Update: one day after being posted here, the issue has been resolved. Sears strikes again! They sold Tom a TV for $1,070 on Black Friday last November. “Of course, it wasn’t in stock but they assured me that they could order it,” he writes. They were never able to deliver it, however, so finally Tom arranged for a similar discount on another TV and bought that one instead.
Now it’s four and half months later, and Sears still won’t remove the charge for the original out-of-stock TV from Tom’s Sears Card.
I would like to inform you of a problem that I’m having with Sears. I purchased a TV from Sears on Black Friday. They had a TV with a steep discount and I bought it. Of course, it wasn’t in stock but they assured me that they could order it. As I was leaving town in a few days for a week of vacation, this was not a major concern.
Upon returning from vacation, I contacted Sears and my TV was still not in. I waited another week and the TV was still not in. So, I complained to the manager and after several terse conversations they agreed to offer a similar discount on a different television. I purchased the new TV and left happy.
However, as of Monday, April 14, 2008 this TV still has not been refunded from my Sears Card. I have called the Sears location and Sears Cardmember Services numerous times. I have been consistently met with what can only be described as a systemic and calculated effort to prevent me from resolving this matter. Letters have been ignored or claimed to have been lost. I have been disconnected and/or hung up on repeatedly.
Did you know that Sears Cardmember Services dispute department doesn’t have a hold queue? Yes, you read that right. If you get transferred to “Disputes” and they don’t have an available operator, you get hung up on. But I’m sure they’re taking this matter seriously. I’ve spoken with two people (Juan and Tanaka) that flat out refused to let me speak to their supervisor.
I’ve repeatedly contacted the Sears at Chesterfield Mall where I purchased the television. When you ask for the manager her extension rings repeatedly with no answer and then hangs up on you. Apparently Sears retail frowns on voicemail as much Sears Card does.
I’ve spoken with someone claiming to be the Manager On Duty named Rob. He told me a month ago that he had refunded my money. So imagine my surprise when I received a letter on Friday, April 11 stating that Sears Card had rejected my dispute.
I would challenge Sears to produced one piece of evidence that shows that I picked up this television. Personally, I don’t think the TV ever shipped to the store. When I went in to buy the TV that ended up with, I inquired about the original model since it was still prominently displayed on the floor with a sale price. I was told that it wasn’t in stock. Having a steeply discounted television displayed that is unavailable for purchase sounds dangerously close to “bait and switch” to me, but I’m not a lawyer.
All I want is for Sears to refund my $1,070.74 plus any interest and/or late fees that have accumulated and they refuse to do it. I never picked up this TV as it never arrived.
Any help you could give me in rectifying this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Tom, we don’t have reliable Sears contact info at the moment. (Can anyone remedy this?) Last summer we posted the email address and potential phone number for then-CEO Aylwin B. Lewis, but he’s gone we don’t have any new info. You could try
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What’s odd is that Sears has recently done a major revamp of their website. I bought a pair of Levis on sale there recently, and loved the fit so much that I went online to see if they had more available. Their website has been updated and is much more user-friendly, and has a lot more stuff on it.
But if they’re going to screw Sears card customers this way, I’ll have to think twice about shopping there.
sheesh! i’d say f*ck ‘em. time to go to small claims.
Yep. File in small claims court AND report them to your state Attorney General’s consumer protection office.
That is total BS.
@Pro-Pain: This is true. I tried a charge back with BB through Citibank, and it was rejected, even though they ADMITTED fault on more than one occasion. It cost me $60. I didn’t realize the coercion was so rampant. Time to cut up my Citibank card…
@jblake1: An associate may not be a viable option, but a store manager would…
@acknight: If you call Sears Card customer service you are speaking with CitiBank.
Used to work for Sears Credit before it was sold and even then Sears had a changeback policy.
@JerseyJarhead: Thank you!!!!! I would did one additional step; file an actual felony report for theft by deception. When the actual warrant is issued, the authorities will come after the district manager and actually put them in handcuffs. State AG’s are getting fed up with companies stealing from consumers and this is what Sears did.
@Pixelantes Anonymous: A crime was committed. Sears defrauded this guy, it is theft by deception. I have seen business people go to jail for it. Some states would consider it “conversion.”
@Buran: “Without contact info, they can’t.”
