Respected sir/madam,
On June 13th, 2006, I phoned the Sears 1-800-4-MYHOME # to have my less than one year old Maytag Refrigerator repaired. I had little cold temperature in the refrigerator and the freezer compartment was totally iced over. My ice-maker had also stopped working. After finally figuring out how to speak to a person on your phone system (the robot kept me going in circles for 10 minutes), I made an appointment for one of the technicians to come to my home between the hours of 8:00 am and 5 pm. I took the day off from work to do so. The technician sat in the parking lot for at least 20-25 minutes before entering my home and then 'played' with the refrigerator for another 45 minutes while I was in another room on an important call. The tech stated that the doors to both the refrigerator and the freezer had been adjusted and all should go well from that point on. That night the refrigerator completely shut off and I lost a ton of groceries, for which I am still waiting to find out if I will be partially reimbursed for. The rocker arm to the ice maker, was just sitting loosely on top of the frozen lump of ice in the bucket in the freezer. The next day I re-scheduled another appointment for Friday, the 16th of June to which I took off another day at work. I then received a phone call at 3:30 in the afternoon, informing me that no tech was available to come out that day. Frustrated and angry, but desperate to have my refrigerator repaired (I am a single mother of three young children) I then re-scheduled yet another appointment for June 20th and had to lose another day's pay. The service tech named John was polite and thorough in his work, taking apart the entire freezer compartment and clearing out the vents of ice from the refrigerator to assure cool air passed once again in the fridge. I was pleased. However, I had called your 856-317-2500 line to speak to a customer service rep about having my money reimbursed from the loss of groceries and was on hold the first time for over 20 minutes when suddenly a service rep answered, said hello, and then abruptly hung up on me. I called the same number again, this time waiting over 30 minutes before a representative picked up and I was informed that I did not have that specific warranty for reimbursement. I asked to leave a message for a tech manager and hung up. I called back 2 days later when I still had not received a call back and after being on hold for another 36 minutes, left another message for a tech manager to call me. Three days later I called that same 856 # since someone had yet to get back to me, this time waiting on hold for over 45 minutes. By this point I was crying and very upset by the way I was being treated by your company, and yet, when I spoke to a representative named Debbie, she refused to put me through to a supervisor and abruptly hung up on me. I cannot even put into words how aggravated I was and still am. Less than a week after John fixed my refrigerator/freezer, the freezer was once again icing up so I called to schedule another appointment. This makes 4 days of work I have lost for this one product alone I had bought from you. The same technician, John, came to my home and after looking over the refrigerator/freezer spoke to someone in the parts and service department and then informed me that I will need to have both doors and hinges replaced. It will take 6-8 weeks for the doors and hinges to come in and in the meanwhile I'm left with what appears to be a defective appliance. I now have to take another day off on the 11th of July for the tech to come back out (for what purpose, I do not know), and to tell you that I am livid, is an understatement. I will probably have to lose at least two more days of pay before something gets resolved with this situation. I am not a happy camper. I still have not received word on the $38.77 I am seeking in reimbursement fees for only the groceries I lost that were bought the day before the first technician came over. I've never asked for reimbursement of wages lost or any of the other perishables and condiments I had to throw out due to your first tech's negligence. I am not a 'gold digger' or out to 'get' the company. $38.77 should not put your company in the 'red' so to speak, but it will sure put another meal on the table for my children. When I moved here with my children less than a year ago, I outfitted my house with all Sears products because I had trusted the Sears name and thought it to be reputable since it had been around for so long. I was wrong. There were many other places I could have gone to outfit my house, but I thought with Sears, I would get the care and concern your company used to be known for. I'm floored by the mistreatment by your staff, your antihuman phone system, and the complete lack of understanding of common courtesies and decent treatment of your clients by your company as a whole. You have proven to not be an honorable company in any way, shape or form, and I have already written two letters in the same amount of days to express my disappointment and non-satisfaction with all areas of service from your company. I have heard similar complaints from friends and family who've encountered identical situations as mine. If you don't believe me, try calling the 856-317-2500 line yourselves, and make sure you have nothing else to do. I was on hold for over an hour again today on that number, before the line just automatically disconnected me. To date, I have left over 5 messages and still have not received a return call. After this situation is taken care of, IF IT IS EVER TAKEN CARE OF, I will never again use or buy any Sears appliances, equipment or have anything to do with anything remotely related to Sears. I will be posting such information on the web so that others can see the kind of treatment Sears has resorted to. I suppose becoming a "Giant" so to speak, makes this company feel as though the "little" people that got them there, are no longer necessary or warrant the care and service your company was once noted for. Just remember, it is the public you serve, and when service goes out the window, so, eventually, will the "big" company. In closing, I add that I will write and call continually until I get some action or restitution in some form from your company. A phone call would have been the nice thing for someone at your company to do; it was all I was asking for, but apparently even that was too much to deign. Don't worry, you will hear from me though; again, and often.....