In September I signed up with Sears to replace two windows in my house, partly because financing from GE Money Bank (GEMB) was interest-free for 10 months.
The salesman told me not to make a copy of the sketch for the large window in our master bedroom, because he would not make a mistake. The window was installed and it was the wrong size, because they installed a standard sized window instead of the one specified in the sketch.
I called the sales/project manager, for weeks, left messages on his cell phone and at Sears, and he wouldn't call back. When I finally got ahold of him, he claimed he had lost his cell phone. He claimed the window had been installed correctly. I made him come out and re-enact the sales call and measurements we had specified. Finally, he agreed we were right.
The window had to be ripped out and replaced with the correct window. Twice, the job was scheduled, my wife took the day off work, and the contractor was a no-show. The third time he showed up. The work was finished about six months from the time we signed the orignal contract.
Sears agreed to compensate us by cutting the price, but GEMB refused to extend the interest free period, despite the five month delay finishing the job.in August I paid for the job in full and GEMB agreed to drop all late fees and interest charges. Also, during the telephone call when GEMB agreed to drop the extra charges, I was so happy, I bought a credit monitoring service called Identity Track.
Between September and December, after paying for the Identity Track, the account was zero, paid in full, and I have had NO ACTIVITY on the account since then.
In December I applied for a Chase credit card was denied, partly due to adverse information from GEMB on a credit report. I disputed it and it was removed from my credit report. Apparently, they agreed to drop the late fees and interest charges, but they did not withdraw the adverse information they had already submitted to the credit rating agencies.
In late December I went online and disputed the adverse information from GEMB with all three major credit rating agencies: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. The adverse information was removed.
In January or February (I'm not sure which statement it first showed up on), spurious activity showed up on my GEMB account. Three (or four) charges from Sears Home Improvement Center (Sears HIC) in Santa Fe Springs, CA, totaling over $6000, and two (or three) credits, mysteriously showed up on my GEMB account, leaving a new balance of $1000.
I called GEMB but they refused to investigate or validate the charges. They told me to do it. I told them that was their job, and I would not do it. They said pay it, or call Sears myself.
Despite telling GEMB I would not call Sears, I called them anyway, because I wanted the problem resolved ASAP. I called Sears HIC four times that same day, during regular business hours. No one answered the phone, and it wouldn't go to a message machine. It just rang indefinitely. I decided to ignore Sears and deal only with GEMB after that.
I sent letters to GEMB disputing the charges. A month or two later after getting no where with GEMB, I did call Sears back, but they refused to explain the charges, saying GEMB had referred the account to a collection agency.
I disputed the charges with all three major credit rating agencies. I filed a complaint with the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs. It made no difference.
For over four months, GEMB refused to explain the charges, refused to respond to any of my letters disputing the charges, and refused to respond to two letters from the Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs requesting an explanation of the charges. I still have no idea what the charges or credits represent.
If I had to guess, I would say Sears and GEMB lost money on the window job to the contractor, who did the work twice, and probably got paid both times. California law is pretty favorable toward small contractors. It was really the Sears salesman who lost the instructions or tried to substitute a standard window, who screwed up. My guess is, someone at Sears figured they could fraudulently recoup the money they lost on the window job, and GEMB went along with it.
Yesterday, I filed a complaint online with the Federal Trade Commission. If that doesn't work, it's small claims court next.
Paul
Long Beach, California
U.S.A.
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