August 3, 2010


Sears Corporate Office
3333 Beverly Road
Hoffman Estates, Illinois 60179

Attn: Advocate & Corporate Complaint Department

RE: Service on 9 month old Samsung Dryer purchased at Sear's


To Whom It May Concern:

On July 15th, 2010 I called the Sear's Service Department to schedule an appointment to fix my brand new (bought October 2009) Samsung dryer. The call seemed to go well because I was given a service date of Monday July 19th between 1pm and 5pm. That was perfect because I was going away for the weekend and would not need to wash or dry clothes until my return. However, before we left for the mountains, Sear's called me back to let me know they could not come on Monday July 19th, and we needed to reschedule for the following Monday July 26th. Now this is an entire weeks delay, which was not ideal for my household, but trying to be a good and patient person, I agreed to the new appointment.

So a week passes and the dirty clothes pile has grown to a monster-like size. But the Sear's tech would be coming between 1pm and 5pm on Monday June 26th, so all would be well after they fixed the dryer. On Monday I leave work early (12pm) and take the rest of the day off to wait for the Sear's tech to give my family a much needed break from the dirty clothes pile that has taken on a personality of its own. I usually work until 5pm, so that's 5 hours of personal time off from work. 12pm turns into 1pm which turns into 2pm then 3pm then 4pm and there is no sign of the Sear's Tech. I call the Customer Service Center (800-549-4505) who told me the Sear's tech should be there, because there was no cancellation of the appointment that they could see. 5pm passes, 6pm passes, 7pm passes, no Sear's Tech in sight. I finally get through to the Sear's Customer Solutions Center (410-762-5740), who told me that the Sear's Tech had called in sick and could we reschedule the appointment for the next day, Tuesday June 27th.

Now it made me a little mad and definitely confused that no one called me to alert me that the Sear's Tech would not be coming that day, so I wouldn't waste personal time off from work. (I only get 2 weeks a year, and 5 hours is a significant portion for me). But the goal was to get the dryer fixed so I agreed to a 1pm to 5pm appointment for Tuesday. I get home at 1pm the next day, taking another 5 hours off of work, to wait for the Sear's Technician. Wait for it...5pm comes and goes and no Sear's Tech. I call the Customer Solutions Center, they say the tech had a long day and had "requested to go home by 5:30, " so he could not fit my appointment in that day. Ok, now I am getting more frustrated, and definitely angrier, another 5 hours of personal time wasted bringing the total to 10 hours of time I will never get back. The nice lady I was speaking with at the Customer Service Center (Leanne #250436 - the only bright light in this sad saga) told me the only thing they could do is schedule an appointment for the next day, Wednesday July 27th between 1pm and 5pm and that the Sear's Tech would call me 1 hour before getting to my house so I wouldn't have to take more time off work. Now I am getting tired of writing so I'll just jump to Wednesday and say, the Sear's tech didn't show up, I called the Customer Solutions Center and found that the Sear's Tech called to say he had to go pick up his kids and would not be honoring this 3rd day in a row appointment.

Now I'm way past the end of my rope, I'm shaking with frustration, but am able to talk with the lady at the Customer Solutions Center, and somehow she finds a Tech that can be by the house at 6:30pm that evening. Forget the fact that I've already wasted PLENTY of time waiting for a Sear's representative, and that I actually have a life outside of waiting for Sear's to show up, but I agreed to skip my evening arrangements to wait for the Tech. Fantastically he shows up at 6:30, takes one look at the dryer, says he's never seen the dryer's error message before. I leave the room to go stew upstairs in the hopes that he just needs time to be with the dryer before he can figure it out. 30 minutes later he emerges and says, of course, he needs to order a part.

Now I have told the Customer Solutions Center about a billion times what the error message was and to please come prepared with extra Samsung dryer parts. But hey, what do they care? Sear's doesn't care that the dirty clothes pile has eaten my dog and scared the kids. They don't really care if the dryer gets fixed, they already have my money. But they don't have my loyalty, which I would think would be a more precious commodity in these economic times. But whatever, they don't care, and they have my money, that's all they care about. That 5 year service warranty agreement wasn't flippin cheap, I can guarantee that much.

So the Sear's Tech, Donnie, who ended up being pretty cool, says he'll order the part, when it comes in to give him a call on his cell phone and he will make a special trip to install it and fix the dryer. So that was last Wednesday July 28th, today is Tuesday August 4th, the part hasn't come, so I call the Customer Solutionless Center. The representative I spoke with told me that the part was back ordered or they didn't make that part anymore. And then she told me to find and order the part myself. Which left me utterly speechless.

Now I'm generally a happy person, easy to please, it really doesn't take much. I'm trying to put this in perspective, it is only a dryer, but I paid thousands of dollars for it, and paid dearly for this "Service Warranty." Which has produced absolutely ZERO. It is going on three weeks now without a dryer, with no end in sight. Ultimately I would like the dryer to be fixed, but since that doesn't seem to be happening, I want both the Samsung washer and dryer out of my house as well as the pedestals I bought for both the washer and dryer, a full refund for all of it and a refund for the money I paid for this totally crappy service warranty.

Until then I will continue a campaign of letters and blogs against Sear's.

Former loyal Sear's Customer
Frederick, MD 21777


Cc: Maryland Attorney General, Douglas F. Gansler
Maryland Attorney General Home Office
Frederick County Better Business Bureau
Frederick County Consumer Affairs
www.consumeraffairs.com www.complaintsboard.com