Sears Lawn & Garden

You have to hand it to Sears. The fading legend has a remarkable ability to alienate some of its oldest and best customers. There are also some interesting questions about the warranty on Sears' garden equipment.

Stephanie of Longwood, FL January 6, 2010

On December 4th, 2009 my husband purchased a garden cart online for me as a Christmas present. It was to be delivered on December 15th. It is now January 5th and we still have not received it. We have spent over 4 hours on the phone with Sears customer no service with promises of call backs and status updates, but only received one, and it was to tell us that there was nothing they could do.

It wasn't until the 15th that we learned that Sears didn't actually have the product in stock and that they were shipping it through a third party vendor. It wasn't until January 4th that we learned that it can take up to 30 business days for products from a third party vendor to be delivered. Why would we purchase something if there was a chance of it taking over a month to be delivered? When we talked to Sears on the 4th, all they could tell us was that their systems were down (again) they couldn't see the notes on our order (again), and that they would send our issue to the "missings" department.

Why does Sears even have a "missings" department? And why is it the customer's responsibility to keep calling to find out the status? Also, why does it take a month for something to go to the "missings" department? Once Sears takes your money it is their responsibility to make sure that you are happy and that you receive your product. I have spent over 5000 at Sears in the last three years and they have lost ALL future business of mine. Unfortunately this is the third time I have received horrible customer service from Sears. The first time, they installed my dishwasher crooked and told me I would have to pay to have them come back out and fix it. The second time, the handle fell off of my oven (multiple times while I was cooking) and it took well over a month for them to deliver a new one because they kept sending the wrong thing.

On top of it all, I had to pay for it. Sears did compensate me with a gift card...I purchased a water filter and haven't shopped there for over two years until now. Lesson learned. I have filed a better business bureau complaint as well as sent a certified letter to their vp in charge of public relations and marketing. I would love to work for Sears so I could turn their customer service department around, because it doesn't get much worse than this.

Rajagopalan of Ballwin, MO December 27, 2009

I bought a Craftsman Lawn(Push) Mower from Sears in March 2008. I was mowing my front yard which is flat. Suddenly I heard a sound and saw that a piece broke off from the engine. It was still under manufacture warranty. I sent it to Kansas City repair facility of Sears. A technician called me to argue with me saying that it happened because of my fault. I never heard any customer service person trying to prove that a customer is wrong. Technician is not willing to accept the fact that Craftsman products lost their quality. i have been a sears customer ever since i landed in the United States in 1989. I have been buying Sears products for all these years. Now I don't think I will trust Sears or recommend Sears to any of my friends or relatives.

alex of clarksville, TN December 13, 2009

I ordered a mulch cover for my Sears riding lawnmower on the internet Sears Parts Direct site. When the part came it was missing the attachments to hold it to the mower. I called several times and they said they would fix the problem. I ended up sending the part back and haven't heard from them. I have all the receipts and the return shipping receipt. I am desperatly trying to get them to send me the correct cover for my mower because the one I have is broken.The sdvertized part sid it would fit BUT it not only doesn't fit it came missing the attachment parts so if it did fit, I would have no way of installing it on my mower. I am TIRED of repeatedly calling them and being transfered from person to person. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brenda of Crawfordville, FL December 11, 2009

I've purchased a Sears Lawn "Tractor" every 10 years for 30 years mowing the same area during this time. In 1987 was my 1st bought, my last in 2007, deck has fell off 3 times & I've had 2 new mowers during (2007-2009) this last mower purchased. Called repairs & tech said all it was...needed new blades, bought blades still cut funny, after deck broke called tech out agin he said still blades, I told him to look down at welding were it broke....he said oh my, you do need a new deck. GO figure!! The last time (3rd time) the deck fell off the tractor came to a dead stop in 6th gear & I lunged forward, fractured a rid, pulled ligiments in right leg & many bruises. I'm asking that they recall but to know avail. PLEASE BEWARE OF THESE MODELS:Craftmans Lawn Tractor 21 HP,46" mower 6 speed #917.28723 & #917.289240 Red in color

John of San Augustine, TX November 27, 2009

My wife and I purchased a lawn tractor and the extended warranty. Over 2 months ago the mower deck fell apart and it took about 6 weeks of calling after numerous rescheduling and my complaining to get a service man to check out the problem. He said that the deck had to be replaced and ordered the part. This was a month ago. The replacement part was delivered in 6 days. During this month there has been many more appointment cancellations and re-schedulations. It was scheduled for today through your home office and then canceled. We have been loyal Sears customers for many years purchasing many large items. This is very discouraging and I cannot get any answers for this problem. Why? This is a problem that must be taken care of by having the tractor repaired or possibly take the machine back since the warranty cannot be backed.

