Sears
Reviews and Complaints

I live in Brooklyn, NY, maybe not Sears country. I have a warranty on a Kenmore water heater. It failed on Sunday, May 6, 2007, after 13 years, quite reasonably. I called the number on the warranty, which is the same as the number on the website. I had an appointment for 8-12 am on Monday, May 7, but nobody showed up. I tried to find this item on the website, but the connection appeared to be down all day. Calling the number required trickery to get a live person, otherwise all I heard was the message that I have an appointment for 8-12 am. Finally an old guy (not a plumber, a guy in a suit) showed up at 2, but all he did was check that indeed the water heater had failed (DUH, water all over the floor). I had turned off the inlet and the gas. What was that about? The fact that the thing ran 13 years is pretty amazing.

A half hour later someone called from IOWA to confirm that maybe tomorrow a water heater will be installed -- they will let me know!

On Tuesday, May 8, I got a call at 7:30 AM from the plumber, to install the water heater. That's the good news. The bad news was that they will be there some time between 11 and 5. They actually arrived at 12:30, were done at 1:30, and I got in a few hours at work.

Used to be, they showed up when they were supposed to, WITH A WATER HEATER, and it was replaced RIGHT AWAY. That is actually why I had the warranty. Well, never again, SEARS! And I was a big Kenmore fan too.

What happened to "SEARS"?

I have an elderly friend who has a service contract with SEARS for her refrigerator. Last month it stopped working. She lost all her perishables, then it took them 5 days to come and fix it. Less than a month later it broke again, this was last Wednesday, May 23. Again she lost all her perishables. This time they will be out to fix it on June 5th.

My friend is a 76 year old insulin dependent diabetic. Why would it take 2 weeks to come out to fix a refrigerator? I explained the situation to the repair center and all they said was that they were sorry. I consider this an emergency. We have a large percentage of elderly living in this state and this is how we treat them.

She has been staying with our family until the refrigerator is fixed.

SEARS use to be the elite when it came to customer service. What is going on?

Carol Marchese.

I was shopping at Sears and saw a box with a hardwood floor cleaner inside. My daughter just bought a home and had asked for something to clean her hardwood floors. I obtained a salesperson and asked about the product. None were on display. He said it was not a vacuum. It dispensed a liquid on the floor and wiped it with a pad. Since I was buying the product for someone else I asked the salesperson if I could return it and he said yes. My daughter did not like the product and I brought the product back to Sears and was charged a restocking fee. No one ever disclosed the restocking fee when I asked if I could return the product nor were there any signs posted saying that Sears charges a restocking fee. I called the store manager the next day (he was not in that evening) and my phone call was unreturned. I called the Sears Home Office and they said they do not reimburse restocking fees. The only time that a customer finds out about the restocking fee is on the receipt which is AFTER the product is purchased and it is too late. They lost a 20 year customer.

Sears has no intention of honoring their "hassle free return within 30 days " policy. I purchased a lawnmower from sears and it worked for 15 minutes. I put fresh gasoline and an entire quart of oil in the lawnmower. When I tried to return the mower (less than 24 hours later), I was told that the lawn mower could not be returned because I broke it. I could not believe my ears! First they accused me of using gasoline that I had sitting around for over a year, which was false because I had just purchased fresh gas before my previous lawn mower broke that day. Then they said I did not put enough oil in the mower! Hello? I used a whole quart. They said I couldn't have.

To make a long story short, I had to send the mower out for repairs, that did not work in the first place, and was told that it would cost up to $110.00 to fix it!

Please, Please, Please, do not purchase any lawn equipment from Sears! It is a rip off!

Sears in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Short Version

I purchased four stainless steel KitchenAid appliances on Saturday, February 3 for nearly $6,000. First delivery was on Saturday, February 24. The refrigerator was scratched, the stove was dented on the side and the wrong dishwasher was delivered. The second dishwasher was delivered on Tuesday, February 27; it was dented in the front. Third and correct dishwasher was delivered on Tuesday, March 13. I was given a $150 gift card to keep the refrigerator and $100 gift card to keep the stove. Both were less than 10% of the purchase price of each appliance. With one gift card, I purchased a black toaster from Sears.com. Three weeks later a red toaster arrived. Its not simple exchange but a rather complicated process where UPS picks up the incorrect item, upon return to the warehouse a credit is issued and check sent back to customer, then a new product must be ordered. The only reason I purchased the appliances with Sears was to get a 10% rebate for purchasing three or more appliances. The items were sold on two separate receipts (see long version for full story). I received the 10% cash back for the first receipt but the second receipt was ignored. I called to correct the mistake. Its now nearly June (4 months after initial purchase) and I still haven’t received the remainder of my rebate.

