26 July
Below is the transcript of a letter I sent to Sears in 2005. The matter of my defective Sears front-loading washer was settled in the short term—though not to my complete liking: the devil got his due since I did pay "rent" in the form of retroactively buying the the extended warranty on the first washer and then too on the second washer — $104 per year for 4 years. So now the NEW washer is on the blink—I just opted out of the extended warranty this year—and here we go again. (By the way, my Sears dryer is still going strong. Unfortunately this fact will not induce me to shop Sears again, should I ever need another dryer, as I am unsure the quality in a new dryer would be the same as the old. Too bad for Sears!)
Though it is probably too late—they look to be failing fast—Sears (and other large-appliance sellers/manufacturers) could, if they took the long view, provide to the public quality products. They did so in the past. But somewhere they went off track. I grew up in a family of twelve—yes, twelve—two adults and ten kids. We did 4,6, 8 loads of laundry per DAY all of my growing-up years. All of this laundry was washed in what came to be an old Kenmore that we had bought at Sears. I don't remember it ever needing repair, though surely it must have.
In reading online all of the reviews and complaints about Sears and Sears products, I see that many consumers are not aware that washers used to be durable. They were. A family would buy a washer and have it for what seems, especially in retrospect, forever. Also, an extended warranty, which can double the cost of an appliance in just 5-7 years, was unheard of.
Now, the thinly veiled strategy at Sears is to sell unreliable appliances and instill fear in the consumer about repair costs. Often the result is the purchase of an extended warranty. It is a fine line these sellers walk: "Buy this great washer, but in case it breaks down, pay this ongoing fee." Essentially Sears and other companies both sell you and rent you the same appliance. What a racket! The reason the scam continues to work is that consumers are too busy to do what I am doing: agitating for change in the entire marketplace. It is more expedient to just keep paying the rent on the machine you own, or shell out the $500 to $1400 to buy a new washer—and then start paying rent all over again in case the new one breaks down.
But the financial costs and emotional strain frustrated consumers endure are only a part of the picture. Multiply the described buying behavior by the millions of low-quality large-appliances sold and discarded in the US and you end up not only with myriad unhappy consumers, but with an environmental disaster. Where one goes to find out how many 3-to-10-year-old washers there are in landfills across the US, I don't know. But I would like to know... Anyone?
In the letter below, I make reference to Chris Biely, a helpful and respectful salesman I encountered at Sears in Santa Barbara.in one of our conversations he told me that in the washer I ended up replacing (with the same model, arrrgh!) they no longer used steel bearings, having begun the practice of outfitting the machines with plastic bearings. He said this enables Sears to sell more machines since they break down at a faster rate. He was a young guy—maybe late 20s early 30s. He apparently didn't know that throw-away washers are a relatively new phenomenon, and he, I began to see, saw this built-in obsolescence policy as a sound business practice, and so didn't think it something maybe he shouldn't report to a customer.
Built-in obsolescence, one of the downfalls of the US auto industry, looks to have been running unchecked in the large-appliance industry for some time.in the case of the auto industry, Toyota and Honda saw the opportunity and took over much of the American car market. The result has been that the quality of American cars slowly improved. But the market share was never recovered by the US companies.
As American consumers discover better choices in the marketplace, they will continue to flee Sears and others who sell inferior products. I am going to try Bosch. Surely the German consumer doesn't put up with this nonsense.
Letter to Sears below:
12 February
Elizabeth S
Santa Barbara, CA
Sears National Customer Relations
3333 Beverly Road
Hoffman Estates, IL 60179
Dear Sears Representative,
On 7/12/1999 I took delivery of a Kenmore stackable front-loading washer Model
#417 29042991 ($699.99) and dryer Model #417 79042990 ($449.99). Up until about a year ago they worked great! I was thrilled to have sturdy, reliable appliances which, because they stack, solved my space problem in my laundry room.
About a year ago I noticed regularly spaced 1/2 inch spots and some streaks of black grease on my clothing as I took items out of the washer. Nothing other than regular household laundry — no greasy clothing of any kind — has ever been washed in this machine. The rubber gasket also had become laden with grease. A local repairman was mystified by the occurrence and ran a powdered cleaning and degreasing product through a full wash cycle. This helped for a while. When the problem began again, I called another local favorite repairman who was recommended by friends.
This repairman was familiar with the problem with this model — he says he sees it regularly — and informed me that the main drive mechanism of the machine leaks grease into the wash basin. The repair would be over $400. He recommended (against his own best interest, since he stood to earn the repair fee) that I just get rid of my seemingly new washer (I estimate that in 5 years I have done at most 520 loads of laundry on this machine) and just buy a new one.
Well at $700 for 520 loads of laundry — $1.35 per load — I don't like the math of that! So I decided to talk to the appliance manager at the Santa Barbara Sears where I had made my purchases. Since the problem actually began while the machine was still covered by the 5 year warranty for the drive system, I hoped the manager would help me.
I was embarrassed and very upset by my experience with the appliance manager, David Flynn in the appliance department of our Sears here in Santa Barbara. The Salesman, Chris Biely, on the other hand was very concerned, helpful and courteous. When David Flynn became available Mr. Biely called him over to explain my situation.
Here are some of the things David Flynn said after immediately dismissing my request for some consideration and help:
(to the salesman) "What washing machine do we have that has a 5 year warranty?"
(to me) "Well, the most I could do is maybe knock $50 off the labor charge for a Sears repairman. But since we charge more than the local guy, that wouldn't save you anything anyway."
I stood there red-faced as David Flynn walked away. The salesman, Chris, who maintained professional composure on behalf of Sears and his boss, but who was visibly embarrassed, offered to help me look for a replacement washer. The replacement model was on sale for around $500.
You can imagine that the prospect of paying AGAIN for a product that not only has proven to be unreliable, but which actually damages my clothing was VERY unappealing! But the kicker was when the Chris informed me that if I did buy the washer without buying the dryer at the same time, the delivery guys would not reposition the new washer under the old dryer! I would be expected to figure out how to lift the dryer and put it on top of the new washer myself! A Sears policy!
Well, at this point I just felt so defeated that I left the store and never went back. Since then I have had two opportunities to recommend Sears to appliance buyers — both of whom purchased washer/dryer sets that cost over $2,000. One friend (Michael M. Of Santa Barbara) had already ordered his stacking set from Sears. When I told him about my experience he was so upset that he called the store and talked with Chris Biely (who remembered me). Michael M. Told the Chris that if he had known that this was the kind of quality and service to expect from Sears, he wouldn't have made his purchase there.in this case, the sale went through.
But because of my experience — and warning — my other friends, Debbie and Todd H. Of Kona, Hawaii, although they had the option of buying Kenmore, purchased the GE Profile set at Lowes.
What I would like is for Sears to stand by this product and replace or repair the machine. I am not interested in pursuing the option of small claims court to show the judge the grease spots on my clothing. I just want to feel good about the purchase I made and the company I chose to do business with — Sears. What can Sears do to make this right? I would love to call Michael Morrison and Debbie and Todd H. And tell them that Sears is a great company who, when made aware of an inherent defect in a product, made it good for the customer. Please, please help me resolve this in the simplest manner possible. I am very hopeful that you can help me.
Sincerely,
Liz in santa barbara
Santa Barbara, California
U.S.A.
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