Political Punch

I have had very good luck with Sears. In fact, 20 years ago I bought a clock/radio/cordless phone combination unit from them. About 4 years into my ownership - the wiring in the house was hit by lightning and the unit did not work. This all took place in Minnesota. About 5 years ago, while living in Kansas - I found the unit in a box and called Sears repair in Kansas City. They pulled up my records and said that I could bring it in and they would fix it for free. I was surprised that they still had it in the system.

I'm sure there are good and bad about every service oriented company, and if you would have hung up and got a different service rep - the entire story could have been different. Or you ask to speak to a supervisor. Sadly, the first rep you get - usually has a script to follow and standard answers to standard questions, and they do not have the authority (or know how) to vary from that.

You don't say how old the fridge is...We have never had problems w/the fridge or the dishwasher we got at Sears; while my mother is currently griping about the toilet we got from Lowe's

Not to defend Sears, but the saying goes, when you have a good experience, you tell friends and family; when you have a bad experience, you tell EVERYBODY...lotta squeaky wheels looking for grease

A customer on Amazon wrote a review for a major brand's non-stick cookware...it was a major-league screed about how upset she was that the manufacturer would not honor her warranty because she had put the cookware in the dishwasher, which you are not supposed to do (and I never would - the point of NS is to be easy clean-up, but I digress)...should I let her experience affect mine?

You also have to judge if the person complaining is on the up-and-up...you don't know if there is a legitimate problem or if it is just an instigator with an ax to grind, or trying to get one over on the company

Jake- You should google "Google sucks." Good times.

There's a sears near us here in Arkansas, and i used to buy all my products there until our air conditioner broke. my mother was very ill and we needed the cool air in her room. but despite all this being explained, sears kept promising but never delivering repairs even though the product was under warranty. mom's health took a turn for the worse, and the doctor did say later that the heat exacerbated her condition. the sears personnel on the phone never took this seriously. may they burn in hell.

Thank you for the warning. Wife and I were about to buy a new fridge. We were leaning towards Sears because of their service and repair pledges. We will now go elsewhere.

Our family absolutely hates sears. their warranty is meaningless.

I went through a similar hell with sears. they are an awful company that does not care about their customers. they take your money and leave you high and dry. prediction: major class action suit against them soon. anyone want to sign up?

Sears is awful. It's a horrible store. I had similar experiences. Every American who hates Sears should revolt and post on your blog.

I worked at a local Sears when I was in high school. I think that says all that needs to be said.

Want the ultimate? Some ambulance chaser lawyer will file a class action because an entire class of Americans has been hurt by buying faulty Sears refrigerators. The lawyer will earn millions and the purchasers will receive a coupon for a discount on another Sears ‘fridg.

I try to live a quiet life but aside from the frequent auto recalls, (the wheels fall off of Chryslers, and Ford trucks, the breaks fail on Buicks and the engine on the other Buick is only good for 40k) my life has been touched all to frequently by class actions and recalls on failed American products.

The siding on the house was apparently constructed to warp dramatically after 5 years. They pay for the warped boards but the line has been discontinued so they are not replaceable without residing the entire house. The water heater had a dip tube that deteriorated over the space of a year imperceptibly decreasing the hot water output daily. The fix for that ordered by the court in a class settlement destroyed all of our clothes with stains as the court specified a specific galvanized union that reacted with the copper pipes. Thank you your honor the plumber. The Treo, ah yes the Treo, well it just did not work. The Motorola phone that lost its memory just as you were making only the important calls. Should we talk about the phone billing system? Anyone have a Sprint phone? Congress should spend 10% of the time they spend on non-binding resolutions and naming buildings after themselves and actually legislate some effective consumer protection laws

All this and more, but the best on was the Bank that bought the bank I used for my business. The letter said “Transparent” to account holders, but I guess the word processing software ate the next sentence. “Except at some odd time, in the middle of a month, that we will not announce, when we add the prefix 1500 to your account and bounce all the ACH payments you make to suppliers and creditors, as well as reject all of the incoming funds from your credit card transactions.

If you think married life is an adventure just wait until you are fully immersed in the world of consumer products. My advice: Buy a small office size fridge, one that is easily moved, perhaps a Japanese or Korean model, and give the money to the new owners for the replacement fridge. Even though you will have to pay for the disposal of the non working Sears fridge you will be money ahead. The plus is that you will not be liable if they by a Kenmore.

I am sure that all your readers would like to hear the next installment, when you have to deal with a city Government.

Sears is most definitely NOT "where America shops." It's continually losing market share, since its owner is more interested in profiting from the real estate the Sears stores are sitting on than in actually selling anything. Most Sears stores are poorly run, understocked in advertised items, ill-equipped, and staffed with salespeople who would rather be doing something else. If I need to buy a major appliance, I'll head to Home Depot or Best Buy and not to any department store.

Pre-web searching era, Dave Barry had a funny (but pointed) discussion on the role of "service" here in the USA vs Japan in _Dave Barry Does Japan_ (1993). Oh, and he uses Sears as an example.