Sears'd

Sears, oy.. Last week 4 large boxes showed up on our front porch, so I called Sears to schedule an appointment. Their voicemail system said I already had one. Wow - is that great or what. They probably tracked the parts via UPS and proactively set up an appointment for me. Ten points for doing that, you're on your way to winning the house cup.

But you lose the points, because you didn't actually ever tell me that was when the appointment was, you left it to me to call and find out.

The repair man arrived - it seems that all Sears repairmen smoke and have wired cellphone headsets. Or maybe it's just the ones they send to my house. Anyway, he arrived, and went right to work, banging away in the garage. For two hours he banged away.

And then he was done. Quite proud of his work he was. My washer will be silent (I wonder if that includes the buzzer) he said.

Then he gave me the bill.

Parts: $575
Labor: $120
Total Cost: $695

Warranty covering it all: Priceless

You have to wonder though. I only paid $650 for the washing machine.

Veni, Vidi, Vindication

The Sears man came back to look at my washing machine this morning. This time I was prepared.

It started much like the last visit - he came to the door, I showed him where the washing machine was. He asked what was wrong, I said it leaked, he played with the dial and went through some of the cycles.

But I was prepared (did I mention that - I'm such the boy scout) Over the weekend, we did a bunch of laundry and I made videos of it leaking! Yup, that's right, I stuck a USB camera inside the machine (not in the tub) and filmed the leak. Many times in fact.

When it didn't leak for "the man" I said "it won't leak until 43 minutes into the cycle; why don't I get the video and show you." And that's exactly what I did - I took out my computer and showed him the leak, starting at 43 minutes, getting worse for the next couple of minutes, and then stopping.

He watched the video, and then said "ahh, the main seal is leaking" (I think he might've said "I don't know how long she'll hold up Captain" with a Scottish accent as well), and proceeded to tighten the various bolts and reseat the dilithium crystals.

Cool beans, I was thinking, maybe it'll be fixed. He said "if it still leaks, call me" just like last week's contestant. But this guy gave me his cell phone number! Holy crap - what service! Before he could finish writing his cell number, the spin cycle started and he got this "oh damn" look on his face - apparently the "washing machine" noise that I've always heard was a bad bearing. Bad bearings put pressure on main seals, cause leaks, etc.

So Sears man will be coming back when the parts arrive, it's apparently a "two man job" - maybe he'll bring the jerk from last week.

1-800-4-MY-HOME

Update: I looked around some online. Apparently I'm not so special, Sears just sucks when it comes to customer service.

A few months back, our washing machine developed a small leak - somewhere on the inside, water seemed to come from the right-rear leg. It didn't always leak, and it wasn't a lot of water, but I called Sears anyway (it's under warranty).

The lady who answered the phone was not too helpful - she asked where it was leaking from - underneath, I said. She asked if it could be the hoses - maybe, I don't know, I said. So we agreed that I would check the hoses and then call back with what I found..

Fast forward a couple of months - I checked the hoses and none seem to be leaking. And worse, the leak is getting pretty serious. So I called Sears again to schedule an appointment (still under warranty). They're a fun bunch, those call center people. The call went sort of like this:

Her: The earliest appointment is between 8am and 4pm on Monday
Me: That's fine, can you give me a four hour window?
Her: That was
Me: Uhm, 8 to 4 is an eight hour window
Her: Oh, right, sorry, 8am to noon.
Me: Ok.
Her: The technician will call before he comes; if you don't answer, he'll assume you're not there and you'll need to reschedule:
Me: If he calls before 8 and I'm not here, why would he assume I wasn't here; the appointment is for 8 to 12, I think I can be elsewhere until 8.
Her: No.
Me: Fine, he can call my cell number, I'm always "there"

Phew. That was rough.

Today was the appointment. At 9:30AM, the doorbell rang; it was the Sears guy - early (sort of), but no phone call. Apparently they don't do that for the first stop of the day - someone should share that with the woman who answers the phone.

I showed him to the washing machine. He pulled the top off and shined his flashlight around. Then he pulled the front panel off and did some more shining. Then he turned it on, spun the dial a few times, watched water flow in and out, and pronounced it "working fine."

I explained that it doesn't happen right away, and doesn't happen always, but that I had pictures. He said "maybe it's the seal, keep watching it, if it leaks, call back" - that's sort of how we ended up where we are right now. He pointed out that he couldn't sit with me for 2 hours while I did my laundry. I asked if he would be available if I called in 2 hours when it was leaking, he said no - kind of defeats the purpose of my watchng it leak, no?

I went upstairs and got my camera with the pictures to show him. He looked at the first picture and said "that couldn't come from the washing machine."


Uhm, really. What did it come from? Did it come out of the wall? Did it come from the dryer? "No, probably not." Did it come from the hoses? I checked them and they were dry. "I don't know where it came from, but it didn't come from the washing machine, it's not leaking now."

There you have it - it's not leaking now, therefore it never was. That's what service is all about.