Sears
Reviews and Complaints

Complaint activity report case # [protected] bbb of chicago & northern illinois

Consumer info: alber, business info: sears holdings corporation
[protected]

Location involved: (Same as above)

Consumer's original complaint :
I purchased a heat pump plus maintenace agreement from sears and had it installed in my home on may 8. On june 10 I attempted to report a problem with it and get a service call scheduled. Over the past two days I have spoken to a dozen or more people including people at home office who are charged with customer relations. All have been unable to schedule a service call, unable to have someone contact me who could schedule a service call. Some have given me incorrect information, many have been rude.

I would like my money back and my heat pump repaired.

Consumer's desired resolution:
I would like my money back and my heat pump repaired.

Bbb processing

06/12/2008 web bbb complaint received by bbb
06/12/2008 web bbb member or mip complaint validated by bbb operator
06/12/2008 otto email send acknowledgement to consumer
06/12/2008 otto bbb inform mip member of complaint
06/17/2008 web bbb receive business response : 6/17/08. I received the complaint filed by mr. Alber. I have contacted him and left a message on his home #. I also sent him an email to assist in resolving any issues he may be having with the hvac system. If you have any questions please contact me directly at [protected].
Sincerely,
Michele compston
Ship regulatory complaint specialist
06/17/2008 nvv email forward business response to consumer
06/18/2008 web bbb received consumer rebuttal : (The consumer indicated he/she did not accept the response from the business.)
Hi,
I called michelle this morning for the third time. Voice mail again. I also sent her an email.
No responses. She called me once, sent me one email. This is typical of the service and response I have experienced with sears in this matter. My complaint is open and getting worse.
Please escalate this above michelle. I do not believe she has the ability to address my concern.
Thank you
George
Ms compston called and left me a voice mail. I have returned her call twice, leaving voice mails both times. I have not yet spoked with her.
06/18/2008 nvv bbb forward consumer rebuttal to business
06/23/2008 bbb more info received from the consumer : hi correction to my last comment. It was thursday, june 18 that michelle told me she would call me back by the end of the day.
As of 5 35 pm edst, monday june 23 she has not called me back or responded in any other way.
06/23/2008 bbb more info received from the consumer : hi michelle,
On thursday, june 19, you told me you would call me back before the end of the day with an update from your "senior management". I am still waiting for your call.

Best regards,
George

— original message —
From:
To: michelle compston
Cc:
Sent: wednesday, june 18, 2008 11:36:52 am
Subject: re: ship #7905445
Hi,

I have called you twice and left voice messages.

This morning I also got an email from bbb requesting that I close my complaint based on your email. Of course, I rejected that suggestion and in fact the fact that you would think that you could close my complaint just by calling and sending an email has made my dissatisfaction with sears greater.

By the way, do you know the status of my heat pump?

Best regards,
George

— original message —
From: michelle compston
To:
Sent: tuesday, june 17, 2008 2:06:09 pm
Subject: ship #7905445
Mr.

Hello. How are you? My name is michele and I work for sears in the legal department. I am writing to you in response to the complaint you filed with the better business bureau. I would like to help resolve any issues you may be having with the air conditioning system. I can help arrange an appointment for our contractor to come out there, inspect the unit and correct whatever issues there are. My contact information is provided for you below, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,
Michele compston
Regulatory complaint specialist
(B) [protected]
(F) [protected]
Email: [protected]@searshomepro.com
06/23/2008 bbb more info received from the consumer : today, june 23, at about 5 35 I heard from michelle compston via phone who told me that her senior mgt had decided that my complaint had no merits. She referred me to ms. Rachel cheek at [protected] who is a "legal case mgr" in michelle's words a paralegal. I think it reveals their attitude toward customers that they would escalate me to a lawyer - well not really even a lawyer, but paralegal.

In 2004, I purchased a Kenmore top load Washer, Dryer, and 5 year extended warranty from Sears. My washer stopped working in the 4th year that I had it and I called Sears warranty department to have it fixed. To my amazement, they did not have a warranty recorded for my washer. I explained where I purchased it and the location as well as the price - $1, 100 (total cost with 5-year warranty).

