Sears incompetence

[Steve Kraus]

in·com·pe·tence : the state or fact of being incompetent

in·com·pe·tent

2 : inadequate to or unsuitable for a particular purpose 3 a : lacking the qualities needed for effective action b : unable to function properly

Facts only:

I purchased a range hood for my mom from sears.com (local store pickup). It was to replace a defective old unit (same nominal size, duct and wiring already there).

I phoned Sears to arrange installation. They said this would be accomplished by their preferred contractor, a company called (I think) Custom Appliance Installers. I believe they are out of Orland Park, IL.

The contractor called and my mom told them it's possible that the adjacent cabinet might have to get moved over an eighth of an inch or some tiles cut to clear the different side dimensions of the new unit. "We don't do that," she was told. Sears called back and left a message saying they were cancelling.

I called Sears. They said they'd get another vendor to do it.

Sears called back saying tough luck, we can't do it. Go find your own handyman they "helpfully" suggested.

Is it any wonder Sears is on the skids when they and their vendors are incompetent to the task of installing their own product at a place where a similar item was just removed? This can't be the only case where some small adjustments are required to get something in place.

[Nexus7]

Leave off the gratuitous dictionary explanation next time.

How do we know the adjustments are not major ones? Considering you need to look up the dictionary for common words, your expertise in estimating the severity of the adjustments needed can't be relied upon. Did they come to your house and measure the opening and suggest an appliance, which, as it later turned out, would not fit?

Sears, if it in in bad shape (which I thought was no longer the case), is there because of incompetence in its ownership.

[kenji]

friend of mine bought a dishwasher from Best Buy with installation. He pulled his old one the day before his new was to be installed. Guy pulls up with his new one and brings it into the kitchen. The installer was

6'4" and about 475lbs. Not kidding...475. He couldn't into the opening under the counter to hook the new one up. It took three weeks until a suitably sized human was sent to install the new dishwasher.

[dpb]

Steve Kraus wrote: ...

...

Be thankful they recognized the problem up front before destroying your kitchen. At least they were straight up before making a mess rather than leaving you w/ a _real_ problem.

A "cabinet might have to get moved over an eighth of an inch" might as well be a foot -- unless it's free-standing on a wall with nothing else in the way (quite unusual in most kitchens over/beside a range), moving it any is likely to become a remodeling job.

It would have been nice to send somebody out to look at it, but for such a small job scope, not too surprising they wouldn't. They (Sears) has a particular niche market and it basically is bolt-in/drop-in replacement. Anything else is not what they're after.

If can't find a new unit that will fit w/o modification and you're not able to do the installation yourself, I think they gave you good advice.

[Rich256]

As usual you get what you pay for. If you are capable of doing the installation yourself is one thing. The alternative is pay more and buy from a reputable contractor to start with.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Did you take the time to call a kitchen specialty dealer and find out what they would charge to do the job, as well as what their procedure was, in terms of coming over to measure before making any recommendations or promises? I'm always mystified as to why this seems to be the last thing people do, after they've wasted their time with the bigger stores.

When shopping for things that have to be installed, ***always*** shop the small, locally owned businesses. Some may be as bad as Sears or Home Depot, but some will be excellent.

[kenji]

I think the general public shopping at national retailers have the expectation that an installation is something the retialer can do efficiently. Probably 95% of installs with Sears, Best Buy, etc...all go fine. As usual you really only here about problems, not the installs that go smoothly. Kind of like ISP problems.

[kenji]

OK...what do I look for in the Yellow Pages to find a local guy who installs a kitchen range hood?

[JoeSpareBedroom]

I'd look under "kitchen", which should lead you to listings for companies which do kitchen remodeling. Don't let the word "remodeling" scare you. Many such stores are happy to sell just one item and install it, if necessary. I bought my Moen faucet through a company like that. They were $20 cheaper (for just the faucet) than Home Depot. It was a special order items for both stores, so the comparison is a valid one. The store offered to install it, but I didn't need help with it. My main reason for going to a local dealer was that just in case I simply didn't have time to install the thing, I knew I could call these people and have them handle it. I don't think it's right to buy an item from one place, and then ask a competitor to install it.

My point is that you may be able to buy a hood cheaper from a smaller company, which can also install it if you need them to. You may also be able to speak to someone who actually does the work, and he may be able to give you tips on doing it yourself. I've run into this twice recently, once with an appliance store, and with the company that handles my heating service.

Finally, even if it *is* more expensive, there's some value in peace of mind, especially since this is for your mother.

[kenji]

he should be taking his mom out for meals

[Steve Kraus]

They never came and looked at it before deciding it was beyond their ability.

Space is about 1/8" over the 36" nominal while the new hood is about 1/8" less than nominal but because some tiles were installed as a backsplash around the kitchen and the edge footprint of the new unit differs slightly from the prior one on the left side these would be trimmed a little for clearance. On the other hand those could be left alone and the cabinet to the right could be moved slightly (there's at least a good 1/2" it can go closer to a wall to the right.

I don't think I'm wrong in suggesting that these are probably things encountered all the time in this sort of work. I could sort of understand if they had some installers who could only do basic, simple, "wam bam sign here please, ma'am" installs and referred others to someone else. But to be completely unable to come up with a contractor to handle this and tell the customer to go find a handyman, yeah, that's why I am emphasizing the word incompetent.

And I'd be ashamed to go around using the name "Custom Appliance Installers" or whatever it is if I couldn't deal with an install of this non-magnitude.

[kenji]

is it possible they got the "asshole vibe" from you and decided to just walk away?

I'm not pointing fingers...just wondering.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Was there a dollar amount discussed for this installation? How much?

[John Gilmer]

If you have a "standard" installation you can't beat the price from Sears or other "big box" store.

If you don't have a standard installation you either DIY or pay MUCH more for a local small businessman to sell and install the replacement.

"Around here," for an example, Home Depot and Lowe's will have their contractor install a patio door for $500 (or less). They also have good prices on the doors.

A local company wants $800 per door for an installation without special problems. They also charge a few $100 more for equivalent door that the big box store.

That's just the way it is.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

No, it isn't. My local appliance dealer delivered and installed a dishwasher for $50LESS than HD would do it and they did it the next day. They delivered and set up the washer the same day and charged less.

I bought an 8' Pella slider that was a better model than HD sold and paid $300 less to have it installed by a local. You may not find tat type of service where you live, but I certainly can beat the big store every day for items like that.

[sonofabitchsky]

Same shit with Home Crapo or any other store that out sources their installers. No control over them.

Steve Kraus wrote:

[JoeSpareBedroom]

....and then you go and tell 5 people how happy you were with the work. These small dealers must be nuts. :-)

[John Gilmer]

I'm quite happy for you.

But that's not how the prices go "around here."

>

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Sounds like you don't have enough competition there.

[Steve Kraus]

A reasonable question but I never actually spoke to the contractor myself.