Long Version

This was the worst experience I've ever had. I purchased four Stainless Steel KitchenAid appliances on Saturday, February 3, 2007, with a total bill of nearly $6,000. As was expected, nothing was in stock so I had to wait nearly one month for initial delivery. On Saturday, February 24 my appliances arrived. I asked the delivery company to unbox everything. They said it was company policy not to unbox the microwave and dishwasher. I removed the front door so they would have plenty of room to get in. Just as the delivery service left I opened the dishwasher to find a Kenmore dishwasher. I immediately called the 1-800 delivery number and was told they would dispatch the delivery drivers to turn around. I received no return call or dishwasher that day. On Monday, February 26 I called again and was told I would receive a call back to schedule a delivery time. At the end of the day I still hadn’t received a call. I then went to my local Sears to speak with a manager. They called the 1-800 from the store and spoke with a representative. I was told my dishwasher was misplaced and a new one would have to be ordered. They scheduled a delivery date of March 13. Mysteriously on Tuesday, February 27 I received a call directly from the delivery driver. He had my dishwasher and could deliver it that day. I met him at my house where he exchanged dishwashers, again not opening it. I opened the box to find two huge dents in the front. Luckily another one was on order and to be delivered on March 13. I finally received a “good condition” dishwasher on March 13. Now back to the other appliances, as I was cleaning the refrigerator I noticed a large scratch on the side of the door. Apparently when they were bringing it through the front door it got scratched. The stove also had a large dent where the drivers had used a dolly strap to secure it to the hand truck. I called to report the two damages. I received a $150 gift card for the damage to the $2000 refrigerator, which is less than 10% of the purchase price. I also received a $100 gift card for the damage to the stove which again was nearly $2000. I purchased a BLACK toaster from sears.com since it was not stocked at my local store. Three weeks later I received a RED toaster. Upon calling customer service I was informed of Sears’ ridiculous exchange policy. UPS would have to pick up the incorrect toaster, upon receiving it back in the warehouse a check would be issued back to me, and then I would have to purchase a new one from the web again. This would be a four to five week process to fix their mistake. Also, since I had originally ordered the toaster the price had increased. I was able to return it to my local store and get yet another gift card for the purchase price. This now bring me to my rebate fiasco. I purchased the appliances at Sears because they were offering 10% cashback for three or more appliances and “free” delivery. Since the salesmen work on commission, I purchased the refrigerator from one person and the microwave, dishwasher, and stove from another salesman. This means I had two receipts to mail to the rebate center. Four to six week later I received a check that was far less than the total 10%. After calling the rebate center customer service and walking them through the receipts line by line (I am a college math professor) we determined they had completely ignored the refrigerator and delivery rebate. I was told my check would be sent within another two weeks. Two weeks later I received nothing and called the customer service center again. I was told a check was mailed but it was again for the wrong amount. Some supervisor had changed what the service representative and I had fixed. I immediately asked to speak with another supervisor. After again walking this supervisor through the two receipts line by line, he agreed that I had been sent the wrong amount. It is now nearly June, which is four months since I had originally purchased the appliances, and I still have not received my full rebate. The service center claims a check was mailed nearly 30 days ago. I guess the US postal service must have lost it (I am being extremely sarcastic in case it’s not obvious). The service center says I have to wait the full 30 days before a stop payment can be issued and a new check sent. I sent an email to Sears National Customer Relations center and have not received a response. To be continued...

I bought a stainless steel Kenmore dishwasher in February. I was told by the sales person that I'll get a $60 rebate from Sears for the delivery. She printed out two receipts for me: the official receipt and the receipt to be used in the rebate submission. I was told that I only needed to submit the rebate receipt and to hold on to the official receipt. Fine.

After sending in the rebate application, I received a letter in April saying that my submission was denied. It was a form letter, and it was not specified what the reason for the denial was. I called Sears, and the guy I spoke with said that there shouldn't be any problems with my rebate and that I should expect a check in 15 days. A month passes, and I called again. This time, a woman claims that I never submitted a receipt to them! I talked to the local sales office in town, and they promised to try to do something about this and will call me back. Of course I haven't heard from them since.

This happened to the rebate we were supposed to get for a freezer we bought a few years ago, too. I never kept track of that one, so it's partly my fault. But this second case shows a pattern.

So that's it. I'm never buying anything from Sears again. We are planning on buying a new range and refrigerator, but I'll be going somewhere else. I'm also cancelling my Sears credit card and my membership to the Craftsman Club. If anyone asks me, I'm going to tell them to forget buying anything from Sears.