On the day that I had purchased my washer, dryer, and 5-year warranty; I also paid for the same style washer, dryer, and 5-year warranty for one of my friends. I asked her to call and see if her warranty was recorded - and hers was recorded and the warranty was to expire on September 2009. I used various phone numbers to see if any of them would pick up the warranty, but to no avail. I am at a lost. I paid for a 5 year warranty on my appliances and Sears never recorded it in their system. In addition to that, they don't even have my dryer listed as being purchased. I even asked if they see the washer and dryer being delivered by them, to my house. Nope, that wasn't in their either. However, they have the model numbers of both the washer and dryer. Obviously, the store associate, took my money for the warranty, but did not record my warranty when I made my purchase.

Ordered part for Dewalt cordless drill since the web site said it was in stock. Received an email 2 days later that it was back-ordered. Called immediately and canceled the part, customer service rep said it was canceled. Two weeks later, received another email that the part was backordered, called again to cancel and was told that they could not control their supplier and even though it was canceled, it would probably still ship and that I would have to return it (and pay for shipping). I spoke to a supervisor and she promised to cancel the order. Five days later, received another email saying that the part had been shipped.
I would not recommend using Sears Parts Direct for any reason. Their web site in not correct on the parts in stock, they do not have control of their suppliers and they are not honest in their commitments to customers.

This was the third repair call for Frigidaire refridgerator. This time, Sears repair didn't even show up. I waited all day, cancelled appointments and they never showed. Lousy customer service. After buying the expensive warrenty, what good is it?
I was scammed and ripped off .

On Feb. 27, 2008 my wife & I had a new furnace installed in our home. I'm a truck driver & on the road alot. When I got home & saw the furnace, I was quite impressed. But then I noticed where they had broken the wood molding that surrounds the outer edge. When I asked my wife if they said anything about the molding she said no. Needless to say I was upset. I called the Sears department manager & yes I was quite blunt with him. the repairs were made. Now during the furnace installation one of the installers had to go under the house, (we have a mfg. home). At some point during that time the installer indicated to my wife that our AC was low on freon. Since it was still quite cold outside we couldn't test the AC. Now that the warmer weather has set in we decided to call a certified AC company. The technician discovered that the quick disconnect lines and the seal were damaged and that we had no freon in our system at all. To have the system fixed and the AC charged it has cost us $618.00. We've lived in this home for 12 years and have never had a problem. Even last year we ran the AC without incident. Once again I called the Sears Home improvement dept and spoke to the same manager. He indicated to me that since we went to an outside source he wasn't going to do anything about it. I said to him we can do this professionally or we could do this the legal way. He again replied he couldn't do anything or should I say won't do anything. Since when does Sears dictate to customers who they call for other home work? We own this home and who we decide to call for repairs or improvements does not require the approval of Sears Home Improvement Dept managers.
Now I'm concerned how the furnace man released the freon or did he really capture the freon ? If he just released the freon into the air he violated federal law and he endangered my wife and granddaughter.

My husband and I had a truly miserable experience with Sears as well. Their prices for our new A/C system were steep compared to Lowe's and Home Depot out here in IL, but the Sears name and replacement plan prompted us to go with them. We were assured that we would be guaranteed 100% satisfaction.

Turns out that the sales rep ordered incorrect components, prompting 4 additional visits from an independent contractor hired by Sears, not Sears personnel themselves. We don't even know if these guys were licensed. Ultimately, we had to repeatedly contact the manager out here, Jay, to finally have a thermostat and its associated charges removed from our bill. Turns out we were being charged almost $500 for this thermostat, but we had no way of knowing since specific item charges and item information were blocked out our paperwork - all we knew was the general *type* of what we were getting. Numerous calls to our "project coordinator" whose job, we were told, was to ensure everything went smoothly, went unanswered.

We recently had a furnace installed with a fantastic service provider who itemized and explained everything, and could provide proof of licensing and background checks of employees.

My husband and I are pretty easy customers to deal with, overall. I will never be as naive and trusting as I was with Sears again, however, and am very thorough and detail-oriented when getting estimates, so I suppose our Sears experience was a good education, pricey "tuition" and all. Sadly, Sears' 20th-century reputation is not relevant to its 21-st century service.

