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Sears Auto - General

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Richard of Winchester CA (1/12/05):
I have gone to Sears for years for all my auto repairs on both my vehicles. In just the last 3 months I have purchased tires and had a brake job done there. Today I went to Sears regarding a squeak under my hood. I thought it might be the alternator or a belt. The service request was written up and immediately a technician by the name of Duke looked at the car.

While sitting in the waiting area I noticed that the indivdual that wrote up the service request, Miguel, also ordered a "battery service" for $10. I went to Miguel and told him that did not request any such service. He stated that it was needed and had already been completed. I told him that I didn't authorize the service. He began to argue and became beligerent and started using profanity ("F" word). I asked for his full name and he would only give me his first name, I told him to contact the Manager at once and he refused.

The manager eventually showed up at 1000 and I relayed the episode to him. He apologized but that was all. He allowed the employee to continue working. I called Sears Corporate office and filed a complaint. This was an obvious example of fraud and poor cutomer service. PS: I was at Sears for 5 hours and they never repaired the squeak. The mechanic, Duke, told me to take it to Precision Tune!

Michele of Daphne AL (12/6/04):
I brought my Chevrolet Suburban in for an oil change and a radiator flush. At noon, Dub, a customer service rep, called me and told me that the mechanic working on my vehicle had wrecked it into a lift. The back window was knocked out and there was a SERIOUS dent in the back door next to a hinge. But that this all would be fixed and my vehicle driveable because I was going on a road trip the next day.

I arrived at Sears at appx 4:00 pm to pick up my vehicle. However, when I saw the "little dent" in the back door I was really mad. I informed them I was NOT removing my vehicle until it was fixed to look like it did when I came in. Bennie, the Manager kept assuring me it was in "driving condition" as they had replaced the back window. I am a mother of 5 children and work as a legal videographer. I again told them I wanted a rental car and my car fixed. They put me in a Pontiac Grand Prix - which in NO WAY compares to a Suburban and assured me my truck would be ready on Saturday for pick up - and that we would "settle my bill" when I returned.

FINALLY at 6:00 they had me in the rental car and ready to leave. Saturday, my truck was not ready. It is now Monday, and I just received a call that it was ready to be picked up and again reminded of my balance for the oil change and radiator flush. What a crock! You don't wreck someone's $36,000 vehicle and then act like it was her fault and make demands on her!

I will NEVER use Sears again. Bennie was very demeaning throughout the entire rental car ordeal, saying how it was "just a little scratch" and acting as if I should not be upset. I drove around a go-cart for a week (Pontiac Grand Prix) and could not even haul all the groceries home in one trip.

Vedvati of Glendale NY (11/29/04):
My car was having problems starting. I took it to Sears Auto where they claimed to check out battery, starter etc. I paid for their services and they gave me a report stating indicating there were no problems with my car. Next day it was again having problems with starting. I took it again to same location and same report was given. The same night I was driving and my car started to smoke. My car was towed and another mechanic now states that problem most likely came from the starter which Sears auto center reassured had no problems.

Lori of Springfield IL (7/4/03):
A couple of months ago, my 5 year old left the door open on my 1994 Mazda 626. I went to Sears to get a new battery. After the battery went in, I started the car and the alternator locked up and the belt broke. They put a new alternator, belt, and two front tires on. The cost was about $600.00 Then the car was vibrating and making a thumping noise. When I took it back to Sears, the man told me that they had noted on my 5-page receipt that the left cv joint was cracked.

I told him that the car was fine when I took it in, except for a dead battery! On one page of the receipt, they signed off that the cv boot was o.k. My question was why they didn't tell me about the cracked CV boot when it was in the shop! The man said he would fix it, but at my cost because they didn't do anything wrong. When I told him I expected them to cover at least part of the repair since I don't believe the problem was there until they put new tires on, he handed my keys and motioned toward the door!

I left and e-mailed Sears corporate customer service. In addition to the bad service, I mentioned that I had spent over $4500.00 at Sears in the last 6 months--washer/dryer, grill, freezer, table saw, etc. 2 weeks later, I had no reply, so I called. We did a 3 way conference with Tom, the Auto Center manager and he told me to bring the car in and he would take care of it. As I was driving, I realized that the thumping was actually on the right side, not the left that needed the CV boot replaced. I told this to Tom.

