To recap: they ordered two air conditioners from Sears, and waited for the promised delivery. Sears held the delivery since they had failed to pay an extra fee for delivery in New York City that nobody had bothered to tell them had been imposed. Let's catch up with our heroes where we left off:

The last you heard from us was on a Thursday night two weeks ago. Here's the conclusion of our Sears air-conditioning saga.

On that Thursday evening, shortly after Fleur and I got off the phone with the aggressively unhelpful complaints department supervisor-whose sole suggestion to address our situation was for us to cancel the order and take our business elsewhere-we'd had enough. We were pissed and we were sweaty.

I fired off a ticked-off-consumer letter to every Sears department I could find on their website, even sending it to some poor PR rep I located through Google because, as Fleur went in for cold showers at twenty minute intervals, I didn't know what else to do. I also sent the letter to Consumerist because I felt the Internet needed to know the absurdity of our situation. The world needed to be warned.

At about 9:05 a.m. the next morning, Fleur received a phone call from a woman at Sears corporate. The woman-I'll call her Godsend-had read our letter and told us our experience was inexcusable and didn't sound like the Sears she knew. She wanted to help. Godsend's goal was three-fold: 1) dismiss that extra $200 charge Sears had insisted on putting on my credit card after their colossal foul-up, 2) make sure we got our AC units the next day, and 3) give us some sort of "compensation" for the days of delay and the hours of phone calls we endured. Godsend said she'd make a call and sort everything out.

Fleur called me up ecstatic. Was Godsend from the Sears Cares Team, I wanted to know, that mysterious unit the SearsDeals Twitter account promised (after I tweeted them in frustration on Thursday night) would contact me ASAP? Nope. But who cared? My letter had worked and we were on our way to air-conditioned bliss.

Godsend called back about three hours later, sounding as if she'd spent the intervening time on the phone with various Sears departments trying her best to sort out the situation. Steely as ever, Godsend told us everything was set: our units would be delivered and installed tomorrow, Saturday. She said we should expect a call soon with an exact delivery window.

And then Fleur indeed received a call. We'd be getting our air-con units in two weeks. Hooray! Or not. Fleur called up Godsend and explained the perplexing call and delivery date. Godsend sighed and said she'd sort everything out...again.

Another three hours passed. Goodness knows what Godsend had to put up with during that time; my guess is many calls, much holding time, that single hold song playing over and over. Anyway, she eventually called Fleur back to say everything had been sorted out again...really. We'd be getting our units on Saturday as promised. And this time, when Fleur got another call from Sears, we were told the units would in fact be delivered and installed on Saturday.

(As I discovered on Sunday, Consumerist posted our letter on Friday afternoon. The first comment was from the Sears Cares Team asking me to contact them. This was a head-scratcher because I'd given my cell and email to the SearsDeals Twitter on Thursday night to pass along to this Team and had never heard a peep from them. During the entire ordeal, the Team never once contacted me. My Twitter interactions with Sears proved to be a bust, but since we were already in the capable hands of Godsend, I didn't much care).

So. On Saturday morning, at around 12 p.m., two gentleman showed up with the air con units. They unpacked and installed them in about 30 minutes. We were gratefully and, finally, cool in both mind and body.

Then the calls started. In the span of about an hour, we received four calls from four separate departments checking to see if we'd received our units. After speaking with these folks, it was clear these calls were less a case of diligence on the part of Sears then a complete lack of communication between the company's various departments. Was this a symptom of the systemic problem we'd encountered from the very beginning? Sure! Did we care? No way. We had what we wanted and were happy to field calls all day.

(Days later, SearsDeals tweeted me, asking how everything worked out. Did they not know? Or did they want it on the public Twitter record that all was now well? I shot them a Direct Message saying we got our air-cons, the Sears Cares Team never contacted me and we probably wouldn't be giving money to Sears in exchange for goods anytime soon. They didn't DM me back-go figure!)

One of the Saturday, post-installation calls came from Godsend herself. Was everything good, she wanted to know? Everything was good, we told her. She made no mention of that mysterious promise of "compensation," but we couldn't bring ourselves to raise the issue with her. Yeah, we had dreams about the snappy delivery of a brand-new TV for the TV-less bedroom, but could Sears really deliver anything snappily? And did we even deserve "compensation" for our troubles? I'll let the ethicists in the comments section sort that one out.

So there you have it. We had our AC units. We were certain we would only do business with Sears again if we were willing to put in a few days' worth of tweets, calls and letter-writing. Still, it was a consumer and social networking learning experience.

