Sears Master Protection Agreement

Sears Master Protection Agreement

October 7, 2005

Mr. Alan Lacy, CEO Sears, Roebuck and Company 3333 Beverly Road Hoffman Estates, IL 60192 Dear Mr. Lacy, I would like to bring to your attention the absolutely abysmal service being provided through your Sears Master Protection Agreement at the time it is most needed. I purchased an agreement that runs through May 2006 after purchasing my current home in late 2003. The agreement includes the heating/air conditioning system that had been newly installed by the previous owner in 2002. Your service technician provided routine annual service both last year and this year. On September 21, 2005, the air conditioned completely ceased to work. I called your service department and scheduled an appointment for the next day, September 22. On September 22, the technician determined that the compressor was no longer working. After several phone conversations that he had with someone, he indicated that they did not have this part in stock and would order one. He then made an appoint to return to install the part for September 30. He indicated that the part would be shipped directly to me and if we were lucky it would arrive by September 28. I asked why he did not obtain the part locally and he stated that it was not available. After the Sears technician departed, I called the local company (Beyer Boys) that originally installed the air conditioner and asked if they had a compressor. They indicated that they did not keep them in stock but there were two Trane dealers locally and they would check the availability. They also confirmed that the compressor was still under manufacturers part warrantee. The local installation company called me back indicating that a compressor was available from one of the two sources locally and that they could install it for me for $1300. Why can they get the part and Sears cannot? On September 22, it was officially 99o here in San Antonio, Texas. On September 29, I responded to a call from Sears asking if the part was in yet and if not, they would schedule another appointment. Needless to say, the part was not in although I was assured that it was on order with a delivery date of September 30. The installation appointment was re-scheduled for October 3. In my conversation with the scheduling person I pointed out that the temperature had been 99 o on the 24th, 105 o on the 25th, 103 o on the 26th, 102 o on the 27th and 104 o on the 28th. Further, I indicated to your representative that I was not staying in my house except to do household tasks because I could not stand the heat any more (duh! Like this is surprising.) And that I had boarded the family pets to get them out of the heat. I also told your representative that even if the temperatures became more moderate that I was allergic to rag weed as well as other pollens and needed air conditioning to avoid an asthma attack. Your representative could not provide me with any reason for not obtaining a local part except that it was a Sears policy that did not allow the purchase of parts except from certain vendors. On September 30, a Sears representative called me with the news that the part was on back order and would not be in until October 10. Once again, I indicated that given the extreme heat I did not understand why they could not get a part locally. The person I spoke with indicated that they would make a note on the computer to request permission to procure locally. I pointed out that the part was still under the manufacturers warrantee and they would not be out money for it. To date I have not heard anything concerning this supposed request to procure a local part. On September 29 and September 30, the temperature was 90 o and 92 o. My brick house still had an internal temperature of around 90 o and was not fit for habitation. On October 1, I called Sears once again to inquire if I could speak to someone in management. Much to my amazement (and perhaps yours at corporate level) I was informed by Ray (one of the local customer relations personnel that the 1 800 person shuffled me off to), that he did not have a supervisor but would put a note in the file indicating someone in management should call me. I have received no call from anyone in management. I also learned that the compressor part was back ordered until October 15 rather than October 10. Yes, I did attempt to rent window air conditioners to provide relief until the parts arrive. The Sears representative that handles the approval for these rental reimbursements could not provide me with the name of a local rental company but gave permission to rent four window units. I spent at least an hour on October 1, calling rental business but the two business that have residential air conditioner rentals have rented all units out and are not getting more in this season. It may be hard to imagine in Illinois but it is air conditioner weather here and will be through the month of October. It was at least 92 o today, October 5, and I am still denied use of my home because of the extreme heat. Do I have to wind up in the hospital and take you to court to get some relief? I have purchased several thousand dollars of Sears tools and appliances for my current residence during the past two years (refrigerator, freezer, washer, dryer, new vacuum cleaner) as well as the Master Protection Agreement. Under the Master Protection Agreement, you promised to maintain and repair or replace those items to include the air conditioning system in a timely manner. I in turn will make you this promise. Those purchases will be the last time I make any purchases from Sears. I also promise to share my experience with as many people as possible to include family, neighbors, friends and internet users for years to come. I can also promise that my vow to never purchase anything from Sears will cost the company far more than a local action to procure a compressor that is covered by the manufactures warrantee. The delay (nearly a month by the current estimate/guesstimate) in repairing my air conditioner which is denying me full use of my home and has made me appreciate Biblical descriptions of hell first hand, is unacceptable. I would like you to authorize the local Sears to make a local procurement of the necessary parts to fix the air conditioner or reimburse me for hiring a local firm that can find the part and perform the repair job by the October 10. I also demand reimbursement for the boarding of my pets during the worst of the heat. I am attaching a copy of the receipt for boarding to date. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your prompt response as well as to getting the air conditioner fixed. k

Comment On This

The Sears Repair service is atrocious! We had a heater (purchased from Sears) failure in January that was diagnosed the same day as a broken fan motor by a local service company. Since the heater was still under parts warranty we contacted Sears who told us it would be aweek before they could come. Once there, they have to order the part and you have to wait until it comes in before you call to make an appt for the service rep to come out to install. Needless to say Sears had issues ordering the part. We found out the local service company had placed the order for the part the first day and it was sitting in a warehouse 5 miles away waiting. We had to direct the Sears technician to go pick the part up that had been ordered by the other service company in order to get our heater fixed. We went without a heater for 4 weeks during Jan/Feb and some 30-40 degree temperatures.

Also during that time, our Whirlpool washer (also purchased from Sears in 2006 with the Master Protection Agreement) started to leak. We called Sears and after the standard delay in getting the service man there to confirm the problem, he ordered the part. He did a bandaid fix to allow us to wash without the major leak it had. When the part came in, it was the wrong part. 5 more parts later (all the same wrong part) and 3 months later, we still don't have a fix for our washer. The service man was back out yesterday to confirm the wrong part and decided to clean the filter. Now the washer doesn't wash at all showing an electrical problem. We are stuck waiting for Sears because of the darn Master Protection Agreement.

I will NEVER buy another agreement from Sears. I'm not convinced the products are failures, just the service but because of this, I will never buy another appliance from Sears either.