Sometimes, one of these columns really resonates with readers, and that was the case with my rant a couple of weeks ago about Sears and their dismal service department.
I won’t revisit the specifics except to say that when they failed to show up for a scheduled repair visit, for which I waited over four hours, and didn’t call to say they weren’t coming, I found myself trying — and failing — to file a complaint with something called their Escalations Department.
This wasn’t the first time I’ve written about Sears. A while back, I wrote about the impossibility of finding out when their service center on Route 1 in East Brunswick is open without driving there to get the information, and asked readers to try their luck.
Lots of them tried, and almost all of them failed.
In the most recent column, I asked readers to share some of their horror stories about the Sears service system, and they responded.
Man, did they respond, although a lot of them used language that can’t be printed in a family newspaper.
I’d need about five more columns to do their comments justice, but at least their tales of woe convinced me that I’m not alone. In fact, it looks like what I experienced was just about par for the course. (To get a notion about the scope of this lack of service, type “Sears complaints” into Google and see what happens.)
I’ll let some of my readers speak for themselves, but keep in mind I’m not able to print their sad stories in full.
Patti, for example, also waited for four hours for a repairman to turn up for a scheduled appointment. But when he didn’t show, and didn’t call, she tried to find someone to take her complaint.
“My call of complaint: When I was told they would schedule me for a day next week as they had been overbooked — I was passed on to a second person, but that person even refused to give me his name and said the people next in the chain of command do not take phone calls. And he refused to give me any other number I could call. At one point, he put me on speakerphone so he could continue his work until I was ready to stop asking for a supervisor. The actual service call was one week and a day later (the extra day got added on because our phone conversation took so long the appointment one week later was no longer available).
“The gentleman who came was very nice, but the dryer still doesn’t dry the clothes completely. … Several days later, I got a phone call wanting to know if I wanted to renew my yearly service contract.”
Michael, who lives in Freehold, had a similar experience, but at a whole new level of misery. After the first time the repairman failed to show for a scheduled visit, and did not call, a technician did arrive two weeks later but had to order parts, which he would install two weeks after that. When they came to fix his washing machine:
“Two technicians arrive at 2:15 p.m. (well past the 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. window) and proceed to install the parts, turn on the water, frantically mop up the water coming out of the bottom of the washer with bath towels from the hall bathroom and my wife’s cotton blouse. Turns out the new tub didn’t come with a plug!
“A new one needs to be ordered … another service date on the way. They left the blouse and bath towels on a garbage can to dry in the sun. … I came home that night to discover two gigantic water stains on the kitchen ceiling which, naturally, sits directly below the upstairs laundry room.”
Michael also tried to get satisfaction through the Escalations Department but finally decided to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Perhaps as a result, he says, Sears has offered to repaint his ceiling and gave him a $100 gift card for his trouble.
Mark said he also gave up on the Sears Escalations Department.
“I found that the only way to get a response to a complaint is go to the top; a letter to the CEO or President should work. . . Within less [than] a week after mailing my letter to Sears, I received a phone call from the Sears Executive Customer Service representative wanting more detailed information. … A week later, a Sears serviceman arrived …”
The problems were repaired at no cost on one appliance and minimal cost on another, so Mark figures he can finally put the matter to rest.
“Had I gone through the store’s management or the zone management, I would have gotten nothing done,” he wrote. “By the way, last week I received a follow-up call from the head of this department asking if everything went well. Unbelievable isn’t it?”
Richard had a sensible solution.
“My experience with such ‘service’ is to: 1 — Learn how to fix it myself (often costing more than if I had waited, but the satisfaction more than makes up for the potential monetary loss); 2 — let my ‘fingers do the walking’ in the ‘snail-phone’ directory (to find an independent service company). 3 — Finally get the ‘authorized’ service person to do the work and vow never to do business with this company again.”
In closing her message, Patti said, “I would love to make my story known to the president of the company; that is, if I could find an address for him or her and could actually believe it wouldn’t be thrown in the trash by whoever opens the mail.”
Well, Patti, as far as I can tell, the address is: Sears Holdings Corporation, 3333 Beverly Road, Hoffman Estates, IL, 60179. Kmart bought Sears in 2004, and you might try writing them at the same address.
I can’t guarantee they’ll open your letter. I have my doubts.
Gregory Bean is the former executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers. You can reach him at [email protected].