Richard of Frankfort, KY October 27, 2009

I purchased a new walkbehind lawn mower on 4/02/09 at the time they offered me a 3 year inhome warranty for 300.00 dollars that was to be sent back to me in the form of a 300.00 rebate just buy mailing in my sales slip. I have been trying now for over 6 months to get this setteled whith no luck.

I have got the same story for 6 months that they are working on it i was also given a fake store maneger and a fake name i guess just to get me off the phone at the time. I placed a call to Sears on 10/26/09 just to get hold of a very rude person in the service department. i would like ti know what or how i can get this problem resolved. They did mail a check 3 months ago for 60.00 dollars that i have not cashed. Thanks for any help you can give.

Gerald of LaSalle, IL October 21, 2009

I had got an inter-changable head Craftsman weedeater from my family for my birthday in September. After reading the directions, putting it together and filling it with gas, I started using it. It have a very loud pinging noise that seemed like something was wrong. I took it back and started it in the store, the employees agreed that something was wrong. I upgraded the weed trimmer to a higher priced model (that the clerk recommended to me and went back home to put it together. The 2nd one did the exact same thing.

I went back in to Sears to complain and they took the trimmer back. I have always liked Craftsman and thought that maybe this store got a bad batch of weed trimmers, so I traded it for a nice mulching blower/vac. I was using the blower the 1st time and had maybe had it on for 10 minutes or so when I noticed that my jacket had just caught on fire from the blower. It ruined my hunting jacket, melted my cell phone and scared me to death.

I took the blower back into the store and they wouldn't do anything for me. They took my blower/vac without any refund. They just gave me a slip of paper with a claim number. They took pictures of my melted phone and jacket, but wouldn't replace anything. I got a letter in the mail from Sedgwick CMS (the company who handles these claims for Sears) stating that they had received notice of this claim.

This has been weeks now and I have no blower, coat or phone yet. I have called Sears, Sears corporate and Sedgwick CMS 40-50 times. I have left at least 4-5 voicemails for everyone from the Peru Store manager to the Sedgwick rep and have gotten no return phone call for over a week. I can't beleive how they treat a loyal customer of theirs. It shouldn't take them long to be out of business.

I cannot afford to buy another phone, blower or coat, but thats not Sears problem, obviously. All I wanted is what was coming to me, not a big settlement or anything. I'm very disappointed with Sears and wouldn't shop at one of their stores if they gave me the items.

kristie of Pottstown, PA October 6, 2009

when going to use a weedwacker that we had less than a year, it wouldnt start. My husband went to local sears store where it was purchased and was told it would be sent out and taken care of.

When it was at repair center they called to give me 2 different estimates and wouldnt fix it under the warranty that was purchased with it. I was told it was our fault that there was no oil in gas and engine seized, however local sears said they empited tanks prior to shipping to repair center and did not understand why it wasnt repaired.

After talking to manager at sears pick up area was told they would resend it and have manager involved. Manager was not involved as far as i can see and they dont stand behind their products and honor their guarantees!

Richard of Williamston, MI September 26, 2009

Just an update on my POS 2+ year old Model #276900. I'm on my 3rd mower deck (this one out of warranty) as the 2nd one failed (mower deck metal tears) in exactly the same place as the fist one which is approx. 6" away from the left rear mount. Also the cross member where the anti sway bar attaches snapped in half making it unusable. I devised out of 1/4" coated steel cable a crossed mounted stabilizer that spreads the weight out evenly across the new deck.

The front left spindle weld failed (only one small tacking point to begin with). The fuel line developed a leak and had to be replaced. I've had to use screws and anchor to keep the hood cowling on as when i went to change the oil and opened it, it fell off. They need lemon laws for [poor products] like this. 650.00 for a new mower deck. 10.00 to have spindle welded. 15.00 for materials to replace anti sway bar. Replacing the fuel line.

Raymond of Garnet Valley, PA September 24, 2009

My 5 year old sears lawn tractor with 173 hours just died. The service man indicated that my model had a defective camshaft that simply wore away...420. Never, never buy sear Tractor or any tractor with a Briggs and Stratton motor... Youll be buying it twice.

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.