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Sears Dishwashers Consumer Reviews

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Dishwasher Installation
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

VERNON HILLS, ILLINOIS -- We purchased a dishwasher from Sears about ten years ago and had trouble with dishes not being clean (dried food on them after washing) and soap not dispensing on many occasions. We would phone them about the issue, a service representative would come out and tell us that we were packing it incorrectly or not running the sink water to get it hot enough before turning on the dishwasher and finally that our troubles are due to the fact that we are on a well/septic system which he felt wouldn't produce enough force or power inside to clean the dishes properly.

Time after time we would have the same 2 or 3 reps out with the same responses to the same issues. We quit calling and we began rinsing nearly everything off and running the load even when not completely full. We finally decided that enough was enough and went shopping for a new dishwasher. My husband feels very loyal to Sears and we returned to the store where the salesperson wanted to sell us a dishwasher he claimed we would be very happy with that cost nearly $1,000! I told my husband I would look elsewhere.

We purchased from H.H. Gregg after a good sales experience, only to find out that due to our electrical hook-up we needed a dishwasher with an "open bottom". H.H. Gregg was unable to help me since I needed a "white" finish (which apparently now costs more and/or not an option). I went to Best Buy and they had a dishwasher that was installed and after 3 weeks we had smelly dishes because the inside was not dry on the stainless steel interior. It turns out that they dry with heat coils and no fan. We ended up back at Sears to purchase a dishwasher with a plastic tub, heat and fan dry in white (which I had to pay more for).

Installation was set up, a voice message was received on a home line which I told them specifically NOT to use and to only use my cell phone number. I was asked to phone back to verify the installation. I phoned back, only to be able to leave a voice message - I left a message explaining that the time was a little late as we had to leave for a meeting in the evening and that I needed them to phone me on my cell phone, which I repeated several times. I said I would prefer an earlier time but it was fine if installed in time to leave at 5:30.

I tried phoning the installation service a couple of times during the day and no one answered, only the ability to leave a message. We were at the house the until 5:30 and no one phoned or showed up! I phoned the store around 5pm (our installation window was 2-5pm) and no one answered in the large appliance department and we left a voice message for a manager.

We still have not heard from anyone (8:30 am the next day). My husband got through to someone in the department around 5:15 and he told us he would check into the installation issue and phone us back -- again, still not a word. We have an opening in our kitchen where a dishwasher should be and are very unhappy. Meanwhile, I have taken much time off of work for each service call, install, uninstall and no install. ABT - here we come; hope you are ready to accept our business!

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Kenmore Elite Dishwasher repeated breakdown
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

MAITLAND, FLORIDA -- I bought a Kenmore Elite in September 2015 because it was top ranked by Consumer Reports. Electronics went bad and had to be replaced in August 2017. Now, December 2017 the electronics are bad again - “Service code F2E2.” Kenmore service's “Niki” says 90 day warranty expired, she is the highest supervisor I can speak with, and best she can do is 20 percent discount on service. Wow, what a scam - do not buy. I refuse to repair the electronics again just to have it last another short while after the 90 day warranty. Sham on Sears/Kenmore for not standing behind their product and having some business ethics to do the right thing. No wonder they are repeatedly on the verge of going out of business.

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Would Not Honor Parts Warranty
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILLINOIS -- The upper rack adjustment lever of my dishwasher is sagging because the spring retainers on both sides have snapped off. The machine was purchased 15 months ago, there is a two year warranty on parts. I spent almost two hours today in one phone call and three chats when I was given another phone number to call. I'd had enough at that point, I went to the parts site and ordered them myself. The total price was $62.42, the time I wasted trying to get parts under the warranty was more valuable to me than that.

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The Strategy Is to Never Make Good on a Claim
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA -- Our dishwasher failed and caused extensive damage our kitchen floor. We called Sears home services and they said that it must be a plumbing problem. We called a plumber who came out and said it was definitely due to a dishwasher failure. He smelled burning wires when he turned on the dishwasher.

We then called a water damage mitigation company. Naturally they had to remove the dishwasher in order to dry out and repair the floor. We asked Sears to come out and examine the dishwasher. The technician came and said that he could do nothing until the machine was reinstalled in the original position. However Sears refused to do the reinstallation. We hired an appliance person to reinstall the dishwasher. We called Sears again. They sent the technician out who said that there was a part that had broken and needed to be replaced. He would order the part and call us. We never heard from him. We called Sears again.

