Multiple Choice Test For You!

Can you guess what's in these packages that have been sitting on my porch for months now?

a. Vestiges of an American institution doomed by inept customer service
b. Scorpion housing and fodder for target practice
c. Parts that don't fit my Sears dishwasher, never picked up as promised
d. A and C
e. A great source of personal frustration
f. B and E
g. All of the above

Tragedy

Yesterday morning Farmer Rick left the door to the chicks unsecured and Francisco killed five before I came to their rescue. I had left the house and fortunately returned for something I'd forgotten, or else they all would be dead. I am extremely angry at FR's lack of mindfulness, and saddened by the loss (as he is). We had a good cry when we buried them.

It's too bad all our rescue dogs are hunting breeds instead of shepherding breeds.

Among the dead was Emma, the little Marans whose feet I taped every night and was finally walking fairly normally (she walked like a wind up toy), the most precocious Brabanter that flew to the tub side to see me every time I entered the room, a Buff Laced and a Silver Laced Polish, and the pesky Buff Orpington I didn't order who was finally settling down. Between the hatchery mix up, original losses, and this, my breeding plans are all messed up!

On top of the already heavy day, the replacement peeps showed up, a day before expected. I had just spoken to the hatchery Monday and they assured me the chicks were shipping Wednesday, not arriving Wednesday. The hatchery had asked if it was OK to put "a couple" of extra males in for warmth, and I said OK since they had sold out of any other hens I wanted. What I got was eight extra males of a same--but as yet unknown--breed! Since when is eight a couple? Now what on earth am I going to do with all those roosters?

I don't understand what's going on with today's lack of customer service and communication. It's pervasive from dishwashers to chickens. Maybe businesses have grown too large to be effective. I get the best service and communication from the individual sellers on eBay and Etsy.

The new replacement peeps are small and fragile in comparison to the first ones, I'm nervous about them. Francisco is banished to the side yard until all the babies have moved into the new coop. The hatchery is done with it's run this spring, so today I located an individual selling fertile eggs for some of my losses, and I ordered a Hobovator (incubator). Farmer Rick is open to trying new strategies for becoming more fully awake and mindful in the morning. This has been a rough spring for many of us.

Hopefully my next posts will be more cheerful...

Sears Update

Since my last posting, Why I Will Never Buy Another Appliance From Sears, I have been receiving 1-2 automated calls, then live person calls each day trying to reschedule the repairman to put in the non-existent dishwasher part. I grit my teeth each time they end the conversation with "thank you for choosing Sears!" During the past seventeen days of this I have felt very harassed by Sears.

They wouldn't even leave me alone for the Easter weekend, three people called to try to schedule the repairman. I told each live person that I will not accept a black control panel for my white dishwasher, and that I expected them to live up to the warranty to replace the entire unit. One of these people even told me they had no evidence I had a warranty!

The last person told me he would refer my case to the national replacement group and I should expect a call from them. This morning I received another call to reschedule the repairman. I told them to take me off their call list and to have the national replacement group call me. Unbelievable, they called. I now have a $500 credit toward the new dishwasher of my choice--only it has to be from Sears!

After this one breaks, that's it, no more Sears appliances! No more Sears warranties! I estimate I have spent 12 hours on the phone with Sears or the repairman over this issue trying to get my dishwasher fixed for 2 months. I still have to set the last three wrong parts on the doorstep for UPS to pick up. I predict with outsourced service, and incompetent parts department, and horrible communication, Sears will soon go out of business.

Calendar of Events:

Feb 16 Initial call for repair
Feb 20 Wrong part arrives
Feb 25 Repairman arrives, orders another part
Feb 27 Another wrong part arrives
March 4 Repairman arrives, orders another part
March 12 Third wrong part arrives, I am out of town
March 16 I call Sears and tell them it's the wrong part, they promise to expedite the part before the repairman shows up
March 17 I call Sears to ascertain the part has shipped, it has but they don't know when it will arrive
March 18 Repairman comes, but there is no part
March 19 Forth wrong part arrives! A manager is supposed to call me, doesn't.
March 23 A manager calls to tell me there is no white part, I will have to accept a black part! She says my warranty doesn't cover "cosmetic problems". I told her the problem was functional, that Sears was causing the cosmetic problem, and that if this wasn't taken care of I would seek legal action.
March 24-April 10 For seventeen days I receive 1-2 automated or live person calls each day trying to reschedule the repairman to install "the part".
April 13 I am issued an authorization number for $500 towards a new Sears dishwasher.

My advice to you: 1) Don't give in 2) Don't ever buy Sears appliances or warranties.

Why I Will Never Buy Another Appliance From Sears or the Dishwasher Blues

First of all, as a designer I would never have designed a dishwasher to vent steam over the control panel. Moisture and electronics just don't play well together. Whoever engineered this appliance needs a swift kick in the seat of his pants.

Don't look at me, it came with the house. And before you go to judging, I'll have you know it is the only dishwasher I've ever owned, and I've grown rather fond of it!

A year ago when the control panel lights were dancing around like a disco party, and the commands got all confused and the dishwasher refused to work, my husband--who didn't want to spend the money to fix it--decided after many months maybe he didn't like doing the dishes either, I called for repair.

I purchased an extended warranty for $200 which guaranteed if it couldn't be fixed it would be replaced. This involved trying to explain to a woman in India that the unit was not located at my P.O. Box, but at my house, and enduring hearing her say 'exactly!' about 127 times.

The only Sears appliance repairman is an hour away and comes my way only on Wednesdays. He came, ordered the parts; they came the following week, but he did not. His father was sick, then passed, so it took another three weeks to get the parts installed.

As it turned out, this was expedient compared to what I am now going through.

Fast forward a year. The control panel lights are blinking again, and there's only 10 days left on the extended warranty. I call. Once again, the only repairman comes, only on a Wednesday, orders the same part. It comes the next week. He comes the next Wednesday and discovers it is black, and my dishwasher is white. He orders again. The following Wednesday I'm at the Fabric Collage workshop. When I get back I open the part and discover it is...black!

On Monday, I call India. They assure me they will order a white one this time. They will have someone call me that afternoon to verify it is in stock, and then they will expedite it to arrive before the repairman Wednesday. No one calls back.

Tuesday, I call India again. They tell me it has been shipped, but do not know the particulars. Someone will call me to tell me when to expect it to arrive. No one calls, and no part shows up. Wednesday, the repairman comes as scheduled, and takes the black parts away.

Thursday, a package arrives, and sure enough it's a white part, only it's the WRONG white part...it's the toe panel, not the control panel. I call India and explain the situation. She says the only repairman must come out again (only on a Wednesday) to reorder the part. By now, I think we all know what the part is and what color it is supposed to be. I have a limited amount of Wednesdays, you know?

Then the woman says OK, she will order a green panel for me. Green? I go ballistic. Do white and green sound anything alike to your ears? She will have my case manager call me. I am case #2513726. Does this mean there are over two and a half million people waiting for THE RIGHT PART? The case manager never calls. Instead the San Antonio dispatcher calls and says four of these parts are now on order and the repairman is coming...you guessed it, on Wednesday. None of these parts have arrived.

Today, I call the case manager. She tells me flatly they are out of the part. She will have the only repair man order it again--just to make sure there isn't a white one laying around somewhere. If another black one comes, she says they'll just have to install it! I told her if they couldn't come up with the right part they would have to replace the entire appliance. She said no, the warranty doesn't cover "cosmetics"! Never mind my dishwasher didn't begin with a cosmetic problem!

It takes a lot to raise my fur, but I am about ready to spontaneously combust!