But then Fleur got a voicemail this morning, almost two weeks after we'd first fired up the air-conditioning. It was the Sears store in Queens. Our AC units were ready for pick-up whenever it was convenient.

- Eric

P.S. The AC units are Kenmore brand — couldn't recommend them more. Just be wary of where you purchase them.

P.P.S. More needs to be said about that complaints department supervisor. He was truly amazing, a specimen of such uncaring incompetence he should be encased in glass and studied by biz school classes. He would take about 5 seconds before responding to anything I said, leaving me wondering if he weren't listening and was just following some customer service guide for dealing with phone calls. He kept repeating the same two sentence non-apology apology, making me further believe he was reading from a script. He claimed that no matter who else we talked to, our complaint would eventually come back to him. He was the end all and be all of Sears, he led us to believe. I wondered, Could this really be? By the time we parted ways, I was determined to find out. Hence my letter. I remain proud of the fact that I managed to remain calm during the writing of the letter, even after Fleur and I decided the only way we'd ever, ever be satisfied was if the CEO of Sears personally installed our AC units while wearing a French maid's outfit. Hey, if he wants to bring over a TV, we won't complain.

I think right here, we have a brilliant illustration of everything wrong with customer service in modern America. Powerless, script-reading customer service rep: check. Different departments within the same company with no clue what the others are up to: check. Customer punished for company's disorganization: check.

PREVIOUSLY:
Sears Won't Deliver Air Conditioner Until Customer Pays Fee Sears Forgot To Charge

(Photo: Miss_TH77)

Air conditioners were especially hard hit, with annualized shipments sinking 60 percent. The cool, wet late spring/early summer hurt AC sales, but even where the mercury rose, many homeowners decided to forgo air conditioning to save on energy costs, according to this recent article in The New York Times.

If you're not willing to sweat it out all summer, the slumping shipment figures could mean even deeper discounts on air conditioners, and you might find it easier to hire a top contractor to install a central-air system.

Excellent. I refuse to run an air conditioner at home, but I buy all of my fans in late summer and early fall, myself. I predict that there will be fewer fan deals to be had this year.

By the Numbers: Shipments of air conditioners and major appliances decline in June

Here, with some information redacted, is the letter he sent to Sears. Eric is a reporter, and wrote a complaint letter that any of us here at Consumerist would be proud to call our own.

As of this afternoon, they have not responded.

Hi there,

I'm writing to you out of an unbelievable sense of frustration with my Sears experience. It's an ordeal that's given me such headaches that I've taken to Twitter to communicate with @SearsDeals just to see if I could get anywhere. No progress thus far.

On Tuesday of this week, my girlfriend and I ordered 2 air conditioning units over the phone and our order was place via Sears.com. We arranged for delivery and installation for Wednesday. We were told to await a call with a specific delivery time. My credit card was charged $552.

My girlfriend, Fleur, took the day off work to await arrival. By the afternoon, we hadn't heard anything. Fleur called Sears and was told a) a hold had been placed on the order, b) the order was scheduled for pick-up, not delivery and c) the units weren't even at the store. At no point did we receive any communication from Sears letting us know about a delay. We wasted an entire day, spent hours on the phone with various Sears departments and slept in a hot apartment.

The next day, Thursday, we started calling Sears again, hoping to finally get our units. We were told the hold was completely random and Sears was attempting to contact my bank to lift the hold. We were told we would be charged an extra $100 New York City/Manhattan surcharge that we had never once been made aware of when placing the order. We were told we would have to pay another $109 for installation of the second unit (apparently, we had been misinformed during the original purchase that the $109 fee covered both units).

Unsurprisingly, this came as quite a shock: after two days in which we did not get our delivery and installation as promised, nor did Sears made the tiniest effort to communicate with us about the delay, we were told we owed Sears another $200.

Fleur spent literally 3 hours on the phone today, bouncing from department to department in an attempt to get some answers as to why the Sears service so clearly broke-down, why we received no communication whatsoever from Sears and had to initiate all communication ourselves, and why no one could do anything to help us besides pass us along to the next person. Some, though not all, of these calls should be in the system with Fleur's phone number [redacted]; not all of the phone reps made notes in the system, apparently.

By this evening, we seemed to be getting somewhere. The hold on the order had been lifted. We were told by one associate that Sears would split the Manhattan fee with us. Another told us we could receive a $100 gift card. This hardly compensated for the frustration and lack of air con units in our apartment, but it displayed a willingness and capability to address our customer service situation.

