It seemed to a California woman that spending a few hundred extra bucks on an extended warranty for her Sears washing machine was a good investment. And with a newborn in the house, the ability to summon a repairman with a phone call for no out-of-pocket cost. That’s true: assuming they show up and actually repair the appliance. Local Sears employees instead dismantled the machine, ordered parts, and then proceeded to stand her up four times, leaving the family without a working washer for seven weeks.

“You don’t know if you want to scream, cry, yell, curse,” she told TV consumer reporter Kurtis Ming. “You want to call everybody and take it out on them, but you know it’s not their fault.”

Shockingly, Sears showed up to an appointment when a TV crew just happened to be standing by. Seven weeks adds up to a lot of trips to the laundromat, though, and while Sears has offered $100 for their inconvenience, they spent twice that on trips to the laundromat alone.

The local Better Business Bureau’s suggestion? Small claims court. California law entitles consumers to up to $600 in compensation (lost wages, expenses, actual damages) for each scheduled appointment a repair service misses.

Call Kurtis: My Repairman Didn’t Show! [CBS Sacramento]

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