Maybe Sears (catalog department) would not have this problem if they cared anything at all about customer service. I had major problems with them - they made an error on an account but they were unwillinging to admit the error at first. I even had a customer service agent refuse to answer my question and then told me she was going to hang up. There is much more - but I digress.

Always liked Sears products -- efficient, reliable. The problem is the in-store service has dramatically declined. By in large the clerks are indifferent and not terribly knowledgable. Not a few times, too, products displayed are not currently in stock. Certainly a sign of a glitch in management.

An more effective online retailing operation/strategy could also have obviated the "I don't live close enough to a Sears store" problem.

These are all good brands, but Kenmore is threatened by Samsung and LG and the Die Hard (which interestingly enough, was conceived by Ross Glatzer, who went on to lead Prodigy) is being pressed by Costco's Kirkland batteries (these topped CR's ratings last year) at the low end and the new line of Optima red and yellow batteries at the top end.

Sears seems hell-bent on antagonizing and alienating appliance customers that have service-related issues.

On September 1, 2006 we purchased a Kenmore bottom freezer refrigerator (model 79577302600). The icemaker was replaced within six months (and still does not work properly), and the main circuit board failed at 13 months (October 6, 2007 to be exact - just 36 days out of warranty), causing the regrigerator lights to burn continuiously although the doors were closed. Had my wife not happened into the kitchen in the middle of the night, there would have been a fire - the electronics housing at the top of the regrigerator unit had melted and fallen off, and the plastic light sockets were black from the heat and had started smoking.

But the real fun didn't begin until we tried to get this major failure repaired. It would take three or four paragraphs to describe the incompetence of the service technician (he had to return three times because he kept ordering incorrect parts for which we were being billed) and the poorly trained customer service representatives who failed to tell us about an available extended warranty, and gave us incorrect or incomplete information as we were trying (very unsuccessfully) to get the various service-related problems and billing issues resolved.

Curious as to whether my "service repair from hell" was an anomoly, I googled "sears repair problems", and much to my chagrine, found there are thousands of customers that have had similar negative experiences with Sears service centers. I have never before experienced such a level of frustration with a major company, and while Sears claims to value customer feedback, there is no effective mechanism for doing so candidly.

I have been so soured by this experience that I will never again purchase a major appliance from Sears, and would warn off everyone I know from ever doing so.

Your sales are down. I wonder why?

I used to be a dedicated Sears customer. I purchased just about every thing from Sears (appliances, furniture, automotive, clothing, etc.) just about every major purchase used to be from Sears. Your quality and customer service was outstanding. My family laughed at me when I went shopping at Christmas because when I went to the mall, it meant going to Sears.

Then the problems started, furniture fell apart in less then a year. My water softener had to be repaired every six months the washer dryer had to have major repairs after 2 years. It seamed that every thing fell apart just after the warranty expired. So I started buying the extended warranty and it seamed that I was contacted by Sears just about every month to extend my warranty coverage. When I added up this warranty coverage it was
$ 4200.00 a year.

I started shopping at every place but Sears and just used the standard warranty coverage.
Every thing lasted years and years

Recently I purchased a Freespirit Elliptical trainer and after 2years it started to smoke. The mother board was bad. You don't sell parts. I would have to purchase a new CONSOLE SET for $ 600.00.

No wonder your sales are down! You don't have any quality to entice me to keep coming back.

I am now on fixed income so to spend more than 1/2 the price to fix it I purchased another trainer from another supplier.

I would not recommend Sears products to anyone. We renovated our house less than a year ago and purchased new Sears appliances (that were highly rated by Consumer Reports) to replace our aging Sears appliances that dated from the 1970s. The first front-loading washing machine they sent us would not work so we sent it back and ordered another one. The second was visibly damaged so we sent it back - the third one seems to work well.

The pump and motor assembly and the front door seal failed on the dishwaser three months after we started using it (mostly 1 load per day). It was fixed under warrantee a couple of months ago, but is now leaking water from the front again.

So far the fridge, freezer, electric range/oven, and dryer are functioning well, but based on the comments I have read, I am not optimistic they will last longer than 5 years.

