Back in January, doing our part to stimulate the economy, we rolled on down to the Sears scratch-n-dent outlet for their New Year's Sale and bought us a brand new dishwasher machine that, although somewhat scuffed, was neither srcatched nor dented (and the scuffing buffed right out with a little elbow grease). Installed it without too much fuss (only two trips to Home Depot!) and it operated just fine until two weeks ago, when it crapped out in mid-cycle.
Since it was still under warranty we had the Sears repair guy come out. He opens the control panel and says not only has a thermal fuse gone bad, but the machine was missing parts in the panel and the parts that actually were there were the wrong size! WTF?
How does this even happen?
Re: How does this even happen?
Somebody purchased it to cannibalize it for the RIGHT parts and replaced them with the wrong parts that Sears sent them to repair what they have.
They returned it unused for a full refund.
It was probably mine...
They returned it unused for a full refund.
It was probably mine...
Sometimes it seems as though one has to cross the line just to figger out where it is
Re: How does this even happen?
So Sue, will they cover the repairs under warranty, or are they looking for a way to screw you?
Bah!
Re: How does this even happen?
Sue, was the repair guy able to fix it?
If it's unfixable, will they replace it?
If it's unfixable, will they replace it?
Re: How does this even happen?
Did this thing cost enough to justify the anguish? Are 'scratch and dent' sale items all marked 'as is'?
yrs,
rubato
yrs,
rubato
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Sue U
- Posts: 8905
- Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:59 pm
- Location: Eastern Megalopolis, North America (Midtown)
Re: How does this even happen?
Hooray! The dishwasher is fixed. While Sears was cooperative, I can't say they were exactly efficient.
The first repair guy comes out and tells us we're missing parts and have the wrong parts in there anyway. Now, even though I have told the "main office" what model we have, and they have the actual records of the purchase, and I have described the problem to rule out dumb stuff like a tripped circuit breaker etc., the repair people apparently don't actually bring any parts of any kind with them on the first call. So the guy who came out calls in an order for parts and says "Call us back when the parts arrive to schedule a repair appointment."
Three days later the UPS truck shows up and drops off three packages of parts. So I call Sears and tell them the parts have arrived and they schedule an appointment for three days later. The next repair guy comes out, looks over the situation, and says, "You don't have all the parts. Call the main office and make sure they're being delivered, then call us back to schedule the repair." I call Sears, and after about an hour on the phone they determine that yes, they have shipped all the parts but it appears some haven't been delivered. Duh! I just said that! Literally an hour later the UPS truck shows up and drops off two more packages. So I call back Sears and they schedule another appointment for yesterday, and the job is finally done.
Now, all these parts have arrived in pretty small packages, as a dishwasher control panel and all its parts fit into a 24 x 6 x 1-inch space. Why they didn't just send out an entire control panel assembly in one package is beyond me. So they have paid for shipping five separate pieces and three service calls to replace parts that maybe are worth somewhere in the high two figures.
Sears honored the warranty, didn't even blink. (And yes the thing was worth it -- not the top of the line, but one of the better models.) But honest to Pete I can't imagine how they stay in business.
The first repair guy comes out and tells us we're missing parts and have the wrong parts in there anyway. Now, even though I have told the "main office" what model we have, and they have the actual records of the purchase, and I have described the problem to rule out dumb stuff like a tripped circuit breaker etc., the repair people apparently don't actually bring any parts of any kind with them on the first call. So the guy who came out calls in an order for parts and says "Call us back when the parts arrive to schedule a repair appointment."
Three days later the UPS truck shows up and drops off three packages of parts. So I call Sears and tell them the parts have arrived and they schedule an appointment for three days later. The next repair guy comes out, looks over the situation, and says, "You don't have all the parts. Call the main office and make sure they're being delivered, then call us back to schedule the repair." I call Sears, and after about an hour on the phone they determine that yes, they have shipped all the parts but it appears some haven't been delivered. Duh! I just said that! Literally an hour later the UPS truck shows up and drops off two more packages. So I call back Sears and they schedule another appointment for yesterday, and the job is finally done.
Now, all these parts have arrived in pretty small packages, as a dishwasher control panel and all its parts fit into a 24 x 6 x 1-inch space. Why they didn't just send out an entire control panel assembly in one package is beyond me. So they have paid for shipping five separate pieces and three service calls to replace parts that maybe are worth somewhere in the high two figures.
Sears honored the warranty, didn't even blink. (And yes the thing was worth it -- not the top of the line, but one of the better models.) But honest to Pete I can't imagine how they stay in business.
Last edited by Sue U on Fri Jul 23, 2010 2:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
GAH!
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@meric@nwom@n
Re: How does this even happen?
*Note to self: Beware of Sears scratch and dent stores.
Re: How does this even happen?
Finally having a dishwasher after 18 years of doing dishes by hand, I feel your pain and celebrate your victory.
I'm going to be needing a new fridge soon -- wonder if scratch & dent is worth it?
I'm going to be needing a new fridge soon -- wonder if scratch & dent is worth it?
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
Re: How does this even happen?
That's a pretty severe case there Sue U. Home Depot accepts returns, but with merchandise like that, they open everything up and inspect it. (Oh, I hated that call, "Hardware to Returns, Hardware to Returns... " ) The most obvious ones were folks stealing something right off the floor, then coming back to returns minutes later to try to get cash for it. We They have a computerized inventory that instantly tracks sales; sometimes I could even remember the exact number that was supposed to be on the rack and would just count the items that were in stock. Real idiots didn't even take the security tag off. 
