Thinking of suing Sears...thoughts?

D

Dtrigg

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A few weeks ago my wife and I moved into our new house. We had to purchase some appliances, one of which was a new refrigerator. So I popped down to Sears and got a new one that offered free delivery if I sent in the required sales slip for the rebate. Needless to say I sent the required material to them. Well today I received a letter that stated I didn't meet the requirements!!! They had a big sign that said if I purchased this particular item, shipping was free, and it also stated that on my receipt. (Yes, I made copies prior to sending in the rebate.)

I think I would like to take Sears to Small Claims court.:biggrin: I am retired and would love to devote some of my time to jerking them around because they jerked me around on a rebate offer, and I am sure I am not alone. In fact, I wouldn't mind going to a regular court. In fact, this could turn into a class action suit...

Any thoughts on how I should proceed?

Thanks in advance.

Doug
 
Interesting as I was about to pull the trigger on refrigerator/ovan/micro/dishwasher at Sears as well during this promotion but they didn't have the models in stock that they showed on their web. Asked Maytag to match the fridge rebate and free delivery and the sales person laughed at me saying good luck getting those ads ........ ! So what was Sears requirement that you did not meet?

Fortunately, Home depot matched and beat Sears pricing with free delivery mail in rebate. I haven't sent the paperwork yet as the installation finished today.
 
Go ahead. Don't let a big name scare you. I sued Range Rover and won with very little effort. When it comes to small claims court, common sense tends to win out over money.
 
Hey, I moved into a new house three months ago and bought a new fridge too and don't think I ever received the rebate. I totally forgot about that.
 
I would never be an adovcate of lawsuites, but small claims would be the siplest...
Also
I find it very intresting that after reading this thread, Sears is offering money of appliances...*(after mail in rebate)
And
Free delivery...*(after mail in rebate)
I thought to myself after I saw the commecial, What a pain in the a$$.
Couldnt be bothered.
Mail in rebates are what they are...attempts to make money, relying on us to forget, or be lazy.
I AM ONE OF THEM.(lazy)
(The first step is being able to admit you have a problem):biggrin:
 
They said I didn't meet the requirements because I didn't send in the receipt. I did send it, and I have proof of it. I received a form letter that said I need to send payment for the delivery costs ($55.00) I also made copies of the original receipt which states I am entitled to free delivery.

I know $55 is not a lot of money, but I don't appreciate being jerked around. I want my $55.00 credit, and I don't want to pay them anything.
 
Okay. Have you talked to anyone on the phone about this and attempted to re-present your proof of purchase? I know that's a bit of hassle but certainly less hassle than suing. I wouldn't give up on trying to get them to honor the rebate. If the person you're talking to can't/won't help you, ask for their supervisor and repeat as necessary. Be polite, don't give them a reason to hang up on you.

I would want the $55 too but realistically even small claims court will cost you that much or more in fees, lost work time, travel, etc.
 
I would find it hard to believe that if you took your paperwork into the store and talked with the store Manager and explained the entire thing, that he would not approve the rebate on the spot. If you have not given that a try, I would suggest that prior to any litigation. In the event that the Manager refuses to resolve the issue be sure to get his name and incorporate your attempt to resolve this at the store level in your filing with Small Claims.
 
I just bought a few appliances from Sears too.
The promotion was if I bought two items I received 10% off the total sale. If I bought three items I received 15% of the total sale. If I bought four or more items I received 20% off. So I originally went to buy just a cook top and a Jenn-air wall oven. I also ended up buying a second wall oven and a Dyson animal vacuum. When the salesman rang everything up he stated if I had Sears deliver and install the appliances there would be no sales tax on the entire order. The whole order came to a tad over 5k so the tax was over $400 and the installation cost was only $109. This was a no brainier. The rebate I was going to receive according to the sales guy was near a thousand bucks.
This is where I stopped him and started writing down everything he said. I asked him to repeat himself several times. I made it quite clear how I consider any rebate a form of trickery and how the rebate never comes in the mail. I also asked him to pledge his help in making it right if the rebate were not to come, and he did.

Now I went and got the store manager and asked him to accompany me to the appliance section. I had the salesman repeat everything again in front of the store manager. I then asked the store manager if all was accurate and if he too would help if I did not get my rebate back. He also agreed. I took down his name and the salesmans name too, noted the time and date that we spoke.

Four weeks later the rebate check comes in the mail $110 dollars short of what it was suppose to be. I went back down to sears and they made it right on the spot. I received the $110 dollar check in the mail yesterday, little effort on my part.
 
Today I received an e-mail from guess who? That's correct - Sears. They wanted to thank me for participating in their rebate program. This is the same company that sent me their form letter telling me they didn't have my forms. Which reminds me, if they don't have my forms, how did they get my address?

Well, I log on to track my rebate progress and was informed that I am not qualified to receive my rebate...:eek: This is the rebate program that is printed on the receipt.
 
As I said, shopping around helps as Home Depot matched Sears' offer of 20% but at least I picked the brands and models that I wanted (Sears did not carry one of the appliance brands), plus another 10% for opening an account with Home Depot - without sending rebates - then another $100 mail in rebate for any purchase over $1500; $75 for lower dollars ..... and $50 mail in rebate. For some reason they had to do two invoices which means a total of $100 and another $75 mail in rebate. And did I mention that Home Depot's prices were a tad lower than Sears to start with ...... :eek: :biggrin:

So I got 30% on the spot :wink: And if for some reaosn I don't get the rebates, I am still ahead of the Sears deal :tongue:

Edit: I forgot to mention that Home Depot's 4 year extended warranty was $89 for any appliance whereas Sears varied and was higher on all the appliances I shopped.
 
Last edited:
Hrant said:
Edit: I forgot to mention that Home Depot's 4 year extended warranty was $89 for any appliance whereas Sears varied and was higher on all the appliances I shopped.
Click to expand...

$139 at Sears. I bought the extended warranty on my cook top because it is new technology, electromagnetic. It is amazing how fast the cook top heats food. Boils a gallon of water in 60 seconds!
 
steveny said:
$139 at Sears. I bought the extended warranty on my cook top because it is new technology, electromagnetic. It is amazing how fast the cook top heats food. Boils a gallon of water in 60 seconds!
Click to expand...

Is it this type of cook top you're talking about? If so, did it have patches that doesn't light up like the following picture?

Anyone have cook top like the following with the same issue?

zzz.jpg


Thanks.
 
Sears has lost touch of the basic principle of business - make it easy for the customer to do business.
Last December I went in to just buy a waffle maker for my sister-in-law. While in the check out line I saw the display with gift cards, and deceided to get my brother a $100 card. They could not ring up the sale on one transaction! The gift card had to be a separate sale! And I wanted to write a check.
I won't be back to see them again.
 
bodypainter said:
I would want the $55 too but realistically even small claims court will cost you that much or more in fees, lost work time, travel, etc.
Click to expand...

You can request that the party you are suing pay all court costs if you win.
 

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