My husband and I purchased a deep freezer from the on line Sears Store in March 2006. On the morning of June 23, my husband went out and noticed there was water on the garage floor coming from underneath the deep freezer. When he opened it up, he discovered that not only was the food not frozen, but it was rotten. Apparently the deep freezer had not been operational for at least a day, but we had no way of knowing it because the power light was still on.

I call Sears Service on June 24 in the morning, and the nightmare began. They first told me that it would cost me $59 for a service call. I corrected them on that because ti says in the manual for the deep freezer that it is under manufacturer warranty for one year with no service fee. The supervisor ( yes it had escalated to one at this point because I was not happy with the first agent I had spoken to. ) The supervisor prompted to tell me that someone would be out Wednesday. I advised him that it would have to be Thursday because I was already off that day and could not take Wednesday off. He told me that I had no choice that it would be Wednesday because of where I lived and that I would have to live with it. Trying to remain calm, I told him point blank that was nothing more than discrimination because of where I lived ( I live in a small town south of Wichita, Kansas) and that Sears did not have a problem delivering it a convenient time for me , so I didn't see why this was such an issue. We went back and forth and the conversation ending by the supervisor ( his name was Lawrence) stating that he would see what he could do and would call me on Monday, and that if he could not get any other day we would get it scheduled for the following Friday.

No call came on Monday, so I called on Tuesday June 27Th, and the real nightmare began. After 3 phone calls and a wasted lunch break, much to my surprise, there was a service call scheduled for the following day. I tried getting it changed to another day, but they refused, saying it had to be that day.

Fortunately, my husband was able to get off work. But this in itself was an inconvenience to his employer, because they were under mandatory overtime and really could not afford to lose him for an entire day. Not only that, but Sears stoutly refused to give me anything but a window of 9am to 5pm. I again told them that this was unacceptable. They were inconveniencing us and my husband's employer, and that the least they could do was to give me a smaller time span. After going back and forth with this , ( yet again another wasted lunch break) they finally told me that we were third on the list, and that he would be there about noon.

The repairman arrived and quickly discovered the problem. A connector linking wires to the thermostat had disengaged. He went on to say that it was in fact faulty workmanship that was at issue because it was not put together properly at the factory. The repair man also attempted to make a claim for the food that was lost. Sears promptly denied that. My husband called me and told me that it was repaired, and that the claim had been denied. At this point, I had had it with them. I called the service number yet again and asked to speak to a supervisor. Four phone calls later, I still had not spoken to a supervisor. I was told :

1) that there was no supervisor
2) that they were in a meeting
3) that they did not have supervisors in that department
4) I stayed on hold for so long that I got a recording telling me to hang up because my transfer would not go through.

Needles to say, I was irate and angry at this point. I called the Executive Offices of Sears, and the nightmare got worse. I was told that a claim could not be made for the loss because it had to be made under the extended warranty. I explained to her that was not possible to do because the deep freezer was still under manufacturer warranty and that I had been advised that the extended warranty was not applicable until one year had passed from the purchase date. All I wanted was compensation for the food that we lost. Through a lengthy, aggravating conversation, I explained that I had been:

- lied to
- given absolutely nothing but the run around
- inconvenienced in more ways that I could count ( this including the fact that I had to go to the store every day for portions of that nights dinner because I no longer had the space to store frozen food for 2 adults, 2 teenagers and an 11 yr old)
- my husband lost time from work, and had to use the last of his vacation time


Sears offered nothing more that what amounts to a slap in the face. A $20 gift card.. Yes, a $20 gift card, which by the way, I was advised, I would have to use at the store in Wichita because it was not usable on line. I firmly advised the representative, that she could keep her gift card because I, my family, nor my extended circle of friends, had any inclination to set foot in a Sears store again.

Someone from Sears contacted my husband the week of July of 3rd, with nothing more than an attempt to keep our business. At point, she explained that claims of this nature had to be made against the manufacturer.

I returned from a week long business trip on July 9Th. I attempted to do a web search to do just what she suggested, contact the manufacturer. Every contact source leads right back to Sears, and quite frankly I'd rather not repeat the nightmare all over again.

All I'm asking for is compensation for the food that was lost. $300.. that's all.. $300.
But you would have thought that the amount was the yearly operating budget for this company based on their reaction. And that is just not right.


Sincerely,

Cara

I purchased through your Sears catalogue, picked up the item, paid for it, then proceded to try it on. Upon neither of the two items purchased fitting, I then returned them to the counter, same day, didn't even leave the store. Upon being reimbursed the sales clerk informed me that there was a $2.00 handling charge. However, prior to paying for the item I was asked if I would like to get a Sears card, and have $10.00 off the purchase, and then was informed that if I had a Sears card that I would not have to pay for the handling charge. Also, if I had a Sears card, I could have the purchases sent to Lorraine Ave Depot, where I could walk from my home and pick it up. I had a Sears card for years, so therefore, I never knew about these things, I find it very discriminatory, that I would be forced to have a Sears card in order to have purchases sent closer to my home, and also not to have to pay for handling charges, isn't it the same amount of work to put packages together and load them onto a truck whether or not it is on a Sears account or not? I feel that you are forcing people to have an account with Sears in order to be served to their best interest, and also that my cash money isn't good enough. Also, I find it odd that your department won't put stuff back onto your debit card when returning a purchase, and I had to take the refund back in cash, good thing it wasn't a $5,000.00 dollar purchase! I am very upset over this whole situation, so much so, that I will probably never purchase anything from your department again. Also, I will recommend to my family and friends, and co-workers that they do the same, unless they want to continue having a Sears account or wish to purchase one.

Nelza

Kitchener ON N2B 2N2

On June 13th, 2006, I phoned the Sears 1-800-4-MYHOME # to have my less than one year old Maytag Refrigerator repaired. I had little cold temperature in the refrigerator and the freezer compartment was totally iced over. My ice-maker had also stopped working. After finally figuring out how to speak to a person on your phone system (the robot kept me going in circles for 10 minutes), I made an appointment for one of the technicians to come to my home between the hours of 8:00 am and 5 pm. I took the day off from work to do so.

The technician sat in the parking lot for at least 20-25 minutes before entering my home and then 'played' with the refrigerator for another 45 minutes while I was in another room on an important call. The tech stated that the doors to both the refrigerator and the freezer had been adjusted and all should go well from that point on. That night the refrigerator completely shut off and I lost a ton of groceries, for which I am still waiting to find out if I will be partially reimbursed for. The rocker arm to the ice maker, was just sitting loosely on top of the frozen lump of ice in the bucket in the freezer. The next day I re-scheduled another appointment for Friday, the 16th of June to which I took off another day at work. I then received a phone call at 3:30 in the afternoon, informing me that no tech was available to come out that day. Frustrated and angry, but desperate to have my refrigerator repaired (I am a single mother of three young children) I then re-scheduled yet another appointment for June 20th and had to lose another day's pay. The service tech named John was polite and thorough in his work, taking apart the entire freezer compartment and clearing out the vents of ice from the refrigerator to assure cool air passed once again in the fridge. I was pleased. However, I had called your 856-317-2500 line to speak to a customer service rep about having my money reimbursed from the loss of groceries and was on hold the first time for over 20 minutes when suddenly a service rep answered, said hello, and then abruptly hung up on me. I called the same number again, this time waiting over 30 minutes before a representative picked up and I was informed that I did not have that specific warranty for reimbursement. I asked to leave a message for a tech manager and hung up. I called back 2 days later when I still had not received a call back and after being on hold for another 36 minutes, left another message for a tech manager to call me. Three days later I called that same 856 # since someone had yet to get back to me, this time waiting on hold for over 45 minutes. By this point I was crying and very upset by the way I was being treated by your company, and yet, when I spoke to a representative named Debbie, she refused to put me through to a supervisor and abruptly hung up on me. I cannot even put into words how aggravated I was and still am.

