So we thought the Sears Scratch and Dent would be a good place to buy a fridge and freezer for our garage to bring down food costs. We wouldn't mind a little scratch or ding, it wodlnt affect the performance and we trusted Sears...because they are Sears. Boy were we wrong!
We paid $1100.oo one Kenmore Elite Freezer (still working) and then one Fridgidare FLCH17F7HWA-it is a freezer OR a fridge depending on how you position the switch. Purchase date April 19, 2009. They were new (just discontinued, never sold or repaired we were told)so they had a one year warranty.
In January of 2010 the Fridgidare stopped working. The repair man came out and fixed it. Then it stopped working again April 19, 2010. Sears sent someone out and fixed it under the one year warranty.It was the same repairman as in January. This visit he said "This is a lemon. It was sold to work as a fridge or freezer, ut it always breaks when used as fridge. There have been alot of angry customers that bought this one. You should buy the warranty, it is $85.00 a year and dont let it expire because you will need it."
Problem:We were not in the position to buy the warranty at the time. So Sears only stood buy that repair for 90 days.
We called Sears Scratch and Dent during that 90 period to let them know it wasnt realistic for us to spend $85 dollars a year on warranties. The expectation was that in making a purchase from Sears, they stood behind their products and service. The person on the phone at the warehouse acknowledged that were alot of problems with that particular item. He passed on to his manager who also acknowledged the same thing and passed us on to Customer Solutions. After 2 weeks of phone tags with a guy in that department, we were told "The Lemon Law would not apply to that item as it was bought in the Scratch and Dent Warehouse and was therefore not considered "New". Mind you, the tag on it was marked "New" not "Returned" not "Repaired" but "New". So "New" in the Scratch and Dent at Sears is essentially a "Used" item as far as Washington State is concerned (and according to Sears Customer Solutions.
We couldn't return it as we had had it for longer than 30 days. It broke after 8 months the first time, the day the warranty was to expired the 2nd time and now...
It is March 27th, 2011 and it is broken again.Yes, if we could have coughed up the $85 dollars lastyear we could get it fixed-not for free remember the warranty was $85.
It jst seems if you buy a major appliance for even $1000.00 from the "New" showroom floor, that the real cost is $1000.00 plus $85.00 for every year you expect it to keep running. I would think 10 years is reasonable so the true cost would be$1850.00
I called Sears today to see if they could help us out and how much to come out.
The first guy accidentally disconnected me.
The 2nd guy snidely said "MOST people buy the warranties. I expressed the frustation of the additional expense os $85.00 a year for the expected life of an appliance and again snideley"Well you can just take that up twith them in Warranties."-click.
The 3rd person, a young woman tried to help, but coudlnt and said it was best to call Customer Solutions in the AM. I did want to be transfered to the supervisor in regard to the prior person-and I was put onto hold music for several minutes and disconnected.
The 4th person needed me to explain the entire thing again as he wasn't allowed to allow me to talk to a supervisor again...but eventually attempted to transfer me, there was hold music for a long time, a phone rang for several more minutes but it was never answered.
Sears is not the company my parents knew and trusted. Sears is not the company I grew up trusting. maybe hard economic times has turned the Amercian icon into a fly by night operation concerned with how much money they can make off of warranties rather than being a trusted establishment.
Just remember these days, the price tage on products sold at Sears is just the amount needed to get it out the door, not the true price of an additional $85.00 for the life of the product.