Sears Home Services Sabotaged by Sears Nationwide

I purchased a Whirlpool refrigerator, bottom freezer model # GI6FDRXXY010 from Sears in April 2013.  Around approximately May 15, 2015 I noticed that my refrigerator was leaking water from the bottom.  I called Sears Home Services and on approximately May 20, 2015 they sent out an A&E Factory repairman.  The repairman was in my home about 20-30 minutes.  He melted all the ice in the bottom of the freezer and showed me a small black piece that was filled with lint and dust and sticking together, unable to open as he said it should.  He said the best fix was to just completely remove this piece and I wouldn't have any more issues. 

The repairman told me that even though he had only been there a short period of time, the cost would be $264, and however, I had options.  He stated that I could purchase a home warranty through Sears at $54.99 a month that would cover everything in my house including all appliances as well as the heating and air conditioning and that I could cancel this warranty at any time.  He stated that my particular fridge was known for the control board going up which would cost approximately $800-$950. He stated if I purchased the warranty I would receive a discount in addition to the 20% off coupon I already had and the price would only be $116.  I purchased the warranty and paid the $116.  The fridge stopped leaking. 

About two weeks later, upon my return from the grocery store I noticed that the food in my freezer had thawed, water was leaking from the ice maker and the fridge and freezer were not as cold as they should be.  It immediately appeared to me that the refrigerator was no longer getting cold.  I called Sears Home Services twice that night.  The first time I waited on hold for 90 minutes before I hung up, the second time 45 minutes until I was finally able to speak with someone.  The representative set me up with an appointment the next day.  I put all of my food from the refrigerator and freezer in coolers and filled them with ice I purchased from the store ($40).    

The next day my boyfriend stayed home from work in order to try to get this problem resolved in an effort to save our food.  The same repairman from A&E Service Factory returned.  He told my boyfriend that the control board had went up, the cost was $450 or he could wait until the warranty went into effect in two weeks (there is a 30 day waiting period from purchase date) and only pay a $60 deductible.  He told us to unplug the refrigerator and let it defrost and after 24 hours to turn it back on.  He said the refrigerator would then work and should last the two weeks but then it would still need to be repaired.  We unplugged the refrigerator and let it defrost. 

We went and bought dry ice ($50) to try to keep our food cold another 24 hours until we could plug the refrigerator back in.  The next day we plugged the refrigerator back in.  The refrigerator reached approximately 65 degrees and the freezer reached approximately 40 degrees.  A refrigerator should be around 35 degrees and a freezer 0-5 degrees.  We threw most of the food away and decided to wait the two weeks.  We purchased a chest freezer ($169) during the mean time and kept some food in there.  Over the next two weeks I checked the freezer temperature daily using a thermometer, it seemed to get warmer with time.

On June 17, 2015 the day my warranty went into effect I called Sears Home Warranty.  After calling many time and being placed on hold for 40 minutes or more each time I was finally able to speak to someone.  I was able to file a claim and the Sears representative set me up an appointment with Dobbins Appliance Repair the next morning.  Again, my boyfriend missed work in an effort to finally get our refrigerator fixed.  The service man was supposed to arrive between 8am-12pm (June 18) and finally arrived closer to 12:30.  The two men asked my boyfriend for an extension cord for the hair dryer they were using to melt the ice as they did not have one. 

Sine we did not have one either they had to turn the refrigerator around closer to the electrical receptacle.  They melted the ice and quickly diagnosed the problem, there was a wire disconnected from the defroster and the evaporator fan was bad.  The reconnected the wire and stated that they would have to order the fan which they did not believe would be covered by the warranty.  My boyfriend paid the $60 deductible and they said someone would be in contact with me to install the new evaporator fan once the part came in.

The refrigerator began to get cold again but the freezer was still not as cold as it should be, it was approximately 22 degrees at this point. The next morning (June 19) I called Dobbin’s Appliance Repair to find out exactly what would happen next.  I was told that they would send off a report to Sears Home Warranty and once the new part was authorized with 24-48 hours it would be ordered and they would contact me with a date to install the new part.  I addressed my concerns with the person on the phone about how the repairman were not prepared for the job and did not have the proper tools they should have had, such as an extension cord and a steamer to melt the ice.

On June 25, 2015, a week after the repairmen came to my home, I still had not heard back from anybody regarding my refrigerator.  I called Dobbin’s Appliance Repair to get the status of the part.  I was told that the report should have been sent out the next day on June 19^th but it was not sent out until June 20^th and then it would have been 24-28 hours and that the earliest the part could have been ordered was June 22^nd.  I reminded the man on the phone that it was now June 25^th and I had no new information regarding my fridge.  I asked them to follow up with Sears regarding the part.  He assured me they would follow up and give me a call back the next day. 

A 30 minutes later I received a phone call from Sears Home Warranty stating that the part would not be covered because I called in on the day that the warranty went into effect.  I expressed my frustrations and concerns with the woman who called from Sears and she gave me some a few phone numbers to call.  I called one of the phone numbers a few hours later and it was A&E factory.  I informed the representative that I had a complaint and asked if she could help me.  She said she could and I told her the sequence of events as stated above.  She said she was unable to help me and transferred me to another number.              

The number I was transferred was Sears Corporate Compliance department.  I asked the man on the phone could he help me and he said that he could.  One again I told him the sequence of event.  I stated the following concerns:

1. Was the price of the original repair supposed to be $264 or do these repair men receive commission for selling me the home warranty?
2. How did the defrost wire become disconnected?  The only person to touch the inside of the refrigerator was the A&E Factory repairman.
3. He told me a control board would break and two weeks later when he returned he said the control board was broke.
4. The second company said it was a defrost wire and an evaporator fan.  Who do I believe? Both of these companies were sent out by Sears.

The representative from the Sears Corporate Complaint department agreed that this was an unfortunate series of events. He put me on hold while he contacted Sears Home Warranty.  Over the course of 48 minutes I sat on hold while he intermittently checked back in to assure me he was still on hold.  Finally, the representative came back on and said he could not get in touch with them but he could send a repairman out.  I agreed and told him that all I want is my refrigerator fixed.  At first he said I may have to pay a deductible.  I stated that I was not paying Sears another dime of my money.  At this point I had paid Sears $116 for the original repair, $110 for two months of the home warranty, and a $60 deductible.  He said that he would put it in as a no charge repair and so I agreed. We set up the appointment for two days later on Saturday June 27^th.

On Saturday June 27^th, the same A&E Factory repairman that had come to my home the first two times, arrived.  I told him what the other repairmen had said and after taking it apart and looking at it he agreed that the evaporator fan was bad.  He said that he was supposed to collect $105 from me.  I told him I was not supposed to be charged.  He called Sears Home Warranty and explained that this was not an issue when I purchased the warranty from him in May.  To my knowledge he did not talk to anyone at the Sears Corporate Complaint department that day.  He said that the fan would be $350 and they told him to collect $105 from me at that time.  I explained that this visit was supposed to be free of charge and he said he understand and he left.