In September 2009, I purchased 3 garage door openers (Model # 139.53918D). These door openers come with a 3 year limited warranty which states that "replacement parts for any defective parts on this product will be furnished. free of charge. You pay labor."
Recently the clips that hold the touch bars that you press to open the garage door on one of the wall units broke and you can no longer open the door from the wall mounted unit. The only way you can open the door is with the remote control in my vehicle. The touch bar on one of the other units is starting to wear out, and it is difficult to activate the door opener because the posts on the back of the opener have worn and are no longer long enough to make contact with the actuator buttons on the printed circuit board.
On June 14, 2011, I placed an order with the parts department with the part number and placed an order for two replacements. I paid via debit card for the two replacement parts and shipping. On June 16, I noted that money had been deposited into my bank account. When I called my bank to investigate, I was told that the money was sent to my account by Sears. I call Sears at 18004 my home and was informed that the money was returned because the part was no longer available. I then asked to speak with Customer Service who after holding for 23 minutes transferred me to Customer Solutions. Customer Solutions informed me that I would have to speak with the manufacturer and provided a telephone number to call.
I called the number provided and was informed that I had reached Chamberlain Service Department, and they could not help me because they only work with distributors.
I telephoned Sears again. This time I was informed that since the part was no longer available, there was nothing they could do. They suggested that I purchase replacement control units. I informed them that after reviewing the warranty, it appeared to be Sears responsibility to replace the parts under the warranty. The Customer Solutions representative informed me that since the replacement part was no longer available, the warranty no longer applied. I was told that manufacturers could not afford to maintain stocks of replacement parts forever. I responded that I would agree if it were a product that I had purchased 5 or 10 years ago. I am not buying that response for an item I purchased just 21 months ago. Th agent informed me without any apology that there was nothing they could do in this instance.
If the replacement part is no longer available, I would expect Sears to honor the warranty and provide a compatible replacement control unit under the warranty at no cost to me.
This is now the fifth time I have had an issue with Sears products and service. The Sears name used to stand for reliability and service. Sadly, I have come to discover that these are no longer available at Sears. Your warranties aren't worth the paper they are written on.
