Sears Maintenance Agreements

Sears Maintenance Agreements • Pro • Con --- •Sears Complaints

Sears and other retailers large and small are fond of selling extended warranties and maintenance agreements on appliances, lawn and garden equipment, home electronics and other big-ticket items.

The common view is that these amount to little more than additional profit for the retailer. The complaints we receive from Sears customers tend to support this view but, to be fair, there may be many others who have had a good experience with their Sears maintenance agreement.

Pro and Con

Don't take our word for it. Read the comments of two Sears employes, one current and one former, arguing the pros and cons of maintenance agreements:

• Sears Maintenance Agreements - Con "WW," a former Sears employee, argues that MAs are a waste of money.
• Sears Maintenance Agreements - Pro "Zeener," a veteran Sears employee, argues that MAs are a good buy for some customers.

The Company's Advice

To all authors regarding Sears repair service,

I am sorry to hear about your unsatisfactory experiences with Sears repair service. My name is David and I work for Sears. I would like to assist you in resolving any service issues. Please contact me at searscares@searshc.com and we can find a solution that meets your needs.

Thank you,

David V.
Senior Case Manager

Consumer Comments

And the customers? Well, here's what they think ...

Thomas of Pembroke, MA February 26, 2008

I recently attempted to use my service agreement contract that I purchased at the same time that I purchased my snowblower. I was told that the best they could do was March 13th, 18 days from today. I questioned this unreasonable delay and the rep said that they had a huge backlog. I asked how they can legitimately sell these service contracts and expect the client to wait 18 days for a repair? The response was typical Sears sorry sir, that's the best we can do. I have used service contracts for other big ticket items (non Sears) and never waited more than a day or two. I feel this is certainly misrepresentation when they sell a service agreement that they service at their earliest convenience. This should be disclosed at the onset. I know that I would not have purchased this product and I suspect most buyers would do the same.

I cannot wait 18 days to have my snowblower repaired and intend to contact a local service center (not Sears) which I will have to pay out of pocket. I am a Senior and cannot shovel snow.

Robin of Frederick, MD February 25, 2008

I had renewed a service contract on a GE flat top stove. I called in for service and the technician came today 2/25/07. The technician came in my home with a huge chip on his shoulder ready to argue. He would not look at my stove at all. He insisted that warped pots were my issue and proceeded to take a level meant for walls and hold them to the bottom of my pots. He was so argumentative that I threw him out of my home. I then called Sears Customer Service and was basically told that they trust the word of their technicians. I decided that I would cancel the remainder of the service contract as Sears had breached it by refusing proper service to begin with. Later I was called by customer service and asked what I wanted. I told them to come repair the thing for free. I had no intention of reinstituting a contract for service with a company that so disreputably stands behind their service contracts. This was denied to me.

I do not have a functioning stove. The stove is only five years old and I'm probably going to have to replace the stove. In the interim I have no stovetop to cook on.

Alexander of Thornhill, OTHER February 25, 2008

We are forced to deal with Sears Extended Warranty Customer Service for all our appliances for 7 - 8 years now. It is amazing how low the level of their customer service is - and it is still getting lower. They miss appointments, they never call back when promised, they cancel appointments on the whim and schedule the next one in 2 - 3 weeks without giving any explanations, they show up at your door at any time they feel like (although the appointment was scheduled for another date/time) and leave you an indignant note that nobody was home - I can go on for hours.

The crown of everything was when technician finally came to inspect a cracked fridge door handle, he was pulling on it until he broke it off completely, told us that he has to order a part and that he will come again in 3 weeks. When the appointment time came, we've got a call that technician won't show up as he had an emergency (like he is a surgeon or something) and they don't know when he will come, and they promised to call back within an hour - it was 3 days ago and we are still waiting. In the meantime, for 5 weeks plus we are using a stool every time we need to open a fridge door to reach for the top where we are able to grab a doors edge.

What gets me the most is that there is absolutely nothing you can do. The customer service representatives would promise with robotic sounding cheerful voices that they would send an email with complaint to another department and that's the most they can do. When asked to be transferred to their supervisor they answer that the supervisor is not there and cannot take my call. This is just a tip of the iceberg - if I remember all ridiculous occurrences of incompetence, unprofessionalism and obnoxious ignorance of Sears Customer Service staff, I could write a book. And all this happens after they were getting approximately 800.00 every year for maintenance service from me for the last 7 - 8 years! I really could not imagine that a company like Sears would get so low in the level of Customer Service. It goes without saying that I'll never buy anything from Sears again no matter how hard pressed I am to do so and how low their prices are.

