Searing Pain
Oh my god. So, I haven't posted about this story yet because it keeps getting more interesting. Right now, everything is good - about a week ago, I thought I was going to lose my mind.
So, as you know, I own my own condo (as of October 20th). It came with a 20+ year old incredibly small combo washer/dryer that basically destroyed my clothes.
For Christmas, my parents (very nicely) decided to buy me a new washer and dryer.
Early December: We go to Costco, Home Depot, and Sears browsing for units.
We decide on a decent washer and dryer by Kenmore at Sears. Curtis, our sales guy, says that they are offering 10% off the price of both units.
At checkout time, Curtis then informs my parents that they need to open a Sears credit card to get the 10% savings. My parents, while miffed, decide to do so anyway and schedule the delivery for 8 days in the future (a Saturday).
Mistake #1: Bait-and-switch at the store.
The day before they are supposed to deliver, the automated Sears phone system calls me and tells me they'll be delivering them between 10:30 and 12:30 the next day. So, silvrayn and I stay at my place instead of going to hers so we can be present for the delivery.
Saturday morning, 9 am, I get a phone call from Sears - this time it's a real person and not their automated system. They say that since the manufacturer didn't ship it to them, they can't deliver it until Monday. I get very upset on the phone but OK the delivery.
Mistake #2: Rescheduling the delivery for a probably-bogus reason (who delivers washers on a Sunday?) ONE HOUR before you are supposed to deliver it.
Monday, my mom waits at my condo and lets in the people from Sears. They attempt to install my washer and dryer, but are foiled by the fact that they will need a 6' long power cord instead of the usual 4' long cord. They refuse to install it and instead make me go to Menards, pick it up myself, move the (stacked) washer and dryer out from the wall, screw in the longer cord, and move everything back. They didn't even finish installing the dryer exhaust tube but they certainly took my existing washer/dryer combo off my hands.
Mistake #3: Not being able to handle a slight variation in the configuration of the washer/dryer. They wouldn't even use the one on the existing dryer. Your job is installing these - you figure they could keep some spare cords around.
Needless to say, at this point I had been waiting a long time to do laundry so that I could use my new nifty units. I grab a load of my most essential clothes (underwear, nicer shits, jeans) throw them in the washer, add detergent, hit start, and go play video games.
1 hour passes and the wash isn't done. In fact, the only thing it's done is fill up the tub with water. It turns out, after much inspection, that this is indeed all it is capable of doing - it can't spin, can't drain, and can't even add detergent. Now, I didn't realize that it didn't know how to drain until the next morning when all of my clothes were still sopping wet.
Mistake #4: Not testing your washers before they are delivered to customers.
I dutifully call the customer service department, and after explaining the situation to them (on Tuesday), they say they can have someone out the next day to fix it.
I think, much like the maligned Walter in The Big Lebowski: Great! My troubles are over, Dude.
Oh boy, was I wrong.
So, Sears has a 4 hour repair time window - their automated system called me and said they'd repair my washer sometime between 12 and 4. My mom headed over to my place at 12.
At 3, I got a phone call from Sears - they can't make it today and will have to reschedule for tomorrow. I was very, very harsh on the phone at this point - I had no clean clothes and my mom has had to waste several hours of her time.
Mistake #5: Rescheduling your repair appointment -three hours into it-.
So, Thursday, they said they'd be there from 8 to 12, and my mom waits. Eventually (around 12) a repair lady named Amber showed up, who readily admitted to being a n00b. She had to have the Sears support people walk her through how to open up the washer/dryer (it says how to do this in the instructional DVD that it came with, BTW).
After diagnosis, she announced that it needs a new "control board" and a new "motor", and that it will take up to two weeks to get the parts delivered.
Mistake #6: Sending out unqualified repair people with no parts inventory for your own brand of washer (Kenmore is a Sears' brand.)
My mom doesn't like this, and since we just purchased the units (which have a money-back guarantee) she says to not bother with the parts - we would just exchange them for new units. The repair person insists on ordering the parts: "We'll just order the parts anyway, and when they show up, if you've already exchanged for a working washer/dryer, then you can just leave the parts boxes outside and we'll come back and pick them up."
My condo association has strict rules against leaving random shit outside, so we insisted on not doing the parts.
Mistake #7: Not having a competent repair parts delivery system.
So, Amber finally left, and my mom scheduled the exchange for the following Tuesday. (That was last week.) She is sick of waiting for their punk asses, so she makes sure that they call her before they pick it up (she lives about 1 mile from my condo) so she would be ready.