I ordered a riding lawnmower part on 5/3/07 from Sears with an estimated delivery date of 5/7 via phone [protected]. I was told it was available, and clarified that it was not on back-order. When it did not arrive on 5/8 I called Sears and was told it was on backorder, and when I mentioned that I specifically asked about that when I ordered the part, I was told that system must not have been updated; they apologized for any inconvenience, and they did not know when it would come available. I immediately found a local service man who ordered the part at 4:30pm and had it in the following day, from Greenville, SC, for 2.5 times the cost of Sears (I think it was worth it). I immediately called Sears back that afternoon to cancel order; was told it was canceled and would see my full refund soon including shipping, as the part had not been shipped. On 5/11, I received a call saying order could not be canceled as it had already been shipped. In order to get full refund, I requested how to proceed once the part arrived. Rep did not know when it would arrive the manufacturer had not provided a tracking number. I was instructed to simply watch for the package for the next 5-7 business days and refuse it when it arrived. I explained that I could not sit at my house and wait for UPS driver to come whenever. I was then told I should accept the package and then ship it at my cost back to Sears, who did not believe they could compensate me for postage; however I should purchase delivery confirmation as proof of delivery. So, I posted note on door, and called back everyday to try and get tracking #. I finally got the tracking # on 5/17, from Sears, the day package arrived, this is when I learned that the part had not been shipped until 5/16 from Greenville, SC, presumably the same placed that shipped the other part I received 8 days earlier. The tracking # (provided by driver and matched Sears tracking #) showed delivery back to company in Dallas, TX on 5/22. I called Sears on 5/23 and was told the company did not have part (Sears rep – Kendra in customer relations – parts department). When I told rep I had tracking number that showed part had been delivered she said they did not have it, and this why I should have accepted the part and shipped it back with delivery confirmation, at my cost, because my tracking # was not proof. After disagreeing with her for 5 minutes she finally agreed to look up tracking #, agreed that the part had been delivered, and must not have been processed. However, because I refused package instead of reshipping it myself, my refund would not show up until the next billing cycle. When I told her that I merely did as I was instructed by another cust rep, she stated that I should not have been told such, and there was nothing more she could do. I explained I used to work with Sears in Maryville, TN and when we had a customer that was upset we got a manager to satisfy the customer, then I was put on hold and transferred to the repair center (not a manager). That person transferred me to Kenny in Mobile, AL, who is a customer service rep “with manager authority.” I told him situation, and that I was displeased. I explained that I received too many mixed messages, I had been told things that were not honored, I was not told things that came back to frustrate later, and I wanted Sears to show that they care for their customers. I should get a full refund, after over 5 hours on the phone, and after at least a month since I originally canceled the order. For my trouble, I asked Kenny to authorize a free oil change ($22 value), as I use Sears for batteries, tires, oil changes, little auto stuff, etc which they could look up in records. Kenny responded, "I cannot do anything more for you sir. I have already refunded your shipping." Wasn't that supposed to happen anyway? I canceled order on 5/8, (8 days before shipping). Sears never should have paid for shipping; they had plenty of time to not ship item. Why can't someone pick up a phone and cancel the order manually.

Sears has scheduled delivery for 5/19, with a notation of our need to have prior to 3:00 PM. Call on 5/18 evening confirmed arrival at 2:00 PM. We cancelled and re-scheduled at 2:45 when a call to Sears told us that delivery would be about 3:30 - no apology for time change. Re-scheduled for 5/20 afternoon, with call to us during evening of 5/19 to verify. Attended event, so cell off that evening. When turned on next morning, no call, so contacted Sears to find out time. Told then that no one authorized the delivery, so was scheduled for 5/21 AM. After lengthy altercation with scheduler, was offered $50 for "inconvenience". Delivery man arrived on time 5/21 AM, but with wrong pedestals for washer and dryer. Now the nightmare really begins. Have talked with three different phone centers, none of whom supposedly are authorized to help me get the right parts. I must call the store where I purchased the appliance for them to correct. Have called the store three times, and each time the auto-attendant system has told me that the main office is busy and has cut me off. Can anyone help, or is the just how Sears does customer service?

Sears Roebuck and Company. Gaithersburg Maryland 20877 I have been a loyal Sears customer for many years. In the last 3 years I have bought A plasma tv, three lawn mowers, two stoves, two refrigerators, 1 microwave, telephones , as well as many articles of clothing and other items. I have paid several thousand dollars for their items. Sears use to be a very reputable organization but I've noticed a drastic decline in the way I personally have been treated. On one refrigerator I bought There were two deliveries of dented merchandise and the drivers got upset because we did not want them. I bought a microwave oven from them about a year ago and could not install it because of personal reasons and they would not honor this item that their lying salesman told me had been tested and was fine. Sure I should have tested it, so much for trusting any of their associates. When calling the manufacturer about the item they said they would repair it for free as a item still under warranty. No problems at all when talking to the manufacturer but when dealing with the idiot Sears associates all I got was a bunch of crap of what I did wrong as the customer. Perhaps it did not help that their associates speak broken English and just don't understand about customer loyalty on this country nor their products. As a matter of fact I was not even talking to the one associate and he decided to barge in on my conversation. I must admit that when I called the supervisor the supervisor was helpful and curious but still the burden of getting it fixed was placed on me on this item that I was assured by Sears Associates that was Ok. The jest of this ordeal is that SEARS has lost a very loyal customer and I will never frequent their stores and I will tell everyone I know about Sears. I have been reading about Sears problems financially and see why they are having them. They use to be the BEST retailer in the country and now they are the worst. Sears, I see your fate as being the same as Montgomery Ward, Hechingers, The Hecht Company, and others that just don't give a damn about the consumer and you too will be a thing of the past.

