Complaint Summary
I bought a Sears Kenmore Miser-6 natural gas water heater @ OSH on 12/22/08. It was dead on 10/2/10. Sears did not perform either repair or compensation.
I bought a 30 G Sears Kenmore power Miser-6 natural gas water heater for about $499 including 6-year warranty (Tax was waivered that day) @ OSH on 12/22/08. Finally, on 10/2/10 (Sat), pilot could not even stay lit after releasing the red button over 1 minute. I called Sears about warranty. They said I needed to call different phone #. I called it on Monday (10/4/10). They said I did not have warranty in the record. I told them I did have 6 years warranty from salesman recommendation. So, I called Sears again to ask them to come to my house to find what’s wrong at least. They said it would charge me $70 to do that. I asked them: How much to fix it? They said: it depends. I asked them again: What’s the range? They won’t tell me either. I gave up calling them. I did some tests by myself because I installed more than 20 units (Some are Kenmore brand) before. The test result tells me the gas valve control unit was dead.
The compensation for my loss was calculated in the following:
I bought it on 12/22/08 and it was dead on 10/2/10. It was working for only 650 days. It should last 6 years which are 2191 days. Sears need to refund me the money of 1581 days (2191 – 650 = 1581 days). The refund should be $499 x 1581/2191 = $360 or gift card.
Please review the whole story, help to improve Sears’s product / service quality and give me some compensation to me from OSH/Sears. Thanks a lot!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lu
[email protected]
I got denied for the complaint. I wrote the final letter to BBB in the following:
Dear Nita:
Thank you very much for the help!
I did have purchased warranty. However, the warranty is useless: Parts free only after 1 year. Therefore, I need to pay $70 to get a quote which is ridiculous. I already called Sears many times (10). The labor fee is at least $200. So, the minimum repair fee of labor is $270. If it is failed again in a few months, should I pay another $270? I went to Home Depot and got a used one for $200 including tax. I am happy with Home Depot now. I will never purchase anything from Sears again.
I feel Sears is designed to rip off customers. Especially the warranty and service which are scam:
(i) 1 year labor/parts free
(ii) The rest 5 years parts free required to pay $70 for a quote and the labor is minimum $200
(iii) If it happens again, customers need to pay another $270.
Let me ask you, Nita: Would you buy this kind of product and warranty? To go to small claim is my next option. But it cost $289 filing fee. I am thinking to find an attorney to do it if I can find one. Also, I’ll post it in internet to warn other customers. I feel you are unable to help me. Please close my file. Thanks a lot!
Sincerely,
Dr. Hamilton Lu
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