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Sears Tire & Auto Centers

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Sears Auto • Tires • Wheels • Batteries • Brakes • Oil Change • Safety Inspection • Everything Else ---- • Sears Settles NJ Fraud Case • Suit Charges Fraud • Insider's Report • Other Sears Complaints

Every city and town across America is jam-packed with independent auto service centers. It doesn't take much shopping around to find one that is competent, honest, reliable and courteous. Or you could just abandon your car to Sears Auto & Tire Centers and hope for the best.

James of Charlton, MA October 10, 2007

I am an exemployee of sears with over 20 years of service. In the last two years i worked their i had complained to my imediate manager chris about unethical practices going on -- examples like selling used tires to customers, overselling services like coolant exchanges by falsifing store documents, telling customers they would not have to pay for alignments if they dont need them but because the techs get paid an extra 14.20 to do the alignment every customer ends up needing one.

Then we get into proper training and broken equipment -- they have people doing brakes and other main services that they are not trained to do and are ripping off the customers because of their poor work and overselling.

Then even if they knew how to do the job the equipment is some times not accurate. for example we were told to use an alignment rack that was unsafe and had broken alignment targets so the alignments that were done on that rack all day were known to be done wrong and we still took the customers money.

Sally of Browns Mills, NJ July 30, 2007

I took my mercedes benz into Sears Auto Center on 7/8/07 to have new tires installed. Upon picking up my car, I noticed that there was a rip in my leather seat, which was not there before. I spoke with the person who I picked the car up from. His name is Bobby. He told me to call the manager named Lila the next morning. There was no manager on site. I spoke with Lila and the first thing that she said was she was not paying for a new seat.

I told her that I expected my car to be in the same condition that it was when it came in. She told me to get 3 estimates for the seat to be repaired. My seats are perforated and I told her I would only be taking it to the dealer.

I took it in and they said they could not fix it, that they had to replace the seat cushion. I called Lila back. She told me that she would pay for the seat once it's repaired with the Sears corporate card. I told her that I was having a hard time reaching the office and asked for a direct number to call once the repair is made. She said she did not have a direct number.

The day the dealer called me to say the cushion came in, I called and spoke with manager Paul on 7/30/07. He was rude and vague. I told him the car would be repaired on 8/1/07 and I need a direct line to make sure it's paid for. He said he does not have a direct line. I told him I called earlier that day and could not get through. I askd for his bosses name and number. He gave me his name but, refused his number. I asked for an email address for his boss. He refused that also.

I asked him why they were being so difficult for a problem that I did not cause. He would not give me any last names, no direct lines, no numbers for his boss or email addresses.

Gregory of Pasadena, CA May 24, 2007

well first let me start off by saying that i have had problems with sears in other citys also, and i am very educated in automotive mechanics, building engines hot rods and so on. i took my truck to sears next to my house and asked them to balance and rotate my tires, and instructed them not to replace my center caps which i had removed and put under the back seat of my truck.

when i returned to pick up my truck the first thing i noticed was the mechanic, had tracked in grease, all over what was my spotless light grey carpet i immediatley walked back in and told them someone needed to clean it out of my truck or they were going to pay for new carpet.

the mechanic or service tech came out and did a decent job of cleaning it up.also i noticed that my center caps had been put back on by this point i am getting very mad, at these guys. so after the cleanup of my carpet i took my truck and went home while i was unloading stuff i noticed that the cupped tire's which had been on the front of my vehicle were still on the front. i inspected the rest of my truck and noticed that the tires had not been rotated so i took them off and rotated them myself instead of taking it back to sears for fear of what else they might do to my truck.

as i removed the wheels and started rotating them i also noticed an amazing amount of weights inside my rims both stick ons and hammer ons..and that they were placed on opposite sides of my wheels. i have never seen anyone do this before, and i have had a lot of vehicles and hotrods and four by fours.

prior to sears there were a total of six hammer on weights small ones and after i couldn't even count all of the stick on weights, and there were over ten hammer ons..??? this makes no sense to me..

the last thing that they did was break two of the retainer rings springs inside of my center caps.. so now my center caps make noise going down the road, and are loose like they may fall off.

Ripu of Greensboro, NC March 7, 2007

Once, Sears was a great store to shop. Thirty four years ago, my first shopping was done at Sears while my car was getting repaired at Sears's auto store. I loved Sears from the bottom of my heart. This is the good old story. Now, Sears is like a worthless coin which is flattened on a railroad track. In the last six years, four times my car tires were flat due to nail damage. Once in the sears parking lot and other three times I drove my car to Sears's auto repair shop for repairs. Every time, Sears refused to fix the flat by saying that. 'These tires were not purchased from Sears', 'We are Out of Supplies to fix a flat (plugs)', 'We are short of workers today' and again 'Out Of Supplies'.

One time I had to leave my car in Sears's parking lot for over night and called my friend to take a ride back to home. If Sears does not change their attitude towards customers, store will loose most of the customers. In my house all of the hardware and appliances are from Sears but my future purchases are going to be limited from Sears due to their service and attitude.

A month ago, Sears's kitchen cabinet installer had an appointment to visit my house but 2 hours before he cancelled it by saying that, 'I am not in town this weekend'. Wake up Sears before you fell in a permanent SLEEP. Do something to gain customers. Customers are like a flow of water, you need to hold them back.

Deborah of Goldsboro, NC February 11, 2007

It all started with one flat tire. I took my car to sears to have 4 brand new tires put on. I dropped the car off at 11am and picked it up 5pm same day. After driving the car home i realized there was something wrong. I deliver papers so I HAD to continue driving the car.

