Values of our fathers
There was a time when many American brand names were admired for what they stood for; quality, dependability, and people who were proud to stand behind their company brands. Less than three years ago Mom and Dad who are now in their 80’s bought a Kenmore refrigerator from Sears, both icons amongst American brand names. They have had a Sears charge card since the 50’s. They were amongst the first customers at the Sears store at The Mall of Orange. Sears was always the first place they would go to for auto needs, appliances, clothing, tools and gifts. They will likely never return to any Sears store ever because of what has happened with their refrigerator. It looked good, proudly bore the Kenmore name and came with a one year warranty. What no one bothered to tell them when they bought it was that this refrigerator was designed in South Korea. The parts were then made in South Korea or other Asian countries and all sent to Mexico for final assembly. But here is the real problem. For several years now Sears has known that this refrigerator is a fire hazard and has done nothing to warn those who bought one. When I tried to get Sears to replace the refrigerator their response was. “Sorry, it is no longer on warranty but we will fix the fire hazard.†The quality issue becomes something the Korean manufacturer must take responsibility for.
When the problems started, Mom and Dad began to hear the same tired words over and over, “We’re sorry about the problem.†During the first year it was a frost problem and a broken latch. “We’re sorry about the problem.†The repairman replaced the latch and gasket and cleared the ice that stopped the re-circulating fan. He told them to adjust the temperature to eliminate the frost. That never worked.in February they opened the fridge to find the temperature control and light housing hanging down by its wires. The lights had never gone off after the doors were closed and the heat had melted the plastic mountings.
On line I found out that a lady in South Carolina had had the same problem and that the light bulbs had actually cooked the eggs in her fridge overnight because they too never turned off when the doors were closed and the control unit had also melted and fallen. I called the Sears store manger. All she could say was “We’re sorry about the problem.†She put me in touch with Sears One Source, their executive center for handling problems like me. It turns out that this fridge was known to have this very dangerous fire hazard problem. You might think that they would have tried to contact the purchasers of this model, but no, their solution was to wait to see how many customers called to complain. One of the managers at the One Source center sarcastically told me,
“ Well it didn’t actually start a fire, did it? †Of course he also added “We’re sorry about the problem.â€
It turns out that the warranty for this model was extended for three years to cover the melting control housing problem and that it was well documented on their computers.
For the last two weeks we have waited for Sears to order and ship new parts. Today the serviceman came and replaced them. Everything seemed to be working, until 20 minutes after he left. The lights are on and stay on. The problem continues. What does One Source have to say? “We’re sorry about the problem.†They agreed to send out another technician next week and by the way, “ To show we are concerned? This service call will not be billed.â€
What happened to the value of accountability? Sears is willing to put their Kenmore brand name on someone else’s fridge and ignore their responsibility to their customer. Today there are foundational values in American society that have eroded to the point that they are getting to be funny. 90% of our consumer products are now being designed and made overseas and labeled with those good old-fashioned symbols of American quality. Cheaper overseas labor has led US company managers to move their design and production offices overseas in order to save money and to provide for those extravagant corporate bonuses we have been hearing about. Standing behind your company now means passing the buck to the overseas manufacturer. I’m sure the guy who will pay to fix this problem is the Asian manufacturer. Sears no doubt is covered. The proud backing and guarantee of a community citizen has been replaced by the values of the greedy, the profiteers and those who will say anything they can get away with in order to make a sale in a global market. Today we have all come to understand that whenever we hear “It’s the best! †or “it’s forever! †we know we are listening to empty slogans. What has this episode taught us? We’ve learned that American brand names are not worth the ink they are printed with.in this case the refrigerator branded Kenmore was made by the Korean company LG whose offices are in Seoul.
Sears Kenmore Refrigerator: model # 795.77304600 installed 06’06
Sears – The mall of Orange: – Store Manager Linda Cooper (714) 282-3654
Sears One Source: (800) 479-5899
spoke to: Brook, 3/20/09 – Will, 3/24/09 – Frank. 4/03/09
This letter written by Dave Pagani (714) 293-9317
Son-in-law to:
Harold & Carmen Riebe
827 E. Meats Ave.
Orange, CA 92865
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