Thursday, October 01, 2009

Sears: The only lemon I don't want

My bout with the flu was thankfully short and though I never felt horrible, just crummy, I am feeling better today. Just in time for my semi-annual visit from the Sears repair man to fix my dishwasher, yet again and my ongoing battle to have them replace this lemon.

My dishwasher is not new as in, "this is the first month I've had it" but it's not old, as in, "sorry they haven't made parts for this since Nixon administration". The dishwasher came to us on the tidal wave of our 2005 Remodel, or as I like to call it, "It's gonna cost how much?"

When you are replacing all of the three majors in the kitchen it's easier to go to one store and purchase them and since Sears had the refrigerator I wanted they were the lucky recipient of my business. I also paid extra for the extended warranty for all three and glad I did because just a short year after we finished the GE refrigerator crapped out to the tune of 900 bucks. Not actually a tune more like a friggin' opera. This, you might ask; but sorry after you do, is the lemon I'm referring to? Oh no, I have a much larger problem with the dishwasher.

It started last year with a broken door hinge. Scenario: Call to Sears, they apologize for the inconvenience and send their best to fix it. Wait for the repair man; if lucky you get a four-hour window. He orders the part and reschedules an appointment to fix it. The part comes in the mail, the repair man fixes it and we are once again, in business. Until a month later when something else happens.

Return to Scenario, and do it three more times. It has cost Sears over 900 bucks in parts and labor. Not me because I got the extended warranty but someone had to pay it. Granted, they would charge me more than what it actually cost them, hey, someone has got to make some money here. It has cost me time and aggravation. It has given the repair guys a job, wait that isn't so bad but it has made me lose hope in Sears.

After arguing with "customer service" for near an hour they agreed to have the tech evaluate the dishwasher to see if it qualifies as a lemon and give me a new one. Jeeeze, I'm not sure I want another Sears product but what I finally told them is "… just saying your sorry about my inconvenience is NOT customer service; doing something is."

Ah, and the warranty? It doesn't expire until October 2010. Imagine how much more money I could rack up in another year.

Update after the lying MAMF repair moron was here:

The tech was supposed to evaluate the problem and call his main office. I gave him my case number and the name and phone number of the customer service person on the case. I stepped out of the room to answer the phone and when I returned he said, "They said to order the part and fix it." Can't get much plainer than that. I was not happy and when he left called the number myself and he had never called them. After 30 minutes of going over my problems, why ever do they give you a case number, the rep said he would forward this on to the committee to decided if I have a lemon and it should be replaced and, hey, gave me a new case number. Sure.

So while they decide I'm looking a very lovely looking dishwasher that doesn't work and causes me aggravation. Sears will sell you the extended warranty but just give you so much grief it makes you want to NOT SHOP AT SEARS EVER AGAIN!

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous3:16 PM

    Oh I want to say DITTO,DITTO,DITTO! My very expensive SEARS Microwave has gone out after a short two years. They said it could be repaired for close to what I paid for it. NO THANKS. I will replace the oven but you can be sure it won't be with a Sears product. What happened to them? They used to be a dependable place to spend my hard-earned cash!!!!! They won't have the opportunity to take my $$$ again!!!!

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