Patrick didn’t say where in the country he lives, but in most of the United States, people don’t need string trimmers year-round. Their grass and weeds grow from maybe late spring to maybe early fall. He bought a new Craftsman string trimmer from Sears back in April, just in time for the plants to start growing. He had a problem with it about a month ago, so he brought it in to the store so Sears could make good on that two-year warranty it came with. That’s when he learned that thanks to the glacial speed of repairs, he’ll be lucky if he sees his string trimmer again before the end of the summer.

I purchased a Craftsman Trimmer almost exactly 90 days ago. It has a two year warranty on it. I called their warranty number and was told to bring it into the local store for repair or replacement. I brought it to the store Monday July 16, 2012.

I was then informed by one of their employees they only pick up repair items once a week and I had just missed the guy so my trimmer would wait a whole week before going out for repair. Then I was told once it was gone expect 3+ weeks for the repair to be complete. Then he add that I will receive a phone call when the repair is done but not to come to the store, that call just means the repair is done. It still has to be sent back to the local store for pick-up. So I asked this guy if he was telling me I won’t get my less than three month old trimmer back before the end of summer and all he had to say was “I know, Sears just has a weird system.”

I posted this story on Sears Facebook page and got a pretty quick response. I was told a case manager would call me ASAP. Monday evening one called and left me a message saying to call him back but if he didn’t hear from me in 24 hours he would call back. I called back IMMEDIATELY and nobody answered at the extension he left. Now it is Thursday, four days later. I have called eight times, nobody answers. I have left multiple messages, nobody calls back. And the person that called Monday not only never called back within 24 hours, but didn’t in 48 or 72 hours either.

Why, yes, regular commenters, it was Patrick’s own fault for shopping at Sears. He should know better than to go to the retailer that has been Americans’ trusted source for tools, appliances, household goods, clothing, and even houses for more than a century?

We hear from many readers, especially our older readers, (around here, “older” means “has clear memories of life without cell phones”) who turn to Sears for their appliance purchases because that’s just where they have always gone. Don’t repeat Patrick’s mistake. Don’t learn your lesson the hard way by letting your lawn grow tall and unruly around the edges.

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