The Consumer Complaints Blog

As so many others on your site, we too have received terrible customer service from Sears.

We purchased a fridge from their outlet store in 2006. In the first few days of November 2009, we noticed that the fridge wasn’t working properly & then it just died. We contacted Sears and were told that certain parts were under 10 year warranty & a technician would be sent out to determine whether our problem fell under that warranty.
He did show up a few days later & determined that the parts of the fridge that weren’t working were under warranty & that he needed to order them.

Well, guess what. One of these parts was on back-order. They needed to order it from the factory.

“We’ll call you when the part comes in to schedule a time for me to come back.”, he tells me.
We waited for weeks for this call & never got it.

I had to call Sears, my husband also called from work and each time we were asked the same questions & then tranferred to someone else that asked us those exact same questions, which in the end they were never able to help us or we were put on hold for a disgustingly long time (after which, of course we hung up.)

We were finally given a tentative date of December 16th for the technician to show up, but the day before I had to phone to find out if anyone was actually going to show up and I was told that the part still had not arrived and that our new tentative date was for January 27, 2010.

We have been on the phone with many different people in Sears at various levels asking what they are going to do for us, that we have been without a fridge for so long & that if we wait until January, it will be 3 months with no fridge. Perhaps they could lend us a fridge to use as the Christmas holidays are approaching? “Sorry, I can’t make that decision” was the response a couple of times.We finally found someone who kind of felt bad as she listened to my story, but the best they can do is send me a gift certificate for $50.00 (which we have yet to see).
Another lady promised to send an emergency email to the service department asking for a loaner fridge and promised to phone us the next day, but we are still waiting for her call. She also told us that they would start looking for the part locally and I asked her why they hadn’t thought of that sooner. No response.

I then suggested that I would go out and buy a new fridge somewhere else and send Sears the bill, but she told me that Sears probably wouldn’t pay that bill.

I thought that if you bought something from Sears you would avoid the hassles that you would expect from smaller stores, but I have since realised that Sears doesn’t care about customer service anymore.

Signed,
Still waiting

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I had recently had a bad experience with the Service side of Vickar Community Chevrolet in Winnipeg Manitoba.

I had made 3 appointments to get warranty work done on my vehicle, and had the first appointment canceled because when i called earlier that day to see if i had rent-a-car coverage with my warranty. The gentleman on the other end said ” we don’t have any technicians here at that time”
to which i replied ” why would you make me an appointment at that time if you don’t have any staff there?”
He had no answer but apologized and re-booked me for the following week, which was completely fine with me.

The next appointment i had my father drop off the car two hours earlier than my previous appointment time. He was sent away with the explanation that ” the work that we need to do on your vehicle will take too much time to complete before the end of the day”. I just didn’t understand why they didn’t put me in a rent-a-car for that one night?? considering the fact that my warranty covers a rent-a-car if my vehicle is tied up over night.
So when i returned home that night after work to find my vehicle in my driveway, i was not impressed.
I picked up the phone and let Vickar Community Chevrolet know that i was very unimpressed with there service that they have/haven’t provided to me. they then apologized again and re booked me for the following Tuesday.

When i came in on Tuesday morning there was a line up of cars so i parked in the parking lot because if i would have lined up i would have been blocking the entrance to the dealership. So while inside i waited for 10 minutes before a “service advisor” spoke to me and asked where my car was. I told him it was out in the lot because i couldn’t park behind the other vehicles for the reason that i would be blocking the entrance. Well he didn’t understand that i guess and told me to park there anyway and wait till someone let me in.
8:30 rolls around and I’m finished with the paper work and now sitting in a small room with 10 other people which they called the “lounge”. After waiting for a whole hour for my shuttle to take me home i realized that i might be waiting a while. So in that instant i called a friend to come pick me up because now i was teetering on being late for work. My friend showed up so i went to the front where i had given my name for the shuttle and told them that i had got my own shuttle and if the shuttle wasn’t in operation when i come pick up my car could they please let me know. By the time i had gotten to work i was 30 mins late.

1:30 pm i get a call from the “service advisor” that my vehicle had been checked over and is ready for me to pick up. I asked him at that point if he could check the pressure in my back passenger tire because for a while it was loosing pressure. He agreed and he said he’d call me back after that was done.