Guess what? They never called ahead. I got a phone call from some asshole with a very heavy Russian accent saying that nobody was present at my condo. I said to call my mom, and he did, but not before he hung up on me. My mom tells him to wait 5 minutes and she'll be there. Does he wait?
No.
They just leave.
Mistake #8: I can't even describe how obscene this is - it's really three mistakes in one, but it's so telling. They tell my mom to reschedule for Wednesday.
Meanwhile, my dad and mom have both been through every channel you can imagine trying to get Sears to make this right. They've talked to managers, managers' managers, and even their managers, and gotten absolutely nowhere.
My mom rescheduled all right - she tells them to take the stupid thing back - we have no need for Sears.
Mistake #9: The left hand is not talking to the right hand; errors in delivery cannot be resolved by sales people.
Wednesday night, I get home (slightly intoxicated) from bowling, and I notice there are two large brown boxes sitting on my steps. I originally thought they were Christmas presents, but no - guess what they were?
A control board and a motor.
Mistake #10: Not listening to your customer and shipping the parts despite their insistence that you should not do so.
Well, so, the removal actually went reasonably well. They took the washer and dryer and also both spare parts. (I was thinking of fun things to use a powerful electric motor on, but really, I didn't want to endanger my parents' credit.)
Friday, my family and I went to Warners Stellian, a local appliance dealer. There, we dealt with Angela (at the Southdale location) who knew her stuff. She was exceedingly helpful and made sure everything went smoothly as we picked out a (more expensive) ASKO washer and dryer.
They said they could deliver it on Tuesday (today).
As Walter would say - Our troubles are over.
Well, Sears had one last gasp of idiocy - guess who called my mom this morning?
"Hi, this is Amber, I'm here to perform the repair on your Kenmores!"
Jesus!
Mistake #11: Showing up to repair a washer and dryer that don't exist.
Well, guess what? Warners Stellian delivered my washer and dryer exactly like they said they would. I'm doing a load of whites as we speak, and all is going swimmingly.
My mom spent over 16 hours of her life waiting for Sears. I am really glad that I didn't try and take time off work to get it taken care of.
I really, really fucking hope that indeed, my troubles ARE over. I have never been so excited to do laundry in my life.
So, as you know, I own my own condo (as of October 20th). It came with a 20+ year old incredibly small combo washer/dryer that basically destroyed my clothes.
For Christmas, my parents (very nicely) decided to buy me a new washer and dryer.
Early December: We go to Costco, Home Depot, and Sears browsing for units.
We decide on a decent washer and dryer by Kenmore at Sears. Curtis, our sales guy, says that they are offering 10% off the price of both units.
At checkout time, Curtis then informs my parents that they need to open a Sears credit card to get the 10% savings. My parents, while miffed, decide to do so anyway and schedule the delivery for 8 days in the future (a Saturday).
Mistake #1: Bait-and-switch at the store.
The day before they are supposed to deliver, the automated Sears phone system calls me and tells me they'll be delivering them between 10:30 and 12:30 the next day. So, silvrayn and I stay at my place instead of going to hers so we can be present for the delivery.
Saturday morning, 9 am, I get a phone call from Sears - this time it's a real person and not their automated system. They say that since the manufacturer didn't ship it to them, they can't deliver it until Monday. I get very upset on the phone but OK the delivery.
Mistake #2: Rescheduling the delivery for a probably-bogus reason (who delivers washers on a Sunday?) ONE HOUR before you are supposed to deliver it.
Monday, my mom waits at my condo and lets in the people from Sears. They attempt to install my washer and dryer, but are foiled by the fact that they will need a 6' long power cord instead of the usual 4' long cord. They refuse to install it and instead make me go to Menards, pick it up myself, move the (stacked) washer and dryer out from the wall, screw in the longer cord, and move everything back. They didn't even finish installing the dryer exhaust tube but they certainly took my existing washer/dryer combo off my hands.
Mistake #3: Not being able to handle a slight variation in the configuration of the washer/dryer. They wouldn't even use the one on the existing dryer. Your job is installing these - you figure they could keep some spare cords around.
Needless to say, at this point I had been waiting a long time to do laundry so that I could use my new nifty units. I grab a load of my most essential clothes (underwear, nicer shits, jeans) throw them in the washer, add detergent, hit start, and go play video games.
