An affable guy named Bruce from my old repair shop favorite, A&E Factory Service, showed up to fix my dryer. He was not from Colorado Springs like the competent Norman of old, which makes me wonder if the A&E repair guys are semi-independent contractors, perhaps. I believe Bruce is from Arvada.
Regardless, he got straight to work in my messy washroom. After about half an hour of tinkering with the dryer, he told me the element had burnt out. I now have a new element, a working dryer and boundless gratitude for Bruce. He refused any remuneration, so here's to you, Bruce, wherever you are. Thank you. You restored my faith in Sears.
I highly recommend A&E for your appliance repairs, in Colorado at least, because they have now fixed my broken dryer twice. They've done so quickly and efficiently both times. They're just all around good guys. And Sears? Well,
1. Sears customer service has cut the block of time one has to allocate from all day to a four hour period.
2. They rescheduled just once this time.
3. They called ahead to let me know they needed to change the time- a huge improvement.
4. Yet again, the repair guy was competent, professional and pleasant.
So, thank you, Sears and A&E. This was a much better experience than last year. I am glad I am still a customer.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Sears customer service update
The technician from A&E just called (at 4:10.) He is 25 minutes away, which should put him here within the 1:00-5:00 window. Odd - we are not supposed to be in his territory. He is not the guy who called yesterday, which is also bemusing. But A&E did a great job last time, so I am not complaining.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Sears puts the "cuss" in customer service, part two
Over a year ago, I did a series of posts about Sears' awful customer service. My clothes dryer ceased to work. After a series of unfortunate events caused by Sears' absolute determination to place multiple layers of contact between the customer and the service person, the dryer eventually got fixed. It took something like twelve calls over eleven days to get a technician to darken my door. But Norman from A&E eventually showed up, fixed the dryer, and I was a happy woman.
This week, my dryer broke again. No heat. Drat.
Ironically, I had called Sears last Saturday, despite my vow to avoid them. They sent a coupon in a direct mail piece offering carpet cleaning. Our carpets really needed cleaning, their prices were terrific, so, what the heck.
I called that Saturday, they scheduled the cleaning for Monday afternoon at 1:00 - and they showed up three hours early. But they called first to make sure it was okay. The guy did a fantastic job. Since we were luckily ready for him, the early showing was not a problem.
That afternoon, the dryer ceased to heat. Feeling warm and fuzzy about Sears, the next day, I called for an appointment. They asked if I had run a load without clothes (me: "no") or cleaned the duct (me: "I don't know how, can you walk me through that on the phone?" Them: "No. We will make an appointment instead, since your dryer is under warranty.")
The very pleasant phone rep then made an appointment for my still-under-warranty dryer for today between 1:00 and 5:00. Last night, they called around 6:30 to remind me they were coming.
Today, the technician called around 11:00, ahead of his 1:00-5:00 appointment, and the conversation went like this:
Me: "Hello?"
Technician:" Hello, this is Sears. We have a service call scheduled for your house today between 1:00 and 5:00."
Me" "Yes - for the dryer. I'll be here. "
Technician: "Well, we're not coming."
Me: "What?"
Technician: "We're not coming. Can you be there tomorrow between 1:00 and 5:00?"
Me (steaming, because we are so clearly, again, not a priority for them): "Someone.will.be.here."
Of course, it is Friday, and we do have plans for Friday night, so we shall see if Sears and their local representatives FUBAR this repair like they did last time. I find it jaw-dropping that service guys think that customers find it easy to set four hour blocks of time on hold for them multiple times, on short notice. As a consultant, I bill by the hour, and even though I can do *some* work at home, their disdain disrupts my business.
I guess Sears doesn't care whether we continue to purchase Sears appliances or the warranties - or the local guys they use don't care. Either way, I am interested to see what happens tomorrow. But I am going to blog this again, with hopes it has a happier ending than the last marathon.
PS: I checked to see if Sears has a Twitter account. I found one with 102 followers and no tweets. If you know of a way to get in touch with them besides their tortuous phone service, let me know.
This week, my dryer broke again. No heat. Drat.
Ironically, I had called Sears last Saturday, despite my vow to avoid them. They sent a coupon in a direct mail piece offering carpet cleaning. Our carpets really needed cleaning, their prices were terrific, so, what the heck.
I called that Saturday, they scheduled the cleaning for Monday afternoon at 1:00 - and they showed up three hours early. But they called first to make sure it was okay. The guy did a fantastic job. Since we were luckily ready for him, the early showing was not a problem.
That afternoon, the dryer ceased to heat. Feeling warm and fuzzy about Sears, the next day, I called for an appointment. They asked if I had run a load without clothes (me: "no") or cleaned the duct (me: "I don't know how, can you walk me through that on the phone?" Them: "No. We will make an appointment instead, since your dryer is under warranty.")
The very pleasant phone rep then made an appointment for my still-under-warranty dryer for today between 1:00 and 5:00. Last night, they called around 6:30 to remind me they were coming.
Today, the technician called around 11:00, ahead of his 1:00-5:00 appointment, and the conversation went like this:
Me: "Hello?"
Technician:" Hello, this is Sears. We have a service call scheduled for your house today between 1:00 and 5:00."
Me" "Yes - for the dryer. I'll be here. "
Technician: "Well, we're not coming."
Me: "What?"
Technician: "We're not coming. Can you be there tomorrow between 1:00 and 5:00?"
Me (steaming, because we are so clearly, again, not a priority for them): "Someone.will.be.here."
Of course, it is Friday, and we do have plans for Friday night, so we shall see if Sears and their local representatives FUBAR this repair like they did last time. I find it jaw-dropping that service guys think that customers find it easy to set four hour blocks of time on hold for them multiple times, on short notice. As a consultant, I bill by the hour, and even though I can do *some* work at home, their disdain disrupts my business.
I guess Sears doesn't care whether we continue to purchase Sears appliances or the warranties - or the local guys they use don't care. Either way, I am interested to see what happens tomorrow. But I am going to blog this again, with hopes it has a happier ending than the last marathon.
PS: I checked to see if Sears has a Twitter account. I found one with 102 followers and no tweets. If you know of a way to get in touch with them besides their tortuous phone service, let me know.
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