4:00 pm i get a call again from the “service advisor” telling me that everything was complete for what they could do for that day and they can get the shuttle to pick me up. I asked if they could pick me up at 530 because I knew that they close at 6 and i could get off work a little early to pick up my car. He “advised” me that the shuttle could not pick me up at that time because ” they don’t run at that time”. I replied ” why don’t all of your services run within your hours of operation?” He didn’t have an answer for me. I told him i would try to get out of work early and be ready for the next available shuttle.

So when i finally arrived at the dealership that night i found out that they had only lubed the gear shifter and glued a piece in my trunk. ya that’s it! the whole day and they glued and lubed something!
At that point i told him to cancel everything he had ordered for my vehicle and that i was done doing business with this service dept. and that I’ve had the worst experience dealing with them than i had had anywhere else that offers customer service…including fast food!
He then went and spoke with his manager and they cleared everything up so that i wouldn’t be charged for anything that they did on my vehicle that day. (first decent thing they’ve done for me)
After, he reminded me that the tire that was loosing pressure wouldn’t be covered anywhere else but Vickar. I declined the offer and told him i still was not going to be having any service done here. He gave me my keys and i walked out to my car…but to only find one more surprise.

I let my vehicle warm up and then backed out. But when i backed out of the spot i heard a strange almost rubbing noise. I thought it was just the parking lot and i was going to try it on the road and see how it sounds. Nope, still the same noise. I put my four ways on and got out of my vehicle, walked around to the back and discovered that they had put a donut on my vehicle!

I got back into my vehicle and reversed it back to the service doors and walked inside and exclaimed “HEY WHO AUTHORIZED YOU TO PUT A DONUT ON MY CAR!” (and even when we went over the work order and he told me nothing of them replacing my tire with the donut.)
He told me ” well the tire was in the trunk”.
“no it isn’t, why would i be back in here if it was!!!”
He then ran to the back and rolled out my tire and rim for me.
“and now you can go put it back on my car” i said.
So then he got a technician to take my car into the back and put my tire back on and my donut back in my car and i was out of there.

At no point throughout this whole ordeal was i ever offered any type of compensation for my wasted time and money. All i wanted was my vehicle and needs to be taken care of…which it was certainly not.

…. a side note is that i am 22 years old. wonder if that had anything to do with it.

I also wanted to add that i had a great experience buying my vehicle from Vickar Community Chevrolet in Winnipeg. Its just too bad the service side of business cost them all of my business.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I got your email from a Chinese newspaper of Montreal, and I would like to complain about a Dell laptop I bought on March 27th, 2009.
The product SKU is 10118295, brand: INSPIRON, model: 115-2169E, serial number: 2J5Q7H1.

After installing Microsoft office 2007 and other softwares, I was very happy to start the computer. Unfortunately, the computer just couldn’t pass some step, then I had to skip it and continued the operation. Later, I uninstalled some softwares because my friend told me Vista could have conflicts with softwares in Chinese, but the problem still existed.
Around May 1st, three days and one month after I bought the laptop, I went to Futureshop where I bought the laptop, the technician received it and found that the hard disk failed but the manager refused to change the laptop because I had not brought it to Futureshop within 14 days after the purchase. But as an ordinary customer, how could I imagine that the hard disk of a brandnew laptop had already failed?
But finally, I accepted to change the hard disk, which means I paid the price of brandnew laptop to buy a defected one! I cannot imagine how Dell could sell a defected laptop as brandnew to its customers!

Three weeks ago, that’s November, the system suddenly reminded me that a file was missing and the computer could not be started, so I had to bring the laptop to Futureshop again, that was November 29th, 2009. The problem was HDD boot failure, unit failed to load windows.

I bought two years of garantee which will expire March, 2001. I don’t know how many times the hard disk of this laptop will fail again, then how much money I have to spend buying new hard disks? I am really tired of the same problem, especially when I am rushing with my homework.

Is it too late for me to ask Dell to change the laptop directly?
Thanks a lot for your time and attention on my email.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I would just like to inform people about my experience with a globalive company called Yak. New cell phone clients should be aware of my bad experience
Yak offered telephone service for unlimited, no contracts phoning. Called 3 times about the unlimited calls for $5 a month and had it confirmed. Emailed from Yak the day after sign up-saying no limits and no contracts. I am seeing the same ad for Wind Mobile owned by Globalive. On first month billing the limit was 500 minutes and there was a contract. No one would take over my number from Yak(Globalive) and had to go back to Bell to keep my number. Now, am satisfied with East Link cable phone.

