I ordered a front loader washer/dryer (SAMSUNG) on Black Friday and was told it is out of stock. I can't get anyone on the phone and I've left multiple messages. They offered me a GE or Frigidaire, a much worse and less popular model. I don't want the replacment. This is clearly a BAIT and SWITCH. They took our money, made their sales sheets look good for the end of the year, and now are leaving us all hanging. I think we should take this to the MEDIA. To top it all off, the ignorant, uneducated manager hung up on me when I told him that it was a bait/switch. He said he is tired of dealing with this issue...oh he's tired???? I want the darn set I paid for!

Who's in with me???

Completely frustrated.

In 2006 I purchased over $5, 500 in appliance when I remodeled my kitchen. 3 years later I had to make 6 service calls on my Maytag H2O Refridgerator.
Partly this is a 2 fold complaint. The Maytag H2O motor blew last summer on a fridge that was only 2 years old. The freezer drawer wouldnt close all the way on several different occasions and the ice machine wouldnt produce ice even though I changed the filter. Currently the interior door protector fell off.

The 2nd part of this complaint is that Sears has horrible warranty service. Last summer they told me that I would have to wait 2 weeks to have the motor repaired in AUGUST. I had to actually ask for the Presidents hotline in order to get service quicker. And when I mean by quicker it still took 5 days in August to have my fridge fixed.

First off, let me say I am a mom of a three year old, currently on disability for a bad back (sciatic nerve pain), ordered off work by my doctor and not to be lifting anything heavy. I purchased a Prima TV as a birthday gift for my son from Sears, March 2008. I got the TV home, my 70 year old grandfather and I manhandled the massive box up the two flights of stairs (I live in a townhouse), got the TV set up only to discover it gives off a horrible noise that would not go away. I called Sears and was told to return the TV and exchange it for another one as per their 30 day return policy on electronics. So, I called a friend and asked him to come assist me in removing and returning the TV. I did the exchange at Sears, got the TV home with my friends help and set it up...it appeared to work fine, but after only two weeks all the buttons ceased to function. The remote still worked though. At this point the Sears 30 day return was passed, so I contacted the ghosttown that is Prima Electronics (seriously no one answers the phone) and a service technician came to my home. He declared the TV required a new main board, told me that part had to be ordered directly from Prima and should take about 10 days. So a month goes by, still no part, countless calls have been made by myself and the service company to Prima. Eventually, I get a call from Prima authorizing me to return the Prima TV (again) back to Sears and to either get yet another Prima or another TV of my choice. Being that I am more than a little annoyed with Prima, I choose an RCA TV instead. I get my neighbour to help me this time with the exchange done February 2nd, 2009 and getting the TV into the house, in the process damaging my back further and being left barely able to walk for 3 days. The RCA is set up, and it is giving off a horrible strong odor like a bandaid burning! So, I wonder if this is the "new tv smell" that some electronics give off, but it is VERY strong smelling and does not dissipate after 12 hours of leaving the TV on. I call Sears, they have no more RCA's. From there I am given a run around over the next 34 days, being passed from person to person, being accused of doing something to the TV's, questioned as to why I didn't buy an LCD, treated like total garbage, and finally ended up calling head office. After making FOUR calls to head office, Sarah, Marilyn, unknown person who drops the call after leaving me on hold, Shauna, I am told by the supervisor that someone would come service the TV, she is personally setting this up for March 9th and someone will call to confirm...no one showed up after two days of waiting. March 10th, 2009 I make call number five and I am told by head office to call another number for "Escalated Divisions". I am told by Tanya, that Sears is not going to service the TV, she refuses to give me her superiors name or number or to transfer the call, tells me to write a letter, have a nice day and proceeds to hang up on me! I call back and get someone equally as rude, who tells me the same thing, pulls the name Jean-claude out of a hat, refuses to connect me or give me a contact number for this person, at which point I lose my temper and yell at her lol She also hangs up. I call back and get Pierre. After explaining the situation for the 7th time and after a lengthy wait on hold, Pierre comes back and says he has waived he 30 day return policy, I may return the TV to Sears for an exchange. I explain again that I cannot lift the TV and that I was told there were no more RCA's to do an exchange. Pierre says that over the past month somehow Sears Marlborough now has two RCA TV's in stock. I am told to contact Terry... no one knows who I am talking about when I call Sears. They finally figure out this is someone in "loss recovery", who is currently out to lunch (even though she just spoke with Pierre). I leave my name and number with Bob in electronics, requesting that he check the inventory for these two RCA TV's that Pierre is telling me are in stock, and to call me back and confirm these are not floor models, but in fact new RCA's still in the box. I now await a call back from Bob, Terry and still have to work out an arrangement to have the (new?) RCA TV delivered to my home without charge...wish me luck! I think I am going to need it :| In closing, it goes without saying, do not purchase electronics from Sears!