I then realized they (sears) had put the wrong size tires on my car (needed 185/65r14 they put 195/70r14) The tire was scrubbing against my wheel well and who knows what else to the car.

I called the manager first thing monday morning to notify him. He said I could bring the car back and they would change them, I told him I could not bring the car back until next Sat. He said to just ask for him and they would do the work. When I returned the following Sat.

Sears seemed surprized that the tires were wrong, I left the car to pick up later. About 2hrs later they called to inform me they needed to fix the brakes and the lower ball joints. Amazingly the lower ball joints were checked off on a check list stating they were in good condition last week, this form was signed by the technician and csm stating they evaluated the vehicle per companys evaluation and repair guidelines.

I then agreed to the repair work which would be the ball joints and both sets of brake work, front and back. The guy told me they would not have time to do the brake work today but the ball joints could be repaired. I left again to only recieve another phone call stating they would now have time to repair the brakes.

We returned to the store when they were almost finished, another guy told me they only had to take the car off the lift and test it (drive it around to check the work). I then found out they do that (test drive it) after any work, such as an alignment or brakes. I also found out that they only repaired the front brakes and the guy knew nothing about the back ones. I would think if they checked the car properly the first time they would of never let me drive out with all this wrong with the car, or did their mishap of the wrong tires for my car cause this damage. ... I left very unsatisfied and now in over 800.00 in the hole from all the work.

Kenny of Dagsboro, DE November 13, 2006

Purchased 2006 Nissan Altima with Continental tires on them. Continental Touring Contact AS 215/60-16 to be exact. At 3000 miles the two front tires developed extreme flat spots on them making the car thup, thup ,thup when driven. Went to Nissan dealer,said tires were defective,go to nearest Continental tire dealer for Warranty replacement.(Sears ) Sears Auto Center Customer Service Advisor Bridgette said it was a right rear lower arm contol problem,go back to Nissan. Nissan double checked car,did a free four wheel alignment,said call Continental.

The best Continental would do was a 50% customer goodwill credit towards the purchase price of Continental replacement tires.After much research I found these tires to be very poorly rated on Tire Rack .com an the 17 version was involved several years ago in the infamous Ford Explorer Rollover scandal and lawsuits. (Firestone tires were mentioned most, but the Continental tire 17' Touring Contact AS was also involved) The tires are only T rated to 118 MPH,not a good OEM choice for a car being sold as a sports sedan,capable of speeds in excess of 130 MPH ,and has a speedometer that goes to 150 MPH.

Tim of Kingston, NY October 22, 2006

Purchased 4 tires from Sears. When they were mounted and I was driving home realized something was causing a vibration. Went 3 seperate times back to dealer to have alignment redone. On the 3rd try the manager finally said he thought 2 of the tires were defective. I had to wait 2 more weeks for more tires to be shipped since none were in stock of the same model.(kumho) The people working at this particular Sears store made comments throughout my visits there about how the company doesn't pay for good help and they have to hire whatever they can in terms of laborers.

I will never go back there ever again. I'd rather pay more and have less headache. By the time they hit you up for all the extra little fees and valve stems and all that you are paying around the same anyways. The lifetime free rotation used to sell me but not anymore. The 2nd time when I had gone in for another wheel alignment they must have not put my lug nuts all the way back on. I'm lucky the tire didn't fly off on my way home. This experience was like a bad movie.

Lester of New York, NY October 21, 2006

I took my car to the Sears Auto Center to have the front wheels balanced. When the car was returned I drove it out of the lot only to discover that the car wobbled because the right front lug nuts had not been tightened. In fact, they had barely been placed on the posts and were so loose that, in slowly circling the block to return the car, I had to stop to secure the nuts by hand. Some were so loose I could see the posts beneath them, and had to be turned four or five turns to get them finger-tight.

This was gross negligence that put me at risk of serious injury. I plan to have the wheels checked early next week to determine if damage has been done to the posts or the car. 

J.m. of San Francisco, CA September 18, 2006

In March, I purchased 4 new Sumitomo tires and a road hazard package, totaling about 500. Almost immediately, I began having front end vibration. I returned to the store, and, after a lengthy wait, had my tires balanced. Essentially, this process was repeated four times: Return to Sears, wait 2 hours, and have nothing done to resolve the problem. Eventually, I went to the local tire dealer with whom I dealt (with the exception of this purchase) for the past 15 years. After a 5 minute test drive, the mechanic informed me that I had tires out of round, or, in other words, I'd been sold defective tires.

I was also informed that Sears had incorrectly balanced my tires, because whoever balanced your tires didn't know what he was doing. This dealer analyzed my tires, found that 2 were defective, and rotated the defective ones to the back. I was charged 60 for the test and rotation. Upon returning to Sears, informed them of the situation: that I had wasted 4 days of driving to - and waiting at - Sears for a problem that another shop had diagnosed in 5 minutes. I demanded that the defective tires be replaced, and that Sears reimburse me for the 60 I'd spent on the analysis and rotation at the other shop. They complied.

I wasted a lot of time and probably contributed to excess wear and tear on my car because of the lack of expertise at Sears. I will NEVER buy tires - or use their automotive department - again.

Michael of Vineland, NJ September 10, 2006

Ball joints were improperly installed on my 4 wheel drive truck, even after I spoke with the mechanic, while the truck was still on the lift. Lower ball joint broke causing accelerated tire wear and tie rod damage

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