We love Sears Home Repair. We love the missed appointments, the 9-hour-windows, the crazy guy who dumps your olive oil all over your dishwasher. Today’s complaint about Sears Home Repair is unusual in that Sears keeps telling our friend Michael that he bought his fridge somewhere other than Sears. Now, Michael may be crazy, but we’ve never heard of “I Bought My Fridge At Searsophrenia,” so we’re going to take the man’s word on this. From his email:

“I bought a refrigerator one year ago from http://www.sears.com on 11/23/2005. It came with the standard one year warranty of Sears home support. Around October, 2006 I noticed that the freezer was having some problems. All the food and the inside of the compartment was covered in either chunks of ice or snow like shaved ice. I called for some support around Nov 10th and somebody came right out.”

The repair guy diagnosed the problem, ordered the part, and said he’d be back. He never came back, the part is back-ordered, and now Sears is telling Michael to go back to the company he purchased it from. What?

“They said they are only owned by sears and can’t rectify issues like this. I informed them that I purchased this from Sears. They again continued assuming I purchased the product from home depot or something. I again reiterated that I purchased this product from http://www.sears.com and I would be happy to show them the original sales order.”

What should Michael do? We suggest he ask for a supervisor at Sears Home Repair. In cases like these, you need to talk to someone with the authority to look beyond “what’s in the computer.” Also, since Sears is a bricks and mortar store, you can elect to go to your nearest Sears and complain in person. Bring your receipt, that’ll be hard to ignore.—MEGHANN MARCO

Michael’s email inside.

I don’t know if you guys want to hear more of terrible service from Sears. But I would like to tell you my story and possibly ask for some advice on how to proceed.

I bought a refrigerator one year ago from http://www.sears.com on 11/23/2005. It came with the standard one year warranty of Sears home support. Around October, 2006 I noticed that the freezer was having some problems. All the food and the inside of the compartment was covered in either chunks of ice or snow like shaved ice. I called for some support around Nov 10th and somebody came right out. The first trip was very professional. The guy diagnosed the problem as the gasket seal around the freezer was torn and needed to be replaced he ordered a part and said he would be back out to fix the problem in two weeks when I received the part. The part was due in about 11/21-11/23 time frame. It never arrived. Sears called me back to tell me that my part was on back order they rescheduled my appointment for two more weeks from that point and assured me the part would arrive. &nbs! p;

About a week later they called me yet again. They again let me know that the part was still on back order but they would work with other suppliers to get the part. This is when I became concerned. Sometime the first week in December I started calling them. Their position is that they will look into the issue and get back with me. Sears has yet to call back since the end of November. I have called a total of three times myself and each time I was told the part was on back order they had no idea when the part would come off back order but they would look into the problem and call me back.

My last call today I called back their service number and demanded some answers. They basically let me know they don’t have clue about when or if they would get my part in. They assured me they would again look into the problem and call me back asap. I informed them I was told that several times but no one returns my call. They then said something odd. They told me that to rectify this issue I most likely would need to go back to the company I purchased it from. They said they are only owned by sears and can’t rectify issues like this. I informed them that I purchased this from Sears. They again continued assuming I purchased the product from home depot or something. I again reiterated that I purchased this product from http://www.sears.com and I would be happy to show them the original sales order.

My concern is that they are not going to get this part in. When the original guy came to my house he was very friendly but he had no idea sears even offered this model and brand of fridge and it did not exist on his computer. I am concerned that the part may never arrive. So I am wondering where this leaves me and how to proceed next. How long do I wait for a part that may never arrive? It has been one month now and there is no indication the part will ever ship or is even available. Feel free to use. Do I keep talking to the repair center or go back to http://www.sears.com?

Thanks for listening,

Michael