It’s right above your post…
I’m sure someone is going to post right after me with some Anti-AMEX story and how stupid I am, but I think this just reaffirms why I don’t make a major purchase if it can’t be bought with my American Express. People on this site talk about chargebacks and small claims court proceedings like they are no big deal. Well I’ve been through a chargeback with an HSBC Mastercard, and compared to American Express, it was a pain in the ass.
And small claims court (queue the smart ass commenter with his successful and easy small claims story) is not exactly a cake walk either. It will chew up several hours of your time, so I guess a decision to not use AMEX is a combination of diminished personal time valuation and willingness to risk a) a pain in the ass chargeback or b) an even bigger pain in the ass small claims proceeding instead of a $50 annual AMEX Card fee.
@oakie:
Not when you see how much a real set of professional tools costs.
Sue them in small claims and serve their worthless asses at the store with video cameras rolling…put it on youtube and send the link to corporate. Stop being nice and start getting results.
I was a Customer Relations Manager for Sear Card Customer Service for about three years. Here’s what you will need to do: First of all, you have to understand the nature of how this whole operation works. The Sears Card is currently owned by Citigroup. This means that when you are filing a dispute, it would be a Citigroup employee researching the information. If the dispute is not resolved in your favor, it is because Sears is claiming to have issued the refund. Now I’m not sure what proof they would have of that, but ultimately it comes down to the statement on your account. If the credit is not there, then they would have no way to prove that the refund was issued. It sounds like you’re getting caught up in the bureaucracy here. The best thing to do is to take your argument to the store and deal with them one on one. Print out a copy of your statement and bring it into the store. Ask for the manager, explain the situation, and show him that you never received credit. If he says you did, then he should be able to tell you which card the credit was issued on. If the card number matches your own, then you have proof that you never received it. At that point, he would have to resubmit the refund and deal with it. It has been a couple of years since Citigroup last closed our call center in California and shipping things to Arizona. Sounds like the quality of service has suffered as a result. Anyway, hope that helps. Good Luck!
In this case, your credit card company can’t help you because the dispute was not resolved in your favor. Take the dispute directly to the store. Print out a copy of your statement and show the store manager that you never received credit. They should be able to show you which card it was credited it to.
I have the clear notion that no one who has suggested suing Sears is a lawyer in this forum. Sure, sue in small claims court. Before you do this, send a letter requesting a refund Certified mail, return receipt requested. Then, file in court. Have Sears served AT THEIR CORPORATE AGENT’ SERVICE OF PROCESS ADDRESS. If you attempt to serve at some podunk store or your local sears technician, you will fail in your lawsuit. All they would have to do is challenge your service and your lawsuit will be tossed.
this is why, some 25 years after having bad experiences with Sears, I still don’t shop there. And would never get one of their credit cards.
Sue them in small claims court, go on the local tv news too… and tell your friends, rip up Sears credit cards. They are a terrible company to do business with.
@Hawkins: A Writ of Garnishment for Information is even more fun.
Serve it on a VP or the CEO.
They get to do one of the following:
1)Pay the judgment.
2)Show up at court and explain to the judge where the company assets all are.
3)Get dragged into court in chains on a bench warrant.
Most CEOs and company VPs pick option number 1.
i hate sears for all these reasons. similar experiences 25 years ago, I see they haven’t changed. I don’t shop there…. do what these folks say.
Sears mechanics also work on commission, so be very careful of there estimates as I know from experiance.
@newfenoix: So then it’s a criminal matter, not a civil matter. Small Claims court won’t help you with that.
After reading about “Tom’s” problem with Sears and a television purchase, I thought I’d let you know about a similar problem I’m having with them.
On December 14th, I ordered online, 2 Sony 32″ flat screen TV’s for our game room for Christmas for $1,497.98 including tax on our Sears card. It said the TV’s would arrive within 3-5 days.
I went down to the store the next day to view the set, and started talking with one of the salesmen about my purchase. He looked up my order and told me that there was no way I would receive those 2 TV’s before Christmas.
I went home and began searching the internet again for comparable TV’s, and eventually found a pair of Panasonic 32″ sets at a different Sears. I drove down there (40 minutes farther away), and picked up the TV’s.
I then called to cancel my original purchase of the 2 Sony’s, and was told it would be done. This was December 16th.
