A PROFILE OF EXTREMELY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE
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This is an example of the repair service offered to customers by Sears, a well known, well respected American Company.
After this experience I'm left wondering how they've stayed in business.
My refrigerator is 2 years old. I paid $1,100 for it and purchased a 5 year extended "Master Performance" warranty. This is what I've gotten for my money.
The following events take place between 8/5/05 and 8/25/05. 20 days and counting from the first call for service.
Fri 8/5/05 - My refrigerator stops working. It’s the compressor. I can hear it buzzing. A call to the repair center nets a service call appointment for Fri. 8/12 between 8a and 12n. Its the best they can do. "Having no refrigerator is not an emergency".
Sat 8/6 - I call again to complain about having to wait a week for service. They add an "emergency, as soon as possible" note to my repair appointment. I ask if the repairman would have the compressor when he arrives. I'm informed that any parts will have to be ordered - 2-3 business days. When the part comes, I can schedule another appointment for replacement. The entire contents of my refrigerator and freezer are lost. I can claim $250 in food loss in one 12 month period. I email Sears and convey my disgust through the "contact us" on their website. That evening I get a response letting me know they'll have to "investigate" and, if warranted, the district manager may contct me on Monday.
Mon 8/8 - I receive a call to say they can get to my fridge today. I'm encouraged at their efforts to fit me in. The repairman replaces a relay switch (he happened to have one in the van). The fridge is working. I claim $150 in food loss. 3 hours work lost cannot be recovered.
Fri 8/12 - My fridge stops working. A call to the repair center nets me a service call for the following Fri., 8/19 between 8a and 12n and an added "emergency, as soon as possible note". It’s the best they can do. 2nd total food loss. Since the food is already lost, I decide not to make waves & wait my turn like everyone else.
Thurs 8/18 - During the week, my refrigerator starts running for no apparent reason. A day and a half later, it shuts down again. I have not been "fit into the schedule" all week. I receive an evening phone call to tell me "The repairman will be running late tomorrow. He should be there by 1:30". I agree. Later that evening I get an automated call confirming my appointment for 8a-12n.
Fri 8/19 - 4p I call the repair center looking for information on where my repairman is. "He's on call 5 and you're call 6"."Yes ma'am, I assure you he will be there".
Fri 8/19 - 5:10p I call the repair center again looking for information on where my repairman is. "I see a note here that they'd like you to reschedule". After much ranting they send me to customer service. Nothing they can do except reschedule me and put in a request for customer relations to call me. First available rescheduling - Thurs 8/25. Why am I not #1 on Monday because they didn't get to me Fri? That would be too close to ACUTAL customer service I guess. 5 hours work lost.
Fri 8/19 - 5:20p A call to corporate headquarters gets me to Executive Customer Relations. They actually give the illusion of sympathy and pretend to care. They also show that customer service called and left a message that the repairman wasn't coming. This, I explain is a blatant lie. An appointment is made for early as possible after noon Mon 8/22. "Hopefully your refrigerator will not be working when he gets there." There's a policy, you see, that if a part is functioning and no problem is evident, nothing can be done. She makes a promise to follow up with me on Tues., 8/23. I never got a call.
Mon 8/22 - I've gotten an automated message Sun. night confirming my appointment. At 1:50p I call the repair center looking for information on where my repairman is. "He's on call 5 and you're call 7". I make it clear that I will be unbelievably upset if he doesn't show. He shows at 2:30 and tells me his last 2 appointments were switched - I was moved from #7 to #6. He spends 15 minutes diagnosing the repair - I need a new compressor. (No kidding) He will emergency order it and schedule me for 8a Wed., 8/24. Its a 4 hour job. If my part isn't here on Tues., it will be here on Wed. and he'll be out on Thurs. 5 hours work lost.
Tues 8/23 - The part is waiting for me after work. I call to confirm Wed's appointment. "You're scheduled for 12n". "I want 8a I say". They transfer me to the routing office. They're closed. I call back. "You're on the schedule for 12n, the first afternoon appointment. I'll add a note indicating you'd like to make it morning. If they can change it, you'll get a call between 7:30a & 8a Wed morning." I get no additional automated call confirming an appointment.
Wed 8/24 - Having gotten no call this morning, I go to work expecting to leave at 11:30a.
Wed 8/24 - 8:50a I call to confirm my 12n appointment. "I don't show any appointment for you. Would you like to schedule?" "No," I say, "I already have an appointment today". "Would you like to speak with the routing office". "Yes". The routing office has no time today and no evidence that I was ever on today's schedule. She can "force" me in tomorrow between 12n and 5p if I want. I want someone there at 8a. She agrees. So now I'm "forced" into the schedule.
Wed 8/24 - 9:15a Next I call back to Executive Customer Relations. The person I spoke with on Fri isn't in today. They tell me there's no way to verify that I had a confirmed appointment today. There's no evidence of it on last night's call report. They put me on hold and call the routing office to verify tomorrow's appointment and make it a "Must make". It can't be cancelled. "If he doesn't show, my next calls will be to the BBB and every media outlet in this city" I tell her. Had I not called Tues. to confirm, I would have been off work Wed. morning since my last information at that point was the repairman telling me as he left on Mon. that he'd see me Wed. morning.
Had I not called Wed morning, I would have been off work Wed at 11:30a waiting for my 12n repair. All in addition to the time I will miss when the work is finally performed. Updates to follow.
8/24 - 7:15p I got an automated call telling me to expect service between 8a and 10a tomorrow. Confidence is building, hope springs eternal.