I am wondering why Consumer Report's ratings appear not to reflect consumer experience? This is the second time I have encountered this disjunct between these ratings and reality. Consumer Reports, for the most part, does not rate VW well, however, every VW diesel owner I have spoken with (~15) loves their car and has had no issues with reliability.

I have shopped at Sears since 1958. What I see is a continuous decline in the attitude of the sales associate and the support personnel. The prevailing attitude now seems to be one that projects that you are disturbing their day by asking a question, for help, or to ring out.

I would not blame Sears as much as I would blame the consumer. If the consumer loyalty is only price driven, why should a company like Sears invest in better service when Target and WalMart treat you like 'dirt' and yet the consumer returns and returns to them.

If you want better products and service reward only the green corporations that treat their employees like we would like to be treated as customers. None of the three companies I refer to would do that.

I agree with the comments other subscribers have made about customer service at Sears. It is very bad indeed.
The clerks at my local Sears store (Livingston NJ) know very little about the products they are supposed to be selling.
They are often sullen and unhelpful.
They make you feel that you are imposing on them by asking them to serve you.

Of course your getting bad customer service. When you let cut the pay or hours of senior employees and replace them kids the customer and the store(in the long run)lose. Who really wants to work retail? I work retail part time after dealing with idiots that don't know what they want, throw stuff on the floor, steal, scam and treat you like dirt don't get upset if I might be in a bad mood. Of course the $7.50 per hour helps

As others have said, Sears stores are very poor in that they often have clerks who know nothing about the products, their inventory system is a joke, and service and installation are extremely poor. Product quality and reliability has declined steadily over the past decade. Quite frankly, it is a mystery to us how you can consistently rate their products so highly. Those ratings certainly do not reflect our experience, and are beginning to call your credibility into question.

Every single time I go to Sears I have a problem. Over the past seven years I have purchased large appliances from them ranging from washer & dryer, lawn mower and induction cooktop. All of these appliances have had problems with multiple service requirements. So I have given up on large purchases at Sears.

So I went to Sears' watch repair with four or five watches for batteries and a new crystal on one of the watches. This is small stuff. Sears screwed up the order and over charged me. They made up a story about a fee to handle the order. I gave up and walked out of the store after all it was only five bucks.

When I got home I decided to send an e-mail to Sears because it was my five bucks that they took. Sears responded that the store will contact me. You know it! The store never contacted me.

We have owned our washer and dryer for seven years and we have had two service calls on the washer and three on the dryer. Each time they sell a contract that includes a one year warranty. I have spent $650 on maintenance. My parents purchased their washer and dryer from Sears and in 20 years had one service call.

Sears has gone cheap on their in-store training and they have gone cheap on their hardware.

If they go out of business it's because they forgot about people that made their store great.

great work you bunch of eeyores. Negative people attract negative people. 6/10 of allappliances are sold thru a sears store. If service was as bad as you imply there would be millions of posts instead of thousands! Do some math; for every negative post there are thousands of people who would argue with you.

Well, i work for sears. All these comments disturb me. I for one try to treat my customers as i would want to be treated so i dont blame any of you for not returning to sears that have had poor experiances with sales associates. But some . . . . no most of the run around that customers get from service or with regaurds to problems comes from higher up than your run of the mill employee. They keep adding on layers of hoops to jump through and people to talk to to get things taken care of and a majority of them unfortunatly are not trained before they are added to the "team". I am so sorry i know only a few of the frustrations that my customers have gone through and we are not all "put out" or "bothered" by customers that need attention for a purchase or a problem. Unfortunatly the company has taken a lot of the ability to fix things away from the everyday associates. My advice is to write corporate, the associates know of the problems we just dont have the power to make the changes. Again i am sorry, hopefully this helped someone somewhere.

Sears no more for me!! I purchased appliances in November and I'm still waiting for my full rebate. It's 3.5 months! I applied online. I mailed them my info. I've faxed it. I've been told by 3 different people that my rebate is being processed. Amazingly there are no records of my earlier conversations and no check. Not being able to process a simple rebate seems a little shifty.

