Complaint Review: Sears Roebuck And Company

June 11, 2004

Sears Roebuck and Company
Director, Sears National Customer Service Relations
3333 Beverly Road
Hoffmann Estates
IL 60179

To Whom It May Concern:

Subject: Poor Customer Service

I have been subjected to poor customer service characterized by empty apologies from Customer Service Specialists, promises that the correct part would be ordered priority and a technician that refused to remove the wrong part he installed because it's already six o'clock and it will take me two hours. The events that follow compel me to write and voice my dissatisfaction with the treatment I, as a long-time customer of Sears, Roebuck and Company, have tolerated in an effort to have repairs made to a one year old wide screen television purchased at Sears.

In April I scheduled a routine maintenance visit for the subject television. In addition to routine maintenance I had your technician look at a red mark that appeared on the center of the projection screen. He informed me this was the result of a burn mark on the green projection tube, he would have to order the part which would take approximately a week to arrive and reschedule a visit for the repair. When two weeks passed without hearing from your service center I called them at 1-800-MY HOME to inquire about the status of the work order. Your representative asked me if I had the part. Since I was never told otherwise, I assumed your service center would receive the part and call to schedule the repair work.

I informed the lady that I did not have the part; the repair technician advised me parts generally take about a week to arrive, and requested she check on the status of the order. She checked on the order and told the part was ordered. The package arrived shortly thereafter and I scheduled the repair work. I did not open the package, since I know these tubes are fragile, I didn't want to damage it, and I wouldn't know if it was the correct tube or not. A repair technician arrived as schedule to install the part, but took one look at the package and informed it was not the correct part; in fact, it wasn't even a projection tube, it was some kind of metal bracket.

When questioned about the order he said something to the effect that the computer doesn't always work properly. I wasn't upset at this point, these things happen, someone probably keyed in an incorrect part number; an honest mistake. He assured me he would promptly reorder the correct part on a priority basis.
Result: I missed four hours of work; repair not accomplished.

Approximately a week later, on a Thursday, I received a call from a lady at your service center informing the part had been shipped, so she wanted to schedule the repair work for the following Monday afternoon. Subsequent to her reassuring me the part would arrive in time for the scheduled repair, I agreed to Monday afternoon. Monday morning the part had not arrived, so I once again called the service center from my office. This time I spoke to a young man that wasn't very helpful; as a matter of fact, he left me with the impression that my call was nothing more than an annoyance. I told him the part had not arrived, and requested he check the order status when he informed me that he can't access that information. I told him the lady I spoke to the previous week was able to ascertain the order status, so I asked why he couldn't.

I attempted to explain that I didn't want to waste my valuable and limited time, or that of a repair technician. All he could say was well I can't get that kind of information, but this happens all the time and part arrives before the repair technician. I was already late for a staff meeting, lacked the time to request he transfer my call to a manager, so against my better judgment I accepted his explanation. Later that afternoon your repair technician arrived, but the projection tube did not. I apologized for wasting his time and described my conversation with your service center earlier that morning. He wasn't the least bit surprised; he said they do that to us all the time. Needless to say, at that point I'm beginning to get annoyed.

Result: I missed four hours of work; repair technician makes unnecessary trip; repair not accomplished.

On Monday, June 7th, I arrived home to find a note on my door from a Sears service technician indicating he arrived at 1:48 for a service call; the following morning I received a call from your service center to reschedule the work since I wasn't home for scheduled repair work. I told your representative neither I, nor my wife was called in advance or scheduled the visit; had I scheduled the visit I would have been there. At this point I'm questioning the efficiency of your service center.

Result: Repair technician makes unnecessary trip.

As long as I had your service representative on the phone I explained the events listed in the previous paragraphs and requested the repairs be scheduled for a Saturday since I had already taken two afternoons off from work. I was quickly informed that you don't schedule Saturday service calls, so once again I rearranged my work schedule to be available for the repair work that should have been completed weeks earlier. The repairs were schedule for Thursday afternoon, 10 June.

Thursday, 10 June your repair technician, the same technician that originally ordered the part in April, and an assistant arrived to install the projection tube. After your technician removed the projection tube from the television, he compared it to the new tube and mentioned to his assistant the part numbers were different; however, but both tubes looked the same, so they used it. While mounting the tube and tube assembly in the television he couldn't remember where he put a rubber boot that slips over the terminal end of the tube's wire, so he just inserted the wire in the television's main board without the rubber boot. He completed the installation, turned on the television and realized the tube he installed was not a green, but a red tube. Now, instead of a normal colored picture with a small discoloration in the center of the screen, I have a red picture.

