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 ...

Jeanne of Antrim, NH July 21, 2009

We called on Thursday July 16, 2009 because our hot water was not getting hot all the time. Sears sent out a service rep. who adjusted the mixing valve the next day. It seems ok when he left. As the day went on we lost our hot water. We called them at about 4:30 pm and let them know we had no hot water. They said they could not send anyone out until the next Wednesday. I explained my husband is disabled and we really need the hot water. They insisted they could not get anyone here until next Wednesday beacause of our location. I explained that a rep. was there that day and could not understand why one could not come back. The person I spoke with checked with their routing dept. and still said no one could come until Wednesday.

We have been without hot water from Friday July 17th and still do not have it. We cannot do laundry, dishes, or take a hot shower. This is unacceptable and unhealthy! We paid almost 1,000.00 for a maintenance agreement and are not getting the service we should!

Lanny of Aberdeen, WA July 21, 2009

In 2006 I purchased a heat pump and maintenance ageement from sears. It worked ok for about the first year, and then it quit. Since that time it has never worked correctly. I have told the many service technicians that come out this fact, but they always say they are the one that can fix it. However that never happens. In the winter it won't put out heat (last winter it went down when the temperature was near zero degrees and no one came out for a month to fix it.

Finally they sent a service tech out who apparently, judging by the electric bill, set it up for the heater inside the house to generate all of the heat). He then claimed that it was fixed, but after only a short time it quit again. they sent several technicians out, but it has never worked as it is supposed to. It doesn't put out heat in the winter and it doesn't put out cool air in the summer. About the first part of June it quit and it has not cooled the house since. Nor does the heat work now. They again sent out a tech from one company to assess it, and then they sent out a tech from another company to fix it. (we were told when we called that this is Sears policy). The last tech they sent out didn't talk to the first one and didn't even know that there had been another one out. He tried to fix it and left saying that he would have to order parts.

He had the parts sent to our residence and told me when they came to me make another appointment and he would come out and put them in. They showed up abou a week later and after another week he came back, put in the parts that he had ordered and left. It still didn't work, but he didn't stick around long enough to find that out. It quit all together after that. The tech called about 2 weeks ago for a follow up ( I had called Sears in the meantime), and I told him it still wasn't working. He promised me that he would be here last week to fix it. But he never showed up.

I called him today (Monday)and he said he was really busy but he would be here Wednesday. He promised that this time he wouldd fix it. I have now heard that so many times that I just laugh. I have contacted people in Sears's service department many times, even speaking to someone who said that they were in the head office in Florida. I am at my wits end here. Who do I contact now? the better business office? The Attorney General? This is the only source of heat and cooling in this house.

Donna of Camas, WA June 23, 2009

On April 25, 2009 I called Sears Repair Center because the dishwasher at my mother's home was not working. My mother passed away on April 24, 2009 so I was extremely busy planning her funeral. My mother had been a customer of Sears for 60 years and has always purchased her major appliances there plus she always paid for extended warranties. The customer service rep made an appointment for April 27 between 8am and 12pm. Since I was planning my mothers burial, I made arrangements for a friend to take off work to be at the property between 8 and 12. At 12:01 pm "Gilbert" called to advise me that he was "overbooked" and would not be able to make it that day.

I immediately called Sears 800 number and explained to them that I needed them to come out today. At 1:30pm Gilbert arrived, took one look at the dishwasher and said he needed to order "a soapdispenser". The problem was not the soap dispenser--the problem was it was not going through the cycles. He did not even bother to check it running the cycles! I was told that when the part came in, we could call for another appointment. The part arrived on April 30, 2009.

Since I live in Washington state and my mother lives in California, my daughter-in-law made an appointment for Friday, May 8, between 8 am and 12 pm. She gave them her cell number so they could reach her directly since the phone at my mothers residence was now disconnected except for messages. At 11:50 am Gilbert left a message on my mom's telephone number that he would not be able to make it because he was "overbooked" My daughter-in-law called him, insisted that he needed to come as soon as possible. He said he could be there around 1:30 pm. At 3:45 pm Gilbert called my daughter-in-law and stated he was about 5 minutes away. She had already left the house and said she would reschedule.

She called to reschedule again for Wednesday, May 13 between 8 am and 12pm. Guess what? At 12:30 pm Gilbert called (again) and stated that he would not be able to make it. Sears has now wasted 12 hours of our time. We have not heard from them in regards to this or any type of apology. I will never buy another Sears item and am making it my life goal to tell everyone I know.

Laurie of Green Bay, WI July 11, 2009

Purchased a dishwasher at Sears. I called to schedule a free yearly maintenance appt. They could not schedule an actual appt. time which was understandable, so I was scheduled between 1-5 pm. So I made sure I was home. About 4 pm the repair company called to tell me they were on their way. Ten minutes later they called to tell me that he could no longer come, the job had been "pulled" from him and that someone else would be calling me.

