Sears, Their Lemon Appliances and Piss-Poor Customer Service

Sears logo 2004 public domain via Wikimedia Commons

I have lived here since January, 2011, and the Kenmore refrigerator we have was less than a year old at the time. It had been worked on twice already at that time. Since I've been here, it has been worked on at least three times more. I complained online and was contacted by someone from Sears who said they would fix it. My roommate, who owns the house and the refrigerator, called them and they sent out a technician, who ordered parts. The parts came. The next technician came and put the parts in, and told us that the refrigerator was a lemon, and that Sears isn't going to do anything to fix it. Since then, we have continued to have trouble with the refrigerator. The gasket magnets aren't strong enough to keep the freezer door shut properly, so it leaks cold air. When you close the bottom door, the freezer door pops open, so we have to keep it shut with tape and keep a towel on top to keep the cold air from escaping. It is constantly freezing up, which causes us to have to remove all the food and manually defrost it, even though it is supposedly frost-free.

Recently, a friend on Google+ complained about having a problem with Sears delivering and installing her new stove, so much so that she cancelled the order and bought the same stove from Lowe's, which was delivered and installed within 2 days. A social media person from Sears posted to her thread saying they wanted her to contact them, because they would like to fix the problem. DEJA-EFFIN-VU!!!  So I posted this:

 

Didn't expect a reply, but Sears posted THIS:

OMG!! This is obviously an attempt at damage control because their ineptness and unreliability and overall smarminess is now splashed across social media. Notice, they said "possible" solutions, so that is their out. If they can't fix it, there is no possible solution in their eyes. Still, I'd love to see my roommate get a new fridge, because it's cost me money in ruined food and a lot of aggravation in the past two years. So I wrote to this Susan person. This was my email:

"My name on Google+ is Deborah Aldridge, and I live with one of your customers, XXXXXX. I've been here since January 2011, at which time the refrigerator was relatively new and already having problems. It STILL has problems. We have had several service calls since I have been here, and dealt with this department before. We were promised a solution, but there seemingly is none. The technician has told us the refrigerator is a lemon, but you have a policy not to replace refrigerator unless it has 3 service calls within the first year. Jillaurie Crane purchased the extended warranty, which has probably run out by now. The refrigerator is still broken.

The freezer is leaking cold air, and always has. We now have to keep the door shut with tape and keep a towel on top to keep the cold air in, because in addition to the leaking, when you close the bottom door, the top door comes open. The magnets in the gasket are not strong enough to keep it closed.The gaskets have been replaced twice since I have been here, along with other parts. The doors have been adjusted. The freezer periodically freezes up, because it does not defrost properly. Water is constantly dripping down into the refrigerator area. We were told that we have to remove all food from the refrigerator when it freezes up and leave it open for 48 hours to defrost it. We have done this several times. A 3-year-old refrigerator should not have these problems. It is clearly a lemon and should be replaced with a reliable model, if you even have one.

I have read complaint after complaint about lemon Kenmore appliances and your stubborn refusal to replace them. I have never in my life heard of such poor customer service. My family had Kenmore appliances for all my life, and they hardly ever had a problem with them, or with dealing with Sears when we did. The refrigerator in my old house was a Kenmore from 1982, and ran well until 2010. I only had to replace the freezer and door gaskets once, and the technician said these were the original gaskets for the fridge, so they lasted for over 20 years. NO refrigerator should have to replace gaskets twice in less than three years.

My roommate, who purchased the refrigerator, can be reached at XXX-XXX-XXXX. Her name is XXXXXX and we live at XXXXXX, FL XXXXX. I truly do not expect you to do anything even remotely suitable about this, but I will give you one more chance to do right by her, because she is a wonderful person who deserves to be treated with respect and not have you hide behind fine print and bullshit. BTW, she is so dissatisfied with this purchase, that she has cut up her Sears card and says she will never shop there again, and I feel the same. This refrigerator needs to be replaced with something that works -- not another lemon model.  We are women over 60 without a lot of money, or we would have already replaced this piece of dog doo appliance.

I will be blogging about our experience with you and sharing it on social networking. I will inform the world about what you do this time around. I know as a bankrupt company, you probably don't really care about your reputation anymore, but obviously, some people still shop there, and they deserve to know the truth before they go through the nightmare we have been through.

So we shall see what comes of this. I am sharing this because I want people to see exactly what thousands of people who have purchased Kenmore appliances in the past years are going through. If you search the BBB or Consumer Affairs, you will see complaint after complaint with no resolution. My roommate deserves a new refrigerator for all we have been through. Let's see if Sears stands behind their name this time around.