke firmly and at length), because I am wise to their ways, after 6 months of getting the runaround on repairs to 2 of our appliances (stove and dishwasher). There is never any empathy from those in customer service–all she said a couple of times in a glum voice was, “I am recording your comments”.
Does the following sound familiar to anyone? The service call pattern is as follows: I call the 800 number, describe the problem, they set a date for the service man to come. Come home to find a message on the answering machine that the tech is not able to come on the scheduled day; will come a week later. Tech shows up, examines the appliance, observes, “Yes, your stove, fridge, dishwasher…(fill in the blank) is broken. We do not have the parts in the truck. I will call and order the part. May I use your phone?” If things go smoothly, another date is scheduled for repair, and at least a week later, this tech or another one will return to replace the part.
In other words, there is a minimum of 2 visits for EVERY repair. No parts on the truck, EVER. They always have to order them from Belleville.
I want to emphasize that what I have just described is the BEST service we get from Sears–their normal, everyday service. If there is a tricky problem, believe me, things don’t go as smoothly.
I will not detail the problems we have had getting them to service our stove in particular. For someone like me, who uses the stove every day, it has been a major stress factor to be without it for a total of not weeks but months, since October, 2007.
Things have changed with Sears, and that is what is very disappointing to me. I used to call, someone would come out soon, check the problem, go out to his truck and get the parts, and be done and gone, with everything running tickety boo again.
Thanks for letting me share this.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:52 am
I also need to share my experience with all the people that have written their complaints, and add myself to the list of people that will never deal with Sears again! As my problem has not been resolved yet, I don’t want to disclose all the details, but I will do so once the promised resolution is reached which is supposed to be today.
To all the people still having trouble with Sears, I would strongly recommend that you file a complaint with The Better Business Bureau. http://www.bbbmwo.ca/ they have been able to help me get to where I’m at with Sears today. Also, anyone who is considering a purchase from Sears should also look at The Better Business Bureau review of the company http://www.bbbmwo.ca/commonreport.html?bid=17067&language=1&bureau=&bbbid=
I have had an ongoing battle with Sears Corporate Customer Service for over 2 months. I have been talked to like an idiot, hung up on and refused any information as to whom I can contact that is higher up than Corporate 1-800-664-1888. To me that was just adding insult to injury.
I have found out that the Corporate Customer Service Manager is Jennifer Boutilier, jboutil@sears.ca, you can reach her through the 1-800-664-1888 x2552, but she is too high up the corporate ladder to deal with calls. Don’t give up people! keep trying!
Will post more detailed information once resolution is achieved.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Hi, just like the rest of the people here I have had a terrible experience with Sears Corporate Customer Service, and I will never again shop there. I’m still awaiting a resolution to my problem, and I have been told this will happen some time before the end of the week. To all the people that are having problems with Sears, I would suggest that they file a complain with The Better Business Bureau http://www.bbbmwo.ca/ as this may help speed up the resolution. To all future Sears customers, I would strongly suggest that you read The Better Business Bureau reliability report on Sears http://www.bbbmwo.ca/commonreport.html?bid=17067&language=1&bureau=&bbbid=
The Sears Corporate Customer Service Manager is:
Jennifer Boutilier,
jennifer.boutilier@sears.ca
1-800-664-1888 x2552
February 15th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
OK, so some of you have appliances that broke down after the warranty expired? I assume Sears called and offered an M/A and YOU declined? Did ya ever try and buy life insurance for a DEAD relative? NOT! 2 LATE!!
First of all. Sears NO LONGER carries the warranty, it’s the manufacturers responsibility now. The Manufacturers have reduced most if not all warranties to ONE YEAR and that’s it so don’t expect anything more.
I am a Tech and KNOW Sears Canada does make exceptions when it comes to concessions. Those concession are granted based on the information given by the servicer and history on that model.
I work for all the major brands, you name it , we service it in and out of warranty and the policies are almost all the same.
If you want to cover all the bases, buy a service contract, if not, take your chances.
And SEARS CANADA, continues to be the BEST retailer out there. Believe it not! What, reading the letters on this site tells you much? Have you any idea how many HAPPY CUSTOMERS GO BACK TO SEARS EVERY DAY? LOTS, LOTS, LOTS!!!!