Well, no one called or showed that evening. When I called to see what was up and voice my complaint the best they could tell me is it was a computer glitch. As for rescheduling the next best thing they could do was 2 weeks later between the hours of 8-5! They just gave me another reason to go back to supporting my local appliance dealer.

Peggy of Richland, MI July 14, 2009

I called the Sears 1-800 service number on Monday July 13, 2009 requesting a service call for a dryer that was not heating. The guy on the phone had difficulty locating our personal information in their system at first because it was listed under an old address and phone number. After giving the old address and number he located our information listing the washer and dryer we purchased. He then updated our personal information with our current address and number. After that he indicated that the next available service date was Tuesday July 14, 2009 between the hours of 8:00AM and 5:00PM. Needing the dryer fixed I accepted the terms. He repeated the date and time twice while trying to sell other service options to me. His end of the line then disconnected. I wasn't concerned since he indicated twice that I had an appointment for the next day between 8-5.

After sitting and waiting all day I called the 800 number again on Tuesday July 14, 2009 at 5:30 PM to ask why the service guy never showed or called. Oddly enough the operator located my current address and number in their system but didn't show any other information about the washer/dryer or the scheduled appointment. Does Sears really hire people that are that incompitent? I asked to speak to a supervisor and was connected with someone named Emily. I indicated that I was not happy with the situation and had rearranged my schedule to accomodate their service timing. Since they had messed up on their end I was asking for a shorter service waiting time on the rescheduled appointment. Emily indicated that they could not offer that and that they only offer between the hours of 8-5, therefore I will spend another day waiting for service. Not only that the next available service date isn't until Friday July 17, 2009. The day before my scheduled family vacation.

joni of rock valley, IA June 24, 2009

In february of 2005 I purchased a kenmore front load washer and a dryer from sears. I also purchased an extended warranty. I was foolish enough to think that would be the best way to protect myself. I have had so many serious problems with this washer that I cannot even begin to count the weeks that I have been without my washer since then. I am now in the last few weeks of my protection agreement and I will be happy when it is finished. In may my washer quit again and after many wrong parts ordered and being misled about appointments I finally got it fixed four weeks later.

Not even two weeks after that it quit again. It is supposedly the control board, which they just replaced a few weeks before. The tech comes in, after waiting five days, orders the part and tells my 13 year old they will be back on wednesday (this was friday), what they didn't tell him is that it would be a week from wednesday-12 days later! Once I realized it I spent several hours on the phone with countless people at the repair center.

One rep let it slip that the service men only go out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The reps repeatedly tell you to call back when the part comes and schedule a sooner appointment, but in reality they do that to get you off of the line because I had two admit to me today that they have no sooner appointments. I then had to go through serveral more representatives to try and get the appointment made for the morning because we will be leaving town on the first.

I mentioned the lemon law to one of the representatives and I was told that they had come like 12 times in the first year. I don't know if that is correct or not but I have no faith in anything that this company tells me anymore. The representatives will lie to you, the repairmen come once every week or two and usually not until the last minute of the day, and no one really cares. The exteneded warranty program is a joke.

Susan of Calgary, AB June 19, 2009

My fridge began to fail on May 11th. We phoned Sears on May 12th, and they claimed that a technician would come out that day to diagnose the problem. The technician did not show, nor did anyone contact us to reschedule. We phoned again on the 13th, and this time a technician did phone. They diagnosed the problem as an issue with two inexpensive parts. The parts were not in stock and they claimed they would place a rush order and contact us to schedule another service when the parts arrive. The fridge limped along, and we never heard back from Sears.

Finally on June 10th, the fridge failed completely. We phoned on the 11th and were told a technician would come on the 12th to fix the fridge (apparently the parts were in -- don't know why they didn't contact us). Well, the techician didn't arrive on the 12th, and despite our continued efforts to contact Sears and get an updated ETA, we received no information, nor any call back to reschedule. So we phoned again on the 13th and were told that we would have to wait until the 17th for a technician to fix our fridge.

Finally a repair technician came on the 17th, and determined that the problem is not the problem originally diagnosed. He told us that the problem is the compressor, and that there are no compressors in stock. He also told us that we only have a 5 year warranty on the compressor, despite us being told on our May 12th call that we have a 10 year warranty. I have phoned 18004MyHome about 12 times, and have been transferred to "customer service" about 8 times. I have scheduled four service appointments, have had only two honoured, paid to have a problem misdiagnosed, waited a full month to receive notification of whether the parts we required were in or not, never received notification, finally phoned Sears again because the fridge outright failed, then learned that the original diagnosis is wrong. I have also sent an email to the home Sears email address and originally received a response from "Karen" saying the matter will be resolved immediately. This was on Sunday, June 14th when I received her email. I have yet to receive any further communication from her, which really does not constitute resolving the matter immediately, does it? I once again phoned and was transferred to "customer service" on June 17, and was told that someone from the Calgary service centre will be phoning us to discuss options and compensation. They were to phone my husband's cell phone by 4pm June 18. Of course, no one phoned. In addition, "customer service" did not inform me on the 17th that the part is no longer available. So I phone again today - June 18th, which is now one month and six days from the original request for service. I spoke with an extremely belligerent "customer service" agent who tells me that I was already informed by the technician that the part is no longer available and that ball is essentially in my court to deal with the issue. I corrected the "customer service" agent because the technician told us the part is not in stock, not that it is outright unavailable. Please note the customer service agent did not mention on the 17th that the part is no longer available.

