Sears Home Improvement Products, Inc; Sears Heating & Cooling; Triad Heating And Air (Subcontractor) Brand new heat pump, not working, installation nightmare High Point North Carolina

I retired from my service business in 1996, and several times when my (service oriented) business was active I was approached by Sears to be one of their "contract providers" of the business in which I was engaged.
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I explained that I had all the business I cared to handle, and asked why would I provide such a "sub-contract" function for them at a discount to provide for THEIR mark-up. It was then explained they'd mark up my normal charges to provide their profit. It was also explained that my service could be sold at a higher price as many (most?) Sears customers put home improvements on their Sears card and basically just looked at the monthly payment.
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Sears sort of got vague when I questioned them about charge-backs from customers who claimed dissatisfaction. Actually, I never had any "customer problems" in 18 years. My concern was someone with a faux complaint trying to "get something for nothing". (Not that I was even CONSIDERING their offer)
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Lesson learned: I knew of no local service business that was enjoying a reputation of satisfactory service (including my own) that was in any real bind for lack of business. Many of the contract Sears businesses were from out of town or state. Their prices (as previously explained) were USUALLY higher than a quote from a like local business.
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IMHO (supported by anecdotal but direct observation) one could usually only pay more for contracting for work through Sears, Lowes, et al. Plus, often be dealing with a non-local business entity of questionable experience and reliability.

And your advice could not be better. Perfectly put! USE CAUTION WHEN ALLOWING SEARS INTO YOUR HOME. You will pay MUCH more and endure more problems for the same product going through Sears vs. a local contractor, one you've check out or one referred by a friend. Sears objective in sending out consultants to your home is to build value through their long lasting presence (not a fly by night company), their ridiculous warranty creating a sense of security and guarantee (which is false). Through building these beliefs in customers, who wouldn't go ahead and pay more for such piece of mind. Well think again because piece of mind is the last thing Sears offers should something go wrong... which seems to happen more often than not.

I will say that the new person Sears sent to finish/correct the installation did an outstanding job. There were major problems with the initial installation that he corrected. The project coordinator from Sears came and met him at my house this morning and took pictures of the incorrect stuff and is going to address that with the first installer, Triad Heating and Air. The new installer spent 2 days correcting problems and then installing everything correctly besides finishing the work that was left un-done. Hat's off to him. He saved the day for Sears.

While I can truly say now that things are working correctly, my advise to anyone who would use Sears in the future is to think about all that I have gone through with this: the hours spent on the telephone, being told it was working when it wasn't, being lied to, etc. In the end, Sears has apparently made it right. What you need to ask yourself is would it be worth it to go through this kind of experience? My answer is never again.

If you are thinking of using Sears on a project, you may have a happy ending. I can now see that it is possible. But I still have my doubts about a company that advertises "100% satisfaction or your money back" and then outright refuses to deliver on that promise.

Anyone buying home improvements from Sears needs to realize that it isn't like it used to be where they drive up in a Sears van and have Sears uniforms on, with Sears badges, because they are Sears employees. In other words, It's not your father's Sears. More than likely you are going to be getting a local contractor anyway, so you might as well do your homework and get the bids and the references and know who you are going to be dealing with up front.

not knowing who is responsible. Who is lying and who is telling the truth. Well the fact is, Sears is the responsible party. Sears is the one who sent out the sales consultant who most likely made numerous misrepresentations, at no fault of the sales consultant. He (as I did) was just presenting to you what he was trained to do. Once the sales consultant has made the sale, the order is turned over to the Production Dept, who then finds some father/son team or in the case of one of my kitchen sales, husband/wife team, to come in as the "installation crew." Now that you have a sales consultant, project manager, subcontractors and installers, Sears has successfully created the 3-Ring Circus. Sears is the entity you entered into an agreement with, Sears sold you one thing and you ended up with something else. Sears made the misrepresentations by and through their contract, their sales consultant, project manager and whatever company they subcontracted out the job. Sears sales consultants are trained to communicate to the customers the good ole false sense of security saying "satisfaction guaranteed or your money back." Contractually Sears should be bound by this. Create a paper trail of your requests for your money back, that you are not satisfied and that the product and installation is NOT to your SATISFACTION. Write a letter and send it certified. CONTACT YOUR BANK AND REQUEST THAT THEY RETRACT THE CHECK FROM WHATEVER COMPANY YOU ISSUED THE FUNDS TO. Not sure if the bank has the ability, but you may be able to dispute it and it is possible to retract the funds. Possible, but definite. I don't know enough about your situation, but it is worth a try. I bet you'll get their attention if you do recover you money.