Combined, my wife and I lost wages for approximately 3 - 4 days when we've waited for appointments that never happened. We were forced to live without washer and dryer for a period of about 2 months, we are forced to continue opening the fridge door reaching for the top like contortionists - I am not speaking here of intangibles like our frayed nerves.

Hal of Gardners, PA January 22, 2008

Sears does not honor their extended warranties properly. They not only did not fix my washer, they broke it to the point where it can't be used at all and caused damage to my home. Then they failed to show up for a scheduled visit to repair the machine.

I have loss of use of a major appliance for over 1 month and water damage to my home.

Cecilia of North Hollywood, CA January 21, 2008

I bought a Toshiba TV from Sears about two years ago with a warranty, so on September 18, 2007, I took it to be repaired because it wouldn't turn on. I was told it will be ready about two weeks from that date. The due date comes and I call them up and they say it's not ready because they ordered the wrong parts. I didn't make a big deal about it but then time passed, months passed, and I was just getting tired of the same story; It'll be done next week. I decided to call their Supervisor but since I wasn't able to talk to him, one of the employees left him a message to contact me as soon as possible. I waited about three days and Nothing; I called him back just to find out that I was being discriminated against. He said I didn't call you because I was informed that you didn't speak English. I was so angry, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I let him know about my case; it was two months that I'd been with out my TV and the Holidays were coming, and he said we will get you a new TV if we can't repair it.

Finally, after three months of waiting, I got my TV back. It was a Saturday 29 of December 2007, but the dissapoinments were not over yet when I found out the TV was worse that before as the upper corners of the TV were oval shaped the picture colors were really dark and the letters on the left side margin couldn't be seen. My oldest TV look better. I took it back on the 31st, I also took some pictures of these descriptions, they took it in and this time it only took them a couple of weeks trying to fix it. When I went to pick it up last Saturday 19 of January. I requested to test the TV on site before I take it home and sure enough they didn't fix it completely, the colors were off and the margins were of too. The employees from the repair center were witnesses, they didn't hesitate to send it back, but at this moment I have reached a point were I don't really want to deal with this any more, I want my money back, I never want to have anything to do with these people.

I have spent over 10 hours on the phone, I've spent gas money going from store to store trying to find help, overall a lot of time, I was discriminated against. I spent the holiday without my TV and denied my guest. Discomfort for knowing that I was throwing my money in the trash.

Rhonda of Mililani, HI January 12, 2008

In April 2005, I purchased a Sony 50 big screen TV, and also purchased a 3 year extended warranty for 480. On New Year's day, 2008, the TV would not turn on. I called the customer service department, and when it was determined that I needed a service call, I was given an appointment of Jan. 12th. I was surprised that the wait was that long, but oh well - that's the way it goes. On Jan. 11th, as I was literally in the pre-op room at the hospital waiting for my 12-year old daughter to have surgery, they called and told me that they were overbooked and needed to reschedule. The next available appointment was on Jan 28th! I told them that was unacceptable, that my daughter would be home recovering from surgery, and that we needed the TV to be fixed asap. They were unable to give me a closer date, and took my name and number to have the parts department in Honolulu call me back. No one called. The following day, I called them again and was transferred to several different people, none of whom could give me a closer date. I told them that it was very bad customer service to have to wait a whole month for a repair. In the end, my appointment is still on the 28th.

In the meantime, I'll have to purchase a new TV so that my daughter will have some form of entertainment while she's recovering from her surgery. I thought about canceling my warranty agreement and asking for a full refund, but to my dismay, the cost of service and repair could possibly be more than that, and then I'd be out even more money. The bottom line is that they know you have no other choice but to put up with their crummy service. I feel that if they can't handle the work load, they should contract it out in order to give the customer the service they thought they purchased.

The economic damage is that I'll have to purchase another TV or rent one for a month until Sears gets their act together and comes to fix it. I'll never purchase another appliance from Sears again--I've learned my lesson.