On December 22nd I got an automated call from Sears saying that my 2 Sony TV’s were in, and ready for pick-up. I again called Sears and told them that I had cancelled that order and already purchased 2 different 32″ sets from another Sears store……and asked again that the order be cancelled as I didn’t want (or need) the Sony’s anymore.
The charge for the Sony TV’s appeared on my January Sears Card statement, whereupon I called and again explained that these TV’s were ordered, and subsequently cancelled….and never picked up at the store. My card and statement was (temporarily) credited the next month.
I then received a letter from Sears Card asking for proof of my returning the Sony TV’s so that my “dispute” could be taken care of. Well, since I never picked the TV’s up, I didn’t have any proof of returning them! I explained this to the CS rep from Sears/CitiBank, and she again credited my account for the full amount for February.
My March statement arrived with the charge back on the account. I received a seperate letter stating that since I never provided proof that I returned the Sony televisions, I was being charged for them.
I promptly called Sears Card and was elevated to a supervisor….to whom I explained for about the 5th time that I had cancelled this order, and never picked up the 2 Sony TV’s that I was being charged for. She contacted the store for me, called me back the next day and said that the store manager would be calling me within a day to rectify this situation and get the charge off my card for good.
He never called.
I tried calling the store manager several times over the next few days, and wasn’t able to contact him (the phone rang and rang). I called Sears Card back for the 6th time, explained my situation again (each call was a minimum of 30 minutes) and was told by “Desiree” to hold: she promptly transferred me to the “Fraud Dept.” They transferred me back to “Aaron,” who after 15 minutes….suddenly disconnected our call.
I called back and told my entire story again to “Cateesha,” who after 20 minutes put me on hold. She never came back to the phone (it got picked up, and hung up after another 20 minutes).
On March 22, after trying several more times I finally contacted a Sears store manger. “Steve” is now working to get this charge off my card. He was supossed to call me after a week, but never did. I called him again April 7th after not hearing from him for 2 weeks, and he told me he’s “still working on it….he hasn’t forgotten me, it takes time.”
It’s been 4 months since this charge has been bounced around on my Sears Card for TV’s that I ordered, cancelled…and never picked up, and they cannot seem to get it right and take the charge OFF my card. I’ve spent hours on then phone, and now I’m waiting for “Steve (local store manager, Clearwater Florida store)” to get this thing taken care of. It’s ridiculous: how can they charge me for something I never picked up? And if they come back at me and tell me they don’t have a record of my cancellation, I can’t prove that I never did.
Thus far, Steve has been sympathetic….but I don’t understand why its taking over 3 more weeks to figure this out. It’s ridiculous. In the mean time, I’m now getting Sear Card statements with finance charges starting to add up.
My dishwasher and stove both broke in early September. We called Sears to help. A technician id #$0849976 came out to our house on 9/11/08. He said he could not repair the stove (KENMORE 79095651001) because you no longer supported the product (It’s only 6 years old). Then charged us $40.13 for those words. (invoice attached)
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As for the dishwasher (GE pdw9200j03ww which we purchased for $249) he said he could repair it. He was going to order a part and come back to install it. Part #WD34x110831 touch pad.
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My credit card was charged $340.16 for the part and an additional $165.00 for labor. While I was not happy about the costs (once I saw what they were) I decided it was more important to have the dishwasher than to argue about the costs. After all he already ordered the part. (invoice attached)
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Approximately 1 week later a box arrived from Sears (containing the part) and we called service back to let them know it was time to come install it. We were scheduled for 9/18/08 between 8a-12pm. No one came. We called again and again with the same result. No one returned to install the part.Â
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As we approach December with the box still sealed sitting in my foyer, I called customer service 1-800-4-my-home for help. The customer service representative suggested I send the part back to Sears and they would give me a refund to my credit card. So I did. It costs $10.22 for shipping with delivery confirmation (usps delivery confirmation attached)
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Needless to say, that didn’t work out. No credit, in fact.. Now customer service claims the part was installed! What kind of scam is this? I am out a dishwasher, over $500 and Sears says only the sub-contractor Hudson Valley can help. Call them they say 973-989-7428. So I do. Over and over again without anyone answering my calls or calling me back.
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So back to Sears I go. I reach Robert (no last name he refused to give it to me) said his id was 80188 and he sends me straight back to the unit. Same phone number same result.
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