Customer Service

I think everyone has some kind of bad customer service story, and a mental "do not patronize" list of businesses as a result. I refuse to give money to Macy's or Blockbuster because they have wronged me somehow over the years.

Does anyone reading this work for Sears? If so, please help my mom. She sent me the following rant late last night:

Our journey down the rabbit hole:

Aug 12 (day 1) - Our new Kenmore refrigerator and freezer stop working. Find the manual. Contact Sears for service. “Call anytime. Day or night (U.S.A. and Canada)”

We are advised that the "earliest available" service will be Aug 22. That is 10 days from now. There is a service center a couple miles from our house. Can we contact them? Oh no, everything is scheduled through the service center. Okay. Thanks for your help. Unable to accept that we'll be 10 days without a fridge in 90 degree weather, I send an email asking for help. Return email promises a response in 1-2 business days. I'm expecting a call on Monday.

Just an aside, but what does 'business days” mean? The stores and parts centers are open 7 days a week. The call centers are staffed 24/7. How is it that “business days” means Monday thru Friday? Why bother calling at all if it is after 5PM Monday-Friday? Blue laws live?

Aug 13 (day 2) - A morning of cooking during the hottest day of the summer. I cook everything that is still cold. How about a nice hot bowl of vegetable soup? Husband's insulin must be kept cool. Go to Home Depot and spend $100 on a little dorm fridge. Man it fills up fast. We buy ice and think we can put it on the shelves in the big fridge and keep it cool enough to save some of the food.

Aug 16 (day 4) - Still no word from Sears. Another call to customer service. Explained situation and frustration. Call is escalated. Service is scheduled for Aug 18. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It is a losing battle with the “ice box”. We throw away the rest of the stuff. We've lost hundreds of dollars worth of meat and groceries.

Aug 18 (day 6): ~ 11 AM Service person arrives and re-positions a piece of cardboard/insulation that slipped out of position. Advises that we wait a couple hours for refrigerator to begin cooling.

~ 2:30 PM -- refrigerator and freezer are still very, very warm. NO COOL AIR. NONE. Another call to customer service. Ask to have serviceman return to fix the fridge. First available appointment is Aug 27. Ask to speak with supervisor. Put on hold. After a long wait, advised to keep refrigerator closed and call in the morning. When pressed about the refrigerator being WARM inside, rep advises it is because we are opening the door too often. Husband manages not to scream DO YOU UNDERSTAND? THERE IS NOT A BIT OF COOL AIR IN THE REFRIGERATOR. IT IS NOT COOLING. He mentions that we had to buy a new fridge. Rep tells him that's great. You don't have a problem. You have another refrigerator. This is becoming a little hard to describe.

Aug 19 (day 7) - Call to customer service. Request an appointment before August 27. Please. After a little coaxing, representative happily advises that he'll send an emergency email to the repair center and we'd be contacted in 1-2 days. He might be happy, but this is day 7 for me. I tell him this is not acceptable. He explains that he understands that it's not acceptable; that is why he sent an emergency email. I ask him if we could actually speak to someone at the repair center. Somewhat exasperated with me, he puts me on hold and returns to advise that we've be given 'emergency service' and someone will be at the house between 8 and 5 on Saturday.

Thank you for your help.

On impulse, I call the store where we bought the fridge. I still can't believe that this is standard operating procedure. I'm looking for someone who actually wants to HELP ME or at least wants to try. Store manager is not available, but assistant manager is interested, understanding, seems to want to help. Asks us to call the store Saturday when the service person is at the house, just to let them know what's going on. Wow. Hope springs eternal.

Aug 20 (day 8) - Service person arrives around 4 PM. Tells my husband that he doesn't know who we pissed off, but he was told by his supervisor that the word from someone “higher up” than she, was to make sure that our service call was the very last call of the day. Nice.
Another side note: I'm not exaggerating when I say that through all of this, we have been polite, although admittedly frustrated and generally making a nuisance of ourselves. Well, it was the last call of the day. He did what he was told to do; although, to his credit, he was obviously frustrated with his instructions. We live a couple miles from the service center, in a very central location. If he was working in the area, he probably drove past our road several times during the day. Nice.