The next morning, a woman called to say that there was nothing wrong on the right side of the car. The left would need a new wheel bearing and a new cv boot joint in addition to new brakes all around. They couldn't do the wheel bearing replacement, but could do the rest for about $550.00 -- but since I had to come back, they would give me a 10% discount. Whoopee!! Instead of paying one more cent to Sears, a friend called around and found another repair shop.

The morning they started working on it, they called to tell me that when they went to remove the hubcap from the right tire, a lug nut came off with it. Then, they found that two more lug nuts were completely missing! This is after being in the shop twice since they put the new tires on. He aslo said that that he didn't believe the tire had been removed since it was installed because of the shape of it due to the missing lug nuts...it had only been driven from Sears directly to his shop and it would take more time for this shape to develop.

In other words, they never checked that tire at all. In addition, the wheel bearing did not need to be replaced. The brakes were a little worn and would need to be replaced, but not immediately. I had told Sears that I needed this car to be safe because I had 3 small children and my husband was in the Marine Corps and had been called to active duty. I didn't want anything to happen out on the road alone with the kids. I had the cv boot replaced on the left and the lug nuts replaced on the right and everything was right again.

Luckily, the tire was repaired before it actually fell off and caused injury. I had literally told him that it felt like the tire was going to fall of when I drove it. This was a huge saftey issue and I am upset that they put my family in danger.

Herbert of Trotwood OH (4/13/03):
I took my 1996 Blazer into Sears to have the radiator power-flushed and had my engine blown by the tech doing the power flush after he put more then 18 quarts of anti-freeze into my vehicle when it only called for 12 quarts. I tried to talk to the service manager about this but he stated that there had to be something wrong with my Blazer before I drove into Sears. It is true I drove it there but I could not drive it away after they serviced it. After putting 18+ quarts of anti-freeze into my Blazer with none coming out onto the floor or back into the tank they had hooked up to my Blazer the service tech got in and started my engine filling up Sears service bay with white smoke from my exhaust, as oil poured out of my air filter onto the floor.

I have lost several days of work. And my vehicle has to have the engine replaced, at a cost of more then $5000.00.

Yet another case for Small Claims Court.

Iraida of Teaneck NJ (3/6/03):
I took my car in to have checked because steering wheel and gas pedal was vibrating so bad I was afraid to drive. Mechanic found half shaft was broken on the right side and needed to be replaced. He warned me about driving on the highway (which is what I use to get to work). I asked him about how much a 1/2 shaft would cost and he said about $70.00 plus labor. When I brought it in on Sat. 2/15 I was told by Denise at front desk the price for a 1/2 shaft was $199.00 plus $79.99 to install plus $59.99 for wheel alignment. I agreed to repair since I was already there and needed to have work done (I was afraid to keep driving with broken shaft).

When work was done and was about to pay I saw the invoice for the part that was delivered and it was for $69.99 - I asked Denise why I was being charged $199.00 and was told by the mechanic (Denise walked away) it was because Sears gets a discount for ordering in bulk, but if I were to go purchase myself would have to pay $199.00. I believed him and paid my bill of $359.32 - Then I called Napa Auto parts to find out and was quoted $79.99 - I was overcharged by sears $119.01 - Never again will I trust them and will do research before taking my car to them.

John of Crossett, AR, writes:
On May 22, 1999 I took my 1985 Buick Park Avenue to the Sears Auto Center in Monroe, LA, and had new struts put on the rear of my car. When the job was completed I drove back to Crossett, Arkansas which is about 50 miles and before I could get in Arkansas, the car started pulling to the right and riding rough and making loud noises every time it hit a bump.

The next day I returned the car. Now, it took all day to try and fix the problem. finally the car was ready, I drove back to Arkansas and about a month later, the same thing occurred again. Back to Sears.

This time I went back in the shop where the mechanic was working and watched while he check the struts. It was discovered that they were put on wrong so he had to cut a hole so that they could fit. After all day again, finally my car was supposed to be ready to go.

About a month or so went by and the car started making that same noise so I returned for the third time, so again they checked the struts and some parts were not put on right or left off.

Well, about a month or two passed and the same-old noise started again, I went back to Sears for the fourth time and this time they had all new mechanics so they removed the old struts and put on new ones.

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