Jason of West Carrollton, OH January 12, 2008

I purchased a LCD HDTV from Sears 9/2005 with their five year warranty. On November 15, 2007, a service technician was called based on the fact that the color on the TV was dramatically reduced and blurry. There were also yellow spots on the screen. My parents have the same TV and same part replaced: a light engine. The technician stated that was the problem, and the part was ordered. He also told us the part would be sent to Sears Service, and once it was received they would call to schedule. Normally, parts from Sears are shipped to your door, but apparently this is a 2000 part. We received numerous calls from Sears since November 15 trying to schedule our appointment. We ask if they have the part, and they tell us that it was shipped to our house. This continues for several weeks. They even sent messages to the technicians to see if they had the part, but no one responded. Finally, a technician had the part all this time, and repair was scheduled for 1/12/07 from 8-12. The technician (ID# 0233973) calls to tell us that the building in which the part is located is locked, and he cannot access the part--that is all that was said. From 9 to 11:30 I was on the phone repeatedly trying to find out what was going on. I finally talked to someone (service manager?) and he had me on hold--then said the earliest appointment time would be 1/22/07 from 8-5.

So, here is what we dealt with since 11/15/07... 1. Numerous calls trying to schedule appointment when we did not have the part. 2. No one knew where this 2000 part was 3. Numerous hours on the phone 4. Bitterness and anger of waiting and talking with someone different every time, repeatedly telling them the same story over and over 5. Numerous hours we wasted waiting on the service technician only to find out nothing could be done that day 6. Having a service call scheduled 1/12/07 but the technician cannot even access a part in a building that is supposed to open. 7. Dealing with these problems on to wait till 1/22/07 instead of getting the job done 1/14/07 because that is policy but there is no policy for customer satisfaction. WE JUST WANT THE PART INSTALLED! 8. We have waited 3 months for a part to be replaced!

Catherine of Bayonne, NJ January 5, 2008

I called for service on a Seara washer which I have a service contract for. My request for service was made on Dec 23, 2007, the earliest appointment was Jan 5, 2008. On Jan 5th, I was called at 9:30 a.m. to let me know the tech had called in sick and they would need to reschedule my appointment and the soonest date available was Jan 15th. This is a weekday and I would have to take the day off from work. So the next date would be the 19th. I spent an hour on the phone with various departments only to be put on hold and have the customer service manager refuse to get on the phone with me. After 45mins the supervisor got on the phone and told me she could not help me and that her supervisor was in an indefinite meeting. I called National customer service for Sears to file a complaint and they said they do not handle that and referred me back to the same number I was getting the run around from in the first place. I will never buy another product from Sears again and I most certaintly would not recommend buying a contract from Sears.

Carolyn of Winchester, VA December 26, 2007

I bought a Kenmore Elite Washer and Dryer in 2003. The dryer broke last January. I called in for a repair and was sold an extended warranty on the unit. I was very satisfied with the service and repair. About 2 months ago the dryer broke again, and the washer stopped spinning unless it was on the heavy duty cycle. I called for a repair on the dryer and asked about the extended warranty for the washer. I was told nothing could be done, but the serviceman would look at the washer. He fixed the dryer again and said the washer would need 400+  worth of repairs.

Needless to say, we are very disappointed in the fact that a washer that was less than 4 years old, with normal household use, was going to have to be replaced. The dryer has had 2 service calls and still takes about 90 minutes to dry a normal load. Our previous washer and dryer lasted us 12 years during which we had four children living at home. We tried calling Sears again and everyone we talked to just kept repeating: "We are sorry to hear that." I have a stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, TV, washer and dryer that I had purchased at Sears; when they are replaced, I can assure you that the purchase will not be made at Sears, nor will I recommend that anyone else buy at Sears. I am copying this letter to everyone in my contacts to ensure everyone I know is aware of our experience with Sears.

Rick of Eugene, OR December 25, 2007

SEARS Extended warranty service is terrible. Our dishwasher quit working on DEC 1. Called the warranty people and set an appointment for repair on DEC 21st. THIS WAS THE FIRST AVAILABLE APPOINTMENT. A & E apparently has no techs. After waiting 6 hours (8 to 2) and no show, we had to leave. Our appointment was between 8 and 12. They interpret that as me missing my appointment. I called and the next appointment availabl e was DEC 24. Home all morning. Called to see where the tech was and was told he wouldn't be out. They needed to reschedule.

No one called me. It was only after I called I was told they needed to reschedule. Next available appointment is Jan 5. We shall see. PLEASE DON'T DO THIS TO YOURSELF! I have had various maintenance agreements over the years, and all were acceptable. SEARS IS UNACCEPTABLE!



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