A word to the wise, don’t B*llsh*t a servicerman, he’s heard it before.
Most time we know exactly what caused the problem. Sometimes, it is not the customers fault….. you just the luck of the draw. SUCK IT UP and pay for the repair.
And your complaints do nothing on thios site, write to the President Of Sears Canada.
I you are a Yank, write to The President of Sears USA.
I shall close using the most hated phrase I hear, “have a nice day”.
DOUG
February 18th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I was so glad to find this site with others that are suffering at the hands of Sears service. We’ve always made an effort to buy from Sears because of the warranty and repair….but obviously that was a mistake.
It is the end of Jan. and our Craftsman snowblower (purchased last year) stopped working. The service came within 3 days and said they would have to take the machine but we would have it back in a week. Well, 4 snowstorms later it is now Feb. 19, and you guessed it…..no snowblower. But during that 4 week period not one person has contacted us from Sears to say there is a delay, or the parts are on order, or sorry for the inconvenience. I have recorded the 16 phone calls I have made…..each time I was told that someone would get back to me. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER did anyone call. I’ll probably get the snowblower back in April…..in time for spring flowers. What are we to do? We are sooooo frustrated.
February 18th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
calling the 1-800-664-1888 to get her extension is not going to get you in touch with Jennifer, you will be told you cannot be connected as she doesn’t accept incoming calls. I suggest e-mail
February 19th, 2008 at 11:04 am
While I feel badly for the frustration and problems you’ve all had to deal with, there comes a time when the customer has to take some responsibility.
Seriously folks. If you know you’re out of warranty.. Why push it. No one ever expects that their merchandise is going to break down and it’s not like Sears puts a self destruct sequence into play the day after your warranty expires.
Now I’ll agree in some market areas the service leaves something to be desired in terms of Technicians and Delivery, but it’s not that way in every city/province. You’ll only ever hear about the bad things when it comes to the internet.
When listening to some people call and say they forgot to do this or they didn’t renew their MA, or they
just didn’t know” Sorry that is now our fault? Accountability. Try taking some.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:16 am
People WAKE UP!!!!! Products that are produced today
by cheap mass production are bound to fail sooner than
your 25 year old appliance.. Customers want cheaper prices
for goods today–plain and simple. How do manufacturers lower the cost of something??? Cheaper materials, cheaper labour in the plants etc.. Everything is becoming throw-away in this world, get over it and get on with you lives!!
And for crying out loud, BEFORE you start flaming about your 3,4,5 year old appliance, tractor breaking down, READ your owners manual to determine WHAT IS EXACTLY COVERED UNDER YOUR WARRANTY!!!!! I have purchased everything from Sears in the past 15 years over 3 households.. Honestly when I call in for service the person on the phone comments on how much product is on my profile.. I have had only 3 service calls in all that time. I redid my kitchen last August and bought everything from my local Sears. I went with LG products instead of Kenmore Elite this time and have had no issues. I also bought a new tractor. Now the same 25hp Kohler tractor cost about $4300 6 years ago–The new one was only $2800–again back to earlier point on manufacturing.. The new tractor is still working fine BUT I DO MAINTAIN IT MYSELF!!!
I agree with the previous poster when she declared that the customer has to take some responsibility… All the energy wasted bitching and moaning and writing letters could be better used elsewhere. If there is such a problem
with repair/service in your personal area with Sears, I can just imagine what it is like for the other retailers–it’s the same.. You people are such fools that you don’t even know that Sears, The Brick and Leon’s all use the same service people for a good percentage of their work areas… One fella had it right frome the states by mentioning A&E–it’s in Canada too…. If you live in a rural area do you really think you are going to get next day service from anyone??? If you
treat the poor girls on the phone like anything you write on blogs like this then you will surely be on the bottom of any service list… If you treat people like people you will get results. You get more flies with honey or whatever…. As far as I can tell Sears is really the only store that actually has a parts department unlike the other chains that send you straight to the manufacturer… Stop knocking them–every retailer has problems–google Leons, The Brick or whatever. What I have noticed is the majority of the compalints are from rude, aggressive people who don’t maintain their product and are the first to bitch and whine when something does go wrong.. Pass the buck, not me blah blah blah..I’m not paying for my fridge to be repaired that’s 3 years out of warranty–give me a break…. I hate to say it but I agree with Omni regading the majority of the folks here and am tired of paying for your constant whining and bickering… And I am curious to how many people actually took the extended warranties out on their units???
flame away……………………….
