I Don’t Want Money, I Want My Stupid Washer Fixed

Sears keeps throwing money at David. You wouldn’t think that would be a problem, but it is. He failed to follow the instructions that no one ever gave to him, and so Sears canceled his repair appointment. They tried to comfort him by offering $25 for the inconvenience of having to leave his house to do laundry, and rescheduled the appointment. Another Saturday, another robocall, and David was bumped from the schedule. Again. They offered him a $25 gift card and a spot on the repair schedule for a day that he won’t be home.

So I have a protection plan for my washer, which happened to go out two weeks ago. I called to make an appointment for them to fix it, and the gentleman came out, right on time, and diagnosed it as a bad system board. He said one would be shipped to my house, and we scheduled an appointment for next week at the same time. This worked out perfectly.

Well, the next week came, and I got an automated phone call (an hour into my 1-5 waiting time) saying I needed to call Sears to reschedule my appointment. I call back and expressed my frustration to the woman on the phone. She told me that I was required to call and say that I got my part, which I was never told to do. They forced me to reschedule, saying the technician was all booked up that day, and due to my inaction I would not be able to get my washer fixed. Frustrated and defeated, I rescheduled for that next Saturday, not wanting to miss work a second time. They did offer $25 for me to go get my laundry done while I waited for the new appointment. I took it, obviously (who wouldn’t?), and that was that – or so I thought.

Well, today is Saturday and I get another automated phone call. I call up, and after waiting 15 minutes on hold, I get transferred to one person who then transferred me to another person (another 5 minute wait time). That person was [M], who was at first very nice to me. I expressed my frustration to her, and she put me on hold for about 15 minutes. When she came back, she said I had been bumped from the schedule and that I needed to reschedule again. When I told her that wasn’t acceptable, she told me that I should be happy with the laundry reimbursement. She also told me “There’s no way you’re getting anyone out before Thursday, so you might as well stop asking for it.” She went ahead and booked Thursday, even though I can’t be at home Thursday. She said she’d email dispatch to change the schedule, so we’ll see how that mess goes.

[M] then offered me a $50 gift card, which is nice, but I just want my damn washer fixed. I am super frustrated right now at Sears and their craptastic service. Why do they think it’s acceptable to overbook service calls, and just bump people off? This is so frustrating, I never want to use Sears for anything ever again! It will be three weeks before I have a washer (assuming they come next week).

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.