They said they had to send out another technician. The technician had no part. While he was there I called customer solutions and ask why they sent a technician out when there is no part available for the machine. The technician left and customer solutions said that they would put in a request for a new machine since no part had been found for this one. I didn't hear from them for several weeks.

I called again. They said they had to send another technician. That technician said that he couldn't work on the machine because it had “been dismantled“. That technician left. After several weeks I contacted Sears again. They sent out yet another technician. That technician must have read the notes from the previous technician because he immediately said upon seeing the machine that he could not work on it because it had been “dismantled“. He left.

A few days later I called customer service and they said that the request for the machine to be replaced had been denied. This process took a total of six months. It is obvious to me that the goal is to take your money upfront and if you make a claim wear you down until you just give up and they never have to pay up on the claim.

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Upper Rack Fell Down
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

STERLING, VIRGINIA -- I purchased Kenmore Elite dishwasher from Sears in Dullas Mall in VA in 2017. Two months ago the top rack fell down due to the failure of plastic rollers on one side. When I called Sears Parts and explained what happened and what am I looking for I was told the same problem happened to many owners of the same dishwashers and offered the newly designed kit for $ 54. I had no choice and purchased the new kit and installed it. If this was the problem with almost all the dishwashers then this is a design mistake and all customers should have been informed of the new designed kit and gave them for free.

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Dishwasher
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

TEMECULA, CALIFORNIA -- Bought Kenmore elite dishwasher in 2010 after a short time wheels on upper rack started breaking, wanted to bring in rack to get repair parts but was told parts would be free but we had to have a service man out thus service call charge. My husband is a licensed maintenance engineer and was willing to repair it but couldn't get the parts that were under warranty without service call.

We just decided to Mickey Mouse it together until it dies which does not seem to long as I am already having trouble with the board and having to unplug it and then plug it back in to reset it. Pretty poor service for a dishwasher that costs us almost a thousand dollars. Never going to buy at Sears again will take my husbands advice and buy a Bosch or [Asko] dishwasher next time. Built in Europe better quality sadly said.

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Sears ServiceSmart protection agreement
By -

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA -- I purchased my Bosch dishwasher about five years ago from Sears. It broke down within a few months and was immediately repaired by Bosch under Bosch warranty. The machine worked fine until August 20, 2007. I called Bosch and they said my warranty had run out. I called Sears repair department. They told me my best bet would to be to purchase their Service Smart repair agreement for $194.99. They said this would cover up to $300.00 in labor and parts. If they could not fix the problem, it would give me a $500.00 credit toward a new machine.

Sears made an appointment with me about a week later for a repair technician to come to my house to fix my Bosch dishwasher. I had to be home from 1:00pm to 5:00 pm. Their "technician" showed up around 3:30pm. He did not bring any parts with him, even though I had told them what was wrong with the machine based on what Bosch had told me. Their "technician" had a total of two weeks on the job. He had never worked on a Bosch dishwasher. I asked him how much training Sears had given him before sending him to peoples homes.

He mumbled something about a twenty minute training film then being sent out for a couple of days with another Sears Service specialist, before being sent out on his own. He spent from 3:30 to 6:30 pm at my home. All this time was spent on the phone getting instruction on how to work his field computer and how to trouble shoot my machine. The results were exactly as Bosch said they would be. He had to order the parts, and he had them sent to my business. After I received them I called and made another repair appointment. The appointment was for today, September 4, 2007 from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.

At 4:45pm I called Sears. They said my repair technician was at appointment number five, I was number seven. At 6:00pm I called back and was told he was at appointment number 6. I asked to have him call me and give me an idea when he would be here, they said he would call in a few minutes. He never called. I called back and went through the whole dance again, calling is no simple task. I explained my plight and asked to speak to a manager, she asked me to hold, then hung up on me.

At 7:30pm, I called again. I was told that my Sears repair man would not be coming today and to reschedule a new appointment tomorrow. At that point I let the person know just how upset I was. She transferred me to a customer complaint expert who gave me a lecture on my being sarcastic. At that point I hung up.