:)
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:17 am
I just want let you guys know I am in total agreement with Omni. And what was written by CUrrent Customer Service Rep in Belleville is so false. There is no time frame for service. And honestly if you calling after other people for service what makes you so special that you should get service before anyone else.
There is responsibility to the consumer. It doesnt matter where you shop. Warranty is warranty. If you dont have any who or what retailer is going to pay your costs. It like asking the working people to pay for your welfare check.
I am sorry your machines broke down but how is that the retailers fault. Its not. Is the retailers fault your car breaks down or the weather. Once again no it is not.
Things break. It is unfortunate but it happens. I find everyone on here is just acting like a really small child throwing a temper tantrum to get their own way. You are told no and god forbid.
I have found in my research there so many things that Sears does for it customers that no other retailer does do. And yet it customers like the ones on here and other sites that ruin it for eveyone.
I am very cautious with my money and spend it looking for the best deal so I buy things from various retailers and the quality is based on the manf not the retailer. The service levels for sears is definately higher than any other company. Other businesses dont put a life expectancy on units and buy back your unit if not repairable. Other retailers dont offer the agreements or extended warranties that are renewable after buying the one buy at time of purchase. And no other company will pay for any or all parts of a repair cost once there is no warranty. And please have some tell me what service company anywhere will reimburse you for loss of wages if you have to stay home to wait for any kind of tech. No small local one does, no big service company does, and trust me I know this.
Everyone gets frustrated and upset when the unexpected happens but to bash the person on the other end of the phone by being vulgar (I have friends who work in customer service) or bashing the company while you are having a temper tantrum doesnt make sense. Do you really think when you act like that you deserve anything for free.
It is the year 2008. Lets grow up and move on as everything changes with time. When I make any purchase big or small as a consumer I know it is my responsibility to make sure I understand the returns policy, warranties involved and then I decide if I am going to make that purchase however I also know that it is not the retailers fault if it breaks.
People need to sit and think before they react to any situation as today is a world where everyone reacts first and then try to make themselves believe that they deserve what they are demanding.
There are far worse senarios out there out side of how Sears as you believe screwed you over since your product failed and you failed to educate yourselfs proir to your purchase.
February 25th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
On December 29, 2007, we spent $1,417 at Sears (Sherway Gardens, Toronto) for a new front loading washing machine ($1099), pedestal ($199), installation ($85) delivery and old machine removal ($50). We were happy with the purchase and looked forward to our new machine that was to arrive on January 4, 2008. As instructed, prior to delivery, I carefully detached the hoses from the old washer and moved it out into the hall to make the job of the delivery/removal people easier. All they had to do was lift it up small flight of stairs (no rail) and out the side door (taken off). When the delivery personnel arrived they wanted to move the new washer in but refused to move the old washer out, despite it being written on the bill “SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: PLEASE REMOVE AND DISPOSE OF OLD WASHER”. I would not allow them to merely drop the washer off without fulfilling their total obligations ($50 see above). I phoned Sears immediately to sort things out and to my surprise, while I was trying to contact someone at Sears, the delivery people simply drove away. This all occurred within 15 minutes.
After contacting Sears, two new delivery people were sent the next evening. In the meantime, my 150 lb son and I moved the old washer outside. This took us about 5 minutes. The new delivery people easily removed the old washer and easily moved the new one in. While they did scratch and stretch a spot on a new floor, I did not complain as I was happy to have the new washer in place. They placed the washer on the pedestal, attached the hoses and left. I was provided with instructions on how to install it correctly. While I was grateful for their keen delivery, unfortunately, they did not level the washer and on the first wash it started to walk across the floor during the spin cycle.