I did not know where to turn then I saw this. My boyfriend purchased his eye glasses at Sears this years in Dedham MA. We spent over three hundred. Is there anything that can be done Sears would not service us to fix the handle. I feel with what was spent on them they should do that for free like any other place would to keep the business.

Below is a copy of a letter I sent to Alwyn Lewis the president/ceo of sears.

I hope no one else has these problems.

Here is the information I've found out if anyone needs it in the future.

Sears Service Unit # 8214
8000 National Highway
Pennsauken, NJ 08110
[protected]

I pray that you never have to deal with these people.

Read this atrocity:

On April 9, 2007 the washer machine reported via its LCD screen there was problem with the unit. My wife contacted [protected] your warranty home service. My wife spoke with the call center and scheduled an appointment for Tuesday April 10, 2007.

April 10th - I received a call from your call center on my cell phone, which for some reason was the contact number they had, even though we had given them the home phone number to use. When I contacted the call center minutes later, they had stated that since the cell phone wasn’t answered the tech messaged them and told them we weren’t home to accept the service and we would have to reschedule. I reluctantly was given a date of Friday April 13th, 2007.

April 13th - We once again waited and called the call center to find out what time the tech would be at our home. The call center stated that we should expect the tech between 1p and 5pm. After calling in around 4pm to see if the tech was still going to arrive, we were told someone would get right back to us. A few minutes later, I received a call from the call center, I was told by the call center that the tech has once again messaged in saying that no one was at the home to answer the service call. I asked the call center why if no one was home or reachable at the phone number as the tech was claiming, why was the call center able to reach me on that line minutes later to inform me that no one would be there. They call center person said it did sound peculiar.

It is at this time, I called the Deptford NJ store and spoke with sales associate Lisa Bello. She told me she might be able to find out some info for us. She talked with someone at the local service center/unit and told us someone would be at our home on Saturday.

April 14th – The tech came to our home, informed us that we needed several parts, a pump, motherboard, and some other items. The tech stated that this was a two man job, and that we would have to remove the dryer from the utility room prior to the next appointment so that could work in the room. He also informed us that parts would be shipped directly to our home and to call into the call center to verify that we indeed receive the parts so that the techs didn’t waste a trip to our home on Friday if the parts were not there. I find this to particularly amusing because the there was such a sound of concern on his part not to have to waste a trip to our home, yet we had wasted two days already waiting for a tech to come.

I guess the service tech’s time from your company is more valuable than ours.

We paid the tech the $69 service call fee, and were given a receipt that specifically stated we were scheduled for an appointment on Friday April 20th between 8a-5p. (Please see enclosed copy)

April 19th – The call center left an automated message on our home phone to call in and confirm the parts were delivered to our home. My wife called and confirmed the parts indeed were delivered and was told the tech(s) would be there tomorrow. After working a 19-hour day, I came home and removed the dryer from my utility room in accordance with your techs directions in anticipation of the schedule appointment tomorrow.

April 20th – My wife checked with the call center approximately every two hours to confirm the time and the status of our appointment. She was told we were 8th on the list. At approximately 4:30pm my wife contacted the call center to inquire as to the status of the tech and was told we were never scheduled for this date and someone would be there on the 24th. My once again contacted the call center to complain and was repeatedly hung up on.

I contacted the call center and told them of my story; they forwarded me to corporate complaints. I have to say the woman Crystal who answered the call was very helpful. Unfortunately she after she forwarded me to the corporate complaint department another woman put me on hold, after approximately 30 seconds on hold I was disconnected.

Once again I called into the call center, surprisingly Crystal answered my call. I explained what had happened and she apologized and tried to forward me again. This time I was connected to a Margaret (ID # 27362). She read over the notes and assured me that the tech(s) would be on the Tuesday April 24th.

I asked for the Manager’s information for the service unit we are dealing with (Unit # 8214) she stated the Manager would be in on Monday and would message him/her to contact me. I asked for the contact information for the unit, she told me she could not provide it to me.

Margaret noted the history notes for my case stated that I didn’t have an appointment for today the 20th only the 24th.

So it is at this point, after getting the worst run around in my consumer buying experience I am writing this letter to you 9pm on a Friday night.

As the leader of one of the most identifiable American brands/company in the country I would hope this is not acceptable to you or your company.

If I performed this inadequately on my job, it would not be my job any longer.

I hope that you find this matter as troubling as I do, and that you can take the proper steps to correct it.