Less than a week after John fixed my refrigerator/freezer, the freezer was once again icing up so I called to schedule another appointment. This makes 4 days of work I have lost for this one product alone I had bought from you. The same technician, John, came to my home and after looking over the refrigerator/freezer spoke to someone in the parts and service department and then informed me that I will need to have both doors and hinges replaced. It will take 6-8 weeks for the doors and hinges to come in and in the meanwhile I'm left with what appears to be a defective appliance. I now have to take another day off on the 11th of July for the tech to come back out (for what purpose, I do not know), and to tell you that I am livid, is an understatement. I will probably have to lose at least two more days of pay before something gets resolved with this situation. I am not a happy camper. I still have not received word on the $38.77 I am seeking in reimbursement fees for only the groceries I lost that were bought the day before the first technician came over. I've never asked for reimbursement of wages lost or any of the other perishables and condiments I had to throw out due to your first tech's negligence. I am not a 'gold digger' or out to 'get' the company. $38.77 should not put your company in the 'red' so to speak, but it will sure put another meal on the table for my children.

When I moved here with my children less than a year ago, I outfitted my house with all Sears products because I had trusted the Sears name and thought it to be reputable since it had been around for so long. I was wrong. There were many other places I could have gone to outfit my house, but I thought with Sears, I would get the care and concern your company used to be known for. I'm floored by the mistreatment by your staff, your antihuman phone system, and the complete lack of understanding of common courtesies and decent treatment of your clients by your company as a whole. You have proven to not be an honorable company in any way, shape or form, and I have already written two letters in the same amount of days to express my disappointment and non-satisfaction with all areas of service from your company. I have heard similar complaints from friends and family who've encountered identical situations as mine. If you don't believe me, try calling the 856-317-2500 line yourselves, and make sure you have nothing else to do. I was on hold for over an hour again today on that number, before the line just automatically disconnected me. To date, I have left over 5 messages and still have not received a return call.

After this situation is taken care of, IF IT IS EVER TAKEN CARE OF, I will never again use or buy any Sears appliances, equipment or have anything to do with anything remotely related to Sears. I will be posting such information on the web so that others can see the kind of treatment Sears has resorted to. I suppose becoming a "Giant" so to speak, makes this company feel as though the "little" people that got them there, are no longer necessary or warrant the care and service your company was once noted for. Just remember, it is the public you serve, and when service goes out the window, so, eventually, will the "big" company.

In closing, I add that I will write and call continually until I get some action or restitution in some form from your company. A phone call would have been the nice thing for someone at your company to do; it was all I was asking for, but apparently even that was too much to deign. Don't worry, you will hear from me though; again, and often.....

On 05-19-06, Ii purchased a Craftsman LT100 riding lawnmower. I used the mower twice w/o incident. On the evening of 06-19-06, my wife awakened me to tell me that there was a problem with the mower... As the mower had been sitting idle on my carport, I had trouble envisioning what sort of problem there could be. She then informed me that it was leaking gasoline and that the fumes were almost overpowering. I immediately decided that the first order of business was to get the mower away from the house and off of the carport... I reached over and put the mower in neutral, and while standing on the LEFT side of the mower, attempted to push it backwards... The bottom edge of the mower deck housing rubbed against my foot about 1 inch above my left ankle, lacerating my foot to the bone... There was blood everywhere instantly... I immediately grabbed a towel and applied pressure to stop the blood loss... I refused to go to the emergency room after once the bleeding was stopped, but I DID go to my regular PCP the next morning for a tetanus shot and 3 stitches... As I see it, there are 2 problems with this mower: a faulty leaking fuel tank, and a ridiculously unsafe, razor-sharp edge in an area where a person is repeatedly required to place their feet.

As a footnote, let me add that the management of this Sears Outlet has been VERY rude, belligerent, uncooperative, and has repeatedly failed to keep their word as to returning phone calls when they promised... They also attempted to replace this mower with one that had been used and damaged.