After contacting Sears again, an installation person was dispatched to properly install the washer (part of the total price included $85 for installation). This individual used my small level but did not want to wait around to check whether the leveling worked since “that would take an hour”. After my wife showed him that it would only take a 20 min spin, he did observe the machine with no load and it appeared fine. However, the large yellow sheet that comes with the washer clearly states that it “MUST BE LEVELED WITH A LOAD” to properly balance the machine. This information was provided not ignored. Not surprisingly, once a load was placed in the machine, it violently vibrated during the spin cycle and it sounded like a helicopter was above our house. To obtain a quiet spin cycle, the feet of the machine had to be adjusted each time during the spin cycle.
I was not prepared to babysit an $1100 washing machine and contacted Sears to properly install the washer. The sales people at Sears offered to replace the machine but could not since the model had been discontinued. At this point, I requested a refund. Sears agreed and a pick up date and time was established. Again, I removed the hoses and moved the machine away from the wall and carefully prepared (ice and snow removal from the side of the house) for pick up. When the “pick up” people (the same people as the first delivery) arrived, they came into the basement but refused to take the machine away since it was still on the pedestal.
I contacted Sears and talked to a woman named “Diane” that would not and could not provide the name her superior or anyone at head office. She did give me a phone number for their head office. Unfortunately, I must have copied the number down incorrectly and when I called back and talked to “Christina”, she would not provide me with any such number since she did not know of, or have any such number to provide me with. She could and did provide me with the address for the head office. Using a reverse 411, I obtained the phone number for the head office at Sears. I also arranged for the washer to be picked up again –a 12 hour interval on Saturday was the best they could do. I removed the eight ¼ inch screws that attach the pedestal to the washer and lifted it off the pedestal. The next day, two individuals came and within 10 minutes removed the washer and pedestal.
I contacted someone at Sears head office to explain this nightmare and she was willing to refund the cost of the washer and pedestal but not the cost of the installation ($85) or delivery ($50) cost. After my objection, she decided to refund the full cost to our credit card.
March 7th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Alec:
Well let’s talk about this.
What was the warranty time? 2 years 5 years?
7 people in a house, so this means an average of 10 loads a week?
Times by 4, times by 12 =? That is a lot of laundry!
“Janice’s point of view was that the washer was nearly new, and therefore the rubber seal must have been defective to begin with.”
How is it possible that you can think this washer is new? With that much Laundry!!
Last time I checked 120 days is 4 months! You bitch about service?
I think you should grab a brain! No body would honor this after that much past warranty!
The machince Still works , parts do wear out!
Go live in your pretend world where you are perfect and every thing should be free!
March 13th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Last Saturday, on my birthday, my 2 year old Kenmore washer started spewing some sort of oil out of the bottom. I did some quick research online and thought it was part of the geardrive, which is covered for 5 years for parts, but not for labor. Without even having read this, I opted to put it out for bulk recycling and go elsewhere for a new one! My Kenmore range has been giving an F10 code intermittently (more often lately) and that will be the next thing to go. I’m sorry that I bought my 5 major appliances from Sears and as they break I will not repair them. I will opt for other brands from other retailers.
As for people like Omni, perhaps they should study the business model of Costco and learn what real customer service is all about. If I am buying anything that I want to ensure longevity for, I simply go to Costco. Believe me, they get a lot of our family’s money ever month — with good reason.
March 15th, 2008 at 7:48 am
The Simpler Solution??????????
You must have a different type of Costco in your area than
I do… My Costco has about 9 appliances total on display.. Great selection!!I also was not aware Costco had a national repair service……..Costco items still come with a manufacturers warranty that in MOST areas will be honoured by A&E repair–which is the same people that repair Sears, Home Depot etc…. All of
the products come from the same manufacturer–ie your Kenmore range was made by whirlpool or frigidaire.. So I really don’t understand you beef with Sears when ALL THE PRODUCTS COME FROM THE SAME SUPPLIERS??? Shouldn’t your complaint be with the maufacturer of those products??
If more people held the suppliers accountable we wouldn’t
have this sea of inferior product flooding the markets. The only reason for this ‘crappy’ product in all retailers is people today want everything “cheap’ so the maunufacturers have given you exactly what you wanted!! Now shut-up and deal
with the crap you asked for.. Is everybody blind to the amount of imports coming into North America???