BTW, I've been on hold with Customer Service for going on 15 minutes now waiting for a supervisor. Don't buy from Sears.

I am amazed at how terrible Sears customer service is. I made the mistake of buying a tractor and some power tools from Sears, having no idea how poor their customer service would be. The $2000 tractor never worked, and they told me that they could have someone come look at it in two weeks on a Monday any time from 8 to 5. I explained that I *work* from 8 to 5 and asked for a narrower window. They refused, of course, and I tried various levels of management, only to be hung up on three times, transferred to an India call center twice and to the Philippines once. At best, they could come *three* weeks later on Monday between 8 and 5. Once insolent manager told me to either quit my job or take a "personal day" if I wanted service from Sears. I find their service indefensible and will NEVER shop at Sears again.

My experience with my 8 month old Kenmore Kenmore HE2 plus has been terrible. It has leaked from the beginning, and walked all over the laundry room, but three weeks ago, the "boot" failed and tore clothing inside the washer. Water poured all over the floor. For two weeks I dealt with Sears repair numbers, but then after much frustration I went back into the store to speak to the manager regarding my problems. I have never felt like someone cared so little. He has done nothing to help me and has given me phone numbers to call regarding my problems. When I call these "customer relations" numbers, they transfer me all over the place, passing me through the same departments over and over again until I get tired of telling my story over and over and I just give up. I think in the reviews of appliances, you should add information regarding how efficiently and effectively the companies back up their products and warranties. My washer is still under warranty and I am still looking at weeks more without it. I have an $800.00 piece of junk sitting in my laundry room and I have no expectation that it will hold up past the warranty. The "considerate" manager did, however, try to sell us an extended warranty, though. We filled our new home with Sear's appliances. What a mistake.

In Nov 2004, we remodeled our kitchen and purchased a Kenmore fridge, stove and dishwasher. The icemaker died within 18 months, the main board on the stove fried within 3 months and now, the coup de grace! Our stainless steel tub diswasher has two rust holes in the base, leaking and ruining our laminate kitchen floor and the ceiling/wall of the bathroom below it.
That's right; RUST HOLES in a stainless steel tub! Sears has done everything to "pass the buck", that is, when they bother to return my calls. The tub has a lifetime warranty and the Sears service tech has ordered a new one, but it has been backordered since April and now will not ship until 5/22, at the earliest.
Either they have a manufacturing problem, or they are selling non stainless steel at stainless steel prices. I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau over this.

I am a fourth generation, Sears appliance purchaser, and the long standing
tradition has ENDED. I wouldn't have another Sears product in my house,
if, you gave it to me Free!
I took CONSUMER REPORTS lastest issue on Dishwasher and Stove testing to
my local Sears store in Pleasanton, CA. I purchased the #1 recommended
by CR, Dishwasher and Stove - both Kenmore. By the way, Kenmore no longer manufacturers its own products - my stove was actually made by
Electrolux. Sears does not tell you that the delivery/installer people
are NOT SEARS EMPLOYEES - with all the consumer protection of drug testing, back- ground checks done and ETC. that employees are screened for.
The people who delivered/installed my stove were independant very small
(rent a truck and get your brother to help and you own a comp. that Sears
will allow to handle their customers) so called -company. They wear NO
uniforms, they have NO ID'S, they have NO COMPANY BUSINESS CARDS, the
TRUCKS ARE UNMARKED, Junkie looking trucks.
I believed the company delivering/installing my stove were Sears employees - No One ever told me different!!!! All scheduling of their services is thru
SEARS INSTALLATION. It's a nightmare - you must avoid and I ENCOURAGE
CUSTOMER REPORTS TO PUT THIS IN ANY ARTICLE TESTING OR RECOMMENDING A
SEARS APPLIANCE. This is DANGEROUS for a consumer - to have these
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE, COME INTO YOUR HOMES.
It's a very long and very sad story and I'll not get into it here but
I am a Senior, living alone, and my stove was improperly installed by
these people and resulted in a serious injury to me and SEARS has done
NOTHING TO HELP ME - REFUSED TO PAY MY HIGH MEDICAL BILLS AND HAS
made my life absoultely MISERABLE with harassing phone calls, letters,
faxes and etc. Sears must be AVOIDED - please folks stay away.
There are good businesses that sell appliances - go there.
Don't bother to contact Sears so called 'corporate office' those are
call centers and one lady told me all they do is take a report and file
it - no one at Sears corporate level wants to see the reports, they were
told. ( I finally reached an honest person, who told me the truth.)
I'm writing this blog to save anyone else, especially Seniors, living on
Soc. Sec. to AVOID SEARS. You will be harassed, cheated, lied to,and on
and on - at the same time they have and keep your hard earned money.
Please CU put the information about the delivery/installation personnel
in your magazines and on your website - this is a very DANGEROUS PRACTICE according to the local Police Dept. Furthermore, it's illegal -
but that doesn't stop Sears.
I will take Sears to Small Claims Court when I recover from my injury
but what a hassle for me - when all I wanted to do was buy a #1 rated
stove by CU. Thank you for reading my blog and please heed my advice -
STAY AWAY, FAR AWAY, FROM SEARS AND LIVE A MUCH HAPPIER LIFE.

