In September of 2009, I purchased a new gas furnace and heat pump from Sears. It's 9 months later and I am still having problems with my (NEW) $8000 unit. My first issue (besides the lage hole left in the bedroom wall) was only two days after installation, when the AC quit blowing out cold air. Supposedly the tech forgot to tighten up something and the freon gas leaked out. Someone came out and fixed the problem (or so we thought). A few weeks later the thermostat quit working, so it had to be replaced. That Winter (2009-2010) the heater didn't seem to keep the house warm. The Heat pump ran all winter long (even when temperatures reached 0 degrees outside). I had ice and frost build-up on my (NEW) Heat pump and had to break ice off the unit daily. I was told that nothing was wrong by one person from Sears, while another person from Sears told me that wasn't normal. (Nobody ever came out to fix, or address our concerns that Winter). When warmer weather came around, we turned on our AC, only to find that it didn't blow out any cool air. I called Sears and had someone come out to fix it. The tech told me that the thermostat is not the correct one for our Heat pump, and that the unit is leaking freon. The tech also stated that having the wrong thermostat is the reason the our Heat pump ran all winter long, and that it wasn't wired up corectly and their was no temp sensor outside to tell the Heat pump when to stop running. My winter utility bill was higher that it had ever been (almost $400). Sears is dragging their feet on this issue. I finally told them to refund my money, or replace the unit with a new one. They assured me that there is no damage to the unit even though it ran all Winter long (then proceeded to tell me that it was normal to run at 0 degrees, even with ice build-up on the blades and outside vents). I'm fed up with Sears, their customer service (or lack there of), and their lies! Next move is to contact the local news and then finally an attorney. I will sue for legal fees, too!

On 8/31/09, i ordered replacement kitchen cabinet doors from Sears Home Improvement Service. They made every mistake you can imagine. The measurements were wrong (not even close). They ordered the wrong number of doors. They ordered the wrong kind of hinges Not all the doors were he same color

The District Production Manager (SR) and District General Manager (BE)repeatedly denied telling me things that they told me (that is meant to be a euphemism).

Last fall, the regional manager told me to dispute the credit card charge when it came in. The District Manager said that the regional manager didn't have the authority to do that (he clearly had apparent authotity).

The job was remeasured and redone (again wrong). It was completed to what we believe is the best the Sears could do (they blame the remaining defects on the cabinets themselves not being square).

The District Manager promised us compensation for our inconvenience over the 7.5 month period.

He proposed a number. We suggested a higher number and offered to take the compensation in "soft" dollars or merchandise. BW didn't know what the term "soft" dollars. I suggested he ask his boss but he told us he wasn't going to give us anything and hung up.

Never again would I use their service.

I purchased a new Lawn Tractor 11 months ago. Bought a good one, or so I thought. Paid $4500. Engine had a problem, no power and smoking. A Kohler 26 HP. Sears online site claims same dya or next day service. I called. 2 weeks was the first available. I called every number I could find, even went to the store. NO help. Worst part is that there is no one that has any authority to do anything, and you are not allowed to talk to them anyway. Service tech came in 2 weeks. Problem wasn't terminal, but it needed a ignition module (coil). He didn't hve one with him, and would have to order it. He said at least a week to get the part(delivered to my house), so he scheduled me for a date 10 days later. Well, no part came. I received calls and called their "service" center several times. No one could do anything. They couldn't even tell me when the parts would ship. Here's the kicker. I called a local dealer and could get the parts the next day if I wanted to. How come I can get the parts and they cannot? I am waiting for a call from their parts dept., who you cannot call because they have no outgoing lines, to see if they will approve my reimbursment if I buy the part on my own. I don't feel very lucky today. I am 61 years old and this is by far the WORST customer "service" I have ever encountered. There are many details in this exchange over the last 3+ weeks that I won't get into. suffice it to say that there is no one at Sears service that knows what they are doing.

By the way, the service tech was very good. it's not his service I am complaining about.

I worked for Sears as a call center operator. If you call in for customer service, say to schedule a service appointment or just to ask a question about an appliance you purchased, whoever you're talking to is trained to try to sell you a protection agreement. This is how it works.

You call in because of a problem with your washer. I pull up your account and what I'm trained to do is not necessarily solve your problem- I might transfer you across the room to the service department if you need a service call, but first I'll say, "Mr. Smith, I see here that you bought a dishwasher a couple of years ago and that you purchased the protection agreement there in the store. Did you know that agreement is about to expire? Why don't we go ahead and renew that for you." If you say you're not interested, I say, "Well, it's going to be cheaper for you in the long run- you know, you might have to pay out some money for this service call for your washing machine- you don't want to have to deal with that if your dishwasher breaks down, too, do you?"

If you agree to renew your agreement, I then say, "You know what? I could actually save you some more money- we could add your dryer and your garage door opener in with this agreement, they'd all be covered and you'll get a multi-item discount!" By the time I've finished with you, you've purchased $800.00 worth of protection agreements from me for appliances that might not even break down or, by the time they do, you most likely would be ready to replace with a new one anyway. THEN you get transferred and put on hold for another ten minutes waiting to schedule an appointment for your washer that you'll actually have to pay for out of pocket.

