Sears Blows It for Others -- Not Just Me

Here are a couple comments left by readers in response to my post titled Update on My Sears Elliptical:

I thought it was just me. I didn't buy an elliptical, I bought a stationary bike. To start with I paid for assembly, but when they delivered it the guys just dumped the big box with the disassembled bike on my floor and took off. I tried chasing them down but they rudely informed me they wouldn't be assembling anything.

After several disgruntled calls to Sears, I ended up having to assemble it myself. Now -- I am not mechanically inclined. And I was all alone, trying to lift heavy bike parts. During which I dropped the main chassis and couldn't get certain screws to tighten right.

Now of course I hate the bike. It doesn't even ride like the floor model. And I think I messed something up when I dropped that chassis -- there is a grinding noise sometimes. Plus the thing shakes horribly if I take it up to any amount of speed beyond slow amble.

I don't even want to try Sears again. I just want it GONE -- problem? I live on the third floor of a walk up apartment and I can't even move this thing 6 inches without a lot of trouble. I'm going to have to con some guys into hauling this thing off for me.

Ha! Welcome to my world.

Here's another:

And here's an update on my elliptical. It was a higher-priced model purchased from Sears at about the same time as yours - but I'm maintaining mine myself. It gets fairly constant use by two average adults.

So far, I've replaced three broken bolts. I think one shipped broken, but the other two were from use. There is what appears to me to be a design flaw in the axle where the flywheel can shift to one side. It needs a constant supply of grease to keep it anywhere near quiet. Oh yeah, and I've had an adjustment bolt freeze up twice. Due to the design flaw, the belt seems to be wearing prematurely and is off-center on one pulley. The pulse monitor no longer is accurate.

The parts cost me about 10 bucks, for blue loc-tite, a few nuts and bolts, and an old tube of front-end lube.

Three good things though: the parts diagram is listed online (that's great for repairs) and the bearings haven't blown yet. I suspect they use maintenance-free sealed bicycle bearings - but just because they're probably cheaper than anything else they could reasonably use. And the electronics still mostly works except for the pulse monitor.

If I weren't doing the repair work myself, I'd have tossed this thing in the trash - or raised a stink with Sears. It's obviously intended to work for only a short amount of time before it becomes a clothes hanger.

Still, if you can repair it yourself, it's not a bad deal when compared with a $5000 model.

If misery loves company, I guess I should be happy, huh? ;-)

Comments

[Teri]

Good to know...

Just a tip - about the bike to the other poster - if you want something gone, offer it on Freecycle. Even with full disclosure odds are someone will come take it right away. www.freecycle.org

It's really great for getting rid of big/heavy stuff that you don't want, but can't haul yourself.

[limeade]

I've never been a big fan of Sears, or should I say K-Mart. They've gone way downhill.

-limeade

[db]

Yes! I've been meaning to
check out Freecycle or craig's list. I've held off just because my schedule has been nutty with late evenings and weekends at work. Still, I need to get it out of the apt since I loathe the sight of it (and it's the first thing I see in the morning in it's coat-covered glory).

DB

Oh man, Sears sucks...we bought our mattress there, and first the wrong one was delivered, so they had to come get it. Then the right one was delivered, but the wrong size frame was delivered. We slept on the mattress on the floor for a week before the right size frame came in, which was fine...except when they made ME come get the frame that was supposed to be delivered. Well, after all that I went to the manager of that section, and he could care less. But the manager of the store cared and gave us a $100 gift certificate, which we used to buy our TV. But never again....I will always find somewhere else to spend my money from now on.

[David]

Oh man, Sears sucks...we bought our mattress there, and first the wrong one was delivered, so they had to come get it. Then the right one was delivered, but the wrong size frame was delivered. We slept on the mattress on the floor for a week before the right size frame came in, which was fine...except when they made ME come get the frame that was supposed to be delivered. Well, after all that I went to the manager of that section, and he could care less. But the manager of the store cared and gave us a $100 gift certificate, which we used to buy our TV. But never again....I will always find somewhere else to spend my money from now on.

[Renee]

I can relate!

Yesterday, I scheduled an appointment for the refrigerator that is no longer working, which I certainly didn’t expect since Consumer Reports had extremely high ratings – the very reason for the purchase. (It's internal temperature is a steady 58 degrees.) I scheduled a service call for 9/13/07 and I was told the technician would be at my home between 1pm and 5 pm, and that he would call before arriving. I was also told if there was no answer he would not service, and I would have to reschedule. (Which put me in a position to have to speak to solicitors all day.) After waiting all afternoon , at 4:00 pm, a Sears representative called to inform me that NO ONE would be showing up to fix the appliance, and that I had to “reschedule”. Sears cancelled my service call!! I was astounded! The next closest appointment was 6 days away on 9/12, and then I have to be available ALL DAY! I was told since SOME of the parts are still under warranty, I am unable to call any other repair service, so I am technically held hostage by Sears. Everything that was in this state of the art refrigerator which we paid a couple of thousand dollars for has now spoiled.

I called to speak with the sales person who received the handsome commission from our purchase and it was no surprise that he was no longer there. I did speak with the Large Appliance Department Manager, Chris Devans, in the Danbury, CT store, who when I pleaded for assistance, told me, “there’s nothing I can do, it’s not my department.” So THAT's the best he can do??? Nice! I informed him that if that was the BEST he could do, that it certainly wasn't good enough, and not only will this be the end of future purchases from me, but I will tell the world about this experience and let others decide for themselves if they want to spend their money at an establishment that could care less about customer service. Well guess what, I will NEVER purchase another thing from ANY department in Sears, and I don’t recommend any one else to shop there either as they don’t give two cents about you once you’ve purchased the item.

They may have made money on this sale, but they most definitely LOST any future business from me, my friends, family, and any one else to whom I can relate this story.

Renee
CT