Complaint Review: SEARS

SEARS salesman Dave Mittelman comes to my house on July 11, 2006 to give me an estimate for replacement windows installation. He demonstrates the windows to me. I want 3 windows installed as my test order (16 other windows I may order later if this order goes well). I ask him for the installation details. He says that SEARS will install windows by removing existing frames and windows, will strip down to the brick and will install everything from scratch with the new frame and break-proof weatherbeater windows. He states that he was watching SEARS video and knows what he is talking about. He also stated that SEARS would otherwise not be able to lifetime warranty the windows if they did not replaced everything down the brick including the frames of the windows. I gave Dave Mittelman my check for $500 as down payment for my order and he assured me that the check will NOT get cashed until the windows are installed! He told me that SEARS needs my downpayment check only to show my committment for the job order. Dave Mittelman also told me that SEARS has 3 year warranty, while I found out later it was a 1 year warranty. Dave Mittelman, the salesman of SEARS representing, as he said, a 115 year old company gave me his cellular phone number 803-319-7738 which I just recently called and the man on the other end of line told me it is a wrong number. I called again to verify - same wrong number. The man's voice does not sound like Mr. Mittelman. Dave Mittelman gave me a wrong number! That is all about (lies of) Mr. Dave Mittelman, the SEARS salesman that SEARS now told me got fired or he quit, they told me he quit, but some reps say he was fired... SEARS representatives' stories vary. Several days later Dave Mittelman calls me and asks me to give him my Social Security Number. He says that ONLY IF I give him my SS# only then SEARS will be able to proceed with my order and NOT to cash my $500 down payment check. Under such pressure from him (I sure did not want them to cash my check before completing the job) I gave him my Social Security Number. He said he assures me that SEARS will NOT cash my $500 down payment check up until the windows are installed, until I am satisfied and until I sign the release of the money - I remember his exact words! About 9 days after I signed a contract with Dave Mittelman (SEARS salesman) and hearing no news no calls from SEARS, I call 1-800-330-9948 and talk to David Lambert, the guy who handles my order (sales manager?). He says they did not receive my order released by SEARS yet so they must wait. I wonder what takes this long!? He says we must wait until SEARS releases my order. OK, I wait. I guess they were waiting for my $500 check to get cashed, even if they LIED they will NOT cash it! Some time (days?) later SEARS rep. calls me and tells me that SEARS called my bank and my bank did not verify my funds with them. I called my bank, and someone from my bank verified funds for SEARS so SEARS could release my order and begin producing the windows to be installed in early August at my house. SEARS sure did not have to get my Social Security Number from me to do that. The reasson for SEARS collecting our SS# is yet unknown to me! Finally several days later after my bank verified to SEARS that I have enough money to go ahead with the order of $2700 some guy called me and told me that a window measurement guy will come to my house on Saturday, July 22, 2006. When he (the measure guy) came that is when I found out that Dave Mittelman (SEARS) was lying to me. The measurement guy told me that SEARS is NOT going to replace the FRAMES of my windows. That put their job into a very expensive category (LOWE'S pricing is almost 3 times - 300% lower for such windows replacement job within the existing frames). I realized I was lied to, I was mislead, I was given fake phone number and I was fooled with. My time was wasted. I asked the measurement guy to tell SEARS to freeze my order until I call and send me a salesman to re-price my order, restructure it, otherwise cancel it. I called David Lambert (my order's care-taker) and left a message to stop my order and to send my $500 down payment check back. He, Dave Lambert, assured me (after I reached him one day) that my $500 check will not get cashed and will be sent back to me. July 26, 2006: I see that the $500 check that I gave to Dave Mittelman has been cashed by SEARS and when I called 1-800-330-9948 Dave Lambert's office, no one was responding, no one was picking up a phone. I left a message to contact me immediately. I asumed that some kind of fraud has happened. Dave Mittelman told me that he was representing SEARS and NOT a franchise, but now I thought maybe it was some kind of SEARS-Franchise that has cheated me out of $500. Then later someone with a name John Biddle (sales manager?) called me and with not so friendly voice asked me to avoid leaving threatening messages (!!??) and he told me that my order is cancelled and that my check will be returned to me by Monday, July 31, 2006 and that my check $500 will be in the mail by this Friday, July 28, 2006. He, John Biddle told me that no one was answering the phone at their office # 1-800-330-9948 because perhaps the secretary was in a restroom (!!??). How would I expect calling such a large and old company that SEARS is, or claims to be, and.... secretary is the only one person in the office, and she is in a restroom, and no one is answering the phone in the middle of the business day on Wednesday? Is this SEARS? Hello? I called SEARS customer line and tried to get their complaints department. Been transferred around with no result forever. Been hang upon and been sent to a "no sound" no action line. Finally after talking to numerous "supervisors" and "claim to be" Home Improvement Customer Relations Officers (!!) who were unable to help me, I got sent to Mr. Kerry Steele (sales manager) at 1-803-212-8297 (claims don't get a toll-free number! only sales does!). I left a message on Kerry Steele's voice mail (in the middle of business day he was unavailable on his cellphone) about my concern about my cashed check that was not supposed to get cashed as was promised on numerous occasions by various SEARS representatives. Now also once Dave Mittelman (the salesman), as I was told, quit or was fired (?) he got my Social Security Number, how am I supposed to feel safe? SEARS sends an unprofessional poorly trained sales person to my house who gets my $500 check and cashes it, who gets my SS# and then gets fired a few days later, who gives me a fake cellphone number and then disappears in who told me SEARS is a 115 year old company, and disappears into thin air with a fake cellphone number to "resch" him? Is that S.E.A.R.S.? Hello? Is my $500 really gonna be refunded? What will happen to the security of my Social Security Number? So, Kerry Steele does not call me back. I call SEARS cust. svc. line. and ask for complaints dept. They transfer me to Vilma (she has a very heavy latino accent; I guess they decided I'm a Latino since I speak with an accent, but I'm not a Latino), who tells me to call the same KERRY STEELE. Old story. He does not call back. Then they transfer me to YOLANDA (speaks with heavy Spanish accent that I can hardly understand - coincidence?). She says I'm only going to get my money back 10 days after my $500 down payment check cashes! Afterall they NEVER (under promise of SEARS) supposed to cash my $500 check! That is why they took my Social Security Number for and that is why they verified my funds in my bank account! I ask her to overnight my refund of $500. She refuses to do that. She transfers me to Jim Powell (Nth sales manager?) who promises me that I will get my $500 back by Monday, July 31, 2006. He asks me if I want to go ahead with my order..... What do YOU folks think?

My Desired Resolution:

Refund $500 of mine immediately by July 31, 2006. Make sure that the fired salesman Dave Mittelman does not have my Social Security Number and is incapable to do any harm to my SS record using my SS#. Send an official WRITTEN and signed apology letter from President of SEARS to me, signed by President of SEARS.

Until that happens - I will NEVER EVER use any service that has SEARS name on it nor I will ever go to a SEARS store. Ever. Until the above happens. Then I will reconsider, maybe.

Andrew
Orangeburg, South Carolina
U.S.A.

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