So Who's Our "Head-Ache"?

I was asked ... so here goes .... SEARS ... is the company that we've been having the headache with for over 2 yrs on our new GE stove, and since the fall on our new Carrier furnace. In web searching I found these 2 sites where you can search on Sears and come up with others with the same old problems.

I found 2 sites where you can do searches using Sears and the list is endless of complaints. I even found a few public Blogs with entries on them.

ttp://www.my3cents.com/ http://www.complaints.com/

I have found out the main call center has been moved, yet another company, off to an island in another 'world'. The techs are not allowed to carry the # of parts in the vans as before to possibly fix your problem on the spot, so you wait, weeks it may be, for the part to come in and another week for a tech to arrive. Of course living in the country only compounds the problem, since they only have a few techs that do the country areas and only on certain days. This we are finding with out especially with our furnace as there is only one guy who services propane operated ones and does runs to our area on certain days, at least if it's not an emergency.

Another thing we were told, is that if you place 3 calls in the 1st yr then they will consider replacing the item .... well we've placed more than 3 calls on our stove, however the 1st 3 weren't in the 1st yr.

Friday came and went, and no call back from the Snr Manager about what action is going to be taken to solve our furnace issue. TG it still works, it's still COLD out, although what we don't know is, is it working up to snuff?

Obviously not would say .... I think I'm going to put the special electronic filter back in, close that door and see if we get more system malfunctions on the thermostat.

After reading many of the complaints on these sites, I don't think people would be venting so much if they weren't given the run around, you could talk to someone knowledgeable, weren't sent back to the main call center answering system only for you to decide which #'s you should now push to get the 'right' department, and not have to get hot under the collar to be put up to a more senior level to get appropriate action.

I will say, in general the 2 techs that have come to the house have been frustrated themselves, know Sears has a BIG issue, and unfortunately are the ones that have to come face-to-face with the angry customer.

WHY?? I wonder ... we've had a Kenmore washing maching & dryer that, gosh, must be 15+ yrs old and other than a few belt changes on the dryer, and maybe one timer switch (all of which we had a local applican guy do) they have worked wonderfully (he's always said fixing these older machines is better than buying new) .... why are we pulling our hair out now?

Customer service, poorer product manufacturing now, too much one-touch-button electronics ??? do things break down too soon? Are we becoming such a throw away society we don't care to fix things now?

OH WOW ... as I've been typing this, I get a call from the upper crust of Sears about the furnace!!!! Guess someone is now following the cookie trail, and staying on the Yellow Brick Road!

The TV we've had this power pack problem with, it was a ViewSonic 29" LCD.

Friday night we went out and, yes paid a bit extra for the name, bought a Sony 32" 1080p LCD. We found good reviews on it when searching the web. What we did find out tho, is that most companies will no longer be making the 1080pixels in the 32" as they find the clarity isn't that significant from the 720p. 1080p will eventually only be put into the larger size TV's. All I can say is the ladies Scotties Tournament of Hearts curling and the Super Bowl was awesome to watch!

More time will be needed to cook various meals to find out if the stove is working as we think it should ..... I'll keep you updated.