Reader David writes in to contrast the Sears Ultimate Appliance Promise (“a promise only Sears can make”) with reality. He notes that although there’s a cute graphic on the “promise” that implies that Sears will deliver every day of the week… he had a hard time getting Sears to deliver no matter what day of the week it was:

Here’s the fine print on the Ultimate Appliance Promise:

“If Sears cannot deliver or install on the day following your purchase of an eligible appliance and this failure does not result from an action of yours or a natural disaster, receive a $50 Sears gift card.
Requires purchase before 3:00 pm and excludes special orders and closeouts. Next Day Delivery and Installation are for eligible appliance purchases online in most major markets and in-store in most larger Sears stores and exclude holidays. Next Day Installation also excludes weekends. Ultimate Appliance Promise applies to major appliances, does not require additional purchase.”

Here’s David’s experience:

I purchased a dishwasher before 3pm on a Saturday. The salesman told us we could not get delivery/installation the next day. He then proceeded to give me the runaround when I asked for my $50 gift card (which no doubt will lead to more suffering). He told us that “someone will call us within 24 hours” to set up delivery/installation.

Guess what. No call.

On Tuesday morning, 2 and a half days later, my Wife calls to inquire about delivery/installation. She gets disconnected 3 times and speaks to two women, neither of which is pleasant. They claim we don’t exist. After some clarification, my Wife is pleased to find out that we do indeed exist and that there was an “incorrect phone number” to blame. The CSR proceeds to try and set up installation for Wednesday (mind you, 4 days after purchase – so much for “next day”).

My Wife explains we will not be available on Wednesday and attempts to schedule for this coming Monday. She’s told Sears doesn’t deliver/install on Monday. Scratch another letter off that fancy graphic. The installation gets scheduled for Saturday. My Wife explains to the CSR that my Son is having surgery out of town on Friday and that we need to know what the window of time will be on Saturday. CSR says she can’t do that. All we need to know is the earliest possible time that the installer will arrive so we can be there. This turns into an extended verbal battle. CSR finally reveals that this will be 9am.

After I heard all this, my intent is to cancel the order entirely and follow up with my credit card company to make sure we don’t get charged. Something tells me that even if I go to Sears and cancel, someone will end up knocking on my door on Saturday. It’s a shame…the Kenmore model we purchased is very highly rated, but Sears’ service is abysmal.

David sent us another quick update this morning:

Just a follow up…my Wife canceled our order this morning (or at least she thinks she did – only time will tell) at which time she was informed that Sears does not install on Sunday, Monday, AND Tuesday. Somewhat contradictory to their marketing.

Canceling this order was a good idea. We’re sure that another store will be happy to get your business.

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