Sears Home Services, TRS Recovery Services Charged for services not provided based on company policy (no fault of my own) South Burlington Vermont

My wife and I owned a washer that ceased functioning. When we called for service, Sears asked us a series of questions qualifying the brand, model, and other specifications of the machine, which we duly provided.

A service appointment was set, and I was at home when the technician arrived at the appointed time on January 17th 2014. The technician looked at our washer and said something to the effect of, "oh, one of THESE, huh? They only made one type of these with the weird agitator and it gave them all sorts of problems."

We talked for a few minutes about what was happening with it, and then he started looking a little more deeply at the washer. Upon looking at the washer, he said that there was no label on it, and as such, he was unable to work on the machine. He also explained that, since they can't confirm what they're working on, they don't know what parts to order, etc...I asked him about the fact that it was the only model with the weird agitator, and he said, "yeah, I know what is, but the computer needs the barcode."

This is a little silly, and I've already wasted half a day waiting for him to show up, but I understand, corporate policy is corporate policy. I was about to say goodbye to the technician when he informed me that we were still on the hook for the $75 site visit charge. Honestly, I was a floored, but I knew better than to take up my case with the poor technician who just wants to fix his machines and go home.

I cut him a check and called Sears Corporate about getting a refund.They were accommodating to a point, offering a partial refund and acknowledging the legitimacy of my complaint, but I turned that down and told them that I would rather stop payment on the check.

On Monday, February 10th, we received a Notice of Unpaid Check from TRS Recovery Services in the amount of $95.00. TRS only does business via written/faxed information, and requires 30 days to process all claims, meanwhile a sword of Damocles hangs over our credit rating.