Timeline of my experience with Sears Auto Center, Watertown, NY:
24 April 2014 2:30 PM: I purchase an alignment and 4 Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max CS tires specifically because Sears is the only place in the Watertown, NY area that is able to get the tires there and installed the next day. Employee #318311 informs me that their received shipments arrive between 8-11 AM and I will receive a call as soon as the truck comes in. I pay in full ($961.16) and leave.
25 April 2014 12:30 PM: I haven't yet been contacted by anyone from Sears so I call the store. I speak with an employee named Ken and ask if my tires have arrived. He attempts to find my order in the system by my last name and is not able to. He takes my name and number and tells me that he is going to go check their inventory and call me back.
25 April 2014 1:30 PM: I haven't received a return call yet so I call the store again. This time the supervisor answers and is also unable to find my order in the system by last name. She tracks down my order by vehicle make and model. I refuse to leave my name and number for a callback again and tell her that I'm fine with staying on hold while she checks the received inventory. A few minutes later I am told that my tires had arrived that morning at 9AM.
25 April 2014 2:30 PM: I arrive at the Sears Auto Center, sign the work order, hand over my keys, request that they save my rear driver's side tire for me to keep as a spare, and go stroll around the Salmon Run Mall. I am given an approximate completion time of 90 minutes.
25 April 2014 3:00 PM: I receive a call from the center supervisor informing me that one of the tires delivered that morning was not the ones I ordered, and that this was not noticed until my vehicle was up on the lift with the original tires stripped. I walk back to the Auto Center and I am told that I will have to come back the next day when the fourth correct tire arrives. I request to speak to a supervisor or manager and am told ""I'm all you're gonna get"". I inform the supervisor that I want to return the tires and cancel the alignment so I can try to find somewhere else to do the work, as it was essential that I get the tires today. I am told that I will still end up paying 15% of the original total price (about $150) if I request a refund. The supervisor asks if I would like the alignment performed now while the vehicle is already up on the lift and I refuse. I request that my original tires be put back on the vehicle (at this point there were no tires on the vehicle) as I am seriously considering sucking up the 15% refund fee and returning the tires due to my profound dislike for the staff's work thus far.
25 April 2014 5:00 PM: My vehicle is released to me with the new tires (one of which is the wrong type) installed despite my previous request. My original rear driver's side tire has not been saved for me to use as a spare as I originally requested. I review the copy of the work order I have been given and note there are new charges in the amount of $24.01 for an oil and oil filter change that I have not requested.
26 April 2014 10:00 AM: I arrive at the Sears Auto Center for a third time and immediately bring up the oil change. I am told that since I signed the new invoice yesterday (the original invoice from 24 April did not have an oil change listed) when dropping my vehicle off that I have thus assented to pay for it. I ask to speak to the supervisor and am told she is on a break and nobody knows when she will be back. I sign another new work order and leave my vehicle.
26 April 2014 12:00 PM: I receive a call from the Auto Center informing me that the work on my car is completed. I arrive back at the store and request again to speak with the supervisor, who is 'still on a break'. The employee handling my final invoice (#318311) informs me that my next oil change will be complementary and that, while unfortunate, none of this hassle was 'their fault'. I ask her if she would be satisfied with that level of compensation for all this difficulty and she says nothing. I leave the store and my vehicle's 'Low Tire Pressure' indicator light immediately comes on, as two of the new tires were very deflated. Not wanting to deal with the Sears employees any further, my first stop is the nearest gas station to fill them up. I check the trunk at this point and note that the single tire I requested saved for a spare was not put in the trunk, but at this point I am too fed up to care and return home, resolving to write and submit a countless number of scathing reviews to every consumer complaint agency I can turn up on google.
Sears Auto Center Reviews
Timeline of my experience with Sears Auto Center, Watertown, NY:
24 April 2014 2:30 PM: I purchase an alignment and 4 Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max CS tires specifically because Sears is the only place in the Watertown, NY area that is able to get the tires there and installed the next day. Employee #318311 informs me that their received shipments arrive between 8-11 AM and I will receive a call as soon as the truck comes in. I pay in full ($961.16) and leave.
25 April 2014 12:30 PM: I haven't yet been contacted by anyone from Sears so I call the store. I speak with an employee named Ken and ask if my tires have arrived. He attempts to find my order in the system by my last name and is not able to. He takes my name and number and tells me that he is going to go check their inventory and call me back.
25 April 2014 1:30 PM: I haven't received a return call yet so I call the store again. This time the supervisor answers and is also unable to find my order in the system by last name. She tracks down my order by vehicle make and model. I refuse to leave my name and number for a callback again and tell her that I'm fine with staying on hold while she checks the received inventory. A few minutes later I am told that my tires had arrived that morning at 9AM.
25 April 2014 2:30 PM: I arrive at the Sears Auto Center, sign the work order, hand over my keys, request that they save my rear driver's side tire for me to keep as a spare, and go stroll around the Salmon Run Mall. I am given an approximate completion time of 90 minutes.
25 April 2014 3:00 PM: I receive a call from the center supervisor informing me that one of the tires delivered that morning was not the ones I ordered, and that this was not noticed until my vehicle was up on the lift with the original tires stripped. I walk back to the Auto Center and I am told that I will have to come back the next day when the fourth correct tire arrives. I request to speak to a supervisor or manager and am told ""I'm all you're gonna get"". I inform the supervisor that I want to return the tires and cancel the alignment so I can try to find somewhere else to do the work, as it was essential that I get the tires today. I am told that I will still end up paying 15% of the original total price (about $150) if I request a refund. The supervisor asks if I would like the alignment performed now while the vehicle is already up on the lift and I refuse. I request that my original tires be put back on the vehicle (at this point there were no tires on the vehicle) as I am seriously considering sucking up the 15% refund fee and returning the tires due to my profound dislike for the staff's work thus far.
25 April 2014 5:00 PM: My vehicle is released to me with the new tires (one of which is the wrong type) installed despite my previous request. My original rear driver's side tire has not been saved for me to use as a spare as I originally requested. I review the copy of the work order I have been given and note there are new charges in the amount of $24.01 for an oil and oil filter change that I have not requested.
26 April 2014 10:00 AM: I arrive at the Sears Auto Center for a third time and immediately bring up the oil change. I am told that since I signed the new invoice yesterday (the original invoice from 24 April did not have an oil change listed) when dropping my vehicle off that I have thus assented to pay for it. I ask to speak to the supervisor and am told she is on a break and nobody knows when she will be back. I sign another new work order and leave my vehicle.
26 April 2014 12:00 PM: I receive a call from the Auto Center informing me that the work on my car is completed. I arrive back at the store and request again to speak with the supervisor, who is 'still on a break'. The employee handling my final invoice (#318311) informs me that my next oil change will be complementary and that, while unfortunate, none of this hassle was 'their fault'. I ask her if she would be satisfied with that level of compensation for all this difficulty and she says nothing. I leave the store and my vehicle's 'Low Tire Pressure' indicator light immediately comes on, as two of the new tires were very deflated. Not wanting to deal with the Sears employees any further, my first stop is the nearest gas station to fill them up. I check the trunk at this point and note that the single tire I requested saved for a spare was not put in the trunk, but at this point I am too fed up to care and return home, resolving to write and submit a countless number of scathing reviews to every consumer complaint agency I can turn up on google.