March 15th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
I can’t believe what I’m reading. So many disatisfied people. I have many stories and could go on and on. Techs who waste my time and dont show up on the appointed day. No phoning ahead or anything. One time I was desparatate to get my washer fixed. I have 5 kids and a trip to the laundry matt is no fun. Well for one month I waited and waited four times no call no nothing. I have to phone them. The last time I was visiting my mother one hour and half away. I talked to them in the morning they said they would be there. I drove home because I really wanted my washer fixed after four weeks without. Only to come home to a phone call that they couldn’t make it again. You think after one time no show I would be at the top of the list the next time but oh no. THose people who write in and say stop complaining sears is great. How would you like to buy a $3600 fridge and the handle fall off every time you open the door. THey say they’ll send someone to fix it. After many repairs replacing door and handle and whatever else they can think of to do obviously it can’t be repaired but they never return calls all they want to do is send out a tech. Four times they sent one out just to make a report and each time they loose it . Except the last guy he told me I make copies so if it gets lost I’ll have it. His report: Handle is secure. WHAT AN IDIOT. It fell off the next day. NOw they want to send him again. NO way I want him here again. Dont’ they tell there techs what the call is about. Even if they need to clarify I told him why he was here and we needed a report about the handle falling off. This has been going on for 1 year and I still have an expensive fridge with no hadle. How do they justify treating people this way. And no one phones back and you wait and wait…… Well I bought a new washer and dryer And spent a ton of cash but not from sears….It could have been there sale if they treated people right . I do think the problem is the manufacturer making products that don’t last. The techs tell me nothing lasts like it used to but if you buy something new it should last at least five years(things used to last 45 years) why does it have to break down the next day….. I wanted this short but sorry I have so many complaints I do have more stories. As I see from this sight I’m not the only one. And the who tells Us this is what i want and to shut up well I don’t want cheap product I want something well made but just because its cheap doesnt mean it shouldn’t work. And sears should stand behind its products or not sell it . THey used too. Thats why I bought from them in the first place. If they treated people that way 20 years ago they wouldn’t be here now. ANd whats wrong with sears standing up to the manufacturers. They are the ones who deal with them not us. THey should be letting them know of all the complaints they get.
March 18th, 2008 at 7:41 am
Can’t belive it—-you admit to it in your own rant above… It’s plain and simple–products made today are not made to
last. What I statred was it DOES NOT MATTER where you buy the product because it all comes from the same group of
manufacturers.. What I did state was that service “in most areas” is done by a company called A&E. This company does in warranty work for Sears Home Depot etc—all under the same banner…. The consumer has asked for ‘cheaper’
products and that is exactky what they have received.. Now just maybe we will see people demanding products last longer and the manufacturers might listen–I doubt it. You can blame Sears, Home Depot whoever but they are just the sales force for the manufacturers. You say Sears should
stand behind their products–the warranty is with the manufacturer so shouldn’t they the manufacturer be held accountable?? It has been said above many times the warranty is the warranty if it is 1 year–then it’s one year NOT 15 months etc…
Is it the handle on your fridge that’s broken or is it the fridge that is broken?? Describe it to me and I may be able to help you fix it—yes I am a tec for A&E and I know more about what is happening with the manufacturers than I care to admit… I can tell you horror stories and it has nothing to do with what store you bought it from, what brand is stampped on it or the person who sold it to you–it all comes back to the manufacturer who is flooding our markets with this crap… And don’t think that price has anything to do with the quality you are getting either—here is an example for you–I don’t know the specifics on your fridge so I will give you another example…
Top of the line dishwasher–retails for $2100 available at Home Depot, Sears, Lowes… has the same componants as the $399 unit—same pump/motor dispenser etc..–No stainless interior on the cheapo model but other than that what are you paying for in the higher priced unit??? THE NAME!!!! That’s it, that’s all and that is the truth…. I am assuming your $3600 fridge is a trio in the form of Kenmore Elite or a Maytag/Jennair???? If you give me more details I can help you fix……
Also your last line about the retailers letting the manufacturers know about the complaints–believe me they do..I have to fill out numerous service reports for all companies and send into the manufacturers so that these retailers can recoup some of their lost money as well… It all
comes back to the manufacturers… I just dealt with one yesterday—-this company has had 50000 units of the same product fail in the past 6 months–these are new, just 6 months old in the customers homes. The response from this
manufacturer is that is an acceptable amount because we sold X number of units that are still good so there is no problem.. They then send us out to fix them–paying us to fix them is a small cost of doing business in their eyes I guess…..
