Sears service

[pavulon]

The kennmore front-loader gave up the ghost this past weekend. Some internet DIY searching shows ~$400-600 in plastic tub/bearing parts to fix it. Then stumbled upon a forum that showed 10 yr parts warranty on the inner tub assembly. Bingo!!

Sears service on-line chat guy puts the burden of warranty proof on me...I have it but why would they be such jerks about warranty service? Do they not care about repeat customers for their high end appliances? Maybe they don't need repeat business.

[peppy]

My wife and I bought a kenmore front load washer, and purchased the extended warranty about 2 months after we purchased the washer. When I tried to get sears to come and check out a fault code that kept showing up, they wanted me to prove that I bought the coverage. I was never able to find the receipt so I was SOL.

[Mark Henry]

Kenmore used to be good stuff, now it's total crap.
I'll never buy Kenmore again.

[legion]

Kenmore isn't bad. It's made by Whirlpool or other decent manufacturers.

The problem is that Sears' business model is 30 years old and their customer service is horrendous. You will get railroaded by their archaic system quickly if you don't know what you're doing. I've had more of their stuff break just after the warranty expires than from any other store, and I've had the biggest hassle getting some kind of satisfaction. Their store people flat-out won't deal with broken stuff and refer me to an 800 number. I've had their customer service reps flat-out lie to me on multiple occasions about what they would do for me, what repairs would cost, and how long they would take.

My grandfather worked for Sears for 30 years, but I've had so many bad experiences, I won't go back.

[HardDrive]

Sears has utter contempt for their customers.

We have a Kenmore front loader. It died after less than 2 years. We called the Sears repair guy, and he comes out. They wanted like $550 for a control board. I was floored. I asked the guy if I could buy the part, and repair it myself.

The repair guy actually had some integrity, and told me that I could buy the Whirlpool brand part, and install it myself. He gave me the right part number to order, and told me that even though they were the same parts, Sears went through on their Kenmore machines, and re-numbered every single part to just to make sure that DIY folks would have trouble figuring out the right part. You could tell he was just as disgusted as I was.

I ended up repairing it myself for less than $250.

And lets not even broach the subject of Craftsman power tools....dear lord....complete, pathetic garbage from a company that used to make great power tools.

[afterburn 549]

Sears sucks,- always has

[Tobra]

Sears has gotten so bad I won't even buy hand tools from them.

Bought a new fridge when I move to Sacramento, new Kenmore. About a month and a half after buying it, it quit working.

They sent a service guy out to look at it, eventually, after numerous phone calls to their corporate office. They ordered some part to be delivered to my house, and they would then come back out to install it, week later no part. After about a total of a month without a fridge, I called up, and made an appointment to speak to the general manager of the store. I got down there, and they had actually left for the day.

I told the manager who was there that I would be bringing the thing back the next Saturday, planning to back the pickup through the front of the store and dump it in their showroom. We can settle in court, their expense to repair the store, my time for screwing around with it. The guy said, no, I will take care of it right now, set up an appt for the next day and they delivered a new one. Maybe he could tell I was not kidding about driving through their 1st floor.

I don't do business with Sears.

[LakeCleElum]

Sears quoted me $344 for a fan motor for my fridge.....I bought the part off the internet for $37 and installed in under 1/2 hr.....Would have been quicker, but I had to splice in the wire harness. The Sears guy would have a used a plug and play part.......F' em.

[5String43]

Unforrtunately, it isn't just Sears. Our two-year-old Bosch dishwasher broke. Sears advertised a complete service call for $129, but when I called, the woman on the fone told me the price would be $249. I called several other appliance repair businesses and either was kept on hold for 20 minutes or more or got more of the same Sears-like crap. I finally called a no-name place. The guy who came out spoke mostly Russian and smelled like a goat who recently had feasted on garlic. Plus he was rude as hell. But he fixed the damn thing. Told me the new appliances don't work as well as previous generations, and were nowhere near as reliable.

Well, I already knew that. But I certainly don't know what the solution to all this is. I mean, other than just replacing things when they break. That seems just a teensy bit excessive, but hell, what else can you do?