Thanks, clients signing up with Wind Mobile need to be aware.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

There has been a lot of controversy lately regarding government waste in the eHealth Scandal. According the the CBC, over 1 billion dollars was wasted through shady tactics and backdoor deals. But at Penciltrick we’ve uncovered a different kind of flagrant waste of public funds being performed not by consultants but by the very people we entrust to work the system and take care of our family’s health.

The next time you’re waiting 5+ hours in the emergency room you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that the patients in front of you are using your tax dollars to pay for larger breasts, flatter stomachs and tighter asses. Really, is it any wonder our hospitals are so understaffed and in such poor shape?

During our observation of an ongoing hearing of a Toronto physician at The Collage of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario we were absolutely flabbergasted to hear the testimony of Doctor John Craig Fielding admitting that he charges OHIP for consultations regarding liposuction. That’s right. Not life saving procedures or even reconstructive surgeries but removing blubber from some fat ass. I for one am absolutely disgusted that I work every day and pay my taxes just so plastic surgeons like Dr. Fielding can take my hard earned money to suck fat out of someone’s abdomen, flanks and thighs.

In the hearing and under oath Dr. Fielding was asked if he charged the Ontario Health Insurance Plan for examining a patient for a liposuction procedure. After evading the question for a while he was asked to call his administrator and confirm how the patient was charged. His reply was:

“The initial consultation on January 26th was billed to the Ministry of Health.“

(cue scratching record sound)

OHIP Insurance Fraud With No Consequences

Hold on a minute. So a patient goes in and says she has fat legs and wants lipostuction. Dr. Fielding examines her and then conveniently uses our tax dollars to cover the consultation and pay for his cottage? How is that not clear and blatant insurance fraud? This is a man who teaches other doctors and works at St. Joseph Hospital . What exactly are these young doctors learning from this man? How to cheat OHIP? How to perform surgeries that are purely for cosmetic reasons using the public purse?

On their own site the Ontario government clearly states:

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care pays for a wide range of services, however, it does not pay for services that are not medically necessary, such as cosmetic surgery.

What else are these plastic surgeons billing to OHIP? How many of them are doing this every single day in this province?

So what was the result of this admission on November 3, 2009? Absolutely nothing! Dr. Fielding is not being investigated. (why should he when he is the lead witness for the very college that is supposed to be policing him). He has not been charged with defrauding our government and the public that is supporting him. He is still working at St. Joseph Hospital. Apparently they’re okay with having this “doctor” teaching their interns and ripping us all off by charging OHIP and lining his own pockets. Wouldn’t it be nice if your own insurance company was so agreeable if you stole your own car stereo and then claimed it from your plan?

Think About It The Next Time You Or Someone You Know Is In The Hospital

So this is all well and good but what does this mean for Ontario? It’s simple. It means that if you have to take an ambulance in this province it’s going to cost you a minimum of $45. But if you need to consult with Dr. John Craig Fielding of St. Joseph Hospital to palpate your gluteal fat, you won’t have to pay a penny. The rest of us dumb slobs working a job in Ontario will take care of it for you.

There are probably millions if not tens of millions of dollars and more being wasted on these unapproved cosmetic procedures by plastic surgeons with absolutely no consequences. The politicians don’t seem to care. The media don’t seem to give a crap and apparently St. Joseph Hospital and The College Of Physicians and Surgeons are happy to pay people like Dr. Fielding for services rendered and won’t do anything about it.

I had the misfortune of watching my mother in the hospital recently and pleading with the nurses and doctors to try and get her a new mattress because the one she was on was basically garbage and causing her more harm than good. They didn’t have any available.

How many of these consultations are being charged to OHIP by Plastic Surgeons and other medical professionals? How many breasts have the people of Ontario paid for? How many vaccines, beds and nurses could we have paid for if this money wasn’t being stolen from us? I don’t know. All that I can do is report what we’ve found. I can only hope that a politician or prominent reporter is willing to take it from here and actually make a difference to our healthcare system.

While we’re busy paying for unnecessary, irrelevant and expensive cosmetic procedures, our friends down south are actually acting more sensibly then us for a change and proposing a 5% “Botax” on cosmetic surgery.

The beauty of all this? If someone investigated and got back all this money, not only would it not cost the taxpayers and government anymore money, we would actually take back what was rightfully ours and start putting our healthcare system on a path of better efficiency and accountability. Never mind the money that was already stolen. How about stopping this theft moving forward as a start. That would make a huge difference to our budget immediately. Any takers?

And both the College and St. Joseph Hospital should be ashamed and embarrassed that they are allowing this man who has admitted to illegally charging OHIP for cosmetic procedures under oath to continually defraud the public.