Bought a grill from Sears two years ago (model #415.16220. The bottom casting has begun to warp. It is bowing out slightly at the front end of the casting. As a result of the warped bottom casting, the vaporizer tents which diffuses the flames no longer fit on the inside of the grill. The warranty states that the top and bottom castings have a lifetime warranty. After speaking to three customer service reps and getting the runaround, they are not honoring their own warranty. Their solution is to send a tech out at my expense to tell me what I already know and they say then that the part might still not be covered if they find that the grill got too hot. Amazing that they do not even honor their own warranties and just try to find excuses not to honor them.

Sears Holdings advertised a 1080, 50” Sony TV. I went to the store in Utica, Michigan and purchased the TV for just under $1, 400. I picked up the TV and went back to my office. I looked at the box and found that the TV was labelled as a 720. I returned to the store within 45 minutes and the clerks said that the ad was incorrect and would not be honoured. They would give me $100 off of the current TV if I would keep it. I told the salesman that the process was called “bait and switch” and is highly illegal. Sears only lists their part number and not the model number of the TV on the receipt. This makes it very convenient to switch products if the customer is not attentive. I asked for the store manager and she was very angry but did give me her business card. She said that Sears Holdings is not responsible for any mistakes in their ads.

The ad clearing listed the model number and specifications. The salesman stated the ad was valid and in fact sold another TV at the same time I bought mine. The couple did return to the store minutes before my return but they took the additional $100 discount.

The discounted price on the 720, 50” Sony is no real bargain.

Sears just swapped the model using their own product code.

In this manner Sears can switch the 1080 TV with a lower cost 720. If the customer does not notice, they sold the TV at market price. If the customer returns the TV some will take the $100 discount and think they received a good price.

This is just modern day bait and switch.

I returned the TV and would love to have a lawyer and the BBB pursue action against the new Sears Holding for this poor behaviour.

I wonder what Roebuck would have said about the new behaviour at Sears Holdings?

My Husband bought a CompuCarve system which is a wood carving system for $2, 000.00. We got it home, set it up and it didn't work. I bought the extra warranty coverage. Sears told me they could send someone to fix it, but the soonest they could do this was 4 weeks away, but if I wanted to bring it into a Sears repair center it would be repaired immediately. I brought it in on April 30th. I have not heard from them since. I called the number Sears gave me and when I inquired about the machine they hung up on me four different times. I called back on the 5th time and spoke to someone who told me they were having trouble getting a part. I found out the people from Sears I was talking to were not even located in Austin. I wanted to talk to the local Sears repair center and they told me they would call in an hour. They called me 5 days later. The woman from Sears couldn't tell me anything accept that I couldn't get a new machine and would have to wait to get the nonworking machine repaired. After another week and a half I went to the Sears repair center to see why I hadn't heard from them yet. I spoke with the manager of that department. He told me that it wouldn't be ready for another 2 to 3 weeks, that I should have returned it for a new machine, but it was to late for that now. I was very upset and went to look for Sears administrative offices. The only office I found was the HR office. I went in and there wasn't anyone in there. There were several offices, all of them were empty. I found a poster on the wall with a picture of the manager of that particular Sears store. There was a telephone number. I have since tried to call that number like the poster suggested, but there is no answer, and I have called around 20 times. This is a problem that has been on going for almost 2 months with no end in sight. Plus we are out $2, 000.00.

I have purchased a dehumidifier with extended warranty from the local Sears store (Sioux Falls, SD) a year ago. Now that the new season started, it doesn't work. Since it's still under warranty, I called the store's service center and set up an appointment for in-home repair. A repair man was supposed to come today between 8 and 12 am, but nobody came. When I called, they couldn't find a record that an appointment has even been set up. The lady on the phone was very rude and condescending to me.

I wouldn't submit this complaint if this would have been the first time, however, it is not. This is my second dehumidifier from Sears, and the first one was also defective after just one season, and I went through the same stupid game of trying to get someone to repair it then too. The repair service was unreliable, the people rude and disagreeable, and they kept telling me that they couldn't find any records of my purchase - mind you, I had all the paperwork and receipts and business card of the sales person who sold the dehumidifier to me.

