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Matthew of Hampton VA (03/17/08)
Went in to have a new caliper put on. After it was all done, I drove the car around for 4 days until I went to just check on it make sure it wasn't leaking and there was brake fluid all over my rim and tire. Then I looked at it better and the guy at sears had left off crush bushing and the break line was leaking. Lucky I caught it in time or I would have had no brakes to stop the car. They did fix the problem after waiting for 1hr. Just a warning to all check over the work you have done there and I will never have my car worked on there again.
Olivia of Madison WI (02/23/08)
07-26-07 Sears East Town Mall Madison WI. installed an alternator for$362.91. Late 01-2008 it was needing jumpstarts: dead drained battery. 02-03-08 Sears West Town Mall installed battery without checking any parts: $119.19. 02-04-08 battery was dead again. Sears West said sounds like alternator. Take back to Sears East. On 02-04-08 Sears E performed what they said was alt/batt test, and both checked good. They said to take it to dealer because they do not have the high tech equipment to test for electrical shorts. In the mean time battery continues dying.
On 02-12-08 Gordie Bouchie Lincoln Mercury performed alt/batt test for $50.33 and could not find problem but admitted something is causing battery drain. GBLM said next time vehicle dies do not have it jump started, but have it towed it to be tested while dead. 02-17-08 used Schmidts Auto Inc (recommended by GBLM) to tow to GBLM: $73.85 as battery dead again. 02-18-08 GBLM traced short to Diode in alternator. GBLM installed alternator: $529.43. Battery indicator is where it should be. No more dead battery. GBLM gave me the bad alternator to return to Sears.
On 02-23-08, I went to Sears East Town and met with Pat, the manager, who said I should have taken it back to them, but they did not tell me to do that. I am out a total of$1135.71 not to mention the stress of it all, missed work, borrowed car, etc. Someone needs to make it right instead trying to stick their fingers deeper into my wallet. How sad in this day and age that greed takes precedence over good, quality work. I hope this is not a hopeless case for me as Sears East pretty much implied "go ahead, call consumer protection". I was satisfied with the service at GBLM, not SEARS. I have the paperwork for all dates and services above and a boxed alternator core which is the one Sears E installed.
Gail of Noirth Miami Beach FL (11/19/07)
I went in to Sears for a battery problem. I bought a new battery. The car started for a couple days, then it would not. I used all three of my AAA calls to have it towed when I was out and it wouldn't start to get me back home. I used my sister's car for over a month until I could have it towed to the dealer to have it placed on the machine to see why I was having a problem. The conclusion was that the negative cable was not connected properly. I called the Sears Parts Department at the time the dealer told me this. The representative said there was no way that was the problem and was very rude to me. He would not giving me his name or his supervisor for me to contact. I have spoken to three master mechanics and they all said the dealer was correct because the cable was shorting out and that's why it would work sometimes and sometimes it wouldn't. For two months I had car problems until finally the problem was solved. I had to be without my car and take the rudeness from the Sears employee, not to mention the money I had to pay out because of Sear's error.
I had to pay for the dealership to place it on the machine to see what was causing the problem. I was without my car and it had to be towed when it didn't start.
Tonya of Beaumont CA (11/16/07)
Went in for brake check. They said I needed $600 in repairs, all brakes were bad. Went to Ford dealer and just the front brake pads were needed. $200. I buy a lot from Sears, so disappointed and mad.
Bobbye of Rotonda West FL (09/06/07)
My daughter took her 2001 Blazer to Sears at the end of March 2007 to have the brakes fixed. They said everything needed to be replaced and approx $1700 later we thought it was. On August 28, 2007 my daughter had a car accident due to her brakes failing. Her Insurance company is investigating - however they determined that the accident was caused by a total brake failure.
The Blazer was totaled and the other car received over $2700 in damages. Thankfully no one was seriously injured.
Paul of Edmond OK (06/06/07)
Today I did a Google search for sears auto to find the phone number for the closest Sears store. The first result provided me the information I needed the second is www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/sears_auto_center.htm
I should have read the second link more closely. I called to inquire about rear brakes for a 1998 Expedition that I use for just short errands and explained that I knew that it needed lots of things as it was recently inspected by a competitor I was given a quote of $110-$120 and made arrangements to be there right away so I could shop at the Mall during the short time they said it would take. I made it clear that I just wanted rear brakes and and oil change at this time.
Forty-Five minutes later I was called and said the estimate to repair the Car was $340 with a bunch of additional service I did not order. I said I would just take it back to your competition where the were going to do the repairs for $160.00 and with 1 and 1/2 hours of my time wasted I went to pick up my car and was told I had a $15 inspection charge, I was livid and left without paying telling them they had my address and phone number. They refused to let me contact a manager or provide me with any contact information for regional or national complaints. I returned home and read the second website mentioned and I quote:
"...It would be worth your time to browse through the complaints listed to the right before making a decision." Nothing could be more true.
Gladys of Allentown PA (06/03/07)
I brought my 1996 dodge grand caravan (LE) in to get a brake job.They replaced the router,the brake pads and it cost me $920.45.This work was done in january of 2006.I brought it back beacause,I felt there was something wrong with the brakes.They checked the brakes and said nothing was wrong with the brakes. I brought it back twice,and both times they said there was nothing wrong. Now, more than a year later i got the car inspected and after the inspection i had problems with my brake line. I think it was the fact that they were lazy that they didnt see anything wrong with my brakes.
Kashif of Allen TX (05/15/07)
I went to get my brakes and rotors changed for my car. Once I entered Sears, I was told that I would not be able to get a written estimate, unless I paid a $15.00 service fee. This fee would enable them to get a better idea of what I needed to be done. I insisted that, all I needed for my vehicle were brakes, two rotors. How hard can this be. Sears and their manager insisted that they were unable to give me a free written estimate because it wouldn't cover everything unless it was checked throughly, through the $15.00 check. I asked the manager if this was a Sears policy, they said NO, but they were told to do this.
