Running With Perseverance

Here’s my Sears saga.  Don’t by an appliance from Sears.  If you do, hope it never breaks because it may never get fixed.

We got a new dishwasher from Sears (a “top-of-the line” Kenmore Elite) on January 10 (2010). The dishwasher stopped working in July, still under warranty.  I called the warranty 800# for service on July 29, and was surprised and disappointed when the earleist available appointment was August 12, from 1-5 pm. 

On August 12, I took the afternoon off from work to make sure I was home.  (“He will call before he comes and if you don’t answer the appointment will be canceled.”)  When I hadn’t heard anything by mid-afternoon, I called the 800# to check on the appointment and it was confirmed.  When I still hadn’t heard anything by 4:30 I called again, and the CSR said he would send a message to the technician to call me with an ETA.  The technician called about an hour later to say he was in a town about an hour away, but would be at my house @ 6:30 pm. 

He did arrive about 6:30, 1.5 hours after the appointment window was over, after I took off 1/2 day from work to be home from 1-5. 

He spent 5 min to diagnose the problem, did not have the part, and ordered the part to be sent to our house.  I was mad because I’d told the warranty people what was wrong – couldn’t they have suggested the parts to have on hand?  The technician said they don’t do things that way.  Obviously.  He told me to call for another appointment once the part arrived. 

The part arrived on August 18, and on August 19 I called the 800# for another service appointment.  Although I had been told I could get a Saturday appointment for the follow-up, the first available Saturday appointment was September 11.  The earliest appointment was Aug 25, from 1-5, so I took that.  During that call, I explained how the technician was late for the first appointment, how he didn’t have the part, and how we were going on 1 month with a broken dishwasher.  The person assured me that my appointment would be handled well.

The next day, on August 19, they called and said they didn’t really have an appointment for me on August 25, and rescheduled to September 2, from 1-5 pm. 

Yesterday (September 1) we recieved the standard, automated, day-before call confirming the appointment.  I again took the afternoon off of work to be home for the appt. At 4:30 I hadn’t heard anything, so I called the #800 number.  They confirmed the appt but wouldn’t do anything more until AFTER the appointment window was over (after 5:00 pm). 

I called again at 5:30 and again the appointment was confirmed, and the CSR said he would send a message to the technician to have him let me know when he was going to arrive.  I asked to speak with a supervisor, but the CSR said they would register a complaint on my behalf. 

I called again at 6:30 and was told that the technician had “gone home” and the appointment would have to be rescheduled!  I was specifically told that the technician had “no obligation” to conduct appointments after 5pm.  Nice!  I’m “obliged” to take the afternoon off, but Sears is not “obliged” to make sure someone shows up.  I again asked to speak with a supervisor and this time was transferred to someone else.  That person apologized but all he could do was schedule a new appointment, for September 7, 1-5 pm. 

So, now I am faced with taking ANOTHER half -day off work to sit at home and hope someone shows up.  Aside from the inconvenience and stress of having to take more time off to sit at home (and make up that lost work time later), I am tired of washing dishes!!