Complain about a product or service

Sears Ovens and Ranges

Daniel of Clearlake Oaks, CA October 28, 2009

We purchased a new electric stove from Sears for our mother for Christmas of 2005. In June of 2009 the oven would not turn off, and so we lifted the lid that holds the burners to inspect it. Upon doing so I noticed that the wiring harness that comes up from the back of the stove to supply power for the burners was punctured by a factory placed screw. The screw itself was dead center in the middle of the back of the stove, and was driven in from the back. There are three screws, one at each end, and then the one in the middle. These screws are intended to hold the back plate of the stove in place. On our stove the three screws are different sizes, as if someone was just grabbing screws at random. The screw that had punctured the wire harness was approximately one inch in length, whereas the one on the right side is obviously the correct size, in that it's a mere quarter inch in length, and the one on the far left, like the screw that had punctured into the wiring harness is also approximately one inch in length. Whoever assembled this stove used the wrong screws, and as such we feel that Sears should replace the product in question.

We had called Sears and they had sent out a service man and this defect was pointed out to him. We had taken photographs of the screw prior to his arrival, and he was made aware of this fact. But being that my mother was the only one home at the time, she did not push the matter, and allowed him to proceed to fix the problem. He cut the offending screw, and then cut the wires and spliced then back together. He then presented our mother with a bill of 331.68, to which she did pay. Now this morning the burners on the left side of the stove will not turn off.

We called Sears Customer care, and explained the situation to them. To which we were informed that their only remedy would be to send out another service technician at a cost of 129.00, plus whatever other costs the technician can add on. The screws alone justify a replacement. And although he had cut the screw in question, the fact that he did so, and then re-spliced the wires together testifies to the fact that this problem was a result of those within Sears assembly line not adhering to the design specifications. And it's not only the assembly line, those working at Sears quality control also are to blame. Our stove is not the only one out there, it is obvious that there must be others. A stove of this price and quality should be expected to last more than four years. This stove is not only a fire hazard, but also that of an electrical hazard. This is not a monetary issue, but rather one of principle. It is our hopes that being that we have been loyal customers to Sears from one generation within our family to the next, that they will address this matter as one would expect. That being to replace the above mentioned stove. The stove's present condition is evidence to the fact that this problem started at the point of of assembly.

Iris of Fremont, CA October 25, 2009

There was a gas leakage from the pipe of kitchen stove after the local electrical company inspection done last Sunday. My husband called the Sears Repair Services department immediately to schedule repairing appointment as where we bought the product and installation service on Feb. 2009. He took his time and spoke very detail with the customer service representative when scheduling the appointment, so the technician will know what to bring for replacement and repairing. Both of us need to work during weekdays.

The appointment was scheduled on a Saturday morning, 8am today. The technician arrived on-time and started his work right away. 30 minutes later, said need to get a replacement part. Therefore he went out for 30 minutes, but he got the wrong part. Then he disappeared for another 2 hours. Not to mention we wasted our day at home waiting. The worst thing is he didn't bother to call us and inform us he couldn't return because he has another appointment. We had to call the 1-800- again to navigate him.

We were so upset for the entire situation, so my husband and I were trying to call to the Sears customer department again to file a complaint. Both the calls ended up going to on HOLD FOREVER LINE after repeating the story/ experience and speaking with multiple departments. Obviously, non of them care of our complaints.

There may be millions of mad people out there like us waiting to speak to the right person. Our feedback would never get into the ears of Sear's CEO. What I can say is we will not purchase anything from SEARS again and will tell our friends and family the WORST experience we had.

James of Rockport, ME October 21, 2009

We purchased a Kenmore Model 790.47789 self cleaning oven on 12/24/2007. This was a replacement that we had to pay extra for, when the original oven we purchased from Sears was advertised to be self cleaning. We never installed the original and had it for 6 years, as we were still finishing our kitchen. Sears offered to take that one back, but we'd have to pay an additional 475 to "upgrade" to a "self cleaning" model. That's a nice "how do you do" when it was falsely advertised as a self cleaning model! So, short story long, we "paid the piper" & "upgraded", after light years of playing find the proper customer service person (one who spoke English and was actually in this country!) -Wonderful brain(less)child of "customer service experts management team" at Sears Corporate Maze of Mayhem...

Our new Kenmore (made by the fabulous equally clueless vendor - Fridgiaire) model 790.47789 worked great until 10/8/09. On that date, my wife was harmlessly preheating the oven for some baking; when low and behold, the electronic oven controls (manufactured by the beloved aforementioned "Spitfire Controls Inc." - that have evidently caused several other folks ovens on this site to literally spit "fire") to go blank (black to be precise).

