Sears Lawn Mowers Consumer Reviews - Page 4

GEORGIA -- February 2005, my husband and I purchased a Craftsman riding lawn mower and the 3-year service agreement. My husband passed away unexpectedly last year and now I'm have to get my lawnmower repaired through Sears alone. The lawnmower was barely running and the first week of May 2007 I called for the repair service. The repair service did not come or call the morning when they scheduled the appointment, but late in the afternoon when I was no longer at home. (I had taken off work to be there.) They left a note on the lawnmower that a part had to be ordered and would be in in about 2 weeks.

From May until today, July 18, 2007, I have placed 20+ calls to Sears, spoken to numerous rude employees, been promised they would call me back (and I have yet to receive a call), been placed on hold, cut off and after repeatedly begging, they have been unable to locate anyone in the entire company that can take care of the problem or given me a reason the lawnmower hasn't been repaired. The repair service they use has not answered my phone call or returned calls to me. Their voice mail is usually full.

I have received different answers from Sears like... "the part came in 3 days ago and they will be contacting you to set up a time" (this was in June), "the wrong part came in and they had to re-order," or the best yet, Sears can't get in contact with the repair service either.

Most recently I have been assigned a "case manager." I am still having to pay to have my lawn mowed after we paid $2153.42 cash for a new riding lawn mower and service agreement. It's now July 18th and I still don't know if the lawnmower will ever be fixed. At least summer will soon be over and my service agreement "officially" ends February 2008.

Sears or any other company affiliated with Sears does not ever have to worry about me as a customer again or all the people I tell through the years about my "experience." I don't feel that this is how reputable businesses treat their customers and every business should have at least one person in a staff of thousands that can get one simple broken lawnmower fixed.

CLARKSVILLE, INDIANA -- Below is the e-mail I have sent via their web site after spending over four hours on the phone with them trying to get my problem resolved. "This probably won't do any good, as a matter of fact, I'm pretty certain you won't even call me on this as I have received nothing but horrible service until this point but it's worth a try. I have a self-propelled lawn mower that has had two wheels break on it. As it has a service policy, I am covered. The first
one broke back in April, I took it into the local service center (Clarksville, IN) and received a new one in about nine days. No problem."

"The other one then broke about three weeks ago. I took it in and received one that didn't fit. I took that one back
and was told by a very helpful gentleman (name omitted) that he would take care of the matter (this was on Wed Sept 27). Rocky then called me the next morning to get the model number of the lawn mower. I made a special trip home from work to get the number and called the service center. The lady on the other end of the phone told me (name omitted) was gone and she would not take a message. I tried to explain that I was traveling the next day & had made a special trip in but she kept interrupting and then hung up on me."

"I called the manager the next morning to complain and he was mildly apologetic but pretty much unconcerned. He then told me it would be an additional 7-10 days to get the replacement wheel. I asked if he would FedEX the wheel in and he said no. When I asked how I was supposed to cut my lawn, he didn't care. When I asked what would happen if the wheel came in wrong the second time, he said he didn't deal with "what ifs"."

"I repeatedly asked for his boss' name, he refused and just gave me the customer service number. Calls to them have been fruitless. I have spoken to a number of representatives to get resolution and am continually interrupted or put on hold although one rep took my information and stated she would contact Mr. Carter and get back to me. She has not."

"My questions are: "Why do you refuse to resolve this to my satisfaction? THE MISTAKE WAS YOUR FAULT AND YOU REFUSE TO TAKE CARE OF THIS PROBLEM OTHER THAN WAITING ANOTHER 7-10 DAYS!!! Is hanging up or interrupting the customer your method of operation? What will it take to get a wheel for my lawnmower so that I can cut my lawn? I'm going to have to bale it pretty soon. Based on my experience, I don't really think that you are going to call me. The general opinion you have of your customers is lousy. No wonder you are losing market share. Best regards."

MAHOPAC, NEW YORK -- I spent about $4000 on a lawn tractor, snow thrower attachment and service contract at Sears. The delivery guys that showed up were more concerned with staying in the truck out of the rain than they were with unloading my tractor and equipment, then I started up the tractor and the carburetor was messed up. I called to have it serviced and Sears told me it would be two weeks before someone would come look at it. I returned everything and bought from a local equipment supply place, much better product and service, same prices.

To try to keep me as a customer Sears Holdings Corporation called and said they would give me a coupon for %10 off, what a joke. I would never do business with Sears again if my life depended on it. Ironically enough about 2 months later someone gave me a Craftsman (aka Craps-man) zip up work shirt as a gift, the 1st day I wore the thing the zipper broke!!! I returned it exchanged it for a Dickies work shirt, a real brand. I would avoid Sears at all cost. They sell junk, and do not value their customers. They are living on the reputation of what was once a great American business.