There is just more to the story than blame the retailers—blame the manufacturers and things will change and products will get better in quality….
March 18th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
You all sit back and bash Sears just because of their “so called declining customer service”, and then have the nerve to take your business to Future Shop? The place that never helps you out unless you purchase another $300 extended warranty to service a product you just gave them $2000 for? Well no shit Sherlock, they will help you then, but just try and reject their extended warranty offer and their salesman gets quite beligerent because he doesn’t make hardly any money selling the product. He makes his bread and butter from extorting more money out of you to promise you extended service after you have left the building, that’s his commission. It sure doesn’t make you feel like they carry quality products when you need an EXTRA warranty after you take it from the building.
Now back to Sears. Yes, times have changed just like every other facit of our society today, that is called progression, evolution, erosion, or any other word you want to use to describe it. The simple fact is that’s because of the many years of CUMSTOMER ABUSE TO THE SEARS RETURN POLICY, they had no choice but to join with the rest of the planet or become one of the dinosaurs. I worked at Sears back in the early 80’s, and what I have witnessed is just total lack of respect for ourselves as humans. I was in the mens wear and the worn diry underwear, the shruken jeans, the torn shirts, the “used for New Years only” altered suits, and the Canadian WWII issued scarves all end up in Sears return bins with the customer always getting their money back. No questions asked, just make them happy! There were people that would buy a mower in Spring, and return it for a snow blower in fall, and then repeat the cycle again for the next 12 years! Yet we as the emplyees of Sears were to smile and pretend that these customers did not abuse or misuse the item and take the return happily. It degraded the mentality and integrity of us emplyees who were implied as stupid as the customer laughed and walked away figuring they just pulled a fast one.
Now you probably think that I am just complaining over a few instances, but this would happen a dozen times to each store every business day on average. Christmas would see a three month aftermath where the line at customer service never shrinks. Sears would just act docile and be gratefull to take it all back, and then donate most of the stuff to charities with no kick back for any of this.
Sears operated like this for many, many, many years. Nowadays, it’s just not feasible to operate any business like that. We can all thank the greed and the human nature of the CUSTOMERS, they have dictated today’s level of customer service, not the business owners.
Customers set the market, not businesses!
*just figured since this is a forum of sort, there are always two sides to every story and this forum needed some equality. Sears is not Satan people!
March 19th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Briank—-I have seen those 89th day mowers and blowers
back at the stores as well—90 day return policy and back they came on day 88 or day 89.. For years we wondered how Sears could afford to do this…. I can’t imagine what
those customer service reps go through on a daily basis for
any company in todays’ environment… I am in peoples’ homes everyday and it doesn’t matter where they bought the product thay almost all try to rip me in two. I tell them I am just there to fix it, please let me do my job…. I don’t care that the machine is 15 months old and Home Depot told you tough luck. I don’t care that your front load washer is 5 years old and needs a bearing job because you never took the time to read the owners manual that tells you to use HE soap. I don’t care that your 15 year old dropped a jar of pickles inside of your 3 year old fridge and now your liner is cracked and Sears told you tough luck. I don’t care if your brand new dishwasher won’t drain because you thought you’d save a few bucks and install it yourself incorrectly…. All I care about is doing my job which is to fix your product so you can use it again.
I have seen everyside to this and the blame and finger pointing and it really is sickening… It used to be that everybody would help everybody and now it seems like everybody wants to blame somebody… Again I agree with Brian above–the consumer has demanded lower prices and that is what the manufacturers have given everybody. Now we all get to clean up the crap and hope that common sense will prevail and products will shift to a higher level of quality….
