Sears Roebuck & Company Not fixing my refrigerator Hoffman Estates Illinois

Below is a recount of what has happened in this nightmare for over a month now(starting the beginning of July). I need to first tell you that I have only owned this refrigerator for 3 months as it was the appliance in the home when I purchased it in April. There was a home warranty in place from the previous owners for me to use. Thus begins the nightmare.

Five weeks ago my freezer section started to defrost everything in it. I then called the Home Warrenty place and they sent someone out to check out the appliance. He took a look at it and told me that it was the compressor in the appliance and that it should be under warranty with Sears and that I should call Sears and have them come out to fix it. This cost to me was $100.00 because of the deductible on the home owners policy, which I knew I would have to pay.

I then called Sears and told them what had transpired. The customer service person at Sears told me that she could not put into place that it was the compressor because I was not the technician and that only the technician could tell me exactly what was wrong. I told her to at least put a note in the ticket that I thought it was the compressor. Five days later I had taken off a day from work waiting for the technician to come. Half way through the day, I called to see where I was on the schedule and was told by the customer service person that there was NOT an order in place to have someone come to my house to even look at my appliance. I had to take a day off of work to find out that there was not even an appointment in the system for me. I was livid. I tried to be calm and rescheduled another appointment. While I was talking to the customer service person she told me that she would not put into the order that it was the compressor because I did not know what it was after all I was not a technician. You can understand the frustration that I had and tried to contain myself. I then made another appointment to have someone come out and check on the appliance. Another three days went by before someone could come out and check it out. In the meantime, I was very frustrated and angry and decided to get another opinion.

I had another repair person come out and check it out for another $89.00. The answer was the same situation. The repair man told me that it was the compressor and get Sears out because the unit was still under warranty as it was a fairly new unit and less than 5 years the compressor would be under warranty. This repair man I believe knew what he was talking about as he was a previous Sears repair employee as well and told me to give the serial number and unit number and that someone could tell me for sure if it was under warranty. I called Sears and they said that they could not tell me because they didn't even have the unit in the system.

The next Friday the technician finally showed up. At the time he came, the freezer was working. He opened the door to the freezer, closed the door and told my son-in-law that there was nothing he could do because the freezer was working at the time he was there. (Oh but he did look it up on his laptop and told my son-in-law that the compressor was under warranty.) Okay, this I can understand, but he did not even try to look at the back of the unit and check anything out to see if there was a problem. Saturday morning came and the freezer shut down. I called Sears again, and was told that no one could come out until the next Wednesday, which would have been another five days of waiting for me.

I called yet another repair man that a friend had recommended to me and he came to my house today. And yet, I still had to take another day off from work. The compressor was broken. He wrote down on the invoice exactly what needed to be done. And there went another $40.00 out the window and I still have a freezer that is not working.

While the repairman was at my home I called Sears to set up another appointment. The next Friday is when the technician came to my home again. I told the customer service person that the compressor needed to be replaced and asked if she would like the model number or serial number. She stated that "No, I did not need that because the technician would determine what was wrong." Surprise, surprise - is that a statement that is drilled into your customer service department's head?

But the fasinating part of this whole conversation was the customer service rep was more interested in selling me an extended warranty on the refrigerator than listen to what I had to say about what was wrong with the refrigerator. I was trying very hard to keep cool and not explode at this person, but enough is enough. I want this appliance repaired in my lifetime. And while it is still under warranty and not have more time go by and have the warranty on the compressor go out.

I find it very interesting that Sears vision is "Sears holdings is committed to improving the lives of our customers by providing quality services, products and solutions that earn their trust and build lifetime relationships." Would someone please tell me how this fits into my life right now? I have been a loyal customer of Sears for over 35 years. Over the years I have first and always gone to Sears to find a product before going to a competitor. Not any more. As far as I am concerned, once this nightmare is finally over, I feel that I will never step foot into another Sears as long as I live or ever use my Sears charge again. I think you need to change your vision statement or work harder on it for your customers. I work in a customer service arena and if I had not given the customer the benefit of the doubt I probably would be looking for a new job right about now.

The technician came to my house and finally agreed that it was the compressor because the refrigerator went completely out and would not cool again at all. The technician put in an emergency order for a compressor which was supposed to be delivered last Friday at my home. I found out last night from Sears that the compressor is on backorder and they do not even know when the item will be shipped out. At this point I have been completely without any refrigerator for 2 weeks now. I have had to take my family out to eat every meal or bring food home every day for each meal as I have nothing in the house to eat because I do not have a refrigerator to put food into.

I called Sears this morning to talk to the person who received the report from the Better Business Bureau when I put the complaint in and I immediately received her voice mail and am still waiting for a phone call back now. I do not believe that I should have to wait one more hour let alone another day for this appliance to be repaired. I am demanding a new refrigerator now for all the costs I have had to put out on my own and I will not pay for another service man from Sears to come and do absolutely NOTHING.

I have been both emotionally and physically sick over this whole situation for the last 5 weeks now. What more has to be done to get a result from Rip Off Sears?

Lynne
Oswego, Illinois
U.S.A.

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