Sears

Full review
Their customer service was always polite and friendly with me, unfortunately the only thing they seemed to be able to say was, "I am sorry sir but I can't help with that". Heres the letter/email I sent them summarizing my trials and tribulations with Sears.com:



November 27, 2007
Sears National Customer Relations
3333 Beverly Road
Hoffman Estates, IL 60179

To Whom It May Concern:
I am not normally one to write letters when I am dissatisfied with a companies service, however the problems I encountered making a purchase from your sears.com website are so egregious that I felt the need to inform somebody in the hopes that it will not occur in the future.
On November 22nd I took advantage of the Thanksgiving sale to purchase a clothes washer online from your Sears.com website. After checking available delivery dates I saw that the next one available was 2 weeks from that day I decided to place the order for pickup in the store. The online order indicated that the washer was available for immediate pickup at the sears in Northridge, CA. Having placed my order I saw nearly 800 dollars deducted from my account immediately and received a Pick-Up confirmation Email within 1 hour.
On Monday November 27th I went to the pick up department, confirmation email in hand, and was told that they didn’t have the washer. The gentleman at the loading dock was very friendly and told me if I went into the appliance dept they could resubmit my order and find a local store that had the washer in stock. Next I spoke to an incredibly helpful salesperson named Joan who did everything in her power to correct this situation but was unable to. Apparently the online transaction had not “bridged” into the store system yet. However she did give me a complete list of customer service #’s to contact and arrange for a cancellation.
After spending approximately 20 minutes on hold I was able to speak to another very helpful young lady with online customer service. She informed me that yes the mistake was theirs, her system showed the item ready for pickup but a subsequent check of the stores inventory showed none available. My washer was apparently en route and expected to arrive on Dec 5th or 6th She told me that no there would not be a restocking fee on a cancellation because the item was never in stock. Then she told me it was not possible to cancel or refund my order because the item was in transitand that to perform such a cancellation I would need to return to the store on my own time once the merchandise arrives.
To summarize I spent 800 dollars on a washer and was told I could come and get it. I took the day off from work and rented a truck to go get it and it wasn’t there. The people at the store couldn’t get it anywhere else, the online customer service acknowledged they screwed up but could not give me my money back and told me I would need to take more time out of my day in another week to get my money refunded. I have not even seen my washer yet and I have already spent the better part of a day dealing with problems. I ordered for store pickup so I wouldn’t have to wait 2 weeks for my washer, now I have to wait 2 weeks for a refund and I am out the time and money it cost me to rent the truck and take the day off of work. On top of all that I arranged to have my old washer disposed of and had to scramble to cancel that so I would be able to do my laundry after this whole mess became unacceptable.
I realize things can be chaotic around the holidays and mistakes happen. Every customer service rep I spoke to was very helpful and courteous however when it came down to it they could not fix my problem. This is my first major appliance purchase from Sears and unfortunately it will be my last. My next step is to call my bank and see if I can have this transaction cancelled by them in a reasonable amt of time because when I give someone 800 dollars I expect to either get what I pay for, or get my money back in a quick and efficient manner.
If you wish to inquire into this matter my order # was " "

Sincerely,
Paul Norvell