Unfortunately I have to say that I will no longer shop at your stores due to my current experience.

I look forward to hearing from you in the future.

My name is Heather Lilley and i was an employee of Sears at the Sears store in the City of Industry, Ca. I worked there for two years, most of it as a cashier and then sales in jewelry. At the end of employment i decided it was time for me to quit because of little pay and the way management was treating employees. I told my supervisor at the time, Luawana that i decided to leave and wrote her an official note telling her the reasons why. Because i was in jewelry an employee does not have a two weeks notice because of security reasons and my status was in affect immediately. To my surprise when i tried to apply to another sears just recently i was denied because of how i left my previous job. I do not understand why that is so because i quit the job the correct way. This is unfair and should be changed immediately.

Bought this very expensive ($2000.00) Kenmore Trio Fridge with Freezer on Bottom in May of 2005 and as of today, March 29, 2007, the top unit has ceased to work. When I got home from work today the temp in the top unit was at 56 and rising. In calling Sears to get a repairman out to my home, I was told that they would not be able to get anyone out until Monday April 2. I did not even get two years worth of service out of this fridge. (Are that many Sears appliances breaking down that their repairmen are that busy?) I plan to see what I can get out of Sears on this, but have decided to get another repairman out to my home tomorrow. To say that we are disgusted is putting it mildly. This will be my last Sears appliance. All the person at Sears could say to me was, "oh, I am so sorry". Tell me that as I am throwing out spoiled food.

We bought steel shed on line last year Dec. 2006. Since we received the shipment we've had missing peaces and damaged pieces. As we started to put up the frame we found out we had damaged parts and also missing parts. We have called customer service and talked to 4 different Supervisors who have told we would get a refund on the shed, and schedule a pick up.

We have yet to get this shed picked up and get our money back. This seems to drag on for months. We are now calling Dale at the sears complaint number to get this resolved for the 6th time. After this call we will contact our attorney and let them handle this case.

This has been one of the worst customer service and run around ever. We have documentation and dates of every person that we spoke to at Sears regarding this matter.

It is a shame that we need to take this to a legal system but Sears is not wanting to settle this any other way.

I sure wish that I had read all of these complaints before I signed that contract. Following is my experience to date...

On February 2, 2007, a salesman gave an exemplary sales pitch to my husband and me, which caused us to purchase twelve windows from Sears at a cost of $12,772. A steep price in comparison to competitors such as Lowes and Home Depot, but we sold on the 100% satisfaction guarantee and lifetime replacement policy (even if my son puts a baseball through the window). On top of that, the windows seemed extraordinary with top of the line technology, and could even open with one finger. Sold!

That was my sales experience, we were very happy. A week later, a gentleman came by to measure the windows for order. While he was measuring the front bathroom window, he suggested that we go with opaque windows in the two bathrooms. When we told him that we had not ordered opaque windows through our salesman, he said it did not matter, as he was the person who puts the actual order in. We were very happy with this and ordered that the two bathroom windows be opaque.

Approximately one week later, we received a message from our project coordinator concerning the size of our largest picture window. She informed us that the largest picture window would have to be made smaller than originally ordered (by an inch and a half) because the windows were not manufactured that big. When we asked about a discount, we were told no, that we would want to pay Sears extra because the windows were so good. We agreed to have the smaller window, as we seemed to have no choice.

The installation was from February 26th to the 28th. The installers were professional and courteous and did an excellent job. However, the two bathroom windows were clear and not opaque. Also, following the 24-hour wait period, per the care and maintenance manual, we found that not only did none of the windows open with one finger but also are barely able to open with one hand. Many of the windows need two hands to open them, especially the large windows. We chalked this up to them being new, and attempted to exercise the windows. While this helped a little, in no way are these windows what was presented to us by the salesman. Even the two small windows, which are near the exact size of the demonstration window used in the sales pitch, will not open easily. The demonstration window opened with one finger, which was a big selling point to us.

On March 5th, my husband called the number listed on the ‘What’s Next’ document that we were given [protected]) to speak to the District Sales Manager. He got a customer service representative at that number, and explained about the opaque windows and the problem with opening the windows. She said that she would pass the information on to someone who would call me. On March 6th, my husband called again concerning status of his phone call yesterday. Again, he was told that someone would call as soon as possible.

We finally received a call back from the project manager on March 8th. I explained to her that the windows were not opening properly as per the sales presentation given to us, that included a demonstration on how the windows were so smooth that you could open them with one finger. She suggested that the big picture windows would not open this way. I agreed that the largest windows would of course be somewhat more difficult to open than a much smaller window, however they should not require two hands to open. I explained that none of the windows opened easily, including the windows that are a very similar size to the demonstration window. I have to force some of the windows to open and can do it with one hand (hard), but two hands more easily. She said that she would send the installer out the next Wednesday to check all of the windows and to deliver a picture window replacement for a defective paint issue that was reported by the installer.