[regency]

I too, never set foot in a Sears store. Years ago, I was a caretaker at a small horse ranch for a very wealthy couple. My job was to be there, feed the horses and odd jobs. The owner gave me his Sears card for any supplies I might need. He had made arrangements with the local Sears for me to use the card.

The 1st time I went into Sears and tried to use the card, it turned into a major Clusterfluek. After about 1 hour of waiting they got it sorted out.

The 2nd time, the same thing happened. I left the store without buying anything, pissed.

When I got back up to the ranch, my Dad called me to advise that the Cops came by his office looking for my address. The Cops told my Dad, I was running aroung town using stolen credit cards!

Steve

73 911 T MFI Coupe, Aubergine

[pete3799]

Just changed out the bearings on our Kenmore front loader.
Sears wanted me to buy a new $500.00+ tub.
Bought new bearings and a seal (local) and fixed it myself but it's a large PIA.
Think i had around $115.00 in parts.

[Scuba Steve]

Originally Posted by legion

Kenmore isn't bad. It's made by Whirlpool or other decent manufacturers.

Seriously? Guess I can remove another name off my list of brands to buy from. The whirlpool dishwashers I've owned have been only slightly more effective than giving dishes to the dog to clean, with GE bringing up 2nd place.

Our Kennmore stuff has worked pretty well, but the washer and dryer are 7 years old and were maybe made by someone else.

[E38Driver]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

And lets not even broach the subject of Craftsman power tools....dear lord....complete, pathetic garbage from a company that used to make great power tools.

Craftsman tools is now owned by Danaher Corp. They have changed the business model for the tool line and turned it into crap. Danaher has a history of bleeding companies that they buy down and cutting benefits to workers. They give awards to folks in purchasing for delaying payments to vendors for as long as possible.

Dave

[pavulon]

I'm told that the bearing lets go followed closely by the plastic tub(s) supporting the bearing. If so, you must have caught it about the first time the thing made noise...strong work!

So, not being satisfied, I posted the Cliff Notes version of my story on the Sears webpage. This was followed closely by a PM and a phone call from Sears. I called back to be told my guy there is at lunch and he'll call me when he returns. We'll see what happens here.

Originally Posted by pete3799

Just changed out the bearings on our Kenmore front loader.
Sears wanted me to buy a new $500.00+ tub.
Bought new bearings and a seal (local) and fixed it myself but it's a large PIA.
Think i had around $115.00 in parts.

[Tobra]

you could direct them to this thread too

[tharbert]

I bought a Fisher Pakal washer a few years back. Thing washes great and the spin cycle rivals a jet turbine spinning up.

A few weeks ago, the thing threw a code and stopped. A repair forum mentioned Fishe Pakal places a code and part number packet behind the faceplate. I found the code sheet and within 10 minutes I was delving into the underside of this thing to find the pump. A ball of fluff had made it's way in to the intake and taken up residence. The pump wouldn't turn hence the code. I had the problem fixed in about 10 minutes. If it had needed parts, I probably could have had the correct one by next day air.

Sears: Been there, done that, moved on... This is what they get for contracting out customer service to the lowest bidder.

[legion]

No, it's not just Kenmore.

I have a Whirlpool refrigerator that came with the house. The ice maker was broken. I called a local service company. After 45 minutes, the guy replaced the door flap and the motor assembly that turns over the ice. (I can confirm they were both in fact broken.) What did it cost? $425.

[SearsCares]

Dear pavulon,
My name is Laura with Sears Cares; I found your post here and I want to apologize for the problems you are having with your washer as well as the difficulty in getting the unit repaired. We certainly do value your business and it should not have been so hard to get service for your appliance. Here at Sears, we pride ourselves on making sure our valued customers are satisfied with our products and services and it appears we have failed to meet these standards with this situation. We would very much like to speak with your regarding your washer repair and see what might be done to resolve the situation. At your convenience please contact our office via email at smsupport@searshc.com and a personal case manager will contact you directly. In the email, please provide a contact phone number, the phone number the washer is being serviced under (if different than the contact phone number), and please do include your user name (pavulon) for reference to your issue. Again, we are very sorry for any inconvenience and look forward to speaking with you soon.
Thank you,
Laura D.
Social Media Moderator
Sears Social Media Support

[pavulon]

no call yet.

[azasadny]

Don't buy GE appliances, either...