Here I go to chase another round of calls to the Philippines, India, and other undisclosed parts of the globe for "security" purposes; a 5 day joy ride courtesy of Sear's fine array of "Customer Service Management monkey misers" - who were probably enjoying a nice round of 9 holes after their "hectic" corporate Pep rally "meeting" the receptionist was told to say when they were indisposed. This was after I'd already examined my household circuit breaker (which had not tripped), thoroughly inspected and tested to be certain current was indeed getting to the oven. Upon further examination and measuring with my volt/ohm meter, I came across the culprit in the Spitfire control circuit... three potentially faulty relays that caused 220volts to fry the transformer (evidenced by the lovely black skid marks and smell of melted lacquer under the transformer - who's manufacturer was also conveniently outsourced to Taiwan by other corporate miser monkeys).

This led to my direct contact of the Sears "sub" manager "on call" at the local Sears who calmly read me my last rights as a deprived unfortunate customer who "failed" to "purchase" the "additional" service (lack of) agreement (or shall I say bereavement). So a "service" call was arranged to "officially" diagnose the problem and potentially repair it - full charges included of coarse. No surprises, this was canceled the day before the appointment after waiting a week and a half; only to be rescheduled for the following week! Meanwhile, the unsuspecting "newbie" Store manager "trainee" was "away" enjoying his baptism of brainwashing in Chicago for the entire month of October! How long will he last?...

In the interrum, I've managed to NOT locate any immediately available parts (transformer or relays) within any electrical component supply vendors, unless they "special order" a quantity of 250 parts at 1.54 to 7.59 per individual part. So I'm stuck with having the choice buying a new potentially failing Fire spitting Spitfire electronic control panel for anywhere between 210 & 250 from an aftermarket parts middleman, and installing it myself to save the "service" call; or to directly solicit the fire spitting (name implied) control unit manufacturer of wholesale part #316418554 (deja vous?), or the components therein. Conclusion & new add campaign: "Sears... Where America Stops"

kevin of leroy, IL October 10, 2009

REcieved a safety recall notice in August 2009. Scheduled recall proceedure for 1-5 on 10-10-09. On 10-8-09 recieved a call from sears saying 'part was backordered', call was being cancelled. Called Sears 1-800 on 10-9-09 asked if they knew when my part would be in, was 'cut off', called back spoke to a supervisor, asked her same question. While on hold she called National Parts center, was told the part was on backorder, adn didn't have a projected due date.

on 10-10, came home at 1 pm, to find a note from sears that they came for my service repair. When I called to say 'why did they come, part is not in stock', I was told the repair crew had it on the truck, I asked how this could be, and was 'disconnected'. Not to be disuuaded, I called back and was told the part was on the truck, I asked to be transfered, that person told me that the part was not on the truck, but it was a part for a 'Fridgadare' range, that they were going to try to use to 'fix' the problem.

I asked to be transfered, and was 'disconnected' (Now, I am worried they can't use the phone system, let alone fix a dangerous product recall!) After over 2 hours on the phone, I still have no assurances that the product they want to install is the 'actual' product (2 different people at Sears, say 2 different things.)

A lovely woman from TExas (I am in IL) who was offering to 'resolve the situation for me') offered to schedule me for maintenance for a 4 hour block some 21 days from now (conveniently for me--on Halloween) even though THEY CANCELLED THE APPOINTMENT and still can't tell me why they didn't know wehre the product was. Right now--we are 'using' our range at our own risk--even though one customer service representative said it was fine to use it--'probably nothing will happen' (wow--feel safe there!)

Debbie of Carlton, MN October 9, 2009

Our church purchased 2 Sears cook top ranges about 3 yrs ago. They are made by Fridgidare. We recently received a recall notice for each one warning that there was a fire hazard. We called and made the necessary arrangements to have the recall repaired. The repairman showed up and refused to completely fix the recall, and install the parts we had rec'd and were told needed to be replaced as part of the recall.

We called again and were told that they would send an emergency shipment of the needed parts and reschedule the repair. We clearly told them we needed the stoves in a week for a large conference we were having at the church. When the parts didn't come, I called again, and was told they were never shipped and was told they would be shipped out that day and would receive them 2 days later and scheduled and repair on that 2nd day.

When the parts did not arrive again I called Sears again and asked for the UPS tracking number since the technician was due in less than an hour and I didnot have any parts for him. They refused to give me a tracking number and was told the part would be there that day at least 4 times, when I pressed the issue about the tracking number, the Sears employee hung up on me.

When I called back I had to start all over with another "customer service representative" and they conveniently would put me on hold and disconnect me back to the automated phone system. This happened many times over a 2 hr period of trying to resolve this problem. When the repair technician called to say he was ready to do the repair, I had to tell him there were no parts.

When he checked into it himself, he said the parts were never shipped, they had been lying to us for weeks. Now the parts would not be available for 2 more months. In order to use the ovens for our conference we have to make sure the electric breakers are turned off whenever the stoves are not in use.