They finally did call me back. Now the project coordinator is saying that the salesman didn't tell me the truth when he said they would be at my house this morning with a new contractor to finish and correct the work of the other subcontractor. I asked several times to just have them come and take the unit and give me my money back, reminding them that they have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Currently I am 100% not satisfied with either my purchase or their attitude.

Sears is saying that the previous contractor, Triad Heating and Air told them that the unit was working fine when they left. I suppose not cooling my house to anything close to the temperature that the thermostat is set is "working fine." The heating and cooling measurments the salesman did called for a 2-1/2 ton unit. I purchased a 3 ton unit just to make sure I would not have any problems adequately heating or cooling my house. This unit runs steady and does not cool at all to the desired temperature. Also, a new problem has shown up where there is water dripping on the floor beside my furnace. I suppose this is all okay.

Sears has out right refused to give me a refund. I asked them several times and the man even conferenced in his boss who also has refused out right to refund my money and take this unit back. They say they do not have to becuase I have to let them waste more of my time while they try to figure out what is wrong with it. Of course, since they do not believe me that there is ANYTHING wrong with it and the people from Sears are refusing to come and see what is going on with it themselves, I suppose that means that this drags out forever. The person from Sears even said, (and I quote) my "only options are to let them come and finish the installation or go on even longer without any heating or cooling." Well, since it is July, heat is not real high in my list of pioroities. But I want the air conditioner working. I paid for it. Sears already has my cash money. They need to get this thing fixed or give me my money back. I don't have much confidence in them as I feel they are all lying to me. They lie about when someone is coming to fix it, they lie about their "money back guarantee" and they lie about it already working correctly. Which of their stories is correct? It can't be all of them.

No one has shown up to correct the installation on our Heat Pump. My wife and I have made numerous calls to Sears today. Now no one is calling us back. My heat pump is not working it is brand new and they have already cashed my check even prior to the day of installation.

I did hear from the salesman late yesterday afternoon that they are going to send a different subcontractor to finish and correct the the installation. I am not sure if this is going to improve the situation but we shall see.

I have replied to multiple complaints on this site and the best advise I can give you is DON'T SIGN THE BACK OF THE CONTRACT INDICATING "YOUR SATISFACTION WITH THE INSTALLATION." If you did sign the back after the installation, you might have a difficult time. One other suggestion is that if you financed the purchase, contact the payment source, whether it is a credit card or other, and notify them to reject/refuse any attempts by Sears to draft funds from the account. Notify whatever financial institution you might be financing through of the situation and that Sears is not authorized to draw funds from your account. The matter is unresolved and until it is, no debits are to be made by Sears, Sears Home Improvements, or any affiliates of Sears.

For additional information and other complaints about Sears, see my Report entitled:

"Sears Aka Sears Home Improvement Products Sears Refusal to Pay Me Wages and Earned Commissions Oklahoma City And Tulsa Oklahoma"

As well as responses to other complaints entitled:

"Sears Home Improvement Did not live up to promises or Advertising Fort Lauderdale Florida"

"SEARS Lies, rip-off, unkept promises, cashed check despite cancellation of an order Cayce South Carolina"

"Sears Not honoring their extended warranty, fabricating information to void the warranty. Ft Lauderdale Florida"

"Sears Aka Sears Home Improvement Does not honor 100% Satisfaction Guarantee Hoffman Estates Illinois"

"Sears Heating & Cooling Bait and Switch, Unprofessionalism, 4 months waiting for completed service ripoff Hoffman Estates Illinois"

"Sears Home Improvment Demanding payment on work not completed DENVER Colorado"

"Sears AKA Sears Home Services Deceptive and high pressure sales tactics on Cabinet Refacing Los Angeles California"

"Sears Home Improvement Defective Cabinets Installed Longwood Florida"

Cathy