I then asked her about the two bathroom windows, which should have been opaque. She said that they were still trying to determine who would pay for them because the opaque request was not on any of the paperwork. I told her that while we did not order them that way initially through the salesman, the man who came to measure the windows had suggested opaque windows in the bathrooms and had indicated that it did not matter how the contract was made with the salesman because he is the one who puts the actual order in and he would order them opaque for us. We agreed. Vickie again said that the request was not put in. I told her that I expect for her to contact the measure man and have him call me, following which he would be calling her to fess up to his mistake. She said she would have him call me, and that the installer and the salesman would be coming out on Wednesday the 14th of March to check the windows.

On March 12th, my husband purchased some silicone spray for lubricant as per the Sears care and maintenance manual’s instructions, this helped a little bit more, but not enough to make a significant difference to satisfy us per the sales demonstration. He then called the service number again to explain that he had tried the silicone spray and that it helped somewhat, but he still wanted someone to come out to check the windows. I still had not received a call from the measure man at this point.

On March 14th, we waited until 11 a.m. for the installer and salesman to show up. We received no call and no one came out, so we called the service number again to inquire as to where the men were and when they would be coming. The customer support representative said that she would check on the status and call back. No one called back that day.

On March 15th, my husband called the salesman and explained the situation to him. He was unaware of any of the problems and said that he would call the project manager to find out what was being done. The project manager then called my husband back and said that the installer would be coming by tomorrow (March 16th) to put in the new picture window and to check the operation of the other windows. I still have not received a call from the measure man.

March 16th, the installers arrived and installed the new picture window. He also checked operation of the windows and said that they were working properly. He said that these types of windows should never open with one finger because they are sealed and that the salesman should not have told us that they would open in this manner. I asked him about the opaque windows and he replied that the office was still trying to determine who would pay for them, the salesman or the measure man. I ensured him that his installation was not under question, but rather that it was the sales pitch and the 100% Satisfaction Guarantee that we had an issue with.

I then contacted the project manger to request a copy of the sales order that was initially submitted for my windows. She informed me that I must call my salesman to get a copy of that and wanted to know why I wanted it. I didn’t reply, but asked her about the status of the opaque windows. She informed me that Sears would not be providing those windows unless we pay for them because they were not on the order. I asked her why I had not received a call from the measure man in reference to this and she said he could not help me because the opaque windows were not on the initial order. I then told her that in accordance with the Sears Satisfaction Guarantee, I was not satisfied. She became very defensive and rude at that time, raising her voice and telling me she could do nothing and I needed to talk to the salesman.

I then spoke with the salesman, telling him of the issues with the window order and explained that the issues were:

1. Ease of operation is not in accordance with the sales demonstration.
2. Bathroom windows are clear and not opaque as promised by Brian Baker.
3. Concerned about 100% lifetime breakage warranty promised during sales pitch – we have not received a copy of that warranty.
4. Not 100% satisfied per the Sears guarantee.

The salesman told me that the windows needed to be operated for a while in order to operate smoothly like his demo window. When I told him that the installer had been out this morning and told me the windows would never operate that way because they were not designed to due to the seal, he had nothing to say. As for the opaque windows, he said there was nothing he could do about that because they were not ordered that way on the sales contract, and if we wanted them we would have to pay for them. I told him about the measure man’s conversation with us, and was told that as of yesterday the measure man had been fired due to making promises to customers that he should not have made. I then requested a copy of the initial order that went to the production warehouse and was told that he did not have access to the order document and I must contact the project manager to get that… hmmm!

I then chose to call corporate customer service and spoke with the representative that took our original complaint on the 5th. She looked up the original complaint relating to the operation of the windows (one finger open), and the opaque windows. There is a note within the file indicating that the opaque windows did come in on the 14th, but it was also noted that the windows would not be installed until the customer pays for them. [Obviously, the measure man ordered the windows and then he was fired for not paying for them.] I told her about my conversations with both the salesman and the project coordinator. I said that I believe that since it was a Sears’ representative that measured my windows and offered the opaque ones that Sears should pay for the opaque windows. Also, since a Sears Salesman used the ease of opening in the sales pitch, he had lied to us because the installer told us that the window design did not allow for that type of operation.

I brought up the warranty on breakage, at which time she walked through the warranty with me; her warranty had the 100% lifetime breakage statement in it and mine did not. She is mailing me a copy of her warranty and doesn’t know why mine is that way. I then told her that I was invoking the 100% satisfaction guarantee for the opaque windows and the operation of the windows and that I wanted a copy of the original order form submitted by the measure man. I told her I was building a file for possible litigation concerning the opaque windows, operation of the windows, and 100% satisfaction guarantee statement. She said that the opaque window request would not hold up in court because they were not on the contract.

It has also come to my attention that in addition to all of these problems, Sears should have installed tempered glass in my bathrooms (along with opaque windows) to meet code. There was never any permit requested.

