I have determined in my dealings with Sears over the last few months that they have absolutely no interest in customer satisfaction or standing behind their service promises. I am not an avid Sears shopper, and if not for a good deal now & again, I generally take my business to their competitors. I shop with Sears competitors not because their prices beat Sears (usually you can find a bargain at Sears). I shop with local competitors (JCPenny, Kohl's, Best Buy) because of great level of customer care & service I receive when I patronize these businesses.
Over the last six months, I have encountered three different incidence of poor customer service in my attempt to give my business to Sears.in Sept I purchased a deep freezer online, after waiting weeks for it to come in stock it was delivered with a huge dent in the lid. We contacted the local Sears that shipped the unit & were told that it would be our expense to return the damaged unit for a new one! Once we got the unit to local Matteson store, we were told no more were in stock & we'd have to wait even longer for a replacement. There was no attempt to rectify the situation; neither to accommodate us for our inconvenience for an issue we clearly had no hand in creating. At the very least another unit could have been located at another store & delivered free of charge to our home. Yet, the situation was grossly mishandled, and we left very dissatisfied.
In November on an unrelated issue, I contacted Sears repair to set up an appointment to service my KitchenAid Superba stove that I've had had for years. It's a purchase my husband & I made at a Sears outlet appliance store during happier times as Sears customers. The repair went well... At least I thought it had, until recently when my 90day warranty (from the service call) was due to expire Feb 13. Basically, the customer service issue behind this (making a long story short) is the technician that made the initial service call - ID 0936336 DEON... He advised us about preventive maintenance on our unit & the replacement of a broken glass in the range door. He explicitly explained to us that under the 90day warranty if we wanted to replace this broken glass (which had nothing to do with our initial service call) that we could do so without incurring another service call charge as long as we did so before the end of the warranty. He even quoted the approximate cost of the repair & let us know to just contact repair at a later date should we decide to do so. We were very appreciative of his service & information that day. Fast forward to near the end of the warranty period, we decide to go forward with the suggested repair; only to find out that that information was incorrect & if we wanted said repair it would not be without an additional service call fee. I spoke with the technicians (936336-DEON) supervisor and was told that the tech recalled this visit back in Nov; and he unequivocally never explained that to my husband and I! I was absolutely disgusted! Stand behind the information you give to your customers! If you gave incorrect information, admit that you gave wrong information. Don't tell a bold lie! You can vividly recall a service call in Nov (when I'm sure he's had numerous clients since that visit) and say with absolute certainty that you never gave us this information! The supervisor did attempt mildly rectify the situation by offering the service call for $30 off, but I was no longer interested in dealing with liars and a store that tramples on customer service & satisfaction like a cheap, filthy alley rug! I would gladly pay a competitor FULL PRICE for a service call & the repair than to give Sears another chance disappoint. It's a matter of principle and standing on your word.
Lastly, and I can assure you this has sealed my fate as a future Sears customer...
I recently (Dec) placed a layaway order on Sears.com for pick-up in the Matteson, IL store. I made all of my payments online & even paid it off months ahead of time. I went into the store to pickup the layaway and while the store registers were showing my layaway paid & available for pickup; the Merchandise PickUp area computers showed a balance & would not allow the associate to release my items. I was told all managers were in a meeting & promised a call to resolve the issue. I left without my merchandise (irritated at my lost time & energy); yeti appreciated that the associate really was doing everything he could, yet it was not an issue he could resolve. The next day, having received no calk from any Sears management regarding my issue, I went back to the Matteson store (I'd printed out all of my online receipts, showing exact payments & payment dates). I encountered the same problem. No manager was available on-site to resolve the issue - Brenda Lang (a CAC Lead) spent 30-45mins on the phone with Sears.com in an attempt to resolve (while I waited). After an hour, Brenda advised me that she was not able to resolve the issue. She said she would refer it to Jamie Bartnicki, the Operational Manager. I left Sears for the second time (after wasting over an hour of my time) without merchandise that was paid for and supposedly avaiable for me to pick-up. Let me again point out the issue was within the Sears Matteson Merchandise PickUp computers. My account on Sears.com clearly showed my layaway was paid in full since Jan 25 (I attempted my pick-up Feb 21). The Sears customer service registers showed balance due on my layaway. I even printed out all of my payment receipts from Sears.com showing paid in full. And Brenda was told by a Sears.com online representative that on his end, my account balance was $0. Yet, because the Merchandise Pickup crew/area in the Matteson Sears can't get their computer information up to par, I had to be inconvenienced on three separate occassions before I was finally able to pick up my order. Brenda Lang did contact me later the day of my second visit to advise me she was looking into the situation & apologized for my the inconvenience. After expressing my utter & total dissatisfaction with Sears overall, she told me that since the problem was on their end I could come back, pick up my merchandise & they would figure out the issue on their end later. That is exactly how it should have been approached from the beginning, since it was clearly not my problem to start with! Needless to say, when I went in to pick up items, Brenda Lang was not available, I had to explain this situation AGAIN... Wait, AGAIN! And when my items were finally given to me one of the items from my order was missing! Unbelievable! WHERE IS THE CUSTOMER SERVICE?
A Manager has yet to call and address the situation. Not even a call to see if everything finally worked out. SEARS SUCKS!!!
I'm exasperated, disgusted, aggravated and irritated with sears on so many levels you would not believe!
I absolutely from this point on guarantee i will not be shopping at sears in the future & every chance i get i will be letting others know the terrible service that that is associated with the sears name!
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