First of all, be aware that A & E is really Sears Home Services. Sears operates some repair men and trucks under a different name so they can do repair work for other companies that don't want its consumers to know Sears is doing the repair work for them . But the management and workers are all the same people. This allows Sears to make money doing contract work and allows other machine manufacturers to contract out repairs. (This dishonesty seems like a bad omen for the quality of service Sears gives.) So keep in mind all reviews of A & E apply to Sears repair service as well. In my case, I have a contract with Sears Home Services to fix my washing machine when it breaks. The only problem is that Sears/A & E is really bad at repairing things and took approx. 5 weeks and 4 visits to fix my washer. Details: My washer broke in mid-June. Called Sears and they sent tech#1 (officially a "Sears" guy, I think) on 6/20. Tech #1 said the guy who fixed the washer a year earlier misaligned a part, so tech#1 "realigned" it and said it would be ok. But now a noise it had made earlier was louder than before. Three days later it broke in the same way, and the noise tech #1 caused had gotten louder. Scheduled new appt for 6/27. Sears Tech #2 showed up (why not have the same guy show up so I don't have to explain all over again, and he can learn from his mistakes? No, that would make too much sense.) I told him what Tech #1 said, and I told him about the noise getting louder. Tech #2 said 3 parts had to be replaced, which of course he didn't have, so he ordered them and said someone would show up on 7/11. On 7/11, A & E Tech #3 shows up who knows nothing of the previous two techs or why the parts were ordered! Then he says parts are missing from the parts shipment! He goes away to get more parts from another tech, wasting an hour. Finally he installs two of the three parts, but REFUSES to install the new pump, stating we already had it replaced before, so it must still be good. I told him to call Tech #2, who ordered the pump. I only heard one side of the conversation, but Tech #3 decided Tech #2 was wrong and refused to install the pump. I don't know if the pump was needed or not, but after Tech #3 was done, the noise was really loud. He had the nerve to tell me it was normal and he didn't think it needed fixing. He further explained that he gets "charged" by Sears/A&E for the parts that gets used and how much time he takes to do a repair, so he didn't want to do anything unless it was absolutely required to get the machine running. To me, that's not the same as getting the machine to run right. But he left, and said call back if the machine broke again. Well, it broke on 5 days later AND leaked water on the floor. VERY frustrated I called Sears again, wasted a lot of time trying to get someone to care, and only managed to get an appt for more than a week later! But my wife called and cried on the phone, so they scheduled for 7/18. Lo and behold, Tech #1 showed up, looked at the machine, replaced the pump, and like agic the machine was fixed AND NO NOISE! After this fiasco, I wanted to complain to the company, but after many calls I ended up the phone with the same call center people who take no responsibility for what the techs do. In other words, their system prevents you from reaching real management at the company. They don't care. I did some research and found a phone number at the office in Ontario and managed to reach a first level tech manager. He was sympathetic, but had no authority to do anything about the poorly the business is run. He promised to have the "District Manager" call me though. As of 7/23, I still haven't heard from him. Of course, he doesn't really run the business either. This company is run out Sears HQ in Chicago and that executive whoever it is is completely removed from the actual operation that customers experience.
I don't recommend service contracts or one-time repairs from Sears or A & E if you can avoid it. They are incompetent and take no responsibility for their work! And since this is their attitude, I won't be buying appliances at Sears, either.