I want Sears to honor their customer 100% Satisfaction Guarantee policy on this purchase. They can satisfy me through one of the following:

1. Provide installation of the two bathroom windows and give me a 25% discount on the total purchase for misrepresentation in the ease of operation of the windows.
2. Do nothing and reduce the price of the total installation by 50%.
3. Do nothing and refund my purchase price in full.

I feel like I have a long hard battle ahead. Sears should have a class action suit brought up against them for not honoring their 100% satisfaction guarantee (or your money back).

My Feezer failed around July of 2006 . Food all rotted as freezer is chest type in basement and I didn't realize that it had failed until I went to get some food out of it. The smell was terrible. I called Sears and after several missed appointments the service man came and replaced a part got the freezer working. I had already cleaned it out but the smell remained. I was told it would go away. I tried many different cleaning processes and after 2 more service visits I was told that the smell was in the insulation and the only thing I could do was replace the freezer. Sears refused to repair or replace the freezer. I have had A Sears service contract on this and other home appliances for over 10 years and had no service except a gasket and on one of our refrigerators and a plastic drawer on the same unit. I have called many times about this matter and also called for service on another refrigerator at the end of Dec. 2006 and no one showed up for the appointment on Jan 9th. I was out of town and the unit was working and only showed a "service" warning so my wife didn't bother calling again. I called after I came home end of Feb. and was told contract had expired so no service would be done. What happened to the old Sears "Satisfaction or your money back" policy?

To Whom It May Concern:

I’m writing this letter in frustration and in hopes of showing the public how some Big Companies treat an average person who wants to just live a normal happy healthy life and to pay his debts. I’m talking about Sears who in recent times started a PR campaign with sponsoring along with others the new hit show Home Makeover. It is wonderful how this program is helping a few people a year. But what about a very loyal customer of Sears for over 33 years wouldn’t you think they would go out of their way to be good to that kind of customer? I am appalled at how I’ve been treated and I feel I’ve been cheated and it seems there is nothing I can do about it, no recourse at all so that is the reason for this letter. Thirteen years ago I married and of course I put my wife on my Sears account. A few years of over spending caused us the inevitable we were in too deep on a few credit cards Sears being one of them. We went to one of those TV advertised programs for helping people get out of debt. We decided on Profina a company we saw advertised that really looked like they could help. The promotion was that they could get the companies involved with you to lower their interest rates and work with you and in 5 years you would be free of the debt. It went well for a while and then Sears started asking for more money and we responded with a positive and gave more. I noticed that they never dropped their interest rate at all. I called Sears and asked them why and they told me that technically they did not have too. I let that go and then they asked again for more money which we allowed. Then I saw that interest not only did not go down but it had gone up and they threatened to cancel Profina if they didn’t get more money. They called us and left a few messages on our phone so I talked with them again. They wanted more money and I allowed it to keep them on the program. I asked them if they would drop their interest rate at this time and they said no. I asked if this is how they treat all their long time customers and the response was “I don’t make the policies Sir”. And by the way they were not very friendly at all in any of the conversations they make you feel awful. We went for a while now without further problems until I noticed a statement from Sears (my wife had been handling the finances and I had not seen the statements which was a mistake). But to my disbelief we had been paying them $143 a month and the interest rate charges alone were $145 so our balance had been going up never down. At this point I was very angry and I called them and asked what was going on and got the disinterested response of “I don’t know maybe you should pay more”. I was angry at this response and I told Sears that if this is how they treated a customer of over 31 years at the time I would never set foot in a Sears store again. Again the response “I don’t make the policies Sir”. After getting off the phone and calming down a little I called Profina and stopped further payments of any kind to Sears. It didn’t take Sears long to start the calls sometimes 7 or 8 times a day. I talked with them a number of times and felt I was treated very unprofessionally and told them so. When I tried to explain why I had stopped payment they told me they would keep adding up charges of late fees and interest. I finally called and talked with a manager and told her I would begin payments only in the event they would drop all interest fees and late charges and I would again start to pay them. When I said drop all interest I made it clear that the rest of about $3,000 would be interest free until paid off. I was told they would do that so I told them I would start paying them on a certain day of each month but before we finally settled the manager said “Now you know that interest will again begin in 3 months”. I couldn’t believe my ears and I told her no that was unacceptable and I said good bye and hung up the phone. After that I would not answer my phone again and let them leave messages and they kept calling and calling and calling. In time they wrote off the debt and on my credit report it said written off. But later I found out they had sold the account to another collector who hounding me to no end. So Sears had written off the debt and collected on their taxes as a loss and then sold it to another collector for so much per dollar so Sears collected again. I refused to deal with the new collector telling them the debt had been written off and that Sears no longer could claim any harm. So they sold it again to another collector then another and another and for a few years now I have been hounded by them all. I felt so angry I was going to ignore them no matter what but now they have sent it to a lawyer (society’s downfall members) and he is going to take me to court. His name is Bryan Cannon and is located in Sandy Utah. The bill is now at almost $11,000 and it will climb a couple more thousand for his costs. So I would like the public who have been hurt by these credit card companies (especially Sears) to give me a call and let us set up some time to do a peaceful demonstration at the Sears in Riverdale. We can use picket signs and have brochures available to let Sears know what kind of business they really are. I’m going to send this over a lot of the country so I ask them to call me too and we can organize a demonstration in their region as well. My name is Cory Fausett and my phone number is [protected]. Please help one man make a difference by standing up to this problem of mistreatment. I was willing to take care of my part of the debt but Sears choose to cheat me and be greedy. What else is there to do please help me make a stand and I will demonstrate it to Sears and other credit card companies as their ethics stink. They do what they will with interest rates but give out cards like candy even to our youth. How many ads do you get in the mail for signing up each month? How many do your teenagers? Let’s take a stand please and not let them have that control any longer. I will send this to Sears as well and many other Letters to the Editor across the country. Oh and by the way all the companies that stayed with us on Profina have been paid off now so if Sears would have just been less greedy and less willing to stab a long time customer in the back they would have been paid but it seems they made more by doing what they did anyway maybe that is why they did it. What do you think? Why should Sears get compensated through a written off bad debt through taxes and the sell of my account to another agency? Who will also collect on it? I am more than willing to pay the $3000 but I will fight as much as I can any other amount but I will lose because we the people have NO SAY at all in being cheated and taken complete advantage of.

