Sears Outlet Store Failure of Sears to Comply With Federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act ripoff Clearwater Florida

I purchased a Kenmore refrigerator from the Sears Outlet Store in Clearwater, FL with a Sears & Roebuck & Co. FULL 5-year warranty. After 2.5 years, the cooling system went out, and after 3 visits from technicians and waiting over 2 weeks, the service technician authorized replacement as they stated the parts were no longer available.

The store has offered to give me a credit up to the price of the refrigerator and is requiring me to pay the difference on the difference in price of a comparable refrigerator that I identified on the floor that reasonably compares to my existing unit, although still missing a few small features.

It is my understanding of the federal Magnuson-Warranty Act that when a warrantor designates its warranty as FULL, then it is deemed to meet the federal minimum requirements of the law.

This law clearly defines that a warrantor may elect one of 3 remedies:
1. Repair
2. Replacement
3. Refund

However, the warrantor CANNOT elect refund unless the warrantor has made reasonable attempts to repair, and a replacement is not available, or the consumer agrees to accept a refund.

On each occassion that I have spoken to the National repair hotline or the National Customer Relations, Rapid Resolution, Source One, Service Recovery Team, etc., they continue to inform me that I only have a one-year warranty on my refrigerator, even though I have in my hand the warranty provided to me at time of purchase that states a FULL 5-year warranty.

The first 2X I called to service a repair, they told me I was out of warranty and that I would have to pay for repairs, or I could purchase a maintenance agreement for approximately $300. It wasn't until I pulled out my paperwork and discovered on my own that I had a 5-year FULL warranty and had to show this to the technician. This is what I consider to be fraudulent activity on the part of Sears - to give people misinformation and sell maintenance agreements and/or require the consumer to pay for repairs they should be covered for, simply because most people are not aware of the federal warranty laws.

The Sears corporation has told me that the Outlet Stores operate differently than the retail stores and therefore I am only being given a credit (refund) towards the purchase of another refrigerator. This was never disclosed to me when I purchased from the Outlet Store, and there is nothing documented in my sales transaction or in my warranty that indicates this. This is misleading and deceptive, as consumers who purchase from the Outlet Store are told that the products purchased there are given the exact same product warranty they would have at a retail store.

Now, the law defines replacement as "furnishing a NEW consumer product which is identical or reasonably equivalent to the warranted consumer product".

The minimum federal requirements state that the warrantor must "as a minimum remedy such consumer product within a reasonable time and WITHOUT CHARGE, in the case of a defect, malfunction, or failure to conform with such written warranty."

"Without Charge" is clearly defined as "the warrantor may not assess the consumer for any coststhe warrantor or his representatives incur in connection with the required remedy of a warranted consumer product."

The law also states that a warrantor, at a minimum, must disclose "A statement of what the warrantor will do in the event of a defect, malfunction, or failure to conform with such warranty - at whose expense, and for what period of time." And, that it disclose "A statement of what the consumer must do and expenses he must bear."

The FULL 5-year warranty does not disclose this information. It simply states that Sears will repair the cooling system free of charge for 5 years. Sears is now stating that the parts have been discontinued and therefore cannot be repaired. Now the Store Manager is negotiating with me to pay the difference on a comparable fridge because they increased the prices on the model I own. The comparable fridge I have identified is not an "upgrade" and does not have features in addition to the fridge I currently own.

If Sears discontinued the parts after 2.5 years of manufacture, and yet they were warrantying repair for 5 years, then it is clear that Sears could not perform on the warranty.

This indicates a deceptive warranty, which according to the Warranty Law is defined as "...fails to contain information which is necessary in light of all the circumstances, to make the warranty not misleading to a reasonable individual exercising due care."

Also, the federal laws state that "the warrantor shall not impose any duty other than notification upon any consumer as a condition of securing remedy of any consumer product which malfunctions, is defective, or does not conform to written warranty".

My experience has been that there is not one single department of the Sears National Headquarters who has been qualified or authorized to handle my warranty issue. I keep getting sent back to the store. When I asked the Store Manager to provide the name of his manager, he stated it was company policy not to disclose that information, and gave me the toll free number for the Sears Holding Investor Relations department.

Another federal requirement of the law is that warrantors provide "The Step-by-Step procedure which the consumer should take in order to obtain performance on any obligation under the warranty; including the identification of any person or class of persons authorized to perform the obligations set forth in the warranty."

I have been refused to receive documentation from the company regarding the policy of fulfilling the warranty when repairs cannot be made, refused to be given the name of the district manager of the Sears Outlet Store in Clearwater, FL, and have been transferred time and time again within various departments of the Sears Corp. to people who tell me they can't help me.

From ALL of the reports I have read on this website, it is clear that Sears is GROSSLY out of compliance with many of the federal warranty laws and I will do everything I can to ensure that at the Federal level, Sears is held accountable for its deceptive and unfair business practices to consumers.

I encourage anyone reading this to join me to first get education on the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act first. Just search in google and download the actual copy of the act. Then, join me on the YouTube Video site to create an effective, interactive campaign to help people get FREE media coverage of their stories with Sears on the site that gets over a billion hits a day. Come join me. Create your videos, show your documentation and your products on video. Explain your circumstances and how specifically Sears is failing to comply with the actual federal law. People need to know and be heard, and YouTube is one of the BEST ways to do that.

We don't need lawyers yet. We can educate ourselves, get together on our own, take action, and create the momentum that will redefine the way that Sears handles its warranties with consumers. See you on the Tube!

Carolann
Clearwater, Florida
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Sears