How many CSRs does it take to repair a dishwasher?

The full story ...

Earlier this year we had our dishwasher serviced. The top rack dishes were not getting clean ... grit was getting cemented on the glasses every time we ran the dishwasher. A royal waste of time and water, if you ask me, since they all had to be hand scrubbed in super hot water to get the grit off.

LeRoy came out, cleaned out the motor and got it working, but wasn't sure how much longer it would last, predicting that within the year it would need to be replaced. At the end of the service call he mentioned a service agreement/warranty I could purchase for $90 that would cover all parts and labor on the machine for the next year. I bought it on the spot after clarifying that it would cover all parts and labor (LeRoy mentioned the motor would cost ~$300) ... $90 seemed like a good investment.

Fast forward a few months ... The dishwasher worked really well for a few weeks after LeRoy left and then it went back to it's old tricks again. Near the end of May, I was able to make an appointment for June 4th, and requested LeRoy to come back.

June 4th ... Within 10 minutes of looking at the dishwasher, LeRoy assessed that the motor did indeed need to be replaced. His inventory list showed it wasn't on his truck, but he went to look anyway, and found one - yippee!! Took out my old motor, went to install the new motor, but discovered the seal from the old motor wasn't salvageable AND he didn't have the part on his truck - he searched his truck for a good 45 minutes trying to find it. His inventory sheet listed one in stock, otherwise he'd have never started. So the part got ordered - it would be shipped to the house -LeRoy would return the following Thursday. In the meantime the dishwasher would not - could not be used.

June 9th ... Sears called to tell me the part had shipped and to call them when the part arrived so the service appointment could be scheduled.

June 10th ... The part arrived, but when I called to confirm arrival of the part, the only service appointment available is Friday. One more day, we can handle that.

June 12th ... late afternoon, LeRoy arrives. He installs the new motor and seal lick-ity-split. My friend Kelly who's over with her kids, loads my dishwasher and starts it. 10 minutes into the cycle, water pours out of the bottom of the machine. I call LeRoy's cell - he comes back ~5:30 and finds that the drain pump needs to be replaced. Another part that needs to be ordered.

June 18th ... I've had no word from Sears, so I call. CS has no clue what I'm talking about. No part is on order, no follow-up appointment is scheduled. I make an appointment for Monday, request LeRoy, and specifically tell the CSR that I speak that a drain pump needs to be on his truck so he can make the repair.

June 20th ... LeRoy stops by the house first thing in the morning. Becca answers the door and before I can get downstairs to talk with him, he tells Becca, that the drain pump is on back order and he's not sure when it will come in. I am totally confused, and call Sears ... relay the timeline and repair history to three different CSRs in an effort to determine if the part will be in for my Monday AM appointment - trying to explain that there is no point for a repairman to come without the part. The part is ordered that morning, and a "rush" is put on it. I am told to call back Sunday to track the parts progress and if necessary reschedule my Monday morning appointment.

June 21st ... I call Sears ... mid sentence we are disconnected. I call back and am told they are experiencing call center issues and to call back in an hour or so.

June 22nd ... A technician is still scheduled to arrive anytime between 8 and noon. I was told he would call ahead to let me know what time he would arrive and if he could not reach me at home, he would call the cell number. Consequently, with cell phone in hand, I take the kids to VBS. On my way home I call Sears to determine if the drain pump has arrived. Drive on hold and am home by the time I'm talking to a real person. While talking to the CSR I discover a post-it note on the door from Glen who was in my driveway at 9:14, six minutes before I walked in the door. I loose my temper and vent a bit of frustration at the entire system ... why ask for a number you have no intention of given the repairman? What a royal waste of every ones time!! The CSR gets in touch with the repairman who eventually calls me and shows up around 11am ... he does not have the part necessary to fix the dishwasher, but as to not waste his trip, takes a second look to see if there is anything more he can do to help the dishwasher along. Glen finds a few more things that could stand to be replaced, orders all the parts and tells me he'll be back on Thursday to install everything.

June 24th ... call from Sears CS ... seams my parts will arrive sometime Thursday. They cannot guarantee UPS will deliver them before the repairman arrives, and suggest moving the appointment to Friday morning. I tell the CSR that I want to keep both appointments so my dishwasher that services a family of seven, has now be inoperable at no fault of mine, for three weeks now, can be up and running as quickly as humanly possible. I'm told that it is physically impossible for me to have a service appointment for Thursday and Friday. I press the matter more than once and the CSR could really care less. Backed in to a corner, with no where else to go, I relent and change the appointment to Friday morning.

June 25th ... the parts arrive.

June 26th ... Glen arrives. The parts department sent him six of one of the parts he ordered ... five more than he needed. Thankfully they sent all the other parts too and was able to install all the necessary parts. It took him quite a while to get everything cleaned out, taken a part and then put back together again. But the machine now works!!

LeRoy called an hour or more after Glen left to let me know that the drain pump he had ordered for me had arrived. I brought him up to speed on what had happened on my end, and he did the same. Turns out when he went to order the part on the 12th they were back ordered, so he tried to get the part through other connections in an effort to save time and, well it didn't save anytime. Thankfully he'll be able to use the part elsewhere and since it will be on his truck, this all won't happen to someone else.

I