Thanks for listening to an angry former loyal Sears shopper,

Cory Fausett.

We had been shopping for a new washer and dryer for quite some time. We decided that we liked the Kenmore High Efficiency washers, but were waiting for a good time to buy. When we went to the store on June 10, we were told about a rebate program happening in the store that day. Consumers would receive a gift card for 10% of the amount of all purchases on June 9 & 10. And there was a 0% financing deal on top of that. So we bought the washer, dryer and pedestals. The salesman printed out our receipt and an additional copy of the receipt which he instructed us to use for the rebate. So I mailed in the rebate using the receipt he gave us prior to the June 30 mailing deadline. Then we received a letter July 19 stating that the sales check on our receipt was scanned and found to be invalid for the rebate. So I called the rebate center (spoke to Nicole) and was told the receipt was not a valid receipt and that I should call the store to find out what's wrong. So I called the store and was told to call Customer Relations. I spoke with Kirsten who saw that the receipt the salesman printed out didn't have the sale date on it. I asked if I should resubmit with a copy of our original receipt and was told no. She was going to resubmit it for me and that I should have a gift card within 2-3 weeks.

Weeks went by with no card. So I called again October 26 @ 5:30 pm and spoke with Brittney. She told me that she would send an escalation and gave me the number for gift card services to that I could check the status on the card, but to wait a week or two.

Again weeks went by with no card. So I called the Gift Card Services and spoke with Emanuel. He told me that he could not help me without a gift card number and that I had to call Customer Relations again. So I called Customer Relations again and spoke to Willie and Alex on December 10. They indicated that they would pass the matter on to a manager and I could receive a call back within the week.

The next day, I was home from work sick and asleep when a manager called. I didn't get his name (think it was George) and was told that the problem was that they had my address incorrect and he had since fixed it and I'd get a card in the mail within the next 2 weeks. I asked him to verify the address that it was being sent to and he indicated an address that we hadn't lived at for 2 years. When I told him the address was wrong, he, very huffily, said "Well are you getting your mail forwarded." I told him we hadn't lived there in 2 years so NO, it wasn't being forwarded any longer. He confirmed my new address and said he'd have to fix it again and hung up on me.

The holidays went by and I called again on January 16, 2007. I spoke with Amy D. at Customer Relations and was told that the department that could help me was in Texas and because of the bad weather was not open. She said that someone would call me back in a few days. No call.

So I called back this morning, January 29, 2007 and spoke with Shavonne. She escalated my call to someone named Renee, who was sympathetic to my plight, but I'm not sure she will be very helpful. She is going to resubmit the rebate claim, but now that it's been 7 months, she can't find the program in her system to resubmit it. And she can't find any information that shows I spoke with the people above. I am waiting on her to call me back today. Don't worry. I'm not holding my breath.

Since this whole ordeal started I have made only one purchase from Sears (Lands End snow boots). Should this matter not be resolved before my 1 year no interest promotion is up, I will be cancelling my Sears card and will no longer be shopping at their stores. Which is sad, because I've loved my Kenmore appliances that we filled our last house with (the one where the December gift card is probably sitting). Needless to say that I've already warned everyone I know to not purchase anything from Sears that involves a rebate of any kind. Should this ever be resolved I will update my complaint.

Sears - Polaris Fashion Place Store, Westerville, OH