I was told today that Sears will only give me a depreciated value for the fridge against a purchase of a new one from Sears, which is unacceptable to me. I would have a fully functioning fridge at no cost to me if Sears still stocked the part, and I would expect the part to be available for the 10 year warranty period. The warranty can't be honoured simply because Sears chose to no longer stock the part-- why should that cause me to incur addition cost? I asked who I may call to learn about what the depreciated value would be, and of course, I can't call anyone. I must wait for someone to call me. I have been waiting since May 13th for Sears to call me to tell me when the parts to fix my fridge will be available. I have had two service appointments not be honoured, then have been told that I must go to the end of the queue and "re-wait" my turn for service. I was informed by email that someone would resolve my issue immediately, and have had no further communication from that someone. I was told someone would phone us today to discuss options, but of course, no one phoned.

And now I have to wait for someone to phone to tell me how much Sears will value my fridge against the purchase of a new one. I am not holding my breath for that phone call. Sears customer service agents are rude and have use bullying tactics to try to get customers to give up on their issues. 500 food loss 70 for original diagnosis 150 for thermo-electric cooler 2000 for a new fridge

Echols of Lantana, FL June 19, 2009

We purchased a dryer from Sears 3 years ago and within that first year we had to have the computer circuit board replaced to the tune of 380+. WE purchased their warranty and service contract at a cost of close to 1,000 and each year the same part breaks and our dryer is unusable. I scheduled a repair call on Tuesday and was told that the first availability would be on the coming Friday. I informed the phone technician that it was the same problem as before and to make sure that the repairman had a new circuit board on his truck when he came on Friday between 8am and 12pm.

8 calls were made to the appointment line between 10am and noon on the repair day to find out what time the repair man would arrive - I was told that we would get a call directly from the service technician within a 1/2 hour to tell us. He never called prior to the noon hour to inform of his arrival. At 1:30pm (1 1/2 hours after his supposed arrival) he called to say he was on his way, I asked if he had the part on his truck and he said no because he did not know what was wrong with the dryer. I told him that the phone appointment center was to inform him of what was wrong and that he was suppose to come prepared to FIX IT not ASSESS it!

He never did show up, he did call to inform me he ordered the part but that it would take a week for it to arrive and once it does, call; and reschedule for it to be fixed. I vaguely remember going through this same ordeal LAST YEAR for the SAME problem.

I called SEARS customer service and requested to speak to a manager and they did nothing excpet fluff me off. Whay can't these big corporations like SEARS be penalized for lying to customers when we pay good hard earned money to them to help us when we need it? I am quite aware that I am not the only person that complains about SEARS so way are they not more compassionate about their customers wants and needs?

Mary of Lake Oswego, OR June 10, 2009

RE: PCMB10000EH Portable Air Conditioner. I am unable to solve a problem we hare having with Customer Service Department and support. On June 2, 2009, I purchased the above-referenced Unit from Sears on June 2, 2009. At time of order, it was agreed that the Unit would be brought into the house and unboxed, and not left outside on the porch. On June 9, 2009 the Unit was delivered; damaged and left on the front porch without notification of its arrival. On June 9, 2009, I called Customer Service Department and advised them of the damage and situation. I was told by Representative that I would need to order a second Unit from Sears using a credit card. Furthermore, I would not receive credit to my account for the existing damaged Unit until it was delivered back to the warehouse. I told Representative that an additional charge to my credit charge is unacceptable and I intended to pursue this matter further. I also informed Representative that there was no way we would accept the Unit in its current condition. We are completely dissatisfied with customer service support pursuant to resolution of this issue.

Robin of Roundup, MT June 10, 2009

I scheduled repair for 2 appliances, they told me the day between 8am and 5pm. I said that was unacceptable; could they give me a smaller time frame so I would not have to miss a whole day off from work. They informed me the morning of my apt someone would call me to give me a better idea of the time. By 9 no one called so I called & spoke with Dixie #8014642 who would not even address the issue & talked over me. She just kept apologizing, but could only inform me someone would call by noon. She refused to let me talk to a supervisor. Did not say they would be here, only call.

I'm frustrated. I can't make ends meet now, I should not have to take an entire day off from my work. Sears needs to change their policy! I asked from 8am to noon or noon to 5pm but they would not. Sears has good products, even the service is OK if I just did not have to miss a whole day of work for what will be less than an hour of their time.

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