Troubleshooters get help for consumers with Sears repair problems  

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- If you're having trouble getting an appliance repaired, you're not alone.

After receiving dozens of consumer complaints over the years, the Action News Troubleshooters took a closer look at Sears Home Repair, which claims to be the nation's leader in the service industry.

"We just really liked it. It's a really nice fridge," said Marianne Scott of Northeast Philadelphia.

Until it stopped working.

"So there was water sitting in here. And then it was sitting here," said Scott.

She says the fridge was only four years old.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average lifespan of a refrigerator is 12 years.

"It was really smelling and things were getting warm. So I called Sears immediately," said Scott.

She says a technician came out, worked on it, and said it was fixed. But that night, Scott realized her fridge still wasn't cooling.

"And I kept getting the runaround. I got a couple appointments where I waited at home and then they told me, 'Oh, sorry, it was overbooked,'" she recalled. "It was just really, really difficult."

And Scott isn't the only one having trouble with Sears. The Troubleshooters have received at least 46 complaints about Sears appliance repair in three years.

"It's just very, very frustrating," she said. "I mean, the phone calls, you just want to rip your hair out because you just get put on hold."

TransformCo now owns Sears, which includes the brands Kenmore and Diehard. It also acquired Sears Home Services, which it says is the nation's largest provider of home services, making more than 14 million service and installation calls every year.

"We're pretty much always available for customers to reach out and contact us," said Eileen Jaffe, the senior manager of customer experience.

Jaffee tells the Troubleshooters that response times are excellent and the call center is open seven days a week.

"Right now, for customers calling in the Philly market, average response time is going to be three days. But I'd like to get that down to two. But right now we're at about a three-day response time," said Jaffe.

Jaffee also says Sears Home Services has "the largest number of company employed technicians of any nationwide service provider, and a network of background checked, approved service providers" that it works with and she's proud of its customer rating.

"Right now nationally we're about a 4.7%, which is very, very high in the service industry," said Jaffee

After Scott contacted the Troubleshooters through Call for Action, Sears did finally repair her fridge after Scott provided some missing information.

"Channel 6 was right on it. Elizabeth really, really did help out," Scott said.

Our CFA volunteer said the Sears rep she spoke with has said if Scott's fridge fails again, she will effort getting her a replacement.

Meantime, Sears also said it works to improve its processes daily and is always in hiring mode for additional good quality technicians. It also says it is proud of its warranty program.