I am with all of the consumer complaintss I read regarding Sears. They don't care, and I doubt they will be around much longer because of that attitude! We recently purchased a new hot water heater. We're not in the business of needing a plumber so we let Sears arrange installation. My husband took the day off of work while the company that Sears chose came and installed the water heater.
The installers weren't gone a half an hour when water started spraying and pouring out of the water heater.By that time, it was after hours, and we could get anyone from the installation company on the phone so we called the store. The store manager was less than helpful - because his attitude sucked (excuse the expression). He wanted to know what we wanted him to do about it, but he did finally get the installation company to come back out - acting like he was doing us a huge favor. The same installer was sent, and he allegedly fixed the problem and left.
We woke up the next morning, however, and there was water everywhere. My husband had to take a second day off of work and then fight on the phone to get someone to come back out. When the person arrived (different from the first), he went "oh, my God, this is all wrong." He had to totally revamp the plumbing that had been completed the day prior, and after he left, we ceased having problems.
I spoke with the Sears manager, who refused to do anything, stating that we signed a paper taking all liability off of Sears regarding the installation. (The installation cost was an initial fee of $179 then another $225 for extra parts the first installer said we needed, which to this day we will never know if they were needed.) I then spoke with customer service at the 1-800 #, and got a great guy, who stated that they were wanting and that he was going to do everything in his power to help us. He had the store manager return the initial $179 installation fee, and was going to see what else he could do considering our inconvenience, lost wages and water damage.
We set up a time for us to talk again, but when I called back, asked for him, I was told he was no longer employed by Sears - they wouldn't say why. I figure because he was too helpful. The girl who then took over my case got the store manager on the phone, who was very rude and stated that he was unwilling to do anything further to compensate us for the shoddy installation job. He didn't offer to talk the installation company or his district manager - he very nastily said he would do nothing further. The customer service rep at the 1-800 # also refused to do anything further. The store manager even had the nerve to cry to me that he had to pay an extra $200 for the "emergency" call to our house. Now, I don't know about you, but if someone came and installed something so poorly that it caused damage to your house, would you pay them anything for the second visit - or third for that matter?
No wonder Sears is going broke. Between that idiocrocy and not taking care of their customers. As far as I'm concerned, this manager should have refused to pay the installation company anything for this installation job and instead should have used that money to reimburse us for my husband's lost day from work. We are the customer; they are the installation company who works for Sears, and they would not have a leg to stand on in court.
Sears needs help. I have not decided if I am going to take this case to court. We are out approximately $400 in lost wages and water damage.
Helen Cowton
Romulus, Michigan
0 comments