I find it inexcusable and unacceptable that I have to go through such a torture every time I need something fixed and that they can't find the records of anything!

Buoght A Arrow 10x12 shed from sears 1.5 years ago. Last winter the roof collapsed in. Emailed customer service Then had to file with the bbb. They then told me it was A Act of God . Link to youtube http://youtube.com/watch?v=PuHB19GhbmI Sears and Arrow both Suck.

Sears, Middletown, NJ affiliate SearsOneSource intervened when defective dishwasher needed repairs costing over $500. OneSource acknowledged problem and promised to refund $179.76 (towards labor and parts) but failed to credit my Amex account. I was forced to have Amex dispute the charge.

I will NEVER shop for appliances or any other big ticket item again at Sears. The way America shops? I don't think so.

On Saturday morning 22 March 2008 I went to our local Sears Dealer to purchase a riding lawnmower that was advertised on sale for the amount of $999.99. Upon arrival I told the manager of the store that I wanted to purchase the mower that was priced $999.99. He then proceeded to tell me that another mower was on sale and would be a better deal for me. He showed me the mower that was priced $1099.99, he also pointed out that it had more horse power.

He told me that I was getting the upgraded mower for the same price since I would receive a rebate in the amount of $100.00.
When I wrote a check to pay for the mower his attendant filled out the rebate form, put it in an envelope and even addressed it for me. I took it home, put a stamp on it and mailed it.

In view of the above I firmly believe that I was duped and misled.
I am a very senior citizen living on a very modest fixed income.
I am of the opinion that I should not be responsible for this obvious mistake and that I should be penalized for a mistake that the store made and I should be entitled to a rebate of the $100.00.

Your attention into this matter would be greatly appreciated.

William Luttrell
641 Bryan Dr
Moncks Corner, SC 29461

Mr. Bruce Johnson
President & CEO
Sears Corporate Office
3333 Beverly Road
Hoffman Estates, IL 60179

Dear Mr. Johnson,

I am writing to you with a sense of desperation, as I have been unable to get service for my Refrigerator which has had a service contract from Sears since I purchased it. Both my wife and I have been repeatedly lied to, mislead, and in general, treated with a complete lack of compassion or understanding. I’d like to give you a brief history of what has been going on although I am sure if you access my file in your records by my name, address and telephone number you will see our repeated attempts to try to get the service we paid for.

On Sunday, May 18, 2008 at approximately 2:30 pm my wife heard a loud irregular noise coming from our refrigerator. When she opened the doors she found the lights were out in both refrigerator and freezer and noticed that rather than the gentle hum of the motor there was silence. She immediately brought the matter to my attention. I checked my circuit breaker panel, which has a dedicated line for the refrigerator, and visually noted no change in the switch. My wife called 1-800-4MY-HOME and scheduled an appointment for service for the following day.

On the morning of Monday, May 19, 2008 while I was waiting for the service man to arrive I went to my circuit breaker panel and threw the circuit breaker for the line for my refrigerator. I went upstairs and noticed that the power had returned to the unit, but when I opened the freezer door, I noticed there was a strange odor but was not sure if it was related. I had a doctor’s appointment so I had to leave before the serviceman came, but my wife stayed home and waited to receive service on the appliance. That afternoon the serviceman came, I don’t know his name but his ID is #0881045 his name must be on record concerning this service incident. He asked my wife what had happened and he immediately informed her before inspecting the refrigerator that it was probably a problem with our electrical system and there was nothing he could do. He asked for a vacuum cleaner which my wife provided. He vacuumed the front of the bottom on the refrigerator, which incidentally was already vacuumed and clean, for approximately 30 seconds. He replaced the bottom guard, he opened the freezer door, noticed condensation and informed my wife that first we should consult our owner’s manual to determine what type of noise our refrigerator is supposed to make, and second that we must have left the freezer door open which caused the condensation and said there was nothing more that was needed to be done and left.

Mr. Johnson, both my wife and I have owned refrigerators our entire life; we were born after the era of the ice box, so we are absolutely familiar with the sounds a refrigerator is supposed to make. This was not a noise which is made during the normal operation of a refrigerator. Also, he made no indication as to the odor that emanated from the refrigerator. In my opinion this technician is incompetent and could have prevented the following chain of events. Unfortunately I was not here when the serviceman came as possibly I would have been able to make sure that the serviceman did his job. Rather he took advantage of my wife, who is not familiar with the technical aspects of the operation of a refrigerator.

