Peenie Wallie: Sears Repair Service Sucks

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April 15, 2008

Sears Repair Service Sucks

This is a story one of my neighbors up here in the hills of Colorado today shared with me today. She's not feeling the love for Sears today, and said it would be OK for me to share the following story:

An amusing tale…

So the dishwasher has been leaking for a while now. About a month ago, Mark set up a service call with Sears. They offered a $200 service agreement for one year covering everything, so we signed up. We went to get an appointment and they only come “up to the mountains” Tuesdays and Thursdays so I took a half day off work to stay home for the tech. She shows up, verifies that "Yep, It’s Leaking and I Disconnected The Power So You Don’t Electrocute Yourself". But we need to order some parts for the fix and set up a follow-up appointment once they arrive. Meanwhile no dishwasher.

Last Friday the parts arrive and Mark sets up the second appointment for this Tuesday. He’s out of town so I take another half day off work because I am sick of doing dishes. They call Monday night to confirm that they will be there between 8 and 12.

On Tuesday, just before 11:00 I get a call from Sears service to reschedule the service appointment because according to their records we don’t have the parts. I explain that this is not the case and please do not cancel this apointment. But then the fire alarm goes off at the call center and they have to hang up. So I find the 800 number and call and go through everything again and they tell me maybe the technician can come out today maybe not. They will have the tech call me back. So I wait…

They never call back.

12:00 I call the 800 number and am told they are running late but should be there soon.

12:30 I call the 800 number and am told they were never coming after all. I decide I am going to cancel this appointment, cancel the service agreement, get the $200 back, and buy a new dishwasher and have it installed and have the current one hauled away and burned. After multiple levels of call center hell, I finally reach the person who says they can cancel the agreement. But before they can do that they have to connect me to the local service center the arrange to have the parts picked up. I am put on hold for 10 minutes then dropped. During this time I amuse myself my watching You Tube videos of people complaining about how bad Sears Service sucks. I don’t have time to watch them all.

1:00 On the way to work I call the 800 number and go through the timeline for the 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th times as I am transferred through Call Center Hell. I am told they can’t refund the service agreement because I have an appointment scheduled for today from 8 - 12! They transfer me to the local service center where I am told they can’t cancel the appointment because it is for today – they have to have the technician call me from the field. They put in a request to do so.

1:25 In the parking lot at work I call the 800 number etc. etc. etc. and finally get someone who says they can refund the $200 but it is absolutely imperative that I return the parts or they will charge us $$$ for them. Of course they have our credit card number for the “refund.” They transfer me to the local service center to arrange for pickup. I am put on hold for 15 minutes. The music stops. There is a beep then silence. Dropped again.

1:45 At work I call the 800 number etc. etc. etc. to arrange to have the parts picked up. I wonder if I’m really going to get the $200 credit now. The parts guy is a complete moron (one of at least 20 today) who transfers me to UPS?!? UPS doesn’t know what the hell I am talking about – do I want to ship something? I hang up. I call the parts people again and am told there are instructions in the parts box on where to return them to. But I have to do this within 72 hours our I will be charged $$$.

I am thinking about taking the rest of the day off and buying a new dishwasher. As of now I have a large dishwasher-shaped sculpture in my kitchen. No $200. Probably another $200 charge on the credit card for parts I can’t use. I will probably have to work this weekend to make up for today’s time off. I have developed a facial tic as of this morning.

Apparently, other people are disappointed with the Sears Service as well: