Sears
Washing Machine Delivery Disaster ripoff

On 1/10/07 we purchased a GE washer from Sears, after having visited the store and inspecting several models. Delivery was set up for 1/15, to include removal of our old machine and installation of the new one.

The delivery crew arrived as scheduled, and took out our old unit, and then dropped the new one into place. However, as they went through the hookup, they discovered that the drain hose did not reach to the drain pipe. They advised me of this, and at that point I called the store.

The salesman first threatened to take a 15% restocking fee if we decided to return the unit - not the way to treat a customer who has just spent a lot of money in your store. He next suggested that I go out to Home Depot and get some parts to do it myself. He suggested that all washers come with standard hose lengths, to which I replied that the Sears Kenmore washer that had just been removed was installed by Sears with its standard hose, which reached without any problems.

After several other calls to the installation dispatcher and the store, it was finally agreed that they would send me a replacement part and a crew to finish the installation. At the end of all that, the installer, who was probably the only honest party from the Sears side, told me that Sears was responsible to get the install right, and that he had been chewed out by the store for being honest with me and telling me that a longer hose existed which they could order.

The next day I called to confirm that a part was on its way, and was told by the store that they could not see it because it was ordered by the service department, who, when I called them, told me that they could not see it because it had been ordered by the store. Several calls later, I got a half-baked assurance that it was indeed coming.

I eventually got to a person who I was told was the store manager, named Randy Teagarden, after first speaking with his assistant. Mr. Teagarden apologized profusely, used all of the cliches like 'the buck stops here', insisted that he would 'make it right', and offered me money back on the purchase.

He agreed that the situation was outrageous, he was horrified that the salesman threatened me with a restocking fee, he insisted that the salesman should have known his products well enough to realize that the hose on the GE attaches at a different place and should have asked us questions that would have raised the issue at purchase time. The conversation was very cordial, and I actually believed that he was good for his word.

So now we waited for the new part to arrive, which they said would not come before the 25th. We have a sizable family, and being without a washer for that long was a significant hardship. Both my wife and I work long and hard, and having to run our wash out at the end of a long day was very difficult.

The part actually came on the 20th, and then we called Sears for a return visit, which was scheduled and indeed the men showed up. As they came into my house, carrying hoses which had nothing to do with what my machine needed, I asked them if they knew why they were at my home, to which they replied "no". That was certainly not very comforting. Why service personnel don't have a work order describing the job is beyond me. I gave them the unopened box, which they opened and immediately recognized as being the wrong part. It was for a Kenmore machine, not the useless GE one that both the store and service departments knew we had bought, yet somehow they managed to order the wrong part anyway.

I immediately called Sears to advise them. At this point I became unhappy, because my wife's vacation fell during those weeks, and her precious time off was being destroyed by having to deal with life without a washer.

Calls to Randy Teagarden went unreturned. He was out, he was unavailable, he was in Chicago. Nobody could reach him. Having worked for several Fortune 500 firms, I know that there is no such thing. Unreachable employees are quickly unemployed. I tried to reach Corporate, and was told by a nasty rep that I had to work with the store manager before they would put me in touch with the district manager.

The following week I finally caught up with Randy, and let him know how unhappy I was. He said that he understood, he also had a large family, he was giving me the red carpet, and I should tell him what I need to "make it right". He said he would give me another "huge" discount on the machine, and told me that he would send out his crack installer team this time to make sure that the job got done right.

So we made do for another string of days until another box arrived, and the crack repair team was scheduled to come out, which they did. These guys couldn't even find our house without five phone calls for directions, where at least the other guys just showed up. Our house is not hard to find.

Once again I asked the installers if they knew why they were here, and once again I was told "no". Not good. Once again they opened the box, only to discover that the exact same wrong part had been shipped again.

I called for Randy Teagarden again, to be told that he was "off" that day. It became clear that his "off" days were coinciding with my calls. I asked to speak to Shirag, his assistant, and was put on hold, and then hung up on.

I called back, and asked for Shirag again, who said that he knew there had been another install failure. I didn't even ask why he didn't have the courtesy to call me when he found out, instead of waiting for me to come after him. I asked why I had gotten the wrong part twice, and he assured me that he had double-checked the order the second time around. Then he told me that GE only makes an extension for their pipe, not a longer one, and asked if I wanted that. Well, if that is the case, then he obviously didn't double-check very well the second time, and was clearly lying. Why he should have waited for me to call in order to find out whether I wanted the extension instead of shipping it overnight is something else I don't understand.

I made several calls to Randy Teagarden, none of which he returned. I attempted to call Sears Corporate, where the same nasty rep I had previously spoken to told me that I could not have access to the district manager, even though I had been previously told that I could get to them if the local manager was not responsive. Several more calls yielded more nonsense, such as an offer of a $50 card "for my inconvenience". I was then transferred to the sales department of the Hackensack store where this all began.

As of now, we are still without a working washer, and no part has shown up. I can't get Randy Teagarden, or the district manager, or anyone else at Sears, for that matter, who cares at all.

Joshua
Passaic, New Jersey
U.S.A.

Company: Sears
Country: USA
State: New Jersey
City: Hackensack
Address: 436 Main St
Phone: 2012256387

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