Sears Reviews and Complaints

Original review posted by user Oct 19, 2011

Sears had an ad advertising a toolbox combo. I went online and ordered it to be delivered to our local store. Got an email that it was ready, went to get it, and they had none in stock. Online showed they had it. Manager blamed it on bad inventory control and said they were fixing it as we spoke. He substituted another at a discounted price aif I would not file a complaint with corporate. Got it home and it was smashed. Went back to exchange it and they didn't have any others. Said he could order it for next week and gave me a gift card and bragged that he had given me a 10% discount(came to $12.45-I spend more on lunch!!). He was very rude and said they were only a small store. I would think a small store would ve easier to run than a large one. At the rate he is going, he should go back to the stockroom and try there. I asked for a refund and he accomodated and said it would show in 48 hours-well it did but not for the full amount. AND IT STILL SHOWS ONLINE THAT THEY HAVE 3 TOOL BOXES IN STOCK!!! That really burns me-he hasn't tried to correct anything and it's been a week. I am now waiting to talk to a district manager-maybe he knows SOMETHING!! Will never shop that stoe again!!

My Kenmore dishwasher stopped working. I do not have a service contract. Sears said I would have to pay $129.00 + tax for the service call plus the cost of parts. The tech came at the arranged appt time, 10/7, 1 and 1/2 weeks later. He was here for about 2 minutes, and stated this is a computer problem, easily corrected by pushing 5 buttons. He did so and my dishwasher worked. He told me which 5 buttons to push if it happens again. I asked him why the service people I spoke to when making the appt didn't tell me to try the buttons. He suggested I call them.. When I did, I was told that if I had had a service contract they would have "walked me thru it," but since I did not, I had to pay the $129 for a service call. Absurd! I didn't use the dishwasher again until less than a week later, 10/13 and it broke down again. Pushing the 5 buttons did not work. I called for service and was given an appt for a week later, 10/21 . I asked for an earlier appt, particularly because I had already waited 1 and 1/2 weeks for the initial appt and less than 1 week later the machine broke down again. I spoke to a supervisor (I am making a very long and frustrating story much shorter) and told her that I would appreciate an earlier appt, but would not be home 10/14 and 10/15. She put me on hold and came back, stating I could have an appt on 10/14. I said I had just told her that I wouldn't be home on 10/14. We agreed that I would have the appt on 10/21 unless there is a cancellation and I could get an earlier appt. Well, when I arrived home on 10/15, I had a note from Sears, stating they came on 10/14, but I wasn't home. When I called to complain about this, I was told that because I had missed the 10/14 appt, they took away my 10/21 appt and gave me a 10/26 appt and nothing can be done. I will never again purchase anything from Sears

