Sears.com refuses refund on broken Panasonic!!!

[gamebred]

As a few of you may know, I just recently purchased a Panasonic S14 as a gift to my grandparents for thier anniversary. Prior to purchase of that model, I had bought a Panasonic X1 from Sears that was broken. I had paid through Sears online, so we could just pick it up in the loading area. When I got the display home I noticed that the screen was cracked from one corner to the next. When I returned it, I was told that they would have to order a new one, as that was the last one they had in stock. Being as I didn't have time to wait, I politely refused and asked for a refund instead. The salesperson was understanding at the store and proceeded to scan the printed receipt that we had on hand and gave us a refund receipt, claiming we would have to wait about 5 days for the money to show up in our account. WRONG!

It's been 3 weeks and the wife has been on the phone going back and forth with our bank and Sears. Our bank clearly stated that Sears never sent the refund through. Being as we had ordered through thier online store, there wasn't anything that our local Sears could do. I just love this "seperate entity" crap these stores pull on thier customers.

A day after we returned the X1 to Sears, we went ahead and purchased a Panasonic S14 from Sam's Club thinking the refund would clear in a week. Haha... I guess that's what we get for ass-uming, huh?

Thankfully, we went through Paypal who has opened a dispute and plan to handle it from here on out. They said it would probably be 4-6 weeks before we see the $1100 back in our account. My wife even gave Sears a chance to do right by us before filing the claim with Paypal. A manager from Sears online rudely said "Well I guess you better do that then" after my wife had mentioned having to file the disputed charges with Paypal. So does that mean that Sears wouldn't have refunded us our money? Is this the way a well established business treats thier customers? I have bought plenty of stuff from Sears throughout the years, everything from tools to washers/dryers to lawnmowers. I guess it's a good thing we have Lowes.

The reason I'm taking this to the boards is I notice quite a few people buying these Panasonics from Sears because they have had some pretty good deals. While I understand many people never have had a problem with Sears, I have...and it cost me $1100 right here before Christmas. I have a daughter to buy for for goodness sakes and $1100 may mot be alot of money for some people, it is for me.

Whatever you do, don't order a plasma online from them. If you do, I can't say it enough....use Paypal. They will give you the money back and go after these shady businesses that attempt to rip people off. A plasma has a glass screen (two sheets of glass in this case) that can be broken. If you order these panels and have them shipped, it is a possibilty that you may get a broken one. I beleive had I not used Paypal...Sears wouldn't have given me my refund. After all it's been 3 weeks worth of talking to many Sears representatives and managers alike and getting brushed off every time.