When you do call in for a service appointment for an item that's covered, some- not all- Sears' repairmen will look for a reason not to honor your agreement with Sears. "That problem is due to normal wear and tear- it's not covered under your agreeement." Or "The manufacturer doesn't even make that part anymore..." and they note on your account the code for "Part Not Available" and they do not do the repairs.

When you call in to find out why you were charged for a service call, you get the department that's trained to sell agreements again- and whoever you talk to has only one goal: To sell you an agreement. After all, they are paid commission for agreements that they sell- Some people make an additional 200.00/month or more doing this. So you call in, and whoever you talk to says, "Hey, by the way, the protection agreement on your stove is about to expire! Let's go ahead and renew that for ya..." That's when you lose your temper and say, "THAT'S HOW I GOT IN THIS MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE! I PAID YOU GUYS HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS OVER THE YEARS TO COVER THIS WASHING MACHINE AND NOW YOU WON'T FIX IT!!" Once we realize that we're not getting any money out of you, you're transferred back to service where you started when you made the appointment, and you go back and forth with them. Sometimes, you're transferred back to us, because it's a "Protection Agreement" issue. Then you're transferred back to them because it's a "Service" issue.

If you ask to speak to a manager, we're trained not to transfer you- we are supposed to work out the problem ourselves. If we do transfer you, we're probably transferring you to another department, not a manager. You might think you're talking to someone about your protection agreement or a problem you're having with Sears honoring it, but you're not talking to a customer service representative- you are talking to a salesperson. Once they realize you're not going to buy anything, you become wasted call time- time they could be spending on another caller who they might be able to talk into purchasing or renewing an agreement- and you are transferred to another department, and a lot of times, any other department will do. We know if you call back to complain that you were transferred to the wrong department, you won't get us anyway- you'll get someone else maybe in an entirely different state in another call center, and they won't care about your problem, either.

Another common problem is store salesmen selling customers protection agreements at the time of purchase- they will sell you an agreement and tell you ANYTHING to get you to buy it. They will tell you things are covered that really aren't- like lightning strikes for televisions or a hose for your washer (that's an "expendable part"- not covered under our agreement!) They will tell you you're paying far less in the store than you would if you called in to purchase the protection agreement later- not necessarily true. If you balk, they might offer you a cheaper price for being a "good customer". You think you just scored a huge discount- when you call in to schedule the free yearly maintenance on your heat pump, we tell you that our records show you didn't purchase a Master Protection Agreement as you were told- you actually purchased the cheaper Repair Protection Agreement- yearly service isn't covered under that agreement, but would you like to upgrade to a Master Protection Agreement? Because if you do, we can schedule your service appointment and you'll be covered for any future repairs should you need them- as long as they're covered under our contract. Sometimes, store salesmen will sell customers these agreements, figure it into the final cost of the item and the customer never even knows he purchased it.

I am so glad I don't work there anymore. It was not a fulfilling job at all. You don't sleep well at night knowing you just sold some old lady $3, 000 worth of protection agreements that she'll likely never use. Please be careful when buying these protection agreements- so many people pay more money to cover their appliances than they paid for the appliances themselves. If you purchase a 5-year agreement, your appliance is most likely not going to break down before it's five years old, so you've paid out that money for nothing. Five years later, you go to renew, and the price is MUCH higher because your items are that much older.

It's a much smarter decision to put that money into savings and earmark it for appliance repairs or replacement should you need it. Figure these costs into your budget when you purchase an appliance and just pay for any needed repairs yourself.

I am so disgusted with the sears repair service. I have never had so much trouble in my life. I bought a fridge in 2006 and paid $2800. By 2009, it began to break down. They came out several times and each time were unable to fix it. This occurred over a two month period. Mind you, I was unable to use my fridge over that time. Finally, after having to harass the repair man, I was able to have a senior technician come out the following day. And would you believe that it took him minutes to fix the problem. It is sad that I had to resort to pestering a technician so much that they sent me another tech who immediately fixed the issue. Once again, not more than six months after the initial fix, my fridge is once again on the fritz. After sending a tech out, he told me that the fridge was unrepairable due to an internal issue. I was told to go on to their website and choose a new fridge of equal or lesser value. Everything seemed to be fine; I selected the fridge I wanted, scheduled the delivery for a Thursday and was expecting a phone call the day before to confirm my delivery time. Not only was I not called the day before the delivery, I was told the day of the delivery that my fridge would not be coming. The fridge had been found defective upon arriving at the warehouse. I was told by the customer service rep that a new fridge was being ordered and would be delivered a week and a half from the original delivery date. Not only did I have to take off work today, I now have to be without a replacement fridge for the next week and half. I wasn't even offered a cheap fridge to take the place of my old fridge in the mean time. So here I am again with a fridge that doesn't work. I was told that I would receive a phone call later today to discuss the possibility of an earlier delivery. I did not receive a call. So I had to call only to be told that it could not be delivered any earlier and once again was not given any other solutions to my problem. The least they could have done was offer to deliver a cheap fridge to hold me over until my new fridge arrives. The only other fridge I have in my house is a mini fridge. Try having a family of 5 living out of a mini fridge for over a week. I own many sears appliances and have never had any issues before. I can remember being a kid and my parents owning sears appliances. And you know what, they still work! But after this nightmare, I will never again purchase any appliance from sears. Not only is the quality clearly shitty as far as the fridges are concerned, the customer service sucks.