Sears Product and Reputation is going down hill fast. I used to like buying Sears products BUT I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER SEARS PRODUCT AGAIN. The Repair Warranty Service and Customer Relations is terrible. Change of the Board of Directors is needed to revitalize this once great American Company. I'm currently going through a nightmare trying to get my expensive Carrier Heat Pump serviced that is under warranty but Sears is taking forever getting it repaired. So far it has been 11 days without Air Conditioning during August in North Carolina and it still has not been fixed. I received the parts in an acceptable time frame directly to my home after it was ordered by a service technician that Sears sub-contracts within the area. I called Sears and reported all parts received and they scheduled me for this past Friday for repair. The sub-contractor called and said they didn't service my area on Fridays and rescheduled for the following Monday. Sears automated calling service confirmed the appointment for Monday 11 August 08 between 8:00AM to 5:00PM. I had to call at 3:30PM on Monday to see when the service technician would arrive. Sears had the technician call me and I explained to him that I received the Heat Pump parts (Compressor, capacitors, and Kick Start Kit). He told me he was unaware that this service call had any parts and that it would take too long today to fix it since he was 40 miles away. He was going to call Sears and that he would contact me afterwards. He never did and I contacted Sears at 1-800-469-4663 and spoke to their scheduling department and they didn't know anything about todays appointment but I had an appointment 3 days from now. It seems to me one department isn't talking to the other department within Sears. I will see how the repair goes, still waiting for some Air Conditioning for my home. Hope they repair it before Winter comes. As you know Heat Pumps cool & heat the home. BTW this is a Carrier WeatherMaker Two-Speed Model 38YDB Heat Pump that was installed May 04 (4 years old).

I purchased a Sears Water Softener in 1999 and maintained a Sears Protection Agreement each year. T experienced no problems until recently when it stopped functioning. I called Sears and they sent a contract plumber to service it. He said the resin tank is "shot" and it is not covered by the Sears Protection Agreement. He stated it would cost less to buy a new softener than to repair it. I was told the Protection Agreement covered all parts & labor each time I renewed The store dept manager said "we stopped covering resin tanks three years ago" & he was not authorized to help me. I was referred to numberious "800" numbers but nobody was helpful. I wrote the CEO of Sears and received a call from a secretary & was told no coverage. I did not even receive a answer from the corporate office by letter. My copy of the Protection Agreement does not exclude the resin tank from coverage. Sears is no longer interested in Customer Service and keeping loyal customers.

Sears Customer "Service" is no Service at all! I have not had any success in working with Sears Representatives to assist with any requests I have on past purchases. My records will show that I was billed and penalized for past due payments on a NO PAYMENTS/NO INTEREST for 12 months promotion that turned out to be a promotion for Late Fee Collection efforts by Sears and Interest Increases on products purchased at the time of this "Great" NO PAYMENTS/NO INTEREST promotion.