Sincerely,

Lisa S.
Calgary Alberta, Canada

Dated March 6, 2009
By
Melanie Westerkamp


There Oughta be a law! And if I were writing it, it would read; "A company will not be allowed to sell any items they do not have in stock, without explicitly stating in writing, when the item will be available for pick up or delivery, and then following through with it."
On Black Friday last year, (for those of you who don't know, that would be the day after Thanksgiving day sale) 2008, my husband walked into Sears in the Gateway Mall and purchased a Front loading washer and dryer set that they had on sale for half price.
Not being in the habit of paying for Items that we are not physically taking with us, and with the promise of a delivery date set as Feb 4, we decided to put it on our Sears credit card.
On the night of Feb 3rd, I made a phone call to Sears and asked if they could tell me for sure that my washer and dryer would be ready for pickup the next day. I was put on hold after giving my information and when she returned to the phone I was assured that the truck would be in the next day and my set would be on it.
In preparation of those facts, after disconnecting from the conversation, I gave away my washer and dryer set. My husband went to Sears to pick up the new set the next day to find that it wasn’t delivered on the truck, and the new delivery date was set for the 6th, two days later. The reason for this he was told, was because at the time of that sale they only had 30, 000 of those sets and sold 90, 000.
60, 000 of those sets that they sold and received payment for had not even been built yet. After another promise delivery date of Feb 20th, and four visits to the laundry mat = $40.00 spent there, and one hickory work shirt ($30.00) shrunk from an over heating dryer later, we still have no washer and dryer. We also don't have any more promises from Sears, now they are calling it an approximate delivery date of March 20, 2009.
Since the last total spent of $40.00, I have spent additional $30.00 approx (not incl. my time) and used three girlfriends and families washers and dryers while visiting with them anyway (also not incl. their water and electric use).
My Mother and Father needed a new microwave last year and so they went to sears to purchase it. Again, since they did not have the one that was needed to fill the hood range at home, it was ordered and they were told it would be in, in two weeks. During that time, it snowed and iced up the roads, and where they live it was pretty treacherous. At the end of those two weeks they got a phone call from Sears stating that their microwave was available for pick up. When my Father got there he was told that it hadn't arrived yet. A normal twenty minute drive took him forty minutes that day because of ice on the road. He is a self employed Man and his time from work already had him feeling antsy. When he found out that he had been called out to Sears, from Sears, for nothing, he was so angry he cancelled that order and told them he would never be back.
I don't feel I have the same option of just canceling the order of my washer and dryer the way he did his microwave. For one, I could not find another set so well priced, two, the two rebates have already been utilized and our taxes have been filed with the receipt of one rebate.
Had I known that there was even the slightest chance delivery could not be made when it was first promised (hence the phone call to Sears on the 3rd), I would have never given my set away. To make up for all this, they have deducted $50.00 from our bill and we are told that we can receive 3 boxes (or containers) of laundry soap of their choosing, when and if, the washer and dryer set arrives.
I have never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but to be honest, that just doesn’t wash away my frustration resulting from this situation! Fact is, since there was no contract stating a delivery date, we don't have any options.
My objective in writing this letter for all to read is just this, well, obviously to relieve some of my own pent up frustrations as well as making a statement, and that is, that any company, as long standing as what Sears and Roebuck has been, in my opinion, should have had the foresight and been better prepared for this situation.
And maybe they were, ? After all, they made no promises on paper; we were the only ones that did that, in signing our name and promising to pay our bill no matter how we feel we are treated in the interim.

Writing as a warning for you to stay FAR FAR AWAY from this Sears or any Sears in general.

I bought a dishwasher there in December. They were offering a deal where you could get either a free install, or 12 months no interest. Well I'm not a big fan of revolving debt so I opted for the free install.

First of all the install was NOT free. It was free after mail in rebate, up to $99. Guess how much the install actually costs? $119. Then they somehow charged an additional $55 on to my card, which we NEVER even got a receipt for. So anyhow, I stupidly went through thinking that Sears was competent enough to handle a rebate. I waited 60 days for the rebate, and never received it, so I called the store. They were utterly useless. They told me to go to
http://mySearsRebate.com. Nothing like having to write an e-mail to a black hole. So I write them an e-mail asking them where my rebate is, and never receive a reply. So today, I was happy to get my rebate. I open the envelope and see a check for $35. WTF.

So I talk to the usual powerless manager on duty who says she can't do anything, but gives me some other useless phone number where I can leave a voice message. Yippee.

So Sears has my $110 that it did not rightfully earn, but they really lose. I was going to finish out my appliances this spring, but not with them. So that's at least $5, 000 they are missing out on. On top of that, I am recommending that you all NEVER shop Sears. The only thing they care about is making a sale. Hopefully they die out like the horse and buggy soon.