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.

[agoofykindasuperman]

ouch, sorry you had to go through that dilemma. Shame a company like Sears is acting that way, but you can get good or bad CS anywhere you go with any company. You would think that their main objective is to keep you as a happy customer...

[crackinhedz]

so hows the S14?

[Beta Man]

My father swore off Sears in the early 90's

Not sure why, but it was a riding-lawn-mower dispute of some sort

[gamebred]

It would have been fine had I used a credit card or bought directly from our local store. Honestly, I didn't think it was a big deal because we debit alot online via Paypal. At least Paypal is doing thier job. I'll just have to wait until January before I see that money.

I bought a lawnmower from them a few years ago that broke down two weeks after the warranty expired. I couldn't really hold them liable other than the fact it was a Craftsman piece of sh*t. I should have learned from that experience not to buy anything from Sears again. That's okay fool me once... shame on you, fool me twice...shame on me. I won't be making that mistake again.

BTW crakinhedz, they love that S14. I used my Kuro to calibrate it. I used nothing but my eye and made a few tweaks in the service menu. Here's a few shots of the S14 and Kuro side by side. The S14 is the one on the left.


Here's what it looked like after adjusting basic settings:









Here's after I changed the values in the service menu. The original settings had a pretty noticable green tint. I had to bring the green drive down quite a bit, but it looks much better now:

[garageinc2001]

Wow. Excellent pics! Seeing them setup side by side is great! Really shows the difference pre-calibration. Thank you!

[eclimax13]

just out of curiosity...why didnt you just buy the 54s1 at sears and pay the difference?...why buy the s14 when you could get the s1 for less?

[househead]

I'm not sure what their policy is once it leaves the store, but them taking the tv back and not giving you your money is ridicouls. I'd be pissed too.


Now I could see them not accepting the tv back with a crack because how do they know you didn't do it. But that's besides the point because they already took it back and are holding onto your money.

They're probably holding everyone's refunds to inflate their financials for '09.

Thank you for your post. I'm actually in the market for a Panasonic plasma and was considering Sears. I'll look to Best Buy or elsewhere instead.

[seeweda]

I too am surprised they even took the TV back with a crack in it especially if the box had no visible damage to it and if it did it should of been checked before it left the store. That said if you have a refund receipt and can show the money wasn't credited the law falls strictly on your side.

I also would not depend on Paypal straightening the matter out either but I hope they do it will depend on the evidence you provided them. If they don't you may have to take them to small claims court on the matter though problem is you usually have to do that in the state Sears is based which can be a pain in the ass.

[ls7z06]

Sears has gone to the dogs! I still buy craftsman tools there, but that's it. Actually, after reading this thread, I think I am going to start buying tools at Lowe's and just forget Sears completely.

Sorry about your misfortune! Hope you get it fixed soon.

[ZedsDead]

That's such garbage, in a tough economy with a plethora of competition you think they would be accommodating to their customers. I never shop there, and after reading this I have no reason to ever bother. I'm glad paypal is doing their part, I have heard good things about their customer service.

[gamebred]

This whole situation has just been a mess. Sears couldn't have picked a worse time to screw us. I'm just glad I could keep a few folks from making the same mistake as me.

After PayPal re-imburses me, I'll be able to get the wife a nice b-day present, as the remaining funds were spent on our daughter and we didn't give each other anything but stocking stuffers this x-mas. My wife and I just looked at as we had already purchased a Pioneer plasma and an Elite receiver prior to the holidays, so that was our x-mas gift to each other. X-mas is more about spending time with the family than it is about giving gifts. Too bad the kids in the family don't look at it like that. lol

[Agrare]

very nice calibration there.

as far as your lawnmower, if it's craftsman isn't there a life time guarantee, can't (couldn't) you just bring it to the store and they'll replace it?

When i bought my tv at circuit city I ordered online and did in store pick up. They actually opened it up (i would have anyway) to have me inspect it and make sure there was no physical damage before leaving with it. I'd recommend anyone purchasing a tv to check it before leaving the store, as others said, they could have refused to even let you return it. However since they did take it back they should have refunded you right there, it probably didn't take them 5 days to take the money out of your account when you bought it, why should it take that long to refund it (not to mention they didn't even return it in that 5 days)

-Agrare