Jodi of Langhorne PA (04/30/07)
I went in to get my brakes and rotors changed on a 2006 Ford 500/ the maintenance guy played around with my calibers and the piston popped out. This was their fault of course they are trying to tell me it wasnt. After my car being there for 2 days with no work done on it they told me I have to replace the calibers and pay for it. Well I got it towed out of there and sent to Ford dealership where they told me it is totally ruined and needs to be replaced and I am responsible for paying for it. Ford told me it is warranty but not covered if another department other than Ford ruins it. So he told me he would write me up a form and telling me what was wrong and how much so i can then take it back to sears to get rembursed. My questions and concern is how do i go about getting my money back for these calibers which 3 mechanics have told me was their fault.
Tricia of Wauwatosa WI (01/15/07)
I went in for some brake work..I was experiencing squeaky, shuttering brakes. I was about due for some brake work on my car so I knew it was going to be pretty expensive. After checking it out, they called and said I was going to have to have 2 drums, the rotors, and the pads replaced. When I hear parts need to be replaced, I always request that I want to keep the original parts they are going to take out of my car. We gave Jeff the go ahead to do the work on the car and asked him to keep all the parts for us. Sure enough, when we go to pick up the car the next day, the service clerk said Jeff never told them they had to keep the parts. Their only solution was to have some other service guy go dig through the dumpster and guess which ones were mine. No thank you I dont have time to sit around for 3 hours while they guess which parts are mine. I have been burned by car servicing centers (not sears) in the past and I was a little weary of Sears bc I have read so many bad reports about them, thus the reason I asked to keep all my old parts. I didnt get a good feeling from Jeff and some of the people in there to begin with and this little mistake about them forgetting about keeping my used parts makes me feel like I got hosed and maybe had some extra work done that didnt necessarily need to be done.
Marcia of Oklahoma City, OK (8/1/05):
My husband took our car into Sears on Sunday, July 24, 2005 for servicing.
The mechanic replaced the front brake pads for a total charge of about $150.
The next afternoon I was driving to my office and my brakes went out on one
of the busiest streets downtown. I had to coast to a safe area to park my
vehicle. I had my car towed back to Sears since they worked on my car brakes
the day before and I wanted some answers.
The Sears mechanic and his boss showed me a carbon copy of a document they
said was given to my husband stating that my vehicle was unsafe to drive.
They told me that they explained the seriousness of the condition of my
brakes to him the day before, but he refused to have them do the work. I
went home that afternoon to find the paperwork from Sunday, and did not find
anywhere the document stating that my vehicle was un-driveable.
What I found was two work order documents outlining the work that had been
done. When I told my husband what Sears told me, he said that was an
outright lie. He said the mechanic did not tell him that the car was unsafe
to drive and he did not get any documents stating that the car was unsafe.
I feel we were deceived by the mechanics on staff. My total bill was $673 on
Monday.
Sallie of Plano TX (12/4/03):
I had brake pads installed on my car in Jan 02. I made 3 trips back to Sears regarding the pads because of noise and difficulty driving. On the 3rd return visit, Sears replaced the pads stating they were not the proper ones for my car. Approximately 16 mos later, my brakes began to squeal.
Reluctant to go back to sears, assuming the problem is now the shoes, I went to Just Brakes. The mechanic at Just Brakes told me that my car needed $1300.00 worth of repairs due to bad-fitting pads. The knuckles and much more needed replacing. I went back to Sears and they evaluated my brakes and said all was fine. That they had no idea what Just Brakes was referring to.
5 months later, the problem has gotten progressively worst. So I got underneath my car to inspect. I found on the front right wheel lots of clumped oil and gook but none on the left. I took my car back to Sears. Sears completed a brake evaluation and told me that I need $1300.00 worth of work done, including replacing the knuckles. The exact same thing that Just Brake told me 5 months ago and Sears denied at the time.
Now, I have a dilemma. Sears offer me a 10% discount to do the repairs. However, I feel Sears is 100% liable for my damages and should pay 90% not I. I have filed a complaint with Sears Automotive complaint department and it was denied according to the manager of the auto center. I feel that was totally biased and unfair.
If Sallie was to press her case before an impartial judge, she should sue Sears iin Small Claims Court. She will need to have an independent mechanic who can testify on her behalf.
Cindy of Southborough MA (6/4/03):
My boyfriend went to Sears to have his brakes fixed a few months ago. A few weeks after he had his brakes fixed he noticed they squeaked. He then went to the local auto shop I go to and they told him that Sears did a horrible job. They just slapped the brakes on because they are paid by the amount of cars they do in a day and not by the hours they work. My boyfriend had to pay another shop to fix the problem.
Sarah of Sacramento writes:
I had my brakes replaced by Sears about a year ago, Feb '99. Since then I have had to return my car to sears about 6 times because the brakes are not right. The brakes have worn down within a month when they have a 30,000 mile warranty, they have locked up on me so I can not drive anywhere three times, and the most recent, one of the brakes came off because it was missing a bolt to hold it on and later that tire locked up.
The various consequences include being late for work and not having transportation to work because Sears has my car. Recently I was going out of town and was delayed a day because one brake was missing a bolt. But more than anything it scares me that I have taken my car to these people 6 times now for the same problem and they can't get it right. If my brakes would have locked up while I was on the freeway, I would not survive. I originally spent over $600.00 on these brakes, rotors, callipers, shocks, etc. I find it rediculous that they cannot fix these correctly. It should not be this difficult to have brakes installed correctly.
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