And to all you people that rant and carry on like morons, stop and think about how foolish you look and take some responsability yourselves. AND if you really want things to change than go to your store, find the sales person and Thank them for spending the time with you and helping you with your purchase. After you have Thanked them, then tell them about your problem and ASK what your options are. There is a solution for every problem but most people DEMAND rather than ASK…. Whiny, bitchy verbally abusive customers get nothing–I will even walk out of homes if the customer is abusive in any way shape or form. They are always nicer when I come back the second time… And to all of those people (a small but important percentage) who take the time to call my boss, send in a thank-you card etc–those people that I made happy and took the time out of their lives to thank me—I THANK YOU!!!!! Glad to be able to help!!
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
what really pisses me off is the people who call wanting our help, we offer resolution and they start screaming and saying well… how the hell do you expect them to do that they can’t even get that right?
Get a life mistakes happen, they’ll be rectified, if you don’t want the help.. Go stick your head up your ass.. Quite simple.
Oh and when you’re offered compensation or discount and keep trying to “up the amount” a lil bit. You people make me sick. More often than not you’re more than compensated and you just keep pushing.. gimme gimme or I’ll cancel. FINE! Cancel! I’m not going to give you $75 off of a $120.00 order because you didn’t measure your blinds right and then blame us because you can’t follow directions.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Omni, Get your head out of your ass…..How PATHETIC is your life!!To be constantly degrading common people with real troubles,You must be ignorant upper management in desperate need of PR training or just a LITTLE sh*t disturber that get his rocks off by insulting honest citizens…Your parents would be proud…..I THINK NOT!!! GET A LIFE!!!!!!!
I haven’t had any problems with Sears yet, Socks are the only items I buy there. And after reading only a few entries, that is all that my family and I will be buying there.Your comments and complaints are making a difference. People will read and think twice and reconsider..
March 27th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Jamie, I would really like it if someone could fix my fridge. Its a maytag french door style with freezer drawer in the bottom. It also has the water and ice despenser on the front. The problem is the handle to the freezer falls off. We put it on and it seems very tight and then the next day I go to open the freezer and I have it in my hand………….other than that it works like a charm. I also know times have change and some customers expect alot. I really don’t think I’m asking them to go over and above. Remember I’ve had this problem day one.
Also I would like to add that the some customer service reps are very rude. I know customers get excited but i just had one phone me who was very short and basically rude. So they aren’t perfect either. Oh ya she offered me $1400 to get a new fridge plus $600 good will I guess but to buy it new it’s $3600. And then cutomer service reps expect us to say thanks. I think if they can’t fix it they should replace it. Why should it cost me another 1500 plus tax to replace it. ANd I do have a five year warrenty and its only one year old?????????????????????????? I know I won’t buy any thing from sears hear on in.
March 27th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I will also phone the manufacturer…See what they have to say…..
March 30th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I wish I had checked out for problems ahead of time via this site. I never thought about it because, as a long time Sears customer, I have always had exceptional service – sales,delivery, installation and repair. I got the delivery and installation runaround two days ago. I waited 12 hours (6 phone calls) for the promised delivery which had been confirmed 3 weeks earlier; and lost a day of vacation time from work as a result. They were no show and the salesman said there was nothing they could do until Monday. Well, fortunately there was something I could do … I went into the store yesterday and cancelled the order. There are plenty of places to buy appliances and get better service, which I did. Sears will never get a large order from me again.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Last fall I had a Kenmore washer replaced on warranty. My credit card was charged $1006.99 and I was told that once the new washer was installed and the broken washer returned, my credit card would be debited. But I never received my money back!
I’ve been calling customer service since I first noticed the error on March 11th.
I’ve been told that likely this is a data entry error and somebody is trying to track down the missing washer. Once the washer is found, my credit card will be debited.
But it’s been over 3 weeks and nobody can seem to track it down – likely it will never be found since the location that the washer was returned to is now closed!
So far I have called customer service 11 times, spending over 2hrs on the phone with 8 different representatives. I don’t have a landline, so my cell phone minutes are quickly adding up – not to mention my patience is near gone.
Perhaps I’m most upset because this is not the kind of service I received from Sears in the past. I grew up in a small town and ordering from the catalogue all the time with no problems at all. With a distribution system in place and a well known brand, I believe Sears is well positioned to start outpacing competition in online sales – I’m so confident my investment club even owns shares!
Is there somebody at Sears who can help me?
