Complaints.com

From: Message Author
Date: Saturday, 30-Jun-07 13:08:11 CDT

Business Info

Sears, San Bernardino CA, Freezer:

I purchased a Whirlpool upright freezer online from the Sears site.

It was supposed to be delivered here this coming Monday. Yesterday

(Friday) I started getting automated reminder calls from Sears to

tell me my freezer was going to be delivered Monday, but they didn't

have a delivery time for me yet, which they would have the evening

before my delivery. Fine so far. Except then they wanted to know if

someone over the age of 18 was going to be home when the freezer was

delivered. Keep in mind this is all automated, because perish the

thought Sears would have human contact me. Well, since I don't know

what time the delivery will be, how can I possibly say whether or not

someone will be here??? There's no human to respond to, so I just

hang up.

Today, another automated call. I hang up because I can't answer their

question anyway, and my plan was to just discuss it with the human

(hopefully) who would call me back Sunday evening. The second call, I

noticed a part of the recording that said something like, "Please be

aware, we're not able to reschedule your delivery time." So I'm

supposed to put my entire life on hold, and the business that I run,

so I can have my freezer delivered within a two-hour time frame,

granted, but I don't know what the window is until the night before.

Do I cancel my appointments? Do I tell my son to skip school for the

day? Should my husband stay home from work?

I call up Sears Home Delivery again to see if I can locate a warm

body. My call is disconnected before I can even speak with anyone.

I call back. Finally, a human, stateside. Except she just doesn't

grasp what I'm saying. I explain that their recording is asking me

for something that I don't have (whether or not someone over 18 will

be here), and that I don't want to get these phone reminders. I'm

trying to explain that if I don't answer the recording's messages,

I'll keep getting the reminder calls. She keeps telling me that they

won't know the time until the evening before. I KNOW THAT, for

heaven's sake!!! On the other hand, I don't want to keep getting

these reminders because I'm not answering their automated question!!!

By now I'm so frustrated and angry, I'm crawling out of my skin.

Still, while I sound angry, I'm not yelling and I'm not cussing

(perhaps I should have). I tell her we're not communicating very

well, and I'd like to speak with her supervisor. Instead of patching

me through to a supervisor, she proceeds to argue with me and tell me

we're communicating just fine and why don't I think we're

communicating very well? I repeatedly ask for a supervisor (at least

5 times), and she just keeps arguing with me. Finally, I hang up on her.

I call back and speak with a new woman and angrily tell her I'm

canceling my order. She asks why. I tell her briefly. She apologizes

and takes my cancellation.

Customer Service 101: At this point, you give the customer to a

superviser who can, hopefully, talk the customer out of cancelling

the sale by listening to the customer vent, soothing the customer,

abjectly apologizing for the customer's experience with assurances

the employee will be dealt with, and potentially averting the

cancellation of the sale at the very least, and the loss of a

customer and the potential loss of every person that customer shares

their experience with at worst.

Nope. Just, "I'm sorry you feel that way, here's your cancellation."

I just now realized I received no confirmation number. Dang. That

means I'll likely get a call tomorrow night confirming my

delivery...and my card will not be refunded without another go 'round

with Sears. Dang.

I'll never shop there again (and I was getting ready to buy a high-

end stove and refrigerator in the next month), and I'm in advertising

and marketing, so I will be happy to broadcast my experience to

everyone who will listen.

Theresa Mesa

Mesa Design House

http://mesadesignhouse.com

909-335-9710

Hours: By appointment only