Sears Home Services Sears Holdings poor customer service, the lack of service they should provide should be illegal and maybe is! Hoffman Estates, Illinois

I am frustrated and really feel like I have had both money and time stolen from me by Sears and their Corporate BS.  This all started on Sunday September 30th, 2012.  My wife was doing laundry and our dryer, a 2 year old Kenmore Electric dryer stopped working.  It tripped a breaker.  I reset the breaker and it would run for 5 minutes. I thought I would call Sears as I have had good luck with their brand and appliances in the past.  I was completely wrong. 

My Journey to frustration began when I telephoned Sears.  I called 1-800-366-0006.  I finally spoke to a human after approximately 2 minutes, which really wasnt horrible.  That is the only compliment that I can give at this point.  I spoke to a person who had a thick accent.  He was moderately hard to understand but seemed to understand what was going on.  I explained my situation and ended up purchasing a one year maintenance agreement.  He did not go over the terms and basically only told me the high points of the contract, not the fine print.  I also explained that I had a refrigerator that was not pushing ice out of the dispenser.  He explained that I was able to have the same tech look at both of the appliances and that there would be no additional charge.  He was able to schedule a person to come out the next day which was Monday October 1, 2012 between 1 and 5pm.  I was okay with it and took 4 hours of vacation from work. 
 
Monday October 1, 2012 at approximate 2:00pm, the Tech telephone me and said that he was on his way.  He arrived promptly but this is all the compliments I can give.  The tech had a chip on his shoulder.  He took the dryer apart and diagnosed it as a Power Cord being bad.  The only problem with this is that he did not remove the power cord to determine that.  He told me that he could order one or I could go and purchase one myself.   I was perplexed by the diagnosis as I know enough about electrical to know that if something is still connected to say a bad motor there is no way to isolate the problem.  I elected to go purchase a new cord.  This debacle then proceeded to my kitchen.   
 
The Tech looked at the refrigerator and did not say anything about his two minute tour of my refrigerator would cost $80.00.  He first didnt want to work on it as the product information sticker was off of the appliance.  I showed him my owners manual and the product information.  He told me that the parts for the ice maker would cost $179.00 and the labor would be $160.00.  I told him that I would go without ice.  His attitude stunk the entire time by the way.  He was a know it all type that appeared to know nothing.  He next told me that I owed $80.00.  I said for what.  He explained that it was a service charge for just walking in my door.  I told him that nothing was explained to me about any fees and that I already paid for the service call for my dryer service. He was rude and a jerk.  After being told that I owed money I told him that I wanted my power cord ordered.  He told me he couldnt as he closed it out.  I was pissed off.  I wanted him out of my house and just paid the $80.00.
 
So my tally for what I have spent so far is $280.00 along with 4 hours of vacation with nothing resolved. 

I next drive to Lowes and spend $20.00 for the cord.  I go home and put the cord on and the dryer works for a minute and then trips the breaker.  What incompetence!  I call Sears Home Service number and was transferred around and had to re-explain my story 3 times.  I was disconnected once.  I was upset over the fees and the lack of service at this point, along with my dryer still not working.  The techs attitude was terrible. 

We set up a second appointment for Wednesday October 3rd 2012 between 1 and 5pm.  The tech shows up and was excellent.  He diagnosed the problem quickly as a bad electric motor. He was thorough, courteous and compassionate.  He had a new motor in his truck which he installed.  The dryer ran for a few minutes with a new motor and caught on fire.  He thought it was a bad motor.  He ordered a new one and had it shipped overnight.  The new motor arrived Friday October 5th 2012 as expected.  I called Sears and screwed around with the lack of customer service and was given a ridiculous appointment.  I next called the tech myself and asked him if there was a local number I could contact.  He was able to professionally manage his own schedule and was going to come that same day.  I was excited and happy with the service.  That is where this nightmare really begins. 

He arrived promptly and replaced the motor.  The dryer started and ran for a few minutes and tripped the breaker again.  I flip the breaker and discover that it smelled like something was burning.  It should be noted that an electrician came out and checked my breaker panel and electrical connections prior to the second service call.  There were no problems with my electrical at that point. 

I removed the panel while the tech was standing there and much to my surprise my breaker and wires were melted.  I telephoned my electrician he talked me through the procedure of switching wires around to a different breaker.  The breaker was turned on and the dryer ran for a few minutes and again the same problem.  The dryer stopped working.

The tech then ran through more trouble shooting and found more bad parts.  He replaced the element, two switches and a fuse.  The dryer then ran for forty five minutes.  The tech left and we thought the problem was solved.  I though wrong.  The dryer quit five minutes after he left.  I contacted him and explained what occurred.  He thought the dryer was defective and offered to come back.  I told him that it wasnt necessary as why would Sears put more parts into this thing and time. Common sense would say that this thing is a POS and should be replaced.  The total parts for the visit on that date were almost $500.00.  Well my common sense was dead wrong.  Had the tech come back it would have triggered a telephone call to SAC which would have put into effect the warranty/replacement clause.  I was trying to be a responsible person, which backfired. 

My total out of pocket expenses are 12 hours of vacation, 200 dollar service plan, 20 dollar power cord, $130 dollar electrician bill, a $30 dollar breaker, another $130 dollar electrician bill, 20 dollars at laundry mat and still no dryer.  Yes I feel ripped off.  I telephoned Sears and my call was escalated to the highest level.  The person I spoke to was awesome.  He was genuine and understood what was going on.  I explained everything to him.  I thought I was making progress, again I was dead wrong.  What a bunch of BS. 

I was told that I would be receiving a call sometime on Saturday.  That call never came.  I then called Sunday October 7th, 2012.  I spoke to a very uncaring woman named Sasha.  She obviously was following the contract to the letter without getting that I tried to be the responsible consumer.  She told me that because the tech didnt come back that same day that I didnt qualify for a replacement dryer.  She also told me that the tech didnt contact the support line and again they were not going to do anything for me other than give me another appointment.  Where is the common sense in any of this?  The answer is that there is none.  So at this point I am playing Sears Corporate game.  Why dont they be responsible and just replace the dryer?  I am not asking for the world here.  I am not being unreasonable. I have been ripped off.  So the game continues.  I have a new appointment on Tuesday October 9th between 1pm and 5pm.  I told Sasha that I guess I will play this game out.  I have every intention of getting a new dryer from Sears or mine fixed.  I in the meantime and going to go purchase a dryer from a different company, one that hopefully cares about service, and will never buy another product from Sears again even though I have purchased most of my appliances from Sears over the 15 years I have owned homes.  I have wasted more than five hundred dollars of my own money and 16 hours of vacation.   


The total time on the telephone is as follows:   

                                                                           09/30/2012, 11:34 minutes
                                                                           10/01/2012, 12:32 minutes
                                                                           10/01/2012, 00:32 minutes
                                                                           10/01/2012, 53:37 minutes
                                                                           10/02/2012, 37:33 minutes
                                                                           10/02/2012, 00:29 minutes
                                                                           10/04/2012, 00:31 minutes
                                                                           10/04/2012,  05:47 minutes
                                                                           10/05/2012,  03:15 minutes
                                                                           10/05/2012, 50:38 minutes
                                                                           10/07/2012, 17:05 minutes
And this is Customer Service?   To be continued.... Buyer Beware!!