Complain about a product or service

Sears Tire & Auto

Save up to $379 on Your Auto Insurance. Compare Quotes from Top Providers Now! Find the Best Deal and Apply! - Adv.

Like everything else at Sears, the tire and auto operation generates a lot of heat. Customers complain of botched repairs, damaged vehicles and high prices.

Frank of Eagle Point, OR December 20, 2008

I recently purchased a set of Bridgestone Tires for my truck from Sears. The Sears tire shop told me that I should replace a couple of the steering rods/links because they were loose. I have my truck serviced regularly at the GMC dealership. I know that the truck had been checked by them and had no problems with the steering mechanism. I challenged the Sears employee about his claim. After some discussion he admitted that the rods and links were within specifications and that the trucks alignment was with in specifications.

It had been twenty years since I last bought tires from Sears. I stopped buying from them because when the car was in for tire rotation the Sears employee told my wife that the car needed new brakes and was dangerous to drive. The fact is that I had new brakes put on the car just a few months earlier. It appears to me that Sears is more interested in selling things you don't need, rather than providing competent service.

Welch of Columbia, VA December 11, 2008

I took my Lexus in to have all 4 tires replaced. They charged me for the road hazard plus agreement without asking me. Two days later the back tire went flat while I was on my way to work. When I looked at the paperwork there was no phone number to contact the folks to use the agreement. I was about 10 miles from the store and the store was not opened. I left the car with my husband and took my other car to work. Got to work- started searching online for contact information to call and could not find any. Searches send you to the Sears website that has no contact info for it and also results in a lot of sites with complaints. It's almost 7am, my husband is out in the rain trying to get the tire fixed enough to get it back to the store. And I'm upset. Why charge for a service and not even put the phone number on it in case you need it?? What kind of customer service is that.

Still waiting to see how it works out - good possibility it may have done some damage to the car. Waiting to see if they are going to come up with some bogus excuse and extras charges for this.

Guillermo of Park City, KS November 22, 2008

I stopped at a local Sears Auto Center to request a quote on a 2 front struts replacement , the associate gave me a quote for the parts for 89.99 each and told me that in order to take advantage of the half price installation I should order the struts , but that he recommend a set of struts of better quality and performance for my particular vehicle ( A Saturn VUE ) those struts Monroe reflex were more expensive , about 140.00 each but they could order them and as soon they have them I could take the car for their replacement.

After I decided to go for the better quality and order them , I waited for about a week and did not received a call back from Sears, I called them and they told me they have the struts ready, On Sunday the 15 of November I took the car to Sears auto center .

After they started to work on the vehicle on Sunday I was told that they received a wrong part and they have to order them again and it would take 2 to 3 business day to have it . Since the car have some parts removed to facilitate the labor I told them they could keep the car until the new parts arrived . Monday,Tuesday, Wednesday I did not receive any calls , so I decide to make the call and asked for the status of the repair , the associate told me that they received a wrong part again and monroe does not make those particular struts for that car and model anymore so they have to replace them with a sensa track type of strut , the very first struts they quote me for 89.99 , except this time were 99.99 each ,

I asked if they will ordered the from a different vendor and that cause the change in price , he told me that he does not know how much they pay for these struts but the computer have them at that price and probably the previous quote it was due to a special sale , being somehow frustrated for not having my car for several days and depend on my wife to take back and forward to work I told them to go ahead and order those and installed them. The associate told me that as soon as the parts arrive they will work on them , I called back on Friday the 21th of November around and they not have them yet , today Friday at 8-30 PM still waiting for a call , a solution , and reasonable explanation and apology at least ..... still waiting.

Aida of Grant-Valkaria, FL November 22, 2008

I purched 4 tires with the additional road hazard plus warranty in 5/10/2006. One year later my right rear tire cracked on the side band. The warranty covered the tire and I received a new time. One year late, another tire had the same problem. The tire became deformed an rippe in the inner side.

I took the tire on 11/21/08 expecting that the warranty would cover the defect and to my surprise the new owner/manager who started this year gave me as an excuse that the front left tire was not balanced and that was the reason the tire deformed and teared and wanted to charge me 200 to replace the tire. I was amazed. They actually had me waiting almost 3 hours to tell me this. They showed me the alignment check score and it actually had the same score after they aligned the tires when I purchased them. I was ignored for a while until I lost my patienced and told them that would complain and when I asked for the inspection report with the alignment score the manager refused to give them to me. He defenitely has something to hide because he knows he is doing wrong in not giving me the warranty.

I had 2 tires tear on my and the car does not even pool to neither side, so the alignment being off a couple of decimals would not cause more than a little ware on the thread not tear nor deform. The manager knows it that is why he would not give me the alignment results. Please contact me and advice me what to do.

I went to Walmart and purchase a tire with the warranty. I have bought tires there before and never had problems with their waranty. Cost me 100 for the tire.

Romulus of Gaithersburg, MD November 19, 2008

I went to SEARS to have 4 tires replace on my Nissan XTerra (tires model hard to find).Before anything else I ask Mr.P if balance and rotation are included.He said:yes they are included. I drowe the car 3000 miles and went to SEARS shop for services.Guess what? They charge me.......a lot of money for rotations and balance.

I never been so dissapointed about SEARS like I was then.

Haile of Lilburn, GA November 12, 2008

On Monday, July 7, 2008, I took my car to Sears Auto for battery service as I was having a starting up problem. I arrived there about 5:00 pm. An employee informed me that the problem may not necessarily be the battery and he had to to make a diagnostic test before taking any action. I have been asked, and paid 12.99, for such an initial test with an understanding that it could be used towards the cost should I decided to have the work done by Sears. I wanted to go somewhere else, but I was unable to start my car. The employee told me that the shop would help only if I made an advance payment (He gave me a figure which I forgot, but was higher than 12.99).