At that point I told your technician the picture looked worse than it did before; he didn't repair the television correctly, so I just wanted it returned to the state it was in when he arrived, i.e. reinstall the old projection tube. He tersely told me I'm not putting the old tube back, its six o'clock and it will take two hours! I told him I don't care what time it is, I've paid for a service contract and the job has not been completed correctly.

At that point I'm was upset with your technician's lack of professionalism and pride in his work, his attitude toward me, the paying customer, so I called your service center and requested to speak to a manager. I initially spoke to a Ms. Lee (I believe that was her name). I explained what had transpired as well as events listed in the previous paragraphs so she would understand my frustration. She spoke to your technician, but he still refused to replace the original tube; I was then transferred to another manager (I don't recall her name). I once again explained the entire chain of events from April to present and told her I want the television restored to the condition it was in when the technician arrived. After talking to the technician she tells me it will take two three hours to reinstall the original tube and he has other customers. She realized my anger was rapidly increasing after telling me the manufacturer ships the part, so it's not our problem. She then went on to question me about how many other televisions I have in the house. At this point I realized rationalizing with her was futile, and told her if Sears can't get this right I will contact WJXT, a local TV station consumer affairs troubleshooter and the Jacksonville Division of Consumer Affairs. At this point she did tell I could rent a television and Sears would pay for it, and that she would contact dispatch to check if they could send anyone else out. I didn't really expect her to contact dispatch, she was obviously attempting to appease me (probably quitting time for her also), but she didn't even extend the courtesy of a return call to let me know that no one would be out, nor did she find it necessary to return a call today to tell me the status of the ordered part.

Result: I missed four hours of work; repair not accomplished; Sears looses a long-time customer.

I certainly hope this last lady I spoke to is not a Customer Service Representative. After twelve hours of missed work for a job that should have been completed a month ago I didn't feel I was being unreasonable. Sears should have serious issues with this manager's responses:

1) Questioning me regarding the number of televisions I own is not only ludicrous; it's IRRELEVENT! It doesn't matter if I own ten televisions, I purchased a television from Sears along with an extended warranty and service contract; how would Sears respond if applied this logic to my payments for the television (Sears has more money than I do; therefore, if my payment is late it should be excused because I ordered the wrong stamps and couldn't mail the payment). I seriously doubt your response would be as casual as your response to me.

2) I AM THE CUSTOMER, I think Sears has lost sight of this. I'm a computer programmer and analyst by trade, if one of programmers installed a software package that didn't work correctly and the customer requested it be backed-out, and my programmer refused because it was six o'clock, that programmer would have plenty of time next day! A satisfied customer is worth more than thousands in advertising.

3) To tell me your technician has another customer is an outright lie; it was quitting time! Believe me, I've tried to schedule this service after five o'clock; it doesn't happen.

4) To tell me the manufacturer sends the parts, so it's not Sears problem. I don't think so! I didn't pay the manufacturer, my contract is with Sears and I expect Sears to ensure the correct part is ordered. I'm sure the parts are sent directly to the customer to save Sears money, if the part was sent to Sears you could ensure it was the correct part prior to delivery to the customer. How much did Sears really save? You paid a technician for work performed Friday that must be repeated; last Monday you sent a technician to an empty house because you never schedule the service; the week before a technician arrived as schedule, but the part did not; and finally Sears paid the technician that arrived to install the first wrong part.

5) It will take two to three hours for the technician to reinstall the old tube. I'll admit, the lady I spoke to did ultimately retract this statement when I repeated it back to her. She corrected herself and said it would take two hours. Well, your technician wasted no less than forty-five minutes telling me and your managers he wasn't going to reinstall the old part; it didn't take two hours to remove it the first time.

Before sending another part please ensure someone in your organization verifies it's the correct part. I also want the rubber boot your technician misplaced replaced; the manufacturer put it there for a reason. In view of the fact I've missed twelve hours of work because Sears can't get the correct part, I want the visit to install the correct tube schedule at my convenience, Saturday. I do not want the same technician that was here yesterday sent back out; as I previously stated, I wouldn't tolerate one of my programmers refusing to back-out a job that wasn't deployed correctly for a customer and I won't tolerate your technician telling me he won't remove the incorrect part he installed because it's six o'clock.

Finally, I do expect a timely response from Sears. Had your technician not been so rude, and just replaced the old projection tube as requested I would not have had to call the service center and, you would have salvaged a customer.
Sincerely,
Robert J

Copy to:
Jacksonville Division of Consumer Affairs

Robert
Jacksonville, Florida
U.S.A.

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