[legion]

Well, I got a phone call from Sears Customer Care department today.

The lady I talked to only had knowledge of the floor jack. She started by offering me a $100 gift card for the floor jack--if I could give her a receipt number. (I never could find the receipt for that...)

I said, "Well, I have the receipt for the air compressor, not the floor jack."

"Wait, you're having problems with an air compressor too?"

"Yes, this is the second $200 item from Sears that has failed after 18 months of use."

"What's the problem with the air compressor?"

"It no longer holds any pressure."

"And the floor jack?"

"The aluminum universal joint chewed itself apart and the hydraulic cylinder burst."

Her: "I can give you $100 for the floor jack with a receipt number, but..."

"Can you help me or can you not? I'm not going to waste my time on the phone on another run around. The jack says Craftsman on it, it's not like I could have gotten it anywhere else."

Her: "Can I put you on hold for a second, let me speak with my supervisor."

Her: "Sir, I can give you a $100 gift certificate for the air compressor, and a second $100 gift certificate for the jack."

"That is acceptable."

Verifies my address...

Me: "Thank you for taking the initiative to solve this problem, Sears needs more people like you."

In the end, I got what I asked for. I estimate that the air compressor needs $50 worth of parts, and the replacement model for my jack is about $150. Now, I don't know if I am going to get a replacement for my jack at Sears. I'm going to look carefully at the models available and see that they have a model that is under 4" tall and does not have an aluminum hydraulic cylinder. It's really a shame because I have a perfectly good jack body in my garage. I might see if I can fit a different hydraulic cylinder to it.

I still plan on talking with the store manager and expressing my displeasure with the store's staff's inability or unwillingness to offer any solutions or take ownership of finding a solution.