I just spoke with 2 different reps. (Brian and FeBe) and was disconnected both times after they could not access my account by using my account number and then was supposed to be transferred to the "Warranty" Dpt. ???
Again, TERRIBLE Customer "Service"!!!

So now I type this letter sharing my experience and DO NOT expect to hear back from you with any kind of Customer "Service", but I will continue to NOT use my Sears Card and will NEVER recommend Sears to anyone.

I will also be posting my experience on every customer service survey that I can find online, not because I have the time, but because Sears has been the worst company I have purchased anything from.

Very Unsatisfied Customer,

Jason McKendrick
303-718-4617

The saga continues....start at the bottom and work your way up.

Hello Dylan and thank you for the quick response.

It appears you are pacifying my issue considering the General Manager is also the Store Coach as well as the Sears Associate I had the issue with; as outlined in my original correspondence. I feel the action you are taking will be a waste of time to all parties, therefore I will tell you not to bother as you have further displayed why Sears has lost my business.

Regards,
Tom

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sears Customer Relations"
Subject: Re: National Customer Relations - (KMM1519101I15977L0KM)
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:50:52 -0500 (CDT)

Dear Thomas,

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding your experience with
one of our stores. We are always interested in hearing from our
customers, and regret it was this type of situation that prompted you to
contact us. We apologize for the lack of assistance at this store.

We have forwarded your message to the Store Coach. They will contact
you within two (2) business days.

Once again, thank you for contacting us.

Sincerely,

Dylan C.
National Customer Relations
Sears Holdings Corp.
Original Message Follows:
------------------------

Hello, I wanted to pass along a negative experience I recently had with
both Sears.com and the Sears store where I went to pick up merchandise
ordered online.

Here in Columbus Ohio we recently experienced a power outage due to a
storm, so I went online and purchased a generator as well as a
maintenance agreement. I confirmed the generator was in-stock and made
the purchase so I could pick up the generator when the store opened.
When I placed the order it simply said the item is in stock so I could
go pick it up. I took my Order #(4417555) as well as my Salescheck
#(093001752555) to the store with me to pick up the generator. The
stores in my area were out of stock so I had to drive 30 minutes to the
Westland Mall location. When I arrived at the store 15 minutes before it
opened there was a line of people waiting to purchase generators due to
the power outage. There was obviously a lot of tension because everyone
wants to take care of their family's needs.

The store's General Manager Mike Higginbotham came out approx. 10 minutes
before the store opened and told the line of people there were only 6
generators available which confirmed the generator I purchased was in
stock. At that time I notified Mr. Higginbotham that I had made a
purchase online and therefore had already paid for one of the generators
and would he please ensure that the generator I already paid for would
be set aside. He said he would go confirm the order and I could pick up
the generator at the receiving window. He never came back to discuss the
matter with me and subsequently sold all generators to the line of
people waiting at the door. He obviously was unwilling to talk to me
about the situation and ignored my request, he immediately hurried to
the back room to avoid me.

In addition to the issue I had, there was no coordination of selling the
generators to what turned into an angry mob within the store of yelling
and pushing customers to buy what was in stock. Mike is a GM and should
have better assessed the situation by taking names of the first 6 people
in line and selling what was in stock in an orderly manner. The
generators were literally up on shelves and the mob was pulling these
very heavy items down onto one another, it was a very dangerous
situation. Luckily no one was seriously injured but there were many
angry customers that were among the first in line but went home empty
handed.

I own a construction company and I always purchase Craftsman products
for my crew because of the excellent customer service and quality of the
tools. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars at Sears for both my
business and personal use and I've always been pleased with the products
and service. Sears products are often more expensive than the Lowes,
Home Depot, and Club stores but Sears offers true customer service which
makes the extra expense worth while. This case has been an exception but
a major one. I have sent a check to pay in full the balance on my Sears
card and I have no plans of shopping at Sears in the future, online or
otherwise. I have been seriously let down by this entire situation and I
did not appreciate the less than respectful way that Mike Higginsbothom
(a store GM!) treated me as a long time customer.

