KENMORE ELITE
REFRIGERATOR
MODEL # 10655606400

I appreciate your time and interest in helping me out with the problem that I have encountered with Sears.

Back in 2003 I purchased an Elite Kenmore Refrigerator, from the Chapel Hills Sears in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Two years later the interior walls started to crack and expand throughout the entire refrigerator. When the service man came out he stated that the cracks occur due to an excess amount of insulation. The only resolution would be to drill tiny holes on each side of each crack and fill each with silicone. I was not willing to have my brand new refrigerator that cost well over $2,000.00 plus the 5 year warranty to be drilled and patched. I kindly demanded phone numbers in order to get a more realistic outcome. He offered and made the call to the One Source Dept. through Sears 1-800-927-7836.
That one phone call got the ball rolling we were given a
ref # 818195929488 and case # 1085780. Within a week or so we had a brand new refrigerator of our choice delivered and set up. The original warranty was carried over to the new frig. This took place June 28, 2005.

Now two years later the second refrigerator exchanged in ’05, started doing the same thing. The interior walls are beginning to crack and some have already started to expand. I had the service man out on Oct 31, 2007 and had absolutely no luck. He spent a good hour trying on my behalf to get another replacement. Once he left I made my calls to Sears One Source Dept and got the same feed back that the service man got. Kenmore the manufacturer, created a partial panel for the side walls only to mend the problem. Keep in mind that this patch does not cover the entire wall and they do not have anything for the back wall or door. If this door would start to crack they would replace the entire door and the only way to fix the back wall would be to silicone and place a certain clear tape over each crack. Ridiculous!

I felt hopeless in my every effort to get through the customer service person, Mel at the (One Source Dept). Not only does their repair kit sound ridiculous but it won’t stop the expansion of the cracks, they will continue even under the panel. This means that we won’t have their “ENERGY STAR” product. Eventually the cold air will seep out and cause our energy bill to rise. Call me naïve, but isn’t cosmetic considered something superficial that is used to cover a deficiency or defect? In this case yes I want my frig to look nice but not to hide its defects. I purchased this product to be fully functional, structural and live up to its full performance level. THIS IS WHAT I PAID FOR! It strikes me odd that this is the second time in a row that this has happened to us; the service man even stated that it’s an unusual misfortune. Mel repeatedly stated that there will not be another replacement due to the fact that the manufacture warranty is up after the first year. I brought it the Mel’s attention that the original frig was replaced at TWO YEARS. She just continued her broken record speech. Stating that I will not get another frig and that I can take their service for repair or live with the cracks. I tried explaining too, that this is not a
repair it is just a bandage. This is not an isolated situation if they now have a so call, product to fix this type of problem. Why would they have invested so much time and money to come up with a product if they weren’t having other reports?

The service man stated to me that, now that Sears and Kmart have merged there has been a drastic decline of the good old, Sears customer’s service.

Thank you for your time and effort to help me and my family…

God Bless…
Shannon Pfefferkorn