Sears Dryer delivery and installation
Complaint
MAK
Country: United States
My 91 year old Father ordered from the local Sears (here in Grass Valley, CA) a new dryer and paid to have it delivered and installed. I'm grateful that I was around and had the wherewithall to look behind the dryer to make sure it was hooked up correctly. IT CERTAINLY WAS NOT !! In fact, it was an overall disaster and a life threatening hazard.
The delivery/install guys were here no longer than 10 minutes (my Father said) and never showed him how, or offeed to show him how to operate the new dryer. I know there's not much to operating a dryer, but it is still a good customer service practice...maybe they could have asked him if he had any questions about it - they did not.
The dryer vent (aluminum accordian type) was smashed into the whole in the wall so badly not even a speck of dust could be blown out, much less the normal lint. We had also paid for the new vent and ended up having to repurchase another as well as a power cord. I'm not talking about a large $ amount on those items, but the delivery and install fee was over $80.00 - a Gorilla would have done a much better job.
I called the salesman who sold us the dryer and told him what had happened. He offered no immediate solution/remedy except to have another rep come out end of next week to see if he could fix/reinstall. My father said that was unacceptable and to come pick up the dryer. This they could do the next day! I told the sales rep that I feel they should credit us the dryer AND THE DELIVERY/INSTALL FEES, to which he said they could reimburse the dryer cost but not delivery and install fees. Unacceptable to my Father, I called the bank and put in a complaint having the
issue investigated. Approx. one month later, my Father was credited the fees and dryer cost. The bank was so much easier, faster and more pleasant to work with.
The store manager said he could not refund the deliverly/install fees saying "Corporate just wouldn't understand giving us a discount like that ($80.00) off services. DISCOUNT?!! Intially, we were going to keep the dryer and have someone else do the re-install, and had just requested credit for the $80.00, but after a comment like that I told him to keep his dryer and keep all the other products and services Sears has to sell. After this fiasco and after being a good, loyal, long-term customer of theirs (for over 20 years - Dad has a home filled with Sears products from appliances to sliding glass doors) both he and I and anyone who will listen to this story will no longer be anything but a non-customer and will discredit Sears products and services whenever Sears is mentioned. I wonder what Sears Corporate will think about that?!! Word of mouth travels faster than most people know. I'm following through with my promise to that store manager - I will make a public statement about the poor treatment, lack of consideration, and non-existant customer service we have experienced. One bad apple does spoil the whole bunch - so to speak. Sears will never get a good thing from us again. The store I'm talking about is just a little poe-dunk town store - just a tiny bit larger than the old fashioned "mail order" stores that were around 50 ++ years ago - before the "department/mall stores" most of us are familiar with. I would tend to think their customer service tactics would be much better in the small store and much more important to the store's creditability. What a SHAME !!
Lastly, I found out that Sears subcontracts these delivery/install people and they'd have to be refunded by that company, and complain to that company about their people. That would be too much work for them, Sears, to get involved with....since they really have no control over that company's employees and just wouldn't be cost effective for them to pursue those Gorillas. They may find out differently when I publish another written statement to our "gated, retirement community" here, warning all these elderly to be very concerned if they've had or will be having Sears has to offerl
Thanks, I feel a bit better now.
The delivery/install guys were here no longer than 10 minutes (my Father said) and never showed him how, or offeed to show him how to operate the new dryer. I know there's not much to operating a dryer, but it is still a good customer service practice...maybe they could have asked him if he had any questions about it - they did not.
The dryer vent (aluminum accordian type) was smashed into the whole in the wall so badly not even a speck of dust could be blown out, much less the normal lint. We had also paid for the new vent and ended up having to repurchase another as well as a power cord. I'm not talking about a large $ amount on those items, but the delivery and install fee was over $80.00 - a Gorilla would have done a much better job.
I called the salesman who sold us the dryer and told him what had happened. He offered no immediate solution/remedy except to have another rep come out end of next week to see if he could fix/reinstall. My father said that was unacceptable and to come pick up the dryer. This they could do the next day! I told the sales rep that I feel they should credit us the dryer AND THE DELIVERY/INSTALL FEES, to which he said they could reimburse the dryer cost but not delivery and install fees. Unacceptable to my Father, I called the bank and put in a complaint having the
issue investigated. Approx. one month later, my Father was credited the fees and dryer cost. The bank was so much easier, faster and more pleasant to work with.
The store manager said he could not refund the deliverly/install fees saying "Corporate just wouldn't understand giving us a discount like that ($80.00) off services. DISCOUNT?!! Intially, we were going to keep the dryer and have someone else do the re-install, and had just requested credit for the $80.00, but after a comment like that I told him to keep his dryer and keep all the other products and services Sears has to sell. After this fiasco and after being a good, loyal, long-term customer of theirs (for over 20 years - Dad has a home filled with Sears products from appliances to sliding glass doors) both he and I and anyone who will listen to this story will no longer be anything but a non-customer and will discredit Sears products and services whenever Sears is mentioned. I wonder what Sears Corporate will think about that?!! Word of mouth travels faster than most people know. I'm following through with my promise to that store manager - I will make a public statement about the poor treatment, lack of consideration, and non-existant customer service we have experienced. One bad apple does spoil the whole bunch - so to speak. Sears will never get a good thing from us again. The store I'm talking about is just a little poe-dunk town store - just a tiny bit larger than the old fashioned "mail order" stores that were around 50 ++ years ago - before the "department/mall stores" most of us are familiar with. I would tend to think their customer service tactics would be much better in the small store and much more important to the store's creditability. What a SHAME !!
Lastly, I found out that Sears subcontracts these delivery/install people and they'd have to be refunded by that company, and complain to that company about their people. That would be too much work for them, Sears, to get involved with....since they really have no control over that company's employees and just wouldn't be cost effective for them to pursue those Gorillas. They may find out differently when I publish another written statement to our "gated, retirement community" here, warning all these elderly to be very concerned if they've had or will be having Sears has to offerl
Thanks, I feel a bit better now.
Comments
https://www.facebook.com/tony.eaton.106
About o im 21 i have my own apartment in seabrook i graduated the aggie in 09 i work for a delivery company for sears called exel i deliver large appliances all day from 6 till when ever we finish the money is good sears sucks i dont work for them so i can say that. the customers suck worse...DO NOT BUY [***] THAT DOSENT FIT IN YOU DAMN HOUSE. measure everthing b4 you have something delivered theres nothing worse than delivering a 240lbs front loader washer up 2 flights of stairs only to bring it back down again. also never argue with a delivery man atleast not me i wont think twice to take your [***] back and make you wait till it can be rescheduled i dont put up with bull [***]. buuuuuut anyways yea lifes good jobs suck but hey $120 a day is worth it i think.I'm also the bassist in a band called the exits check out out on Facebook
o Lives in Hampton, New Hampshire
o Male
I went to Best buy to get my refrigerator. They delivered it yesterday.. the men that came are Best Buy delivery men. They were professional & polite. They stayed as long as it took to get the job done correctly and ASKED if we were satisfied . CUSTOMER SERVICE is not dead.. it's at Best Buy.. and that's who has my business from now on