SEARS SERVICE IS NON EXISTANT. They blatantly lie to you and refer you from dept to dept and give you the run around. Even though I have always bought Sears appliances in the past, I will never purchase anything from Sears again. And many people in our church are aware of the atrocious customer service they offer.

jim of negaunee, MI September 28, 2009

My electric range (Frigidaire) is 5 years old...it is a model #glefs777csa. In June '09 I was fortunate to notice the oven element was glowing red without being on...tried to schedule Sears for repairs, but they didn't show when they were supposed to (no call either). Rescheduled with the same result...finally I replaced the circuit board myself only to have it fail again today Sept. 26, 2009. The oven element stayed on and would have caused a fire if it went unnoticed! Guess what? The part was warrented for 90 days...mine lasted just over 100. I would not recommend either this brand (frigidaire) or purchasing anything from Sears! Customer service is overseas (judging from the language difficulties), and the repair service never even bothered to call.

PC of Victoria, BC September 23, 2009

We purchased a Kenmore Range, model C970-440633, serial number NF64212517 from Sears Victoria, BC location in November, 2006. Almost exactly 3 years later, the stove stopped working completely. When we opened up the back of the stove (after disconnecting it) we discovered that the power leads had never been properly attached to the terminal block - all the nuts were loose, one of the screws holding the termial block to the stove was missing, and the one in place was also loose. The only good connection was the ground wire. Red, black and neutral (white) leads all showed some degree of charring and arcing where the terminal had been incorrectly installed. Sears refuses to provide any support. We replaced the power supply wire - correctly tightening the connection block terminal, and attaching a second sheet metal screw to secure the block to the stove frame and returned the stove to active duty. Also, two of the power leads (red, black) showed signs of significant corrosion where too much insulation had been stripped off and dissimilar metals interacted. This incident clearly shows that there was absolutely no quality control inspection done.

Linda of Quesnel , BC September 16, 2009

Our Kenmore convection stove is not old but it is defective. The top panel has already had to be replaced due to the heating vent overheating and blistering/burning the finish. Several days ago I was cooking and turned the double burner off. I left the kitchen only to come back and find that the element had not shut off. I could not make the element turn off and my husband had to go to the breaker and turn the power off.

The stove worked okay until two days ago when the same element repeated this incident with the same result. I called the service department. When I did so they told me that they would send a technician out the next day as it was a definite emergency but that because the one year warranty had expired earlier in the year I would have to have to pay the 115.00 plus the cost of any parts needed. She said it sounded like I would need anew burner ceramic top but she couldn't tell me how much. She made an appointment for the next day.

I later cancelled this appointment as I thought I would be better off selling the stove and buying a different brand. Unfortunately there is a safety factor that prevents my doing this. I called the Quesnel store and talked to the manager. He told me that the stove was a manufacture problem not a warrenty problem and Sears should do something about it due to safety concerns. He gave me the corporate affairs phone number 1-888-275-2040 to call. He said that if they do nothing I should take it to Consumer Affairs.

I called Corporate affairs who told me that they would put me over to the service department. When I told her that I'd already talked to them she said that I needed to talk to the people who oversee the service department upstairs. I explained again what was happening to this service department. The person checked to make sure there was not a recall on my stove. There was not. She then said that there was nothing she could do and that it was not their problem but that of Fridgidare who makes the stove.

She gave me a number to call Fridgidare. This number was no longer in service. I called her back and got another number to call. They in turn gave me 1-800- then press 1 then 1 again. This turned out to be the Electolux Company. An electronic message stated that if my problem was with a Kenmore product...to call Sears I have gone full circle and still have a very faulty stove.

This stove was a replacement for a gas Kenmore that Sears could not fix due to no service person in Quesnel at that time. I had been told at that time to pick up my stove and cart it an hour and a half away to another town for repairs but my husband is disabled and could not do that. Is there no justice? Sears now have an ongoing repair service in Quesnel but I am stuck with an electric lemon.

Beth of Houston, TX September 11, 2009

Sears called me to schedule the delivery of an oven range. It was scheduled for two days from the phone call. the man on the phone specifically said I was second on the list and the delivery time was between 8 & 10 AM. When they didn't show I called them. They told me there was no record of him giving me a time frame and then told me they don't schedule the times until 6 & 9 PM the night prior. They repeatedly told me he shouldn't have told me that but refused to move my delivery up.

I then had to reschedule with the installation company, causing even more problems. If you work yourself or have other constraints on your time, I highly recommend that you call these people repeatedly to confirm your time. I had scheduled time off to deal with this and ended up having to take even more time off to fix the mess. Loss of wages, working over the weekend to catch up from time lost dealing with this situation.

Thomas of Port Orange, FL September 8, 2009

Kenmore Electric Range Model 790.96212407 Purchased 9/13/05. Inner glass on oven door shattered during normal operation. Replaced glass for 71.00. More concerned about defect ans/or safety hazard

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