Sears Stores - Kennesaw

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Saturday night - no phone call.  Sunday morning - no call and no show.  We called the number for installation and reached a human who confirmed we were on the schedule for later in the day.  Cool!  Sunday 4 pm - no show.  We called again - this time hit an answering machine.  No show, no answer and no call for the rest of the night.  Monday - we called and got the name of the subcontractor (Bynum Plumbing - Linda)  who said Sears has no business scheduling for them and they don't work on Sundays. Linda was very nice and apologetic about the Sears "mistake".  I think Sears made the phony appointment to get the sale, but that's just my conclusion. Bynum has us down for Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. and would call to confirm on Tuesday morning.  So, Monday was lost and my water heater is leaking 20 gallons a day (yeah, I'm measuring it in the buckets I'm pouring down the drain from the container I shoved under the unit so it would stop flooding my basement floor.  Tuesday morning - Bynum Plumbing called.  Their installers were at Sears picking up the water heater but Sears didn't have the expansion tank needed for the job.  The job would have to be rescheduled.  So, let's review: Sears sold us a water heater they had, an expansion tank they didn't have, and an installation date their subcontractor doesn't provide (a Sears screw-up that reflects badly on Bynum).  They made Bynum Plumbing look bad, and Sears didn't set aside the water heater and expansion tank for the job, so when Bynum came to get it, they got to look bad a second time when they called us to reschedule because Sears didn't have the parts they sold us and Bynum needed. Sears also did not inform us that the 74-gallon tank had nearly double the BTU's (75,100 BTUs versus 40,000 BTU's), and the installer would have found that the existing exhaust tubing would not meet code and we would have had to upgrade the exhaust system to meet code.  And, they didn't mention that the $35 permit meant an inspector would be coming to the house to inspect the installation (a good thing, but the upgrades would have added $400 to the tab - I had an independent plumber come out on Monday to give us a second opinion).  Next Step: I told Bynum the deal was off, and I called Sears and cancelled the entire transaction.  Then I went to Home Depot and did the transaction with them.  By the way, we live in TowneLake and these houses were build before the code required an expansion tank - so beware if your water heater fails and you don't have an expansion tank.  It's a $200 "extra".  Tomorrow I will find out how Delta Mechanical does; Home Depot doesn't even do water heaters.  They call Delta Mechanical, put you on the phone with Delta while you are standing in the store, and you set it up with Delta and pay Delta.  Hope you know something about plumbing, water heaters, expansion tanks, and exhaust vent systems!  Oh, and if you call a plumber to put in a Rheem, add $200 - $400 to the tab.  I'll let you know if I keep this under $1,000 with a 6-year GE 50-gallon gas water heater, expansion tank, and whatever installation surprises come my way tomorrow.  But, I sure won't buy a large appliance from Sears any time soon...  UPDATE - Sears failed to credit my credit card account, as promised.  I have had to start a claim against them to get my money back.  Sears use to have such a great reputation; now, it's just mud!

It went great. Stated this should fix problem versus replacing parts at estimate of $209.00 parts and labor. If fails within 90 days a revisit service fee would be waived and parts at that time could be replaced for the $209. He felt strongly that this would not be necessary. Tech knew what he was doing. Professional, neat, and performed the work in 30 to 45 minutes. Called Sears on Friday for appointment. Appointment was set for next day July 6th between 1 and 5. Tech arrived at 3:45.

Everyone they've sent out has been at least good, while some have been phenomenal.