Regards,
Tom

Sears products and repair are atrocious. I bought a Kenmore Elite microwave/convection oven from Sears about two years ago and it has broken down twice. The first time, the light in the microwave stopped working about six months after I bought the product. It was under warranty (although Sears still tried to bill me for the repair). The same problem occurred about two months after the first repair, but since I had such a bad experience, I decided to live with not seeing my food cook. Now the microwave feature doesn't work at all. I called for repair and was given a crazy time window. No one ever showed up for the first repair time and I was given a second, two weeks later, without any concessions for the waste of my time. I was told that the repairman called before the scheduled window and because I didn't answer the phone, he skipped my appointment. Apparently, Sears expects people to wait by the phone before scheduled appointments as well as during their time slot. The second time, I called for a more accurate time, so that I could shower, feed myself, etc. and I was told that they didn't know when he is coming, but he is scheduled to arrive. Then I was hung up on. All of this shows me that their products are inferior and so is their service. They shouldn't be in business and they certainly won't get mine, my family's, friends or neighbors any longer. I keep reading postings from employees stating that they are under such stress. Other much smaller companies are able to produce better products and provide better service. If Sears can't do it, they shouldn't exist. Banks, Home Owners and Auto Manufacturers are suffering while Sears lives on. It isn't fair, Sears Sucks.

My washer (Elite oasis he ) broked and one month after the Sears Service was not able to fix it. First the technician showed up and needed to order a part. The following week, after I received the part trought the mail, the technician changed the part and told us to wait at least couple hours to let the machine update itself!?! The next day, the machine did not work at all. We called again and they schedule another technician for the following week. When the technician showed up, he detected another problem with the motor. The technician ordered a part to come trought the mail. After we received the part we had to call the 1800 number to schedule the service call. He technician showed up and said the part was missing a screw and he didn't know why that happen. He ordered the part again and and after one month without the washer, I hope he'll be able to fix it next week. It was the last appliance that I bought from Sears and I'll make sure that I use a local service for future repairs.

I'd just like to take this small opportunity to ask the editors of consumer reports to clarify an issue that has plagued me as a Sears associate. I have seen, both on paper and through first hand experience, the value of an initial Protection Agreement as offered by Sears. There seems to be a misconception regarding this agreement as an extended warranty, which I would never feel comfortable offering. As I have told my customers, and as I have seen myself, the manufacturers of the products we sell will not allow Sears to make a decision on the warranty of any product once our return policy has elapsed. Our return policy allows for a return for up to ninety days on most items, thirty in Home Electronics, which is plenty of time for most to find out if a product is defective. What the Protection Agreement offers is a further length of time in which Sears can issue service and parts, both for any warranty issues, and for any wear issues, without asking the manufacturer's permission. There are also clauses that allow for transfer of the agreement to a new owner, early termination with refund at the customer's request, and full replacement if a product has to be serviced four times in one year, or if the product cannot be repaired. Most issues I have read regarding what some seem to see as what Sears should do about their products have listened to the "Never buy an extended warranty" speech, and have transposed that onto Protection Agreements as well. Recently, I sold an air compressor that uses an oil-free pump. In my experience, these oil-free compressors work great, but require inspection about once a year to check the condition of the piston rings, and replacement as necessary to keep working great. I tried to let my customer know that the Protection Agreement I offered would cover this annual maintenance check with no further cost to him, just to have him tell me that Consumer Reports told him not to buy an extended warranty, and that was justification enough for him to not take the time to read the terms of the service contract I was offering. I am in a position to offer these contracts, and it is my job to make it clear to each and every customer that they are available to just what is covered and how long they have to make a decision. I try to give the customer the benefit of the doubt on being a reasoning adult capable of making a decision for themselves, and give them the opportunity to read the agreement at their leisure to make an informed decision. Unfortunately, the majority believes that CR has done all the research, and that all agreements offered are identical. I urge anyone who has the chance to do a side-by-side independent comparison between agreements offered by the major retailers, and show these in comparison to the usual extended warranty offered by the manufacturer on no less than five products. I feel that only then, when CR or some other publication has the nerve to print the findings, will the general public see what they have been missing.