By the time I returned home it was approximately 5pm and the house reeked of a strange chemical smell. At which time we placed a follow-up call to 1-800-4MY-HOME to reschedule another appointment. Incidentally, by this time there was a large puddle of water on the floor in front of the freezer door and my frozen food was beginning to thaw. When we spoke to the dispatcher they informed us that since the Monday service call had not cleared from the computer they could not schedule a new service call and that we would have to call back the following morning. As to the chemical odor, the service representative told my wife he would make a “health, or safety” report and someone would get back to us shortly in regard to the odor. That night no one had gotten back to us and my wife began to experience difficulty breathing as the result of this chemical odor she needed to take medication for her condition brought about by this gas, and I had to thoroughly vent the house before we went back home. That night I had my wife sleep at her sister’s house and I returned home and opened all the windows and activated my attic fan in an effort to clear the house of the gas.

I picked my wife up first thing Tuesday morning, returned home, and called the service center. They informed me that they would not be able to schedule an appointment until Wednesday, at which time I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was transferred to Vanessa at your corporate offices who kindly said she would look into the matter while I was on hold and informed me that their service vehicles were vandalized so they couldn’t schedule me for that day, but that they would put me on the schedule for Wednesday unless a vehicle became available sooner. They gave us an appointment for Wednesday between 8am-12pm.

Both my wife and I waited for the serviceman, At approximately 1PM Mr. Lenox, I.D. #13540 arrived at my home, he appeared to be very knowledgeable and professional, and immediately recognized the odor as refrigerant. Mr. Lenox pulled out and inspected the rear of the refrigerator and then opened the freezer, removed the cover to the evaporator and found two holes in the side of the evaporator that apparently blew out which started the release of gas on Sunday. He also verified that all our frozen food was ruined but was unsure as to whether we were covered for the loss on our service agreement. Mr. Lenox informed us that the compressor, the evaporator, the coils and some other part needed to be replaced. He said that it has been his experience that a job as extensive as this has never worked successfully. He called his manager to explain the situation advising him of his lack of confidence in replacing the parts but his manager insisted that he first replace the parts and if that doesn’t work then Sears would replace the refrigerator for the customer. Naturally, when Mr. Lenox informed me of this I was unhappy with his manager’s decision because at this point it has been four days since we have been without a working refrigerator, we lost all our perishable items and at best the parts will come by the 22nd of May at which time I call for an appointment which wouldn’t be until at best the 23rd. Having no control over the situation, I patiently agreed. He informed me that the parts will be sent to my home, at which time I should call for a third service appointment.

On Thursday, May 22, 2008 I called the service department to inquire as to when the parts would be delivered as I have been taking my family to restaurants for 5 days now and it’s beginning to get costly. The dispatcher I spoke to was very helpful and informed me that the parts were to be delivered that day, the 22nd and she would go ahead and schedule the service call for Friday, May 23rd so that I would not have to go through the holiday weekend without a refrigerator I would like to commend that person but she hung up before I was able to get her name or I.D. #. I was informed that the serviceman would be here between 8am and 5pm. The parts did arrive later that day, Thursday the 23rd of May, as the service dispatcher promised.

On the morning of Friday, May 23, 2008 I called to find out approximately what time the service technician would be coming as my wife had a doctor’s appointment and I had an emergency dental appointment, and wanted to make sure that one of us would be here for the serviceman’s arrival. I was told that he would be here sometime between 12pm and 5pm. My wife and I left at 9:30 for our respective medical appointments, and I put my home phone on call forwarding to my cell phone so as not to miss any phone calls from Sears.

