- Report: #102220
Complaint Review: Sears Roebuck & Co. - Hoffman Estates Illinois
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Sears Roebuck & Co.
3333 Beverly Road Hoffman Estates, 60179 Illinois, U.S.A.
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
Sears, Roebuck & Co. Making money from the sale and repair of defective products Hoffman Estates, Illinois
We purchased a side-by-side Kenmore Coldspot Model #59502990 sometime in 2000. After about 10 to 11 months, I started noticing that food was beginning to go bad faster than normal. Mostly milk. We get our milk deliveries to our doorstep so I began to wonder if the milk we were receiving wasn't up to the quality it used to be.
This went on for about two months and I was thinking of calling the milk company but decided to get a refrigerator thermometer first to check out the temperature of the refrigerator. It was not cooling properly.
I called Sears service and arranged for a service call. The service person was very friendly and informative. After checking the refrigerator (he seemed to know exactly what to check for) he commented that a little door that controls the venting of cold air between the freezer area and the refrigerator area sometimes has ice build up on it which causes it freeze in place and become immovable. The little door is contolled and adjusted automatically when temperature fluctuations occur in the refrigerator side.
When the control mechanism tries to open the little door when it is frozen in place, the door mechanism breaks. The service person commented that the refrigerator was made for Sears by another company (Whirlpool, I do believe) and that this model had this problem frequently.
I asked why there was no recall. He had no answer for it. He said the company could have installed a little heater in each unit at a cost of about $12 per refrigerator which would have prevented the problem but for some reason, chose not to do it.
I suggested that Sears should cover engineering flaws... particularly known engineering flaws. The service person was sympathetic but had no control over the issue.
It cost me about $200 to repair it. I also lost money on spoiled food. The failure actually had occurred prior to the year warranty period running out but was not discovered (realized) until the 13th month.
I lost alot of respect for Sears that day. Between this and other more recent problems I have had with Sears, I have decided not to purchase from Sears again (and I have bought quite a few appliances and equipment from them in the last few years, for home and for our rental unit).
Other frustrations include: Sears does not stock appliance consummables, such as range hood filters, refrigerator filters, broiler pans, etc in their main stores. These are repeat sale items. They force you to go to their 'parts' stores which offer limited store hours and poor locations. Why would they choose to reduce foot traffic in their main stores? I can't find a way to buy some of these items online through Sears.com, either.
You've got to wonder why their executives adopt policies that totally contradict their mission statement.
Kyle
Salem, Oregon
U.S.A.
This went on for about two months and I was thinking of calling the milk company but decided to get a refrigerator thermometer first to check out the temperature of the refrigerator. It was not cooling properly.
I called Sears service and arranged for a service call. The service person was very friendly and informative. After checking the refrigerator (he seemed to know exactly what to check for) he commented that a little door that controls the venting of cold air between the freezer area and the refrigerator area sometimes has ice build up on it which causes it freeze in place and become immovable. The little door is contolled and adjusted automatically when temperature fluctuations occur in the refrigerator side.
When the control mechanism tries to open the little door when it is frozen in place, the door mechanism breaks. The service person commented that the refrigerator was made for Sears by another company (Whirlpool, I do believe) and that this model had this problem frequently.
I asked why there was no recall. He had no answer for it. He said the company could have installed a little heater in each unit at a cost of about $12 per refrigerator which would have prevented the problem but for some reason, chose not to do it.
I suggested that Sears should cover engineering flaws... particularly known engineering flaws. The service person was sympathetic but had no control over the issue.
It cost me about $200 to repair it. I also lost money on spoiled food. The failure actually had occurred prior to the year warranty period running out but was not discovered (realized) until the 13th month.
I lost alot of respect for Sears that day. Between this and other more recent problems I have had with Sears, I have decided not to purchase from Sears again (and I have bought quite a few appliances and equipment from them in the last few years, for home and for our rental unit).
Other frustrations include: Sears does not stock appliance consummables, such as range hood filters, refrigerator filters, broiler pans, etc in their main stores. These are repeat sale items. They force you to go to their 'parts' stores which offer limited store hours and poor locations. Why would they choose to reduce foot traffic in their main stores? I can't find a way to buy some of these items online through Sears.com, either.
You've got to wonder why their executives adopt policies that totally contradict their mission statement.
Kyle
Salem, Oregon
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Joe
Lexington,Kentucky,
U.S.A.
not SEARS fault
#2Consumer Comment
Sat, August 07, 2004
Kyle, I do not know if you are aware or not, Sears does not manufacture anything. Kenmore is made by Whirlpool. Whirlpool, the same brand you buy at any other reatailer. Maytag, Frigidare, GE, Kitchen Aid... these are all available at other retailers also. I understand your frustration, but do not think that by switching stores is going to give you a differant result. All retailers offer just about the same products, what you need to look at is who will fix your product. Do you know if you had purchased from another retailer you could have had a difficult time getting it fixed. Sears is not all bad, stuff breaks, that is going to happen. What you do when it breaks is the question. If you had coverd your frig with a Protection Agreement you would have been refunded the money for your food, also with the preventive maintinance check they could have found the problem before it really became a problem. Do you know for the cost of that one service call you could have been covered for 5 years. That is 5 preventive maintinance checks, and unlimited service in your home, 3 repairs in 12 months and you would get a new one. Contrarey to popular belief Sears is about helping the customer. Bye the way, did you ever call your local store about the problem. They may have been willing to help cover some of the repair. You should always call the store if you feel there is a problem, give them a chance to fix it befor you give up on the company. Good luck.