So far there is nothing short of an offer to replace every appliance in my home at no charge that would ever coerce me into buying another appliance from Sears. On second thought, I have 2 children in college. If they offered to wipe clean all existing and future college bills, I'd take the chance.
8/25 - 9a Sears Repair Center tells me I'm #2 on the list today. Encouraging but after all this why am I not #1? But at least I'm on the list.
8/25 - 10:30a Another call to the repair center and they tell me the repairman is just finishing up call #1 and he'll be on his way. At 10:50a my repair main calls to tell me he's enroute. Yea!
8/25 - 12n I call my repair man to see where he is. No answer. He shows up at 12:15p. But, he stays and replaces my compressor. However, because of the lateness of his arrival, its pointless to try & go in to work. 8 hours lost wages today.
8/25 - 2:30p I have a cold refrigerator, a freezer that freezes, ice cubes... all the luxuries of a real working refrigerator. And the blissful knowledge that I don't have to deal with "Sears' definition of customer service" anymore.......... Until the next time.
Buyers beware.
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7 comments:
wow - pretty bad...
anyhow - aren't ya glad you have a blog to post this to!
OH MY GAWD! Ok, it's wrong of me to laugh at your misfoutune. I assure you it was an empathetic laughter. I couldn't stop reading. I was so completely drawn in. Like a good novel even.
Seriously...I would have gone to them AND to the media. If I were you, I still would go to the media and the BBB.
You are a person of amazing patience!
I'm curious (and it's NONE of my business) what would be the equivelent of wages lost over this? Would it have covered the purchase of another fridge...from Best Buy?
So Cat, is it still working? :)
I have lost complete confidence in Sears products and customer service. Two years ago I purchased their top of the line washer and dryer. It came with a one year warranty and two years parts.
Both the washer and dryer had to be replaced by Sears within the first year. There were several attempts to repair both which required time off from work and various attempts to fix both. I brought it to the attention of upper management that the back of my receipt said I was entitled to my money back if I was not completely satisfied within a reasonable period of time. I was offered new appliances and took them hoping that this was an isolated incident.
My new washer and dryer were under warranty for one year and two years for parts. This time my washer worked for one year and four months. (My old appliances from sears lasted forever - you could'nt kill them).
Anyway I called and service said I could purchase a smart warranty for $200 since only the parts were covered now. I asked how much they charged for labor and was told there was no set price. It depends on the job. I had no choice but to purchase this warranty because it was around $80 just for the service call.
You had to purchase this waranty right then over the phone with a credit card prior to the service call. I later was informed that if the washer had to be replaced they only would issue a credit for $500 toward a new washer. Less the $200 which I just spent, I would get a whopping $300 credit. Towards what? Another piece of garbage that's built to last about a year? I spent $1320 just for the washer.
I had to wait one and a half weeks for a service date and had to lug my wash to the laundrymat. Finally the day comes for service and there is a four hour window as to when the repairman will arrive.
I had to take a full day off from work. I was also warned that he would be calling on the day of the repair to confirm and that if I missed his call for any reason, they would not show up. Finally I got the call and he headed over.
He walks in looks at my stackable washer and dryer and advises me that he could not take apart the washer because he needed an additional service man to help him unstack them. I was furious.
He did, however, listen to the sound I was hearing (it was blasting off to another planet) and advised me that he thought he knew what the problem was and was ordering a certain part. I had to be rescheduled for another whole week.
It has been a huge inconvenience up to this point running back and forth to the laundrymat.
My appt was set for Oct 21 and on Oct 19th, a message was left on my answering machine around 8:00 pm questioning whether or not a part had arrived to my home. I said no. I didn't know one was coming. Then I said, I just cancelled all my appointments so I could be home on Friday. The rep looked in the computer and said the part was backordered until the 26th of Oct. I asked how they know if the right part is even coming. Was this guy that good to analyze the problem without touching the machine or was he a psychic?
As it stands, my next appointment is October 31st, that was the first available time. I'm waiting for a supervisor to call me back. I would like some kind of compensation. I again brought up their receipt. I told them I want my money back but I was told the new receipts don't say that anymore. Hmmm. Back to the laundrymat.
So much for Sears. From what I hear alot of people are not too thrilled with their products or service. They just lost a long time customer.
Sears are a bunch of scam artists. 2 year old washer that the control panel went on. THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM with all GE, MAYTAG, AND KENMORE appliances. They know this but will not recall the part and will not stand by their product. Sears sucks in my opinion and I will be sure never to shop there again and will let everyone I see know what rip offs they are!!!!!
Re: Sears contracts of service.
I too have a problem, this time with a microwave. I called service and had a man come out on Sept. 25th. He checked and said kyes, we need a new panel. I will be back on Friday ( 4days later)
Friday, no one appeared. I called, was told the part will be delivered to my home and for me to notify them so they could install.
No part arrived. I called again and was told part on back order.
We are now a month later. This time was told that apparently a complete search for the part was not done and they will call me back in 24 hours. Meantime I wrote about my problem to customer service at their website. Now I am at Nov. 4th and still no phone call or e mail from customer service. Is this the kind of service I can always expect? Does anyone have any suggestions as how I can resolve this?
Miranda,
I would call Sears Corprate and ask for Executive Customer Service. Be polite, but firm and use a tone that will make them sympathetic to the problem. You can get the number by calling any Sears Store and asking for it. or, find it on the web.
I've found that its just a waste of time to deal with underpaid, overworked, hourly wage earners. My new policy is to give the company one chance on the local level to fix the problem. then I go directly to their corporate offices. Those are the people with the authority to override standard procedures and make things right in a timely manner.
Good luck, and keep us posted
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