Recently, my 52 inch projection television lost picture and I needed repair. I found Sears on line and called. Yes, they needed a nine hour window so I had my sister meet them for me as I work. When I initially made the call, I explained to them that this is an older model set.They asked no questions such as " How old is it? " so I assumed it doesn't matter. The repair guy shows up about 3:00 p.m. and disassembles my set. He then tells my sister that parts are no longer made for this model as it is to old.
They could have asked the question and told me that over the phone and saved me a 100.00 trip charge. But that's not all. It has been raining a lot and the ground is saturated.
This idiot decides, when he is leaving, rather than back his vehicle in the area where my cars are parked, he would rather back up into my FRONTYARD! As I'm sure you can guess, he got stuck. So he backed up in a circular pattern and was able to free himself only after digging up my lawn. Also he backed up so far as to run into my security light post. Sears will not excuse the $100.00 charge.
Go figure. $100.00 well spent!!!!!!! Unbelievable! Thanks for giving me an outlet to vent.
You know, venting is great, but if he did serious damage to your lawn or other property that will cost money to fix, you might want to consider filing a small claims lawsuit against Sears.
It doesn't cost much, and its easier than you think. Here's some information about small claims court that can help you make your decision.
]]>I recently had to do a charge back against sears for their charge for sending somebody out to give me an estimate on a repair. They didn't tell me there was a "trip charge" when I setup the appointment, and I stupidly just paid the technician thinking sears would credit me the charge since it was their mistake.
They wouldn't do the credit, even after I told 3 supervisors that I was going to do a chargeback. I guess they would rather lose a customer and incur the additional costs to dealing with a charge back then to "mess up their quota/bonuses" for not giving refunds.
Personally I don't shop at sears anymore ... and I used to buy a lot of stuff there, from big ticket items to clothes.
]]>Seriously, next time an appliance or TV breaks down. Take the model number and search the web for your model and problem description. You WILL get hits that lead you to the most likely solution. Then, you search for parts vendors. There are thousands. By the part and replace it. I've repaired both my washer and my dryer, my gas oven...and my central heating system using this method.
]]>The availability of repair parts for just about anything is near impossible to predict -- it's really up to manufacturer whimsy and doesn't depend solely on the age of the equipment. Also, there are sometimes different (potentially incompatible) revisions of parts within the same model number -- the availability of each revision varies. Also also it's sometimes a waste to replace the part, even if it is available, because the replacement part has the same engineering deficiencies that made the first part fail (or maybe it was fixed in a later revision, but can the revised part be used?). Or you could get into the "cost of replacement part vs. cost of new unit" thing.
You won't know any of this until you've chosen the "attempt to repair" option.
That's why, even if it were possible to presciently know a repair will require a part replacement, it's difficult to say up front "yes the problem can be fixed and it's worthwhile to do so," and so the "diagnostic charge" is compensation for the time it takes just to get to a point where you can present the owner with options.
]]>You should be able to get them for negligence for damaging the lawn . I had similar problems with contractors so a good letter accompanied by pictures to the company should do the trick .
I doubt a company insurance agent would want to deal with those pictures in court .
As far as the competence of the technician that's another story . The only way to prove that is get the TV repaired or evaluated else where . I'd get a second opinion but it depends how old and how much you want to spend on the TV . I know people who have a 6 year old 52" rear projection and it's a monster and energy hog .
]]>exactly - good point! I'm just wondering why the OP was spineless enough to actually pay them the $100 in the first place. If this would've been me, the second that idiot repairman was foolish enough to say he was going to charge me MONEY for his failure and wasting MY time, I would've ordered him out of the house, then called the cops if he didn't leave. Robbery is still against the law, right Sears?
]]>This is one of the MAJOR problems with Sears. They license their name to any idiot repair person or home contractor that wants to offer "Sears service" and then these fools drag the "Sears name" through the mud. I have heard of drunk "Sears" roofers, stoned "Sears" siding people and now this.
Sears has to stop "renting" it's damn name out. If they own the company and hired the workers, fine. Otherwise, it's asking for trouble.
]]>Do you people ever stop to THINK? How would Sears know whether they can fix his TV before they look at it?
1. Not all repairs require parts
2. Some parts are reused in newer models
It isn't possible for them to know that parts would be required, and those parts would not be available.
]]>So get an estimate for the repair of your lawn from a reputable landscaper. Document everything, politely explain it to any Sears official that you can get the e-mail address of, and be polite but firm: you want the $100 back, and you want to be reimbursed for the cost to fix your lawn. Nothing more; nothing less.
Note that you don't have to actually pay the landscaper to fix your lawn. You have been harmed, and you wish to be made whole, as they say.
If they fail, take them to court. You are likely to recover. Not that I have a clue about what I'm talking about.
]]>The customer is not going to care if you back up into his driveway to turn around because that's what it for.
Seriously, this guy must have been pretty dumb to do something like that. I wouldn't have trusted him to even touch my TV after that!
]]>just guessing.
]]>See what happens.
]]>looked like a nice lawn too... well prior to sears coming along.
]]>What are we, running some sort of bad news charity?
]]>Sounds like the OP hasn't even asked Sears to fix his lawn. What is up with that? It will cost much more than 100 bucks for that.
]]>@OMAC: Because this way, Sears gets to charge him $100? If they tell him over the phone that they can't fix his TV, they don't get to charge him for showing up.
]]>I am really suprised by this. We purchased our LCD TV from Sears and had really amazing service--including a lamp replacement--and when they discontinued the TV offered us $2000 credit in thier store to purchase another one.
I think this "repairman" had issues.
]]>And... I would wager money that the parts *are* actually still available. Unless it's something proprietary such as some sort of specialty IC, TVs are not rocket science and are built out of mostly off-the-shelf components. What the guy really meant was either "we no longer stock replacement boards, and the only thing I know how to do is replace one of the boards inside your TV set" or "I don't keep these boards on my truck and I'm too lazy to cart your TV back to our depot, or schedule a return visit."
Often, the failures are things like capacitors or regulators that simply wear over time due to heat... but I doubt that anybody Sears hires to do in-home service has the qualifications to diagnose and repair that sort of thing.
Try a local TV repair shop. They have actual trained technicians who can do component-level repairs, and most likely get you back up and running for not a lot of $.
]]>Pictures are broken... :(
]]>Joel should have realized that fixing something that old isn't worth it. However, that is a forgivable misstep. Charging for a service trip without asking basic questions and then sullying your yard is not.
]]>And the OP should definitely go after Sears for property damage, and then go after them for the cost of repairing the TV (which they didn't do).
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