1 hour passes and the wash isn't done. In fact, the only thing it's done is fill up the tub with water. It turns out, after much inspection, that this is indeed all it is capable of doing - it can't spin, can't drain, and can't even add detergent. Now, I didn't realize that it didn't know how to drain until the next morning when all of my clothes were still sopping wet.
Mistake #4: Not testing your washers before they are delivered to customers.
I dutifully call the customer service department, and after explaining the situation to them (on Tuesday), they say they can have someone out the next day to fix it.
I think, much like the maligned Walter in The Big Lebowski: Great! My troubles are over, Dude.
Oh boy, was I wrong.
So, Sears has a 4 hour repair time window - their automated system called me and said they'd repair my washer sometime between 12 and 4. My mom headed over to my place at 12.
At 3, I got a phone call from Sears - they can't make it today and will have to reschedule for tomorrow. I was very, very harsh on the phone at this point - I had no clean clothes and my mom has had to waste several hours of her time.
Mistake #5: Rescheduling your repair appointment -three hours into it-.
So, Thursday, they said they'd be there from 8 to 12, and my mom waits. Eventually (around 12) a repair lady named Amber showed up, who readily admitted to being a n00b. She had to have the Sears support people walk her through how to open up the washer/dryer (it says how to do this in the instructional DVD that it came with, BTW).
After diagnosis, she announced that it needs a new "control board" and a new "motor", and that it will take up to two weeks to get the parts delivered.
Mistake #6: Sending out unqualified repair people with no parts inventory for your own brand of washer (Kenmore is a Sears' brand.)
My mom doesn't like this, and since we just purchased the units (which have a money-back guarantee) she says to not bother with the parts - we would just exchange them for new units. The repair person insists on ordering the parts: "We'll just order the parts anyway, and when they show up, if you've already exchanged for a working washer/dryer, then you can just leave the parts boxes outside and we'll come back and pick them up."
My condo association has strict rules against leaving random shit outside, so we insisted on not doing the parts.
Mistake #7: Not having a competent repair parts delivery system.
So, Amber finally left, and my mom scheduled the exchange for the following Tuesday. (That was last week.) She is sick of waiting for their punk asses, so she makes sure that they call her before they pick it up (she lives about 1 mile from my condo) so she would be ready.
Guess what? They never called ahead. I got a phone call from some asshole with a very heavy Russian accent saying that nobody was present at my condo. I said to call my mom, and he did, but not before he hung up on me. My mom tells him to wait 5 minutes and she'll be there. Does he wait?
No.
They just leave.
Mistake #8: I can't even describe how obscene this is - it's really three mistakes in one, but it's so telling. They tell my mom to reschedule for Wednesday.
Meanwhile, my dad and mom have both been through every channel you can imagine trying to get Sears to make this right. They've talked to managers, managers' managers, and even their managers, and gotten absolutely nowhere.
My mom rescheduled all right - she tells them to take the stupid thing back - we have no need for Sears.
Mistake #9: The left hand is not talking to the right hand; errors in delivery cannot be resolved by sales people.
Wednesday night, I get home (slightly intoxicated) from bowling, and I notice there are two large brown boxes sitting on my steps. I originally thought they were Christmas presents, but no - guess what they were?
A control board and a motor.
Mistake #10: Not listening to your customer and shipping the parts despite their insistence that you should not do so.
Well, so, the removal actually went reasonably well. They took the washer and dryer and also both spare parts. (I was thinking of fun things to use a powerful electric motor on, but really, I didn't want to endanger my parents' credit.)
Friday, my family and I went to Warners Stellian, a local appliance dealer. There, we dealt with Angela (at the Southdale location) who knew her stuff. She was exceedingly helpful and made sure everything went smoothly as we picked out a (more expensive) ASKO washer and dryer.
They said they could deliver it on Tuesday (today).
As Walter would say - Our troubles are over.
Well, Sears had one last gasp of idiocy - guess who called my mom this morning?
"Hi, this is Amber, I'm here to perform the repair on your Kenmores!"
Jesus!
Mistake #11: Showing up to repair a washer and dryer that don't exist.
Well, guess what? Warners Stellian delivered my washer and dryer exactly like they said they would. I'm doing a load of whites as we speak, and all is going swimmingly.
My mom spent over 16 hours of her life waiting for Sears. I am really glad that I didn't try and take time off work to get it taken care of.
I really, really fucking hope that indeed, my troubles ARE over. I have never been so excited to do laundry in my life.