I realized that I had no option but to have the work done there. After he was paid 12.99,the employee came back and informed me that everything was fine with the car except the battery. With his assistance, the best battery was chosen but the work took far longer time than what I was initially told. I was the last one to leave the shop at about 10:30 pm. But immediately after I drove for two minutes, my car was covered by smoke that came out of the hood. I stopped on a dangerous highway and discovered that all the anti-freeze has gone.

Luckily, I have one in my car, filled it and drove. Again afer a few minutes' drive I was faced with the same problem. This time I stopped by a gas station and asked for help and one of the customers came to assist me. As he was a mechanic, it did not take him a minute to find out the problem. He told me that whoever changed the battery had damaged the radiator near it. He put a temporary tape around the damaged part of the radiator so that I could get home. He advised me to drive slowly and carefully and also to go back to the garage that changed the battery and ask to freely repair the radiator. I got home by 3:30 am and had a few hours sleep. I cancelled my work and waited until Sears Auto Shop was opened. I went with the tape still around the radiator and did exactly what that Samaritan mechanic told me to do.

I talked to the manager who denied that his employee did not make any diagnostic test and that he was not even a mechanic to do that. He told me that the radiator repair would cost me over 400 and needs changing the entire radiator.

Upon my request, he gave me a wrong telephone number of the Sears Auto headquarters. Eventually, I found it myself and when I contacted I was told that someone would contact me within 48 hours, and actually nobody did. I contacted them again and upon their request I wrote a detailed letter explaining what had happened. The letter, sent via certified mail return, was actually sent back, informing me to fax it to the local shop. Again, as I was given a wrong fax number, I hand delivered it to the shop.

Sears took no action for days until I contacted them again. I was eventually told that they had contacted the local district office which had informed them that the radiator was already damaged when it came to the shop and had a tape around it and that SEARS was not responsible for the damage.

I am planning to take action as I have evidence from my mechanic that the radiator did not have any fault before the change of the battery and is encouraging me to sue.

Lily of Fresno, CA November 5, 2008

I went in for a flat tire repair and my SUV was scratched. I wasnt expecting anything like this to happen because it was only a flat repair, but now I know better. Barry the manager told me to go and get two different estimates on the scratch and bring it back to him and he was going to have it taken care of. He ignores my phone calls and pretends to be someone else.

I went to the repair shop and he pretended to be very busy. After 15-20 minutes he finally came to take the estimates. He said that he didnt have permission to decide on whether or not to pay for the scratch and that a district manager needs to take a look at the estimates first. It was only suppose to take 2 days, and he was going to call me about it. He never did, so I called him and he denied that the scratch was caused by them, he says that it was caused by us. That is rediculous. If I knew that my car was going to be scratch for that flat repair I would never have taken it in.

Beware of Sears, they dont care about you as the customer, they will try their best to get the most money out of you.

Kathy of Chaska, MN October 27, 2008

I had gone in on Saturday to put a down payment on tires so they could be transferred from one store to another. The sales clerk said he would wait till morning to pick up the tires for me then call when he had them. other employees offered to stay late so he could pick them up that evening, but he refused. he stated he had to have his break before he got yelled at again. I knew he got in at 11 a.m. the next morning so I waited rather impatiently for him to call.

At 11:45 a.m. I called the store to see if he was back yet. He then told me that he had not had time to go get the tires and would not be able to that day. I explained to him that this is the only day I have open to get the tires and have them mounted and that I was very upset that he did not have the courtesy to call to let me know. he explained that the store was busy and short-handed because an employee did not come in.

I understand them being busy, but I think it should have been common courtesy to call me. the call would have taken less than 5 min and would have made me a lot happier than I am.

the result of this is my funds were tied up with Sears and I could not readily go elsewhere to have the service performed that day. I was offered other tires and was given a 10% discount on the tires themselves. this was till more than I would pay if they would have gotten the other tires in. I personally do not think it should have cost me anything extra. My total bill was over 700.00.

I also feel that I am just as important as the person they are face to face with. I feel that for my inconvenience I should have gotten the tires for the same amt of the ones I had originally requested. this would have only been an additional 20 plus tax discount. I know I will NOT go back to that store and will tell all my friends not to either. Thanks you for your time

Thomas of Mariposa, CA October 15, 2008

Needed tires: Called for price and availability of a set of tires. Was told by Kevin that they have the tires in stock. 100 miles round trip from home. Left work early. Dropped off truck. Left cell # with Kevin. Was told will be ready within the hour. After an hour and no call, came back to see if it was ready. As I approached the counter, a different employee asked if my name was ----. We don't have the tires. Why didn't you call me? I just came on shift. I will not be spending another hard earned dollar at this auto center nor retail store. With hard economic times, what goes around comes around.

Half day wasted. 100 miles driven on a 12 MPG truck with marginal tires, start all over again with another unknown tire retailer.

Lawrence of Martinez, CA October 12, 2008

Took my car in because it had a problem with a slow leak in one of the tires. Associate told me to pull into garage were I waited for about 20 mins with store employess walking around me not even asking if I need help. Finally, they take my car in and say about an hour to fix the flat. I come back to find my car done. An associate rings me up at the cash register and says its free, that they found nothing wrong with the tire.

I then go to my car and the warning light is still on saying something is wrong. So head back into Sears to see what is wrong, they take me to the guy that checked it out and he says you just need to drive around a bit. Upon returned to my car, I notice they had put the spare back on the car. And then change their story to the bad tire was not fixable and since its an all wheel dr car, we need to replace the whole set! I said forget this, I'm going to Costco, where for one they are much faster and garrantee their tires. And Left!

we are forced to drive on the spare for about a week!

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Follow us on Twitter.

Back to the top |