Tonight my husband accomplished in twenty minutes what it took me two and a half hours to fail at.

Here’s the story- the abbreviated version because honestly, no body’s got time for that.

About six weeks ago I noticed that our oven was making a strange smell when I tried to use it. The stovetop seemed fine, but the oven was definitely wonky.  I decided to wait and see what the home inspection turned up, but unfortunately the oven wasn’t even mentioned in the inspection. But since I didn’t want to pass on a faulty oven to the new owners, I called Sears to come out and have a look at it, which they did about two weeks ago. I stayed home from work that day to meet the technician. He was a nice man who spent about an hour at the house and finally concluded that there were several things wrong with the oven, the main thing being that the power cord was being melted by the electricity and it was posing a MAJOR fire hazard. He said he needed to order a few parts that would be shipped to my house and we scheduled for a follow up visit to happen November 14th (that’s right, tomorrow.) I paid for the visit, parts, and partial future repair and he left. In the meantime the stove and the oven couldn’t be used at all.

Last week I received a small box and then today I got a call that one of the parts hadn’t shipped yet, so they would need to reschedule my service… to November 21st- next week.

Well, see, that’s a problem. I’m selling the house on Friday, so I need the oven fixed by then. I asked what part was still missing and they said the plug going from the oven to the wall.

And thus began my 2.5 hour toe to toe battle with Sears.

I spoke with six different people during that time. We had various conversations like-

 

Representative- We have you rescheduled for the 21st. 

Me- I’m selling the house on Friday, so I won’t actually own the house on the 21st. 

Representative- Well, we could come out on the 27th. 

 

Then there was this one-

Me- Could I get the part myself and keep my appointment for tomorrow and you guys can still do the repair?

Representative- We can’t actually schedule you until we have all the parts. 

Me- But I’m going to pick it up on my way home. I’m going to have it. Can you please come out tomorrow. 

Representative- I’m sorry, we gave your appointment to someone who ACTUALLY has all their parts. We could come out on the 21st. 

Or this one.

Me- If I buy the part from Lowes on my way home, can we use that part?

Representative- Since it isn’t one of our parts, we can’t guarantee that our technicians will work with it. 

Me- Um, there’s nothing fancy about this part. It’s a typical part you can buy at the hardware store. Lowe’s currently has 33 of them in stock down the street. 

Representative- I can’t guarantee they can use it. The part has been ordered and we can schedule as soon as we know when it will arrive. 

Or how about-

Me- So, can I get my money back, because I need to get someone in here that can actually fix my oven by Friday. 

Representative- We can’t actually refund your money until you return the two parts that were already shipped to you. 

Me- You mean the two parts that a new oven repairman will need, but won’t have time to order because you guys messed up. 

Representative- …

One of my favorites was-

Representative- Ma’am, we can’t refund your money because you already paid for the service. 

Me- Yes, but it’s a service that you have yet to provide and won’t be able to provide before I sell my house. 

Representative- Yes, but since we started the project we need to be the ones that finish it. We can come on the 21st. 

ME- I WON’T OWN THE HOUSE ON THE 21ST!!!!!

Then there was-

Me- So, there isn’t really an option here. I have paid for a service that I was assured would be done on the 14th. I will not be in possession of the house after Friday morning, so it NEEDS to be done. I wasn’t the one that dropped the ball here, it was you guys. So, you need to figure this out. I am willing to pay for the part that were already shipped and arrived at my house because obviously the new repairman will need them and there won’t be time to order them, however I expect to be refunded the rest of the money that I paid you for a service you did not complete.

If you aren’t going to give me back my money maybe you need to hire a third party contractor that can make it here by Friday. I don’t even care if I have to pick the part up on my way home. Maybe a technician has to work overtime. I don’t care, you need to fix this. 

Representative- Ma’am, I understand you are frustrated, but there really isn’t anything I can do. We have you scheduled for the 21st for the repairs to be done. 

After 2.5 hours of literally these same conversations over and over again I was so frustrated. I had gotten them to give me the product number, I had tracked it down at Lowe’s. I left work early and stopped and picked it up. I called them again to confirm I had the part, only to be told once again that there was no one to install it.

So out of sheer frustration and desperation I called my husband and explained everything- how I had the part, how they weren’t going to come, how they wouldn’t give us back our money, etc. I give him their phone number and twenty minutes later he calls and says they are refunding our money.

How did he do it?!?! I mean, yay!, but what the heck?!?

Here’s the deal-

1- He’s a man. Naturally he gets taken more seriously than me. I’ve already had multiple plumbers laugh at me over the phone when I am asking the same question my husband would have asked.

2- He didn’t give them options. He told them he had hired them for a project, they didn’t deliver and he was firing them. They needed to return his money for not meeting the deadline they promised.

3- He spoke to only one man- an english speaking man. Of the six people I talked to, I had to decipher a lot of what they said to me, so I’m assuming that went both ways.

 

So, we have been promised a refund on our money and in the meantime I found someone that can come tomorrow and fix it with the parts Sears already sent and the new part I picked up. Just to make sure, though, I dropped by the townhouse to make sure that the power cable I bought had the right amount of prongs. The one they ordered was a four prong cable- I used the product number to track it down online and then at Lowes. When I pulled the stove back from the wall however I discovered that the cable is an industrial sized THREE prong cable- so the part they never got to me, the one they ordered and is sitting in limbo somewhere on the back of a pack mule, IS THE WRONG PART.

And that, my friends, is the end. I’m done.