Sept 22nd, 2011(see update at end of this complaint) SUBJECT: We, the consumers, have a right to educate ourselves about misleading claims that companies make. This is one reason our experience is being told to warn other consumers that work hard for their money and want reliable products in return. It's our opinion that SEARS made claims to us that were untrue and will not be honored. Following is our experience with SEARS. My husband and I are very disappointed in SEARS LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE. SEARS sold us a Kenmore "last year's model" at a discounted price, untouched or removed from the carton. We were told it was guaranteed to work just as well as the newest versions of refrigerators. We complained that our frozen food was being thawed out and then refrozen. We were very upset that we had to keep throwing food away because of this. We didn't want to take the chance of becoming sick. We were told on the first 2 repair visits that they could not find anything wrong with our refrigerator. We were just told to keep food away from the proximity of the mechanisms on the top and bottom of the refrigerator and the repairmen turned up the cooling level setting on the refrigerator. IT DIDN"T SOLVE THE PROBLEM. The 3rd visit from a repairmen found out (via a phone call he made), that our refrigerator model had a history of a faulty freezer mechanism. It would get "stuck" in the defrost mode too long and then the mechanism would freeze everything again afterwards. With this history of a freezer problem, they should have taken it off their sales floor when they found out about it. By this time, it was now 7 months into our warranty, which meant we had 7 MONTHS OF WASTED FOOD WE HAD TO TOSS OUT. VERY INCONVENIENT AND BAD TO THE WALLET, TO SAY THE LEAST. We wrote a letter to: CEO: W. Bruce Johnson, of SEARS, Roebuck & Co., 3333 Beverly Road, Hoffman Estates, IL 60179. We thought it would be fair that SEARS honored our monetary loss, by reimbursing us for all the food we threw away to avoid food poisoning or getting sick from it. We also thought it was unfair that we had to wait hours (one time we had to wait 6 ½ hours past the repairman's estimated time of arrival.) Again, VERY INCONVENIENT and A LOT OF WASTED TIME, TAKING TIME FROM OTHER THINGS, LIKE OUR JOBS. SEARS hadn't even offered to lend us a "working compact freezer" to use while we waited for the new part. SEARS knew our complaint each time was that we had to throw the frozen, then defrosted, then frozen food away. As I previously said, they knew that model had a history of a bad freezer mechanism and they still had it on the sales floor.A representative that worked under SEARS CEO W. Bruce Johnson's response was to offer us a "one time offer, take it or leave it" of a $150.00 gift card to SEARS to cover the wasted food. We spent a lot more money then that on food that we had to throw away, but it was better than nothing at all. A week or two later, a repairman came with a new part to replace the "malfunctioning one." But after using the refrigerator and adjusting the mechanism to different levels of cooling settings, the REFRIGERATOR STILL CONTINUED TO GIVE US PROBLEMS. The ice cream, frozen waffles etc., in the freezer would be "deformed" in the freezer area from not being frozen enough and at the same time; the bottles of water in the lower refrigerator area would be frozen, along with rice, strawberries, and various other food items in the lower fridge. We would have to take the bottled water and let it sit for hours in order to drink it. So we once again called for service. On Sept. 10th, the repairmen came out again and said nothing was wrong with our refrigerator (déjà vu) and told us to keep the food away from the mechanisms, to leave space around them. This is what we were told to do before they discovered the faulty history of the refrigerator (déjà vu). In the meantime, SEARS Warranty Service kept calling us to give us the opportunity to extend our warranty. I told them I was not happy with the service warranty we had now and that we would probably never buy a large appliance again from SEARS. They then said that after 4 service calls within a year, we could opt for a different refrigerator from SEARS if we were not satisfied. SEARS Warranty Unit didn't even know why we were unhappy and threw in this claim to make the warranty sound so good. One of the repairmen also told us this, too. On the last day of our one year warranty SEARS Warranty Service called a 6th time, and reiterated the same claims of satisfaction to customers. This was upsetting, since it didn't seem to be true, so, I put in a call to the SEARS Blue Crew Home Repair spoke to a "real person," and also left a message that we wanted a new refrigerator because ours was still not working properly. I also called SEARS in Southcenter Mall, Tukwila, WA and left a message with an "apparel manager" that was filling in for the large appliance manager. The next day my husband and I went to talk to the large appliance manager, David Thompson. He had not read the e-mail from the apparel manager yet. I told him that I had requested a new refrigerator on the last day of our warranty with both his department at Southcenter, Tukwila and with Customer Service repair people. Mr. Thompson seemed sincerely interested in helping us with our problem and said he understood. He was very polite and professional and we felt like we were finally talking to someone that believed our problems with the refrigerator. He said he had also had trouble with a refrigerator he purchased from Home Depot, and that it wasn't just SEARS appliances. It did, however, make me wonder why he had purchased a refrigerator at Home Depot when he was the manager of large appliances at SEARS! NOTE: There is a guy that works here that had bought a refrigerator at HOME DEPOT with the same exact problem we had, and they actually replaced his refrigerator with THREE DIFFERENT ones in 4 months until he was satisfied. I do not know what the outcome for Mr. Thompson when he had the dysfunctional refrigerator from Home Depot. Mr. Thompson sent an e-mail to his supervisor and said we should be contacted by him within a couple of days. He said there probably wouldn't be a problem in replacing our refrigerator. But Mr. Thompson's supervisor never called (no one did, including the SEARS Blue Crew Home Repair.On Sept 18th, 2011, my husband, (2nd time), went back to see Mr. Thompson in person at SEARS. His response was that his supervisor had not responded to his e-mail, but that he had been informed that we had to have 4 service calls plus 4 parts replaced before a refrigerator would be replaced. Mr. Thompson said that this policy was new to him and he had not been made aware of this new change. He told my husband to send in the original receipt of the refrigerator. As of today, Oct 18, 2011, we still haven't heard from the SEARS Blue Crew or Mr. Thompson's supervisor (whoever that is) and my husband sent them our receipt that they had requested. IS IT SEARS NEW POLICY TO PROLONG OR IGNORE THE CUSTOMERS UNTIL THEY GIVE UP HOPE? It certainly appears to be. My opinion is that it seems to be their policy to be VERY persistent when your warranty is coming to an end so they can get more money from you , but not to be persistent when you need something. Although I had already told SEARS that I wasn't going to buy the extended warranty, they kept calling us, after I had told them, "no thanks." The very next day after my husband spoke to Mr. Thompson the 2nd time, SEARS called us again to extend our warranty and although I had no intention of extending our warranty, I asked them about customer satisfaction and getting a replacement for your refrigerator if not satisfied. They said the policy was 4 service calls and that you DID NOT HAVE TO HAVE 4 PARTS REPLACED to get another refrigerator that was satisfactory to the customer. They, of course, was NOT aware of our situation.Uhm…..different responses for different circumstances. SUMMARY: We, the consumers, have a right to educate ourselves about misleading claims that companies make, either in writing or verbally. If it's a verbal promise, a good company would honor it. This is our experience and we wanted to share it with those who might have the same problem with SEARS. I'm sure there are a lot of satisfied customers buying large appliances from SEARS, but our experience has left us very disappointed. We were told for 7 months that nothing was wrong with our refrigerator until the "history of the bad freezer model" was revealed before we were taken seriously. Now it's happening again and we feel like they don't believe or care. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH SEARS!!!!! Mr. and Mrs. CoeSeattle, WA

The manager at the Vision Center at Sears in the Montgomery Alabama store name N. Cobb, has on average 40 plus hours per week, but she does not actually work them she is stealing time and they are too lazy to check it out. Also, the monies left for donations seems to vanish when she does come to work. The other employes have less than 15 hours per week. The customers complains about her attitude and say how they will not be returning. If someone don't investigate this matter soon. The vision center may end up closing. Cobb is some piece of work.