Sears Service . . . No Show . . . TWICE

I had already took off a work day 3 weeks ago for a Sears Technician to look at my refrigerator and order a circuit board. The part was delivered to my house and service was scheduled for last Saturday from 1 - 5 PM. At 4:45 PM I got a little concerned and called. I was told that I was still in the queue for service. 6 PM or so, no call no service technician. Called again and was told he may still be making calls. 8 PM no call no call. Called again and was told the technician had put a note in the system that no one was home at 5:17 PM . . . WHICH IS A BIG LIE. I was home all day and had my cell phone was on me all day waiting for any calls.

Service was rescheduled for today. Given last bad Saturday's experience, I requested that my call be as early in the morning as possible. I was given a window of 8AM - noon with a notation requesting an early service call. 12:15 PM rolled around and no technician and no call so I called. I was assured that I was still in the queue. Multiple additional calls were made to Sears, including one where they told me the tech had completed his prior call at 2:15 PM and I was his next scheduled call and he should be on his way. At 4 PM I received a call saying they couldn't send the tech out (no reason why) and they were canceling the service call. I asked to speak to the Tech Manager who made that decision but I never received a call back.

Trying to get a service before the end of the day, I made countless calls to Customer Service and a "3rd Party Resolution Team" to see if they could send someone else. The answer was NO. And I was even more flabbergasted when they told me the Tech Manager had pulled the tech from my service call because the Tech had reached his limit for the week and they did not want to pay him overtime! That's not my problem, that's their scheduling problem. You just don't cancel customer appointments on short notice. My appointment had been confirmed twice yesteday and several times today.

Also, no one at Sears will give you their direct phone number so you have to call a call center and repeat the entire story. I must have spoken to at least 8 different people at Sears today and still I don't have my refrigerator fixed or have a new appointment. The onus is back on ME to call them back to reschedule.

I can't tell you what a horrible experience this has been.

In the cold of winter, our four year old Sears top-of-the-line water heater quit. Four years isn't a very long life span for a top quality water heater, but okay.....we were planning to repair it and forget it. We called Sears to schedule an appointment and had to wait a few days before someone could come to fix it. We were not able to shower, do dishes, or do laundry at home. So each morning before work, when it was still dark and the temperature was below freezing, we drove to public showers. The timeline for the repair person to come was 8 - 5. We tried to find out if it would be AM or PM to no avail. So I had to take the entire day off work. The repair person came in the afternoon, checked the water heater, and said a part would have to be ordered. It would take a week to come in. (A week???)

So we waited a week, again with no hot (or warm) water, driving to the public showers each dark, cold, morning before work.

Finally, the part came in and we scheduled another appointment for the repair. Again between 8 and 5. Again another day off work.

It was the wrong part!!! Again a part was ordered and again we waited a week driving to the public showers in the dark and cold.

Finally, that part came in and we scheduled another appointment time for the repair. Again between 8 and 5. Again another day off work. It took 2 1/2 weeks and 3 days off work to get our water heater fixed, and the repair bill ended up costing MORE than we paid for the water heater!!! What's wrong with this picture?

If only we had known, we could have called our local plumber and had him try to fix our water heater, or install a new one if the repair cost exceeded the cost of a new water heater. And our wonderful local plumber always lets us know if he will come AM or PM.

As others have stated, each phone call resulted in a discussion with a different Sears repair employee and our water heater story had to be repeated over and over to people who didn't express any concern for our situation, and no effort was made to expedite the repair considering the circmstances.

Now, the rest of the story.....
Last week our top-of-the-line, three year old, ice and water Kenmore refrigerator quit making ice. We used the hairdryer, as suggested by Sears, but it was only a temporary fix.
A repair appointment was scheduled between 8 and 5, and agan they could not narrow the time down to AM or PM, so again I had to take a day off work.

The refrigerator repair was completed without having to wait 2 1/2 weeks, but this repair bill was over $350 for a computer part that quit functioning! Maybe it's just us, but a repair of over $350 for a top refrigerator that is only three years old doesn't cut it for our quality expectations. The reason we purchased a new, top-of-the-line appliance was so that we would have a quality product that would last for a reasonable time without repairs.