It would be nice to be compensated for 5mo of credit card interest + cell phone minutes + time, although at this point I’d be happy with just getting my $1006.99 back.
April 6th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
same exact problems with washer a tear on the rubber……and now its de-forming also like its shrinking and warping……..we bought 8000.00 worth of applinaces last year from sears…….nothing but headaches…….there top of the line dishwasher….is crap……stove paint is coming off….so is the fridge paint……..washing machine has flooded my new house 3 times now…….sears is going to pay for this….i will make sure it costs them
April 10th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I came on to the Sears website to obtain their email address to file a complaint. I too bought a Whirlpool washer in 2002. Last December it would not spin. I called Sears Repair and was told that it was the seal, and the Sears repairman advised me to purchase a new machine.
I have always bought Sears appliances that lasted more than 5 or 6 years.
I emailed Whirlpool with this problem, and was advised to contact Sears. I am looking for their email address so that I csan forward the correspondence from Whirlpool to them.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
home@sears.ca.. but the correspondence isn’t going to do you any good.
You bought a machine in 2002. Whirlpool’s manufacturer warranty only covers that machine for 1-2 years. It is now 2008 and that manufacturer warranty is expired. Unless you purchased the extra warranty through sears, sears is not responsible for your broken machine, repairs, cost for parts & labour nothing. And just Like every other customer who complains to sears that their machine is broken and sears should stand behind it.. you will be told. It’s not sears warranty!! If you had bought that.. they would stand behind it.. if you don’t. It’s your responsibility.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Holy cr*p!
Don’t know whether to be inspired or discouraged. This many problems and their attitude is still as bad as what I experienced today? It’s one thing to encounter unsatisfactory customer service, but when they have the audacity to be openly rude condescending and dismissive to a customer, the backbone of their business, it amazes me! Surely this has to matter to Sears! Has anyone thought to print off all these postings and send them to the president in a mountain of paper?
KS
April 13th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Until it starts affecting their bottomline, no amount of letters and emails will really make any difference. Based on my recent experience, I have accepted that Sears has changed and are no longer the company I grew up with. I did follow up on my experience by sending an email to Sears, letting them know how this poor service affects the future decisions of longtime customers, but I’m not really confident that those messages will have an impact. Despite that, I’m truly sorry to see that Sears will likely end up going the way of Eaton’s.
With regards to customer return abuse, there is no doubt that happened. But …. why did Sears allow it in the first place? I was shocked and appalled to discover a few years ago that customers were able to return used, worn undergarments. When asked why Sears accepted these given the health implications and when the change rooms clearly said all sales of undergarments were final, the cashier shrugged and said they were told they had to accept them. Good customers have now suffered because Sears didn’t enforce their policies. Were they afraid of losing customers then, but they’re not worried about that anymore? It’s really a shame.
April 14th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
WOW – I just went online to redeem my Sears points via the website but, SURPRISE, it failed. Guess their programers aren’t any better than their service.
I only started reading this thread because I was curious – now I’m worried because my 89 year old dad just bought a fridge from Sears – with the extended warranty. It’s not looking promising for our peace of mind.
It seems the customers who want cheap products and the merchants who want extra margins are both at fault. But when you buy premium and pay premium, you expect a better product and better service. And you expect them to honour guarantees, period.
Personally, in Calgary I do not believe you can find decent service anywhere right now. Not enough skilled labour for the demand – at any price. Even decent, unskilled labour is hard to find.
I bought appliances in 2002 and 2006 – not through Sears. I did try to buy there, but delivery timing was an issue and I was alarmed at the “additional warranty” costs they were pushing.
In my mind a major appliance is meant to work for years beyond any immediate warranty – particularly in my situation when there are only two people in the household. Not as much wear and tear in total.
I also due my homework. I read all the consumer reports and talk to my co-workers. Recently I’ve also started to search online, but model numbers can be confusing.
Back in 2006, when I was purchasing my washer, Sears locally still had a decent reputation. My neighbour had purchased a Bosche washer/dryer set through Trail Appliances and was having constant service visits. Their friends bought the same product through Sears and had the items replaced outright. So yes, I did look at Sears even then – though not at Bosch, they weren’t recommended.
I started out trying to purchase a washer based on price through Fu