I have had the worst experience with Sears when I purchased a new high efficiency washer and dryer. I should have realized that I shouldn't have purchased them there when I had issues just buying them. I did all of my research online before making my purchase, and when my husband and I went to Sears we had the model numbers and all of the information for the washer and dryer we wanted. I gave the information to the sales woman who tried to talk me into a different dryer, a lower end model without steam that wasn't on sale and was actually more expensive than the one I picked which was on sale. After about 20 minutes of me saying that I wanted the ones I had already picked she started ringing up the sale. We said we wanted delivery and installation and purchased the required gas dryer hook up to have sears install it. We paid for the purchase and I looked at the receipt and pointed out to her that the dryer hook up was not on it so she rang it up separately and I paid for that. The day before my delivery they called to confirm the delivery of my washer and dryer, I asked to confirm installation and they said it was not being installed. I had specifically said I wanted it installed, and that was the only reason we purchased the new dryer hook up as my previous dryer already had the hook up but the sales rep said we needed a new one or they wouldn't install. The person on the phone said that there was an additional $20 fee to install a gas dryer and as I hadn't paid that fee they wouldn't install it. I was never told this is the store but wanted it installed so I told them I would run back to the store, pay the $20 and needed it installed. When I got to the store I saw a different rep who told me he couldn't add the installation fee because the woman who first rang up the sale put the dryer kit on a separate order. So he backed out the original sale which I had paid for with a check and the dryer kit which I had used my debit card for. He said the dryer kit would be refunded to my account and to just pay again for the kit and then he could add the install so it was all on one order. So I paid for them and checked my account about a week later and still had not recieved the credit, I looked at the receipt and it showed he gave me cash back, which I didn't get. I went back to the store to point it out and they did give me the cash. Delivery and all that went fine, until 6 months later my dryer breaks. I call right away and they say it is under warranty but they don't have any repair appointments for 3 weeks. So I took the appointment and the tech arrived promptly at 8am. However he could not fix it and said that the dryer is "too new of a model" so they don't have parts for them and will have to order it, and I would need to make another appointment, and the earliest available was another 2 weeks away. The part arrived 4 days ago, yet I have to wait another week for them to come fix it. In the meantime I've had to go to the laundromat, which had cost me nearly $150 so far. I can't believe it is taking over 5 weeks to get this fixed!

I puchased a bew fridge in Feb 09 for $1100.00 now 2 years later the plastic cover in the icemake door woor out, it's softer than rubber. and Sears first wanted $640.00 for a new door without labor, I constacted the BBB, Who didn't do a *** thing, But sears reduced the price of the door to $340.00 pluss tax, Still does of what whirlpool told me the door cost. Sears and the BBB claims to support the consumer, but in reality they don't and don't care how many customers sears ripsoff. I was forst told by a rep from the sears repair service if I didn't like the repair cost, I should by a new fridge. Wow then after filing complaints sears says I have 90 days to accept their last extortion offer.

Ordered a rocker/recliner from Sears.com. Received notice that item was delivered to store, great, fast shipping, good price. WRONG! Wrong color, wrong manufacturer. All they could do was cancel the order and wait for charge to cancel as well. Meantime, sale on item was ending in less than 24 hours. Placed a new order, having it shipped to different store (that store did not have the means to replace with correct item...or so they say). Instead of a few days for delivery it is now taking 26 to 28 days to ship. I erred in the email address where all notifications are going to. I could not correct it in the update info page. I called customer service, was told they could do it from there end but it would not last. If I wanted any more correspondence I'd have to contact them again and they would change it again. I have tried several times to change the email address on the page where such changes are made but all the old info remains. I have never heard of such a thing, not being able to update info on the update info page. And delivery taking so long. And not being able to make an exchange rather than canceling and reordering. Where do customers go for good prices, good service and good customer care? It no longer exists.

My oven stopped working, I called Sears and the rep told me if I spent $300.she would send someone to lookd at it in 8 days! If they could not fix it..I would get that credit in store. I said I needed to speak with my hubby..she nastily said "this is a one time offer, if you call back it will not be available!" I purchased all new kitchen appliance, top of the line 2 years ago, and have been loyal for 30 yrs.. I asked if he could give any rebate or discount he replied "Well if it is on sale, I'll sell it to you! I went to Lowes, it was not their product or problem...but they were understanding, attentive and gave me a good deal! Got a new range the next day.... I will never shop Sears again!