LOGANSPORT, INDIANA -- This spring my electric start mower would not start. I took it in with 3 weeks left on the warranty and they never sent it in. When I gave up and picked it up after 5 weeks it had never left their store. I was told that it was my attitude. I wasn't happy when I took it in, as to why they wouldn't send it in. ** in customer service told me that "just because I have a warranty doesn't mean they have to fix anything". Real good attitude on his part. Well I did buy a new mower, and it did not come from Sears. Will I ever shop any of your stores again. Not till they fix my mower.

I have a Craftsman YTS 3000 riding mower/lawn tractor that's two seasons old. This season, it would not start. I charged the battery (after buying a battery charger/maintainer) and got it going, hoping that running for a few hours would finish charging the battery, but a day or two later it wouldn't start again. When I purchased the mower, I purchased the extended warranty/service plan for 3 years of protection, so I called and explained the problem. I was told that a technician would be sent out in a little over two weeks.

When I asked if it was possible to get someone sooner, I was told that was the first time a technician would be in my area. This is unacceptable for a plan I paid over $300 for. I don't necessarily expect next-day service, but surely a national company like Sears can do better than *two weeks*! I now consider all extended warranties from Sears to be essentially worthless for anything time-sensitive. I'd rather pay more over the life of my equipment to get *timely* service. I guess that's what happens when the company already has your money.

MAYSLANDING, NEW JERSEY -- I purchased a lawnmower on April 09. I took it to Sears in July because a piece was bent and it was touching the blade causing the mower to make a lot of noise. I received a call from the repair shop. saying, it would cost $92 plus. I asked why when its under warranty. She stated there is dirt in the oil and it needs a tune up. I just want the piece fixed that I brought it in for. She says they can't do a partial repair, although the repair I need is under warranty. I asked to speak to a manager and she stated this is coming from management.

PENNSYLVANIA -- Purchased a Craftsman mower in December of 2006. Took it into the shop August 28, 2007 due to it leaking oil and blowing smoke. Received a call from Sears repair stating it would cost $140 to repair the bent crankshaft. I told them the mower was only used for approximately 3 to 4 months and why should I pay $140 for something I only paid $200 for. Their response was that it was my neglect because a crankshaft only gets bent by hitting something. There is nothing in my yard that could have possibly been hit to bend a crankshaft like that or Craftsman just makes junk nowadays.

I called the manager at the store who said they would give me 20% off a new mower. She also stated that she has had mowers that ended up with a bent crankshaft. I told her I had a mower for 10 years and never had a bent crankshaft or any other problems for that matter. I asked her if there was someone high-up than her that I could speak to. She gave me the customer service number which I called and they said they would give me a $100 gift card toward the purchase of a new mower.

Now if you are going to give me a $100 gift card, why can't you just waive the total repair bill? Sears does not stand behind their products like they once used to. Ever since they merged with Kmart, Sears has gone downhill. I will never purchase another product from Sears again.

TUCSON, ARIZONA -- I purchased a Craftsman bench sander which slowly lost power over a 2 month period. I returned it and got another. The second sander ran less than 1 minute and froze up. I made the long haul back to Sears and told them I didn't want another Craftsman sander, I had had enough. They would not give me a refund or even another sander. I had to haul it 20 more miles to a service center where it resides to this day.

I have put well over 100 miles on my truck and spent several hours trying to get this thing worked out and at this time I have no refund, no sander, no return of my letter to Sears, no nothing! I have been a good Sears customer for over 40 years with never a return or refund made. If this is how they treat you when you get a bad machine then one should be very careful before buying at Sears and buying at Sears is something I will never do again!

MITCHELL, SOUTH DAKOTA -- First, it's Sears period. Second part first. The normal things you need to replace as oil filter is not stocked in stores nor can it be shipped to stores. Add shipping costs. I knew after checking and upset to find they did not ship to any small outlets. Traveling 100 mi. where their only LG. store is located so placed order for 2 only to find they neither stock nor ship to stores period. These should be in every store as they need to be replaced.

Second, when I ordered mower with great hesitation showed shipping charges $84.99 delivery and $63.90 tax and no place for coupon code. Reentered, still none but ordered. The girl @ store, approx. 20 mi. away called expressing to my concerns of delivery charge and said they complained to online orders. I noticed I was charged $80.00 delivery after she called.

I went and ordered as if buying and sure enough a place for code and $80.00 del. ch.. not as first shown when my order was placed. This time said est. tax was $64.80 and no percentage turns out to that figure. Upset, beyond upset and can see why they are going under. Everyone I talk to have switched, long time customers. One of my first charge accounts over 40's yrs. ago which I no longer have per me.

VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON -- I called Sears to ask if they could repair a flat tire on my lawn tractor I bought from them, "Yes sir we can." OK, I sent the tire with my wife, she called and said they said they can not fix flat tires from lawn tractors, my wife made a 10 mile drive for nothing she said if we had known it was off a lawn tractor we could have informed you on the phone. I called and asked why the person I spoke with seemed to speak English and did not understand me. All said and done spend your money on a lawn tractor from John Deer or in the least buy from a company that can repair a flat tire on equipment they sell, this was not my first issue on repairs and parts from Sears, it will be my last.