<img src="../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/128641126.jpeg&quot; alt="(hep)” width=”240″ height=”160″ class=”size-full wp-image-10116279″ /> (hep)Kat didn’t say why she thought it would be a good idea to get a new dishwasher from Sears, but it didn’t seem like such a bad idea at the time, either. As an American over the age of twenty, she most likely remembers a time when the Kenmore brand name denoted quality, appliance salesmen didn’t kick you out of the store to go home and shop online, and dishwashers were supposed to last for longer than three weeks.

I think I have discovered why Sears is failing. The short version is that their sales people don’t care, their Kenmore brand produces dishwashers that last 3 weeks and then die, their @searscares twitter account is staffed by people who tell you how much they would love to help you but can’t, and even the executives at Sears can’t get you a replacement in less than the time your brand new dishwasher took to fail.

The long version:
In the middle of December, 2012, we bought a Kenmore dishwasher from the [redacted], MD Sears. We asked the sales man if they had any other dishwashers besides what was on display. He told us that they did, but to see the specs of those dishwashers, “instead of me showing you them on my ipad, you should just go home and look at them online”. Uhhh…okay. Well, on our way out of the store we saw a kiosk in the appliance showroom that allowed you to go to the Sears website and…look at appliance specifications! Thanks for telling us this, Mr. Salesperson! Well, we picked out the Kenmore we liked best, and that salesman rang us up. A few days later we had our dishwasher.

And then, less than THREE WEEKS after receiving the new Kenmore dishwasher, it died. Actually, it still washes dishes, but only if you don’t mind that the door won’t close properly and therefore the dishwasher pees all over your kitchen floor. Strangely, we do mind.

No, it’s not a worn gasket or a problem with the rack-we removed the racks and it still wouldn’t close. It seems our dishwasher’s door has magically warped after only 3 weeks of use.. So, we call and set up a repair tech, who won’t be there for over a week, Tuesday, Jan 8th.

So, I go on twitter, and complain. @searscares tells me they want to help, and asks for my contact info, which I provide. They then spend the next week telling me that a “case manager” is in the process of being assigned to me. Although by Saturday, Jan 6th, no case manager has actually called me, a repair tech shows up at my door with no warning telling me “I have no idea why you weren’t told the appointment was moved up, I just got the call today”. Thanks for moving the repair up, but you can’t warn me first? Really??

So he looks at it for an hour and says he has no idea what is wrong but he will try replacing the tub, which will take another ten days. He also suggested calling the local store to see if they could just do a replacement.

So I call the local store. I am told to push an option for repair, which I do, and it transfers me to a fast busy/out of order tone. So I try the general toll free number for warranty repairs. It says that due to high call volume I should go online to sears.com to schedule repair/replacement with a sears.com chat agent. I try to do this, and the sears.com chat agent tells me that repairs can only be handled over the phone, by calling the same number that I just told him referred me to the website!!

I then send out a mass email to sears executives, and my husband goes on Googleplus and rants. Someone named [A] tells him she wants to help, and on Monday Jan 7th, I also get an email and phone call from a “senior case manager” named [N]. They arrange for us to get a replacement, and upgrade, to a Maytag model which they say will be delivered approximately on Wed the 9th.

[A], or one of her colleagues, named [S] and [H], tell my husband the shipment has been delayed and we might not get it until Saturday the 12th. On Thursday the 10th, my husband gets a phone call saying it will be here Sunday. Then, an hour later he gets another phone call saying the order has been delayed, please call to re-schedule.

So he talks to three people before finding out “Due to an emergency, it was removed from shipment” and won’t be here til the 16th. I then get an automated email saying the shipment is scheduled for Sunday. We both then go back and forth with Nicole and Andrea before finding out for sure that no, it won’t be here til the 16th. [A] is still saying she will see what she can do…but I’m not holding my breath. Oh, and Sears now has a 10% off sale on appliances too. I’d love to see that 10% discount credited since I only bought this thing 5 weeks ago and this point, and it hasn’t worked for 2 weeks now, but I seriously doubt I’ll see that.

Please, world, DO NOT buy anything from Sears unless you want this much of a headache. It’s just not worth it.

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