My recommendation: Before you purchase any appliance, find out about the company's repair service. Ask how many people they employ to service your area. Ask what training these people have. How much of a work load do they expect from each service person. Myself, I think from now on, I will go to smaller, locally owned companies for these things.

Expecting large Mega Company's like Sears to be able to provide reasonable service is not actually a realistic expectation. They have layer, upon layer, of bureaucracy and regulations, all designed by their legal experts, to protect themselves from their customers. They also employ a massive staff, who's sole job is to work on cost cutting and purchasing at the lowest possible price.

You may pay more at a smaller, locally owned appliance company, after this experience with Sears, I am convinced in the long run, it would be a lot cheaper. At Sears, your repairs are going to made with the cheapest parts they can find, which may include used parts. That is clearly explained in the fine print on the back of the Sears Service Smart warranty agreement.

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If only I had some of these reviews first.
By -

NORTH CAROLINA -- I grew up with Sears. Living in a small town where choices were limited, Sears was on a pedestal in our house. And they deserved it. So after finishing a new house this year and reading some Consumer Reports, we decided that Kenmore would be the make of our new appliances. Can we say MISTAKE!? If only I had done more research and definitely looked here first...

The biggest issue we have had is with the dishwasher. It is one of the upper end Kenmore's. From the beginning there were problems. You can't go talk to one salesman, each has his/her department and that is that! So once you talk to the clothes washer people, then you have to go 'get in line' again to talk to the range people, to go 'get in line' again to talk to the fridge people...*sigh*. It was a very long and tiring process.

We were very upfront with all the salesman that the house was nearing completion but not ready for appliance delivery yet. It was no problem...or so they said...that we didn't need to wait that it would be better if we just went ahead and purchased right then and they would happily hold all the appliances, and they would all be delivered at once. It turned out to be a huge hassle to then coordinate all these different deliveries. The house took longer than expected and it was counting against our warranty time even though we had not taken delivery!

The dishwasher in particular has been a nightmare. It has been in the house for four months now and still doesn't work! Between appointment cancellations and ordering parts (all major components have been completely replaced by now) we have yet to see if this thing will even perform to the level it was advertised to meet. If I was a business that cancelled and/or just didn't show up for service calls, I would bump those poor people a little higher on my priorities list of scheduling. But no, they cancel an appointment and we get to wait another two or three weeks till they can 'get around to us' with not even a hint of remorse or apology.

We were told that on call three they would just go ahead and replace the unit. We are waiting on call six now, which was RESCHEDULED! The center says it is the repairman's call on whether the unit should be replaced or not, the repairman says it has to come through the repair center! I despair that I shall ever have a working dishwasher... Never mind that we paid almost $700 for the stupid thing. We have had only minor problems with the washing machine, but I am scared now. This has been a hideously expensive lesson.

Do yourself a favor and stay away from Sears. Even their Craftsman tools, that for so long was a standard other tools hoped to match, has disintegrated to something lower than that $6 set of 32 different tools my poor misguided and very elderly great-aunt used to give people at Christmas. We splurged and bought a 'nice' set of Craftsman tools the same day as the appliances and have just taken to throwing them away when they break. After the first one, we learned it wasn't worth dealing with Sears for a replacement.

Oh and then there is that ridiculous 15% restocking fee they have adopted now! Where they were reasonably priced before, now they are higher end for price and tack on a restocking fee. To me this looks like a serious formula for business disaster.

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Never Buy Again Any Appliances From Sears!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

CALGARY, AB, CANADA, ALASKA -- Our problem started One and a Half year ago when we purchased 4 household appliances brand Kenmore from Sears with an extended 5 years warranty. Almost 2 months after the purchase, we started witnessing issues with the Dishwasher. It used to stop working, 2 to 3 days at a time then resumes. A service call was logged with Sears and they sent separate technicians for three consecutive times and they couldn't located the source of the problem.

We were asking them to send a technician as fast as possible in order to witness the dishwasher malfunctioning, but we never got any technician in less than three days. Then my husband went to Sears where we bought our appliances and spoke with the floor manager and complained on how the approach for repair was being conducted and clarified how frustrated everybody at home were since we are a family of 7 and the amount of dishwashing that we had manually to endure while no hope for fixing the appliance was apparent in the horizon.

Thereafter, we were sent a senior technician who was able to successfully diagnose the problem and identified that it has factory problem and requires new one. During his visit, we had him inspect as well the fridge where he found out that the internal back side of the fridge, which was made of plastic, was torn and thus exposing the internals of the back of the fridge.