Serviceman locates source of problem. He doesn't have the part; it's not in inventory and will need to be ordered from the manufacturer. Did I mention that this is a Kenmore refrigerator? Anyway, it's Saturday. He tells us to expect the part to be delivered to our house on Wednesday. He tells us to call them to come out after the part is delivered. Oh dear. I'm anticipating another call to customer service. He tells me we can call the service center up the road. I want to hug him. I'm still not exactly happy, but at least I'm talking to someone who seems to care about our situation.

I call the store where we bought the fridge. Speak with the store manager. He seems uninterested in the situation. I assume that he didn't talk with the assistant manager. I try to explain. He tries to sell me an extended warranty. I'm flabbergasted. I tell him we left a refrigerator that was 20+ years old, and running, in the cellar of our old house (and wishing we'd brought it with us). He tells me they don't make things like they used to. Oh dear. I can barely speak. He's telling me about the extended warranty. I'm asking him what will happen if this isn't resolved. What if it's a lemon? He's telling me that the extended warranty would allow us to return the fridge after 4 unsuccessful attempts to repair it. I ask him if the standard warranty handles that situation the same way.

Oh dear. I seem to have stepped in it again. It really was an innocent question. He's stammering; ahem; well, every case is different; ahem; well, it would all depend; ahem. It's okay. I was just wondering. I've never had a problem with an appliance before. I am not at all confident that our problem will be resolved. Really, I was just curious. Thanks.

What I didn't say: Do you have a mission statement? I thought we had a great warranty: 1 year parts and labor for everything; 5 years on the refrigeration system. I never thought we'd use it. Did I mention our history with appliances? And this is the most expensive, snazziest that we've ever had. If Kenmore appliances are crap now, and you know it, why are you selling it to me? They don't make things like they used to! That's your answer to me?

They don't make things like they used to???!! This makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I worked for an American manufacturing company for over 20 years. We made a good product. I loved selling service contracts. Money in the bank. Isn't Kenmore a good product anymore? I don't know where it's made, but isn't it still the same product? If not, why not? It sure costs enough.

Not that you're asking for my advice, but this has to be hard on Sears employees. I'll bet the good ones are leaving as soon as they can find something else. Pretty soon Sears will be left with the snippy lady telling my husband he doesn't have a problem and the store manager selling extended warranties. Get someone to sell fries with that and you can get through the day.

Aug 23 (day 11) - Well you could knock me over with a … someone from Sears calls us. Wow. Nice. Wants to know if we received the part we were expecting. Not that we've received the part, but she actually apologizes for the delays and inconsiderate comments of her associates. Wow. She's sure we'll get the part tomorrow. Says she'll call back tomorrow to check on the status of the repair. Wow. Still no part or repair; but … did I say WOW?

Aug 24 (day 12) - Still no part delivered. Another call to Sears. Nice lady says she'll check on it and call back. Even though she can't seem to find any record of the shipment, she's sure that it will be delivered today. She calls back (amazing!) We still haven't received the part; there is no record of it being shipped; and we can't schedule a repair without it; but she's going to look into it and get back to us. A little attention makes us feel better anyhow.

Oh yeah. She calls back. That feeling of well-being was short-lived. The part is backordered. If it was ordered at all (who knows?), that order was lost. There is no ETA for the backorder. I'm about ready to cry. I suppose this might be funny someday. Not yet.

I try to call the service center that is a couple miles from our house. They're the ones who ordered the part. Maybe they know something. After 30 minutes on hold, with a repeated message telling me that if I want to schedule a repair or check on a parts order, I should call the 800#, I finally give up and hang up. I just got home from work; it's after 5 PM; I'm tired; I'm hungry; I need to make supper. Actually, I need to go out and buy something to prepare for supper. I can't store enough in the dorm fridge to cook. I'm not going to talk with anyone today. I give up. I give up. I give up.

Around 7PM, I call the store where we bought the fridge. I'm almost pleading. The store manager doesn't try to sell me an extended warranty this time. Says he has “ways” to check on the status of the part. If it will be delivered in a few days, that's one thing. Otherwise, he'll be reasonable; we can arrange an exchange. He'll get back to us tomorrow morning.

Betcha big $$$. Go home this evening and unplug your refrigerator. Call me in 12 days and let me know how you're doing. Let me know how reasonable it seems to wait another week to plug it back in. Any takers?