I also took to my Twitter account to message with SearsDeals about the situation. They responded quickly, gathered my contact info, and said the Sears Cares Team would be in touch. This has not happened yet.

Meanwhile, Fleur was still on the phone with various Sears reps, each making empty promises, shifting the blame to other departments, and then passing us along to the next phone rep. Lengthy on-hold waits ensued every time (by the way, would it hurt to have more than one song to play during these holds? That song will haunt our dreams). We were ultimately forwarded to a supervisor in the complaints dept who told us that there was no possible way to address our concerns, no cancellation of the fees, no rebate, no credit, no compromise, no possible way of addressing this days-long ordeal other than an apology. This was news to us.

We were also told that the Sears.com website indicated the buyer must beware of any additional fees that might apply. The only problem was that we made our purchase over the phone. Why we might then, upon hanging up the phone, choose to consult the website's fine print was a question to which neither we nor the complaints supervisor could muster an answer. It seemed Sears had admitted the entire department devoted to taking orders via the telephone was, in the truest sense, ineffective, a waste of time, not worth the effort. If only we'd known.

The situation had descended into farce, a colossal customer service joke, an approach to customer relations that was so blithe, so dismissive, it defied reason. Fleur and I laughed as we sweated in our humid apartment.

I'd read on your website the following slogan: "When you purchase a product from us online, we know you'll eagerly await its arrival. We'll ensure its safe delivery and will keep you updated on its progress every step of the way. Some companies look at that as fulfillment. We look at it as fulfilling a promise."

If that's your motto, you have fallen woefully short. So now I am taking yet more time to write this letter to you in the hope that someone in your corporation will realize that we have been wronged and begin a process of finding an acceptable solution.

I look forward to your prompt reply.

Eric

Let me get this straight. They can put a hold on an order because the customer didn't pay a fee that wasn't disclosed to the customer, then hold the delivery indefinitely without telling the customer? Nice one, Sears.

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Sears Customer Service Runaround Results In New Sander

(Photo: maulleigh)

• Take out the filter and vacuum off debris. Wash it in warm, soapy water. Rinse the filter let it dry completely, then reinstall. If the filter is very dirty or your usage increases significantly, clean the filter more often.
• If dirt and debris have bypassed the filter, you will need to remove the front panel and vacuum dust and debris from the coils.
• Replace a deteriorated filter.

Protect Your Investment: Maintain your air conditioner [Consumer Reports]

(Photo: Maulleigh)

2. I don't know whether it was the 95 degree heat or the recession but our tag sale was quite the buyer's market. It didn't matter that our starting prices were reasonable, everyone wanted to haggle. We had to inflate our prices to compensate for inevitable downdraft. Even a new $59 dress with the pricetag still on it, someone was like, "I'll give you $2 for it."

3. I was so impressed with Lowes. When we walked in the door, there were two pallet-loads of air conditioners right by the entrance. As I heard another customer to say, "When does that ever happen?" I was expecting that by the time we got there there would have only one sitting alone on a shelf. Then a floor associate undid all Lowe's good. When when I asked him which model was the quietest, "Well, they're all gonna make noise," was all he had to say. Gee, no kidding, thanks for the insight.

4. This girl's clothing store called Flirt had Polaroids of actual women wearing the shirts so you can see how the shirt look on a person in real life. Neat.

5. I met a guy who recently moved here from Niger. He said he expected Americans to be a lot richer.

6. If you don't feel like lugging everything to the changing room, you can quickly see if a pair of jeans will fit you by wrapping half the waist part around your neck. If you can bring the two ends together without trouble, they'll fit you.

7. MindManager is an awesome mind-mapping program. I'm going to use it to write all my big articles and powerpoint presentations from now on.

(Photo: Ben Popken)

1. Have your duct system tested for leaks; up to 40% of the energy put out by a central AC system can seep through leaky ducts;
2. Ask for a "blower test." Though not as fun as it sounds, a blower tests reveals where precious cold air is escaping from your home;
3. Close your fireplace damper;
4. Replace your air conditioner filter;
5. Clean and tune your air conditioner;
6. Upgrade aging equipment. If your AC is old, a new Energy Star compliant model could save a bundle. Look for a model with a high energy efficiency ratio (EER.)

For more energy-savings tidbits, check out our archives. They are chock-full of valuable tips. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

Six Easy Steps to Lower Your Cooling Bills [FreeMoneyFinance]
(Photo: Lazy_Lightning)_

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