Perhaps it was unwise of Robert to order a dishwasher from Sears and expect to eventually receive a dishwasher. But his local Sears managed to do even worse than that. After they delayed his order six times, he had enough and canceled it. So, naturally, they went right ahead and charged his Sears credit card for the much-delayed, never-delivered dishwasher.

Here’s the sad tale, in the unedited words of Robert and his hapless e-mail correspondent in Sears customer service.

As i was redoing my kitchen, i ordered a dishwasher from Sear’s website. It was “out of stock at your store” but 7-10 day delivery. 5 days later i get an email and call stating June 3rd. Few days later, June 7th. Next delay tells me June 10th, then June 17th.

I then email customer service, which gets back to me with a complaint number and tells me nothing. June 17th, ready to install, even got a SEARS ad which showed that dishwasher is now marked up $65 more, here comes another notice, now June 21st. But i knew that, somehow.

2pm later that day, June 17th, i got another email stating your item is ready for pickup. Wife asks me “you aren’t going up to get that, are you?”. I said no, Sat morning as soon as they open at 9 am i will be there.

Drive to Sears sat morning, my item is not there says the guy. I tell him i just drove 25 miles, “Your order is ready for pickup”. He says it’s not there.

Once again i email [redacted], reply is:

I am sorry to hear that you have not received the “Dishwasher ” on your order. I understand that you went to the store in order to pick-up the item and you were informed that the item is not there. I can certainly understand the way you feel. I know, this experience can be frustrating and I apologize for putting you in a situation like this.

Robert, I have forwarded this issue about not receiving the item to our research specialist. Please allow us 3-5 business days to contact you back. I hope the issue will be resolved soon. Again, I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused to you and appreciate your continuing patience on this matter. We thank you for your patience and cooperation. We are here for you!

Goody, 3-5 more days, the Support Representative now emails me this:

Dear Customer,
Thank you for shopping at Sears.

The shipment of your order to your local Sears store has been delayed. We expect your order to be shipped to the store on 06/21/11. And of course, that day comes and i get “The new expected arrival date for your 24” Built-In Dishwasher with SmartWashâ„¢ Cycle (1389) to be in the store is Jun 24.

So i canceled, by email, by phone and 3 other email addresses i have. [redacted] gets back to me again.

We are sorry to hear that you would like to cancel your order for the “24” Built-In Dishwasher with SmartWashâ„¢ Cycle (1389)” due to the delay. If our attempt to cancel your order is successful, you will receive an e-mail notification of the cancellation and credit to your account. You will receive an email confirmation in 24-48 hours once the order is cancelled.

Then i get the Sears credit card bill in the mail, which of course they charge me for something called a dishwasher. [Redacted] replies again:

I appreciate the opportunity to assist you. I understand that you are inquiring about the refund as you had contacted us to cancel the ” 24″ Built-In Dishwasher with SmartWashâ„¢ Cycle (1389)”.

Robert, I have reviewed your order details and I am sorry to say that the ” 24″ Built-In Dishwasher with SmartWashâ„¢ Cycle (1389)” hasn’t been cancelled yet although our previous associate has tried canceling the item. I have sent a request to our Research Specialist to cancel the item. Our team will conduct a research and will cancel the order. You will be notified with an email as soon as the item is cancelled. The refund will be reflecting in your mode of payment within 3-5 business days from the date the order is cancelled. Please allow us 3-5 business days and we will get back to you regarding this issue.

Then i get a phone call today, to call [Sears credit], telling me i have to pay the minimum due, $25, then my account will be cleared up by next bill period, then if i want to close the account i can, and they will mail me a check for the $25. I said no, i will not pay anything because i have received nothing. I filed a complaint with the State Attorney Generals office in PA. How can they bill you for something they did not deliver?

Even though it’s Sears’ own credit card Robert used, he may still be able to dispute the charge. Call them up and see. As usual, we forwarded Robert’s saga on to the executive customer service team at Sears, but haven’t heard anything yet.

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