The Sears Stove Saga
We had a lot of points built up on our Sears card so we bought a stove through their online store. You know, before they go totally bankrupt. They gave us a delivery date right then and we put it on the calendar. About 30 days. The invoice said we’d get a call or text a day or two before delivery to confirm.
We got no other paperwork and being, well, experienced, we poked around their website and found a ‘what to expect’ page. Then we poked around the internet and found an installation manual.
We checked all the measurements and it seemed it would fit the opening left by the old stove. It also said we must(!) buy a new power cord.
The style was going to be a bit different. The old stove was flat. This new one has an upright back where the controls are. My brilliant wife explained how to take out the granite counter top insert between the old stove and the back wall so the new one would fit. Then we waited.
The night before we got a robocall at 9:00pm - delivery would be tomorrow between 2-4. We got another robocall at 9:02 and a third at 9:06 all saying the same thing. So we confidently pulled out the old stove and put it out behind the house. We couldn’t find a new power cord in time so we took the cord off the old stove. Then we banged out the granite insert, washed the floor and naively waited.
At 8:50 the next morning we got a robocall - your order has been delayed 2 weeks and please call this number. So we did. The live customer service rep said our order has been delayed 2 weeks. (Thanks). We said - but we got a call, no wait, three calls, and have no stove now. What do we do for two weeks? She said we can order something different, not that it would show up instantly. We said, yeah but we were promised last night. Why would we get three calls. No answer. She said “well this time it’s guaranteed next Friday.” Grrr.
So we drag the old stove back in, reconnect the plug and slide it back in. Then we wait.
We get another robocall Tuesday at 9pm. It’s coming tomorrow 2-4. Not Friday. Does this make them 3 days early or still a week late? We’ve learned and do nothing yet.
Next morning 8am a human driver calls - between 1-3. So we pull the stove, put it out back, disconnect the cord again, like experts this time.
They show up. He says ‘where’. I bring him to the kitchen to look at the opening. He says ‘we don’t install, you didn’t pay for install. I said we did and I got my paperwork.
He actually argued that his paperwork was right and ours wasn’t. I said who do we call and then he half assed installed it anyway.
Except he’s supposed to know what to look for to remove and where it is - tape, styrofoam, etc. He tested the burners and took a picture that they were working. Then he left.
Yes, we signed for it though we did not agree. As anyone receiving a delivery knows, you don’t sign, you don’t get the item. Plus we didn’t have a stove any more.
We think we ought to test the oven. We figure out what buttons to press and it starts to smoke. They left the wire racks tied down to the heating element!
So we ultimately found out:
They didn’t install or leave us with the ‘anti tip’ bracket
They didnt remove all the packing materials
They didnt level it
And for some reason a power cord came attached and included.
Now the rest of this we can’t blame on Sears:
It turns out the wall outlet doesn’t line up to the indents on the back of the stove. They’re different than the old ones. So we figure us two amateurs can fix it - cut a hole in the sheet rock and hopefully be able to unscrew the junction box from the stud, move it up a few inches; piece of cake.
We get the box unscrewed but it won’t move. We put a phone phone/camera in the wall and see it’s connected to hard pipe conduit not the flexi stuff. And it won’t budge.
Plus the wires are too short as well. Amateurs.
We think and think. Don’t want to hire an electrician and admit failure. And we come up with a real plan. Buy another junction box, pop one of the holes and put it on top of the old box we left in place. Then tug, pull, snake and hope we can get an extra inch of wire to pull through.
We stretch and strain, get the plug reattached and lo and behold, it works!
But wait, there’s more.
We go to slide the stove in and it just won’t budge. in/out/in/out/in and we finally we see there’s a bulge on the stove that’s not in the measurements we so carefully checked! It’ll never get flush with the wall.
By now we’re done. We do the best we can and get it real close. Then we put a bottle on each side against the back splash. And believe it or not it still cooks just fine ;-)
We waited for the inevitable survey so we could explain / complain about most of this. And it never came. We got a one question survey: “Would you let these delivery people back in your home?” We said no. There was no room for comments.
It was partially Sears, and partially the Fates who tried real hard to put a damper on our enjoyment of a new appliance purchase.
Then we cooked our first dinner and realized we had won.