While I was in the dentist chair, a call was forwarded to my cell phone from the technician, inquiring about the number of boxes that were delivered. I informed him that three boxes were delivered, he told me that there should have been four boxes as four parts were ordered, and it wouldn’t make any sense for him to come if all the parts were not available. But he did say that he would check with his dispatcher to see if all the parts were delivered. When I got home from the dentist I called the dispatcher and informed him what the driver said to me, and he verified that all the parts were delivered and advised me that he would notify the serviceman. I asked him “can he guarantee that I will get my repair today?” ? He told me he would try, at which time I asked to speak to a manager. He forwarded me to your corporate office, customer care department, where I spoke to Mike, I.D. #54272. I explained the entire story to Mike, he looked up our records and told me he understood my frustration, put me on hold, spoke to the dispatcher then got back to me and assured me that the service technician would be there to try to repair my refrigerator, if the repairs were unsuccessful Sears would authorize a replacement refrigerator. He even gave me his extension at [protected], extension 18473 and told me to contact him personally if there were any additional problems as Sears had dropped the ball 1st on Monday with an incompetent service representative, 2nd Monday night by not having someone call back concerning the safety issue which was posed by the leaking refrigerant that was reported, and 3rd that Sears allowed my family to be without refrigeration for 6 days now.

At 2:30pm I started to get a little nervous because the service technician who came on Wednesday informed me that this was a 5 hour job and it was starting to get late in the day. I called the service department and they assured me that the serviceman was on his way to my location. I asked to speak to a manager, they forwarded me to the corporate office again, and I spoke to Ann, ID #631138. I asked her to connect me with Mike at extension #18473, she told me she could not transfer me but had me repeat my entire story again. Then she asked me if she could put me on hold, called the dispatcher and assured me that I would get my service call today.

At 3pm I called the corporate office and spoke to Ben, ID #69375 and he assured me that the serviceman was en route after checking with the dispatcher. I asked him if I could speak to his supervisor and he informed me that the manager was away from his desk but would get back to me before 5pm.

At 3:30pm I called corporate office and spoke to Jessica, ID #49597 and asked her to transfer me to Mike at extension 18473 and she told me that she was unable to transfer calls. I asked her if I could speak to a manager and she told me that there was no manager available and that she was the highest level of contact I could speak to and that their supervisors are only there for quality control. Again, I explained my entire story which she verified by the notes on our account. She asked if she could put me on hold, she spoke to the dispatcher, got back to me and told me that the service technician was on the way.

At 4:30 the service technician telephoned and said that he was stuck in traffic but was on his way and that he would be here within 45 minutes to an hour.

At 4:45 we received a phone call from the dispatcher saying that we would not be receiving service today as this is a two-man job and the helper was not available to assist the service technician. She told me that she would have to reschedule our appointment and my wife told her that it would have to be first thing tomorrow morning. She then replied that since it was a holiday weekend no service could be made until Tuesday.

At this point my wife and I were beside ourselves with a sense of frustration and powerlessness. We have been dealing with incompetence, lies, and treated with a total lack of professional courtesy. I placed another call to the corporate office and spoke to Dannia #11514. I explained the entire situation yet again which, as you can imagine, I was tired of explaining when they have it all written out in front of them in their computer records. I must say that Dannia had very poor professional telephone ethics; she informed me that she couldn’t transfer me to Mike at extension 18473, that her supervisor, Carlos, was out of the building and would get back to us Saturday morning. At this point for my own health and wellbeing I had to stop pursuing trying to get satisfaction as I was getting nowhere.

At 3:19pm today, while in the process of composing this letter, I received a telephone call from Pat, ID #76307 (who initially refused to give me her I.D. but then checked with her manager and was ordered to do so) and asked me if she could reschedule my appointment for Wednesday, May 28th! I asked her if she was aware that they cancelled my service appointment on Friday and told her that I wanted someone here first thing on Tuesday morning. She told me that no one was available at that time. I asked her to please connect me with her manager and she informed me that she could not transfer me and that she would have her manager call me back. A few minutes later at 3:28pm Charles Smith at the call center (who claims to have no ID number) telephoned and said (as if he was doing us a favor) that he was setting up an appointment at their earliest convenience for Wednesday, May 28, 2008.

Mr. Johnson I have no idea what is going to happen next but I think you would agree with me that we’ve passed the point of reasonable customer service. It is now Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 5pm. It is obvious I will not have any refrigeration until possibly Wednesday which will make a total of 11 days without refrigeration. I have had to feed my family at restaurants for each of these days. I have had to spend an evening in the emergency room. I have had to throw away $350 worth of food. I had to cancel a family barbeque that we had planned for Memorial Day weekend. I have absolutely no confidence that when the service technician does replace these parts that my refrigerator will operate properly for any reasonable length of time, if it operates at all, as your service technician informed me that he has never seen a refrigerator work after this type of repair.