He advised us to request a replacement of the fridge as this damage is not replaceable. Then he called the repair line to report his findings and request a replacement. He was shocked to hear back that this damage is not integral and is considered cosmetic and that they will send somebody to glue the torn part! Months passed after that and a technician never came by to glue the back side of the fridge.

We went later to Sears and bought a brand new dishwasher instead of the ailing one we had. We did not get the same level of discount that we got when we bought more than appliance in the past. We also paid for the cost of detaching the old dishwasher and connecting the new one. Two weeks later, a porter from Sears was at our door to carry the old dishwasher which he couldn't do since Sears failed to send a technician from a different team who is responsible to disconnect the old dishwasher and connect the new one!

Few months later, the dryer stopped working and was issuing a loud noise when activated. After placing a call with Sears repair, they sent me a technician after one and a half month and fixed it. He also gave me some tape to use it on the back panel of the fridge. When I asked him to apply the tape himself, he replied that it is not his job!

Next, was the turn of the dishwasher again to break. The rollers of the upper tray were broken, so we couldn't use the upper tray anymore. After bitter discussions on whether this should be under warranty and multiple calls and escalations, we finally got a technician visit scheduled. One month later, the technician came with the wrong parts. We had to wait an additional month and a half until the rollers were ordered and a technician come over to finally fix the rollers. Practically, we were not able to use the dishwasher upper tray for a total of three months.

By the time the technician came over to replace the rollers of the dishwasher tray, the dryer started experiencing some malfunction. So, the technician inspected the dryer and diagnosed the problem being with the thermostat and proposed a booking after one month to get it fixed. So, I called Sears Home appliance repair line and complained on the length of wait, and the reply was that they needed three weeks to order and receive the required component. So, I said "what should I do for a month until it got fixed and the reply was"

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Repair service
By -

QUEENS, NEW YORK -- Today I had a scheduled repair appointment between 8am-12noon. Normally I get an automated message the day before to confirm, but I did not get one. It's now 11am and called the service number the man apologized and said his computer was slow and then he said down and for me to call back in two hours. I explained to him that there was only an hour left of my scheduled appt. He told me to try again in an hour. I called back at 12 this time the representative told me she reached out to the service tech and apologized that I did not get a delayed message she then said he would arrive if it was OK with me at 2pm.

I said I took the day off for this appt and was willing to wait she then corrected herself and said more like 250pm. I said OK I will wait. At 345 I again called the service # and spoke to a representative who again reached out to the tech who informed her that the appt would have to be rescheduled. I told her this was unacceptable and wanted a supervisor. She told me that the supervisor was on another line and there were two calls ahead of me. I waited on hold for almost 15 minutes before the line disconnected and started all over again with a new operator named ** and gave her the short version and again asked for a supervisor at which point the line went dead.

Called back immediately this time with a woman named **. She calls the tech to see if he can come and he tells her that he was at the home and no one answered and I told her that he never came to my door. And at the time he said he is at my door and I am on the phone with Sears trying to rectify this nightmare of a day. If he arrived at my home and no one answered and me here in the house on the phone with Sears and having three small dogs who bark at anyone and anything did not hear the man at the door and me on the couch looking at the half glass front door and never seeing him or hearing him ring or knock at the door which is 10 feet from the couch that I have been on when he is a big liar.

Now I wait for the customer service supervisor for another 15 minute before the line goes dead again. I again call back this time I get someone from resolutions named ** from Texas who will try and correct the problem as now I have no date or time when the tech will return to fix the problem.

Sidebar I hope that you do record these phone calls as my day today should be used by Sears to train the employees on what and how they should do their jobs I have been a loyal customer as was my parents more than 50 years. ** informs me that a new machine will be delivered and installed on Saturday. This was totally unexpected but gratefully appreciated. renewing my faith in Sears, their products and what the company stands for. Hopefully all will be fixed in two days or it will be the next chapter on this saga.

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Sears Dishwashers Rating:
Star Empty star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.0 out of 5, based on 24 ratings and
119 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Sears
3333 Beverly Road
Hoffman Estates, IL 60192-3322
847-286-2500 (ph)
www.sears.com
smadvisor@searshc.com
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