I could understand a repair bill of $350+ if I had purchased a used refrigerator at a garage sale, or from a private ad.

For 30 years, we have purchased quality Sears appliances, tools, and merchandise. But after our water heater and refrigerator experiences, and after reading about the numerous problems other people have had with Sears products and personnel recently, we will no longer be shopping at Sears.

Sears outlets suck. They claim 60 to 70% off all appliances. Well its the truth because they triple the price for their cheap washers and dryers. Do they really expect consumers to believe a new bottom of the line washer should cost 4000$??? Then they try to sell it at 60% off what a scam, even with their sales it still costs more than the competition which is usually better quality. Same thing happened on their riding lawn mowers. Total turn off, I will never go back to sears.

As of this afternoon, I'm no longer a loyal Sears customer.
Today they really pis*@!$ me off.
For years, I have been buying all my large ticket item appliances (heat pump, dryer,washer, refrig, stove, etc) from them. Never had a problem with their Service Dept until today.
I have been good about paying for their Master Protect Agree(MPA), but I found out that what I thought I had been paying for, does not actually cover the entire heat pump system. My heat pump went kaput, so ok, not a problem since I have MPA agreement. Well, found out I was out of luck, because the MPA didn't cover any issues related to the outside unit, only the indoor heating furnace.
Now mind you, Sears has been at my home for the last 6 years to service the unit both inside and out, and NOT EVER has anyone mentioned to me that I am only covered for the inside equipment, and that the outside equipment is considered a separate unit, and that it should have a separate MPA.
Here I am trusting Sears to generate the correct MPA, but obviously can't trust them anymore. So, if I were you DO NOT BUY Sears, as they are no longer the trustful company of our parents from way back when. Their customer service sucks, and they don't care about their loyal customers.

We purchased a dishwasher from Sears on Thursday, 4/22/10. We were told it would be delivered on Saturday and that we would get a call Friday night with time frames for delivery. At 5:30 Friday, we had not received a call. So, I called them. I was on hold for 15 minutes. Talked to someone with an accent who told me she would need to transfer me to Installation. On hold another 15 minutes. Installation person tells me they cannot give me a time frame and that we are on the list for Saturday. Says she will call me Saturday at 11:00 no matter what and will get a district manager involved. 11:00 Saturday, no phone call. By 4:30 on Saturday still no phone call and no show from Sears. So, we go to the store and cancel our order because if they have this much trouble delivering something, we'd hate to see what would happen if it needed repair. Monday, the Sears Appliance Manager calls and wants to know what happened. We had told the story to the sales rep. So, we did not call the manager back. Wednesday,(and keep in mind we have canceled the order) we get a call from another person with an accent from Sears installation apologizing for not installing on Saturday and they want us to call them back to reschedule. Are you kidding me? We won't shop there again. But with customer services this bad, I don't see how they can stay in business. Soon, they won't even be an option.

My Kenmore Elite Oasis HE washing machine was exactly one year and two weeks old when its electronic controls started ominously to give us the "F" code. In searching the Internet, I found numerous complaints of the same problem with the same machine, all within weeks of the warranty expiring. All other codes and how to manage them are outlined in the owner's manual. This code, however, directs the poor schmuck owner to immediately call Sears' 1-800 service number. We found our call was routed overseas to an operator who asked for more than $100 on our credit card before she would schedule someone to visit our home. Based on the description of the problem, she recommended we pay an additional amount (about $75, if I remember correctly). When I explained that it would be ridiculous to pay for a job before the work is performed, she refused to work with me for an alternative solution. In addition, I was told I would have to wait for more than a week for someone to visit my home. In the past, I could speak to someone at my local Sears store regarding repairs, and they certainly would not charge me in advance for services not rendered. We instructed the operator to cancel our request. We then hired a local repair person, who told us he does not recommended Sears brands anymore. So now, less than 18 months after buying this stupid machine, I need to buy a new one. In addition, my Sears dishwasher, which was purchased at the same time, also needs to be replaced. I will NEVER buy another product even loosely associated with Sears.