So, I'm really pissed off at Sears right now

[LuckyTheDog]

I have a big-ass two-stage snow blower that does not work. A couple years ago, the pull-starter broke, requiring me to use the electric starter every time. That worked fine till the electric starter gave out. Once that happened, I needed to get it fixed.

Because I know little about small-engine repair, my first recourse was to go to a local shop that advertises small-engine repair as a specialty. I explained that the snow blower was too big to fit in my car and that they'd have to either drive over (about a half mile) to fix it on site or pick it up -- either way, I'd pay them for their trouble. Their answer: Not worth it. In a recession, a local business in the inner city turned away a paying customer. Go figure.

Next step: I called Sears Home Services. I knew that could be expensive. But Sears claims that be able to fix anything and they will come to your home to do it. So, I called.

The deal was that the repair would cost a minimum of $96 (they called that a "trip fee") and that I'd owe that amount even if I totally rejected the estimate. Despite that, I set up an appointment. They told me to be home on that day between 8 a.m. and noon and wait for the technician to show up

At about 10 a.m. that day, the Sears subcontractor called to warn me that they probably would not get to me till a bit after noon. I was fine with that. When 11:30 rolled around, a tech called me to say he was coming, but was almost an hour away.

I waited till 12:45.

I then called the tech back to check on his progress, He then told me that another job had been put in front of mine, but he was close by and would be at my house in 5 or 10 minutes.

At about 1:00, I called back and got no answer. Same thing at 1:15. At About 1:40, the guy showed up.

What happened next is what pissed me off.

The guy took a cursory look at my snow blower, went back to his truck and came back with a $600 estimate to replace both the pull starter and the electric starter -- about what a snow blower like that sells for at Sears (hmmmm...). I told him that was too rich for my blood. But knowing that they were into me for $96 anyway, I told him to replace the pull starter (about $285) and see if that fixed the problem.

I made it clear that I was not rejecting his estimate. I was merely asking him to revise it.

That's when he admitted that he had no parts on his truck and would not be able to fix the machine that day. And THAT is when the nature of the scheme became clear.

This guy NEVER INTENDED to fix my snow blower. His goal that day was to provide an out-sized estimate, get me to reject it in favor of buying a new machine, and pocket $96 in pure profit in the process.

My reaction to that was to tell the guy to leave and refuse to pay. I then started a billing dispute with Sears customer service. I have no idea how this will play out, but I doubt they will push things. If they do, I'll call the state attorney general's office.

But none of this explains why I am so pissed. I was PREPARED to be ripped off. I was willing to over-pay for the repair just to get it done. But after wasting most of my Saturday waiting around for that clown, I ended up no better off than I was before. UGH! THAT is why I am pissed.

I am very, very, very pissed.

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[Warren DeMontague]

1. I've seen a lot of this sort of thing lately.

Sadly there seems to be a work ethic lacking in some quarters.. people who don't want to fix anything that might involve more than an hour of their time. Too much of a pain in the ass.

I had an oven door that a Sears guy tried to tell me was fine. Except that it wouldn't close, I said. Oh, it's supposed to do that, it's high end.

Yeah. High End means it won't close. :eyes:

Basically, dude didn't want to deal with it. Then I did some research and found out it's a known issue with the model.

The good news is, with the internet you not only can order most parts online, you can get a great deal of information on how to fix things yourself.

It's way cheaper, and you don't have to deal with some lazy-ass repair guy rolling his eyes and trying to sell you a new appliance.

[LuckyTheDog]

3. Yep

This whole episode was just God's way of saying: "Oh, come on, be a real man for once in your life and fix something yourself."

Message delivered.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. I'm a total putz, myself

but I've found that a lot of simple repairs are not that big of a deal.

[hlthe2b]

2. Complain up the chain... I'm betting Sears will make this right...

In my experience, they give the customer benefit of the doubt in these matters, even if you have a local bad apple.


(I remember many many years ago, working in their catalog customer service department one summer in high school. I was shocked at what they would do to please a customer-- the ultimate was refunding an old money-grubbing crank the price of a 26 yo mattress. :eyes: While I doubt they'd do that today, you may be surprised how much you will reap if you go up the chain, firmly, but politely)

[LuckyTheDog]

10. So far, not so much (nt)

[sohndrsmith]

5. I've been ticked off at Sears for years. Close to 20 years ago I went

looking for some item (electronics or appliance, I forget - but it was a significant thing... dryer or television... something like that).

I was UNABLE to buy the item I was interested in (much less have sales help with it) because there was no one in that department to help me. There were several salesmen in the department right next to where I was, all with nothing to do. I even asked one to help me and was told "no".

I hold my nose if I have to buy something from this retailer (which I think includes JCPenny, Macys, Dillards, etc.) and only do so if I can find, retrieve, take to the cashier and pay for without any need (or preference, for goodness sake) of assistance.

Customer service is huge in my book, as is freedom from bait-and-switch or defective 'rebate' scams that we so often seem bombarded with...

I'm getting mad just thinking about that incident - seeing those inactive salesmen leaning against their wares, arms crossed, bored as heck... granted having no "expertise" in the item I wanted (but I had done my research and KNEW exactly what I wanted, so I just needed someone to let me pay for it!) and actually being told they couldn't do it.

Darn, now I'll never get to sleep...

[marzipanni]

8. Sears and K-Mart are Sears Holdings Corporation

The others you mentioned you are free to judge on their own merit, or lack thereof.

If misery loves company, you have plenty of company in those who aren't too pleased with Sears' customer service-
http://www.contacthelp.com/directory/Shopping/Home+and+Garden/Sears?ListingID=62

[necso]

6. If it was me,

I'd make a point of following things up with Sears.

As for fixing the problems themselves, you don't make clear how the pull-starter broke (or I missed it... mornings aren't my strong suit).

If the cord broke (I suspect that this isn't the case, but covering the bases), this is typically an easy fix: for this kind of repair, I've just used a piece of cord that I had lying around (it should be a type of cord that doesn't stretch much). And otherwise, I'm guessing that this wouldn't be a major repair (finding parts aside).

As for electric-start, the battery could be an issue (pull it and get it tested), as could be the switch (you can sometimes test the switch by just shorting the connection in some way that you can quickly disengage(!): ie, by just letting the electricity from the battery go directly to the starter motor).

Starters are generally easy to replace (a few bolts and the electrical) -- except that access to the starter itself can be an issue, as can access to a bolt-head or two.

We (a group of neighbors... my contribution was virtually all the labor) bought two pumps some years back; on one the starter-motor never worked -- and the replacement the vendor sent was also bad. On the other the key-switch failed after two uses (we used the above-mentioned test to verify this).

You might be able to find a good handyman (like someone who does car repairs) that could do all of these things. And you might be able to find someone (like by looking in the local newspaper or suchlike periodical) who would haul the blower to a repair-place (and pick it up) for you for a small price.

[guitar man]

7. $285 to fix a pull starter?!!

somebody should be locked up for even suggesting such a thing. I could fix it in 10-20 min tops, and even if the spring was broken I bet it wouldn't top $20 worth of parts. Egregious!! :grr:

on edit, here's a brief tutorial on re-winding a starter. Nothing to it. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6VjkMsrJaY&feature=related

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

9. They suck

My parents bought a lawn mower there. Broke the second time it was used. The runaround given on repairing it was ridiculous. Never got fixed.