Mr. Johnson I am sure if you review my purchase history you will see that my wife and I have been loyal customers for many years, both in our purchases and our service contracts. I have also influenced many people to shop at Sears as I have always been pleased with your company and have never run into this level of incompetence and disregard for the customer’s satisfaction. I am writing to you as a last ditch effort to avert the continuing injustice that has resulted as policies that you may be unaware of. Also please be advised that I am forwarding a copy of this to the Better Business Bureau of New York and to consumer advocates at WNYC Channel 5 Fox “Call for Action” and WABC Channel 7 News, “Help Me Howard”, as I am just one poor consumer without any leverage caught under the Sears corporate rock.

I have tried to name as many contacts as I could so that these people can be instructed on how to handle this type of situation should it occur in the future as I am sure you wouldn’t ever want your family to go through a situation like this.

I hope to hear from you in the very near future. I have gone through the expense of sending this letter via FedEx so it will arrive in a timely manner. Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely yours,

Lawrence J. Sypowicz

LJS/ds
cc : Better Business Bureau
Complaint filed 5/25 on line
WNYW-TV/FOX 5 New York, NY
205 East 67th St.
New York, NY 10021
(V)[protected]
(F)[protected]

ABC Channel 7 News
77 West 66th St.
New York, N.Y. [protected]
(V)[protected]
(F)[protected]

Thursday May 22, 2008 at approximately 8:45 pm I went in to the Sears Department looking for a Clerk whom had helped me earlier in the Week with Mattress information. I approached a Clerk in the electronics department because there was no one around in the area of the Mattresses to see if he could get someone to help me. He advised me that the lady whom had been helping me earlier that week was no longer in for the day but he would get the lady in the Appliance department who had worked in the department before. When the Lady came to the area of the Mattresses and was informed of what the situation was and that I was interested in Purchasing the KING SIZE mattress and that there was a special going on until May 25th she LOOKED at her watch on more than one occasion and was trying any and every way to get me to come back tomorrow. I then acknowledged the women that if she was not willing to help me I would take my business some place else, Which she still advised me that the sale was on till the 25th of may and i had lots of time to get the sale. the only advise she gave me in the conversation was to come back and play the scratch and save on the weekend. Someone who is spending over three thousand dollars on a mattress really doesn't care about a scratch and save event, but the sale on the mattress of choice at the time of the sale.

Since when was 8:45 closing and since when has SEARS treated there customers with such DISRESPECT!

I am so disappointed with sears and what is so sad is this was a gift for my Brother who is getting Married and Just bought their house. They were Actually going in to your store June 1st to start there Registry with Sears and I will make sure that I advise them the treatment that I received from sears and why I will refuse and tell everyone the service that I received from this store. It is terrible that a store with such a great Name and History has people work for them that treat there finest customers with SUCH IGNORANCE!

You can look up my History as a Sears customer for the last 15 years and you will notice that in the past few years i have been a repeat customer one who just purchased a two piece leather set from you which was more than a three thousand dollar KING SIZE mattress. I have no problem going to SLEEP COUNTRY to purchase my mattress and it is extremely disappointing.

I expect to hear some sort of response back from someone regarding this unfortunate matter, if sears WANTS to keep a returning customer happy which I question now after this experience.

Sincerely

Melanie Stapledon

I am finally posting a complaint forewarning all about Sears PartsDirect after many experiences of similar poor performance in getting parts for Sears Kenmore appliances. It is my guess that this outfit is in fact a separate contractor used by Sears and other retailers to peddle their repair parts on the web. I say this as I am on my third event now where PartsDirect have not delivered as promised and when you call to complain, they immediately put you over to "Sears Public Relations" at another location. It has been my experience with these other people (if indeed Sears people) that they are just as bad (or good if you like) at "promise more, deliver less."

I have a huge Kenmore side-by-side refrigerator about 8 years old. The evaporator fan motor has become noisy which is nuisance to listen to but more importantly, if it fails then the whole system fails and you come home to a big puddle of water. I looked the parts up I wanted online at PartsDirect and placed the order on 4/18/2008. All parts were noted as "in stock" but I got a notice a few days later that the evaporator motor was on backorder until May 9th. I did receive the replacement fan blade and was told the mounting grommets had shipped but never received any tracking info. By May 12th I had not received the grommets nor had I received notice that the motor backordered for May 9th had shipped.

I called PartsDirect and learned that the motor was backordered again this time until June 9th and was told that the grommets showed as having shipped by UPS and were probably in transit (2 weeks later?). They could not give me a tracking number but said that I could get it at their website which I couldn't. Tracking for every item said "pending".

So I called to complain again and was put over to their "Customer Relations" department which is just a way to get problem calls off the parts line and over to a black hole with a mouth that tells you something to quell your upset. The mouth that spoke to me was "appalled" at these events and would investigate this. Someone would be calling me back in 2 to 3 days.

It is now 5 days later and no one ever called back. In the meantime, I went to RepairClinic.Com and ordered the motor for a bit less than Sears PartsDirect. It was in stock, was shipped the same day on three day delivery and arrived in two.

This is the last time I will deal with Sears PartsDirect and also I've purchased my last item from Sears. There has been a lot of speculation about them going out of business and I can see why when they have been producing poor quality goods for the past few years and providing such poor service. We have a house full of their stuff and are sorry to see the change but I expect most it will be replaced by other manufacturers' equipment over the next five or ten years.

I purchased progressive lenses at sears. Returned three times because could not see with them. I was told the prescription was correct and to go back to my opthalmologic. The website says "satisfaction guaranteed with no questions asked." do not believe sears or their optical provider, u. S. Optical. It has been one year and I am still fighting to return glasses I cannot wear. They told me I must return within 90 days - I did try! U. S. Optical runs the sears optical centers so it is useless to bring a complaint to the store manager. My eye doctor told me they sold me inferior lenses that were not the quality of my current lenses (Much older) and they should take them back immediately. Warning: you get what you pay for - see your eye care doctor who is a professional and has your health and wellbeing in mind. U. S. Optical and sears will take you money and not give you anything but the run around. Very, very bad business. Their optical departments should have to be registered with the state and have guidelines but they don't. I wonder how many elderly people have been cheated by sears optical. Sears - shame on you!

8 weeks ago my alarm sounded on my freezer. I could see that the digital display had stopped working; it seemed as if there wasn't any power. When I opened the door to see if things were thawed out I heard the door alarm sound. I looked at it and saw that the power was back on. When I closed the door the digital display went out. I called customer service to report the problem. My freezer is 1.5 years old and under warranty.

They sent a technician who told me that the wiring was bad. The tech said he ordered some parts and that the parts would arrive at my home. Another date was set for a tech to come back and install the parts. After a week I received a box that had some parts in it. A different tech came out and looked at the freezer. I showed him the parts and he asked why those parts were sent. Well needless to say the parts that had arrived were not the parts that the second tech needed. He then told me that it was the circuit board that was bad. He played with some wires, the freezer still stopping whenever it wanted at random.

Another week goes by and more parts arrive. Again another tech comes out, replaces the circuit board and guess what, it didn't fix the problem. More parts are ordered. Another week goes by. The tech calls to say he is going to be late. I say ok, I've only wasted four days what’s a few more hours. The tech never shows up. I call, customer service says they don't show a call in the system. Another week goes by. Another tech comes out. Looks it over and says, you need a new door. Yup, that's it, a new door. The part gets ordered and a date for the tech to come out is scheduled. The appointment date rolls around and I get a call from customer service. They tell me the part wasn't shipped and they cancel my service appointment. 2 hours later the door arrives on my porch. I take it out of the box to look the part over. It appears ok. Customer service is called and they tell me they can't come out, they are busy. Another week goes by. Another tech shows up. He takes one look at the door and says the hinge is bent. He tells me another door will be shipped. Needless to say it is still broke. I can imagine that this will go on. They haven’t a clue what’s wrong with the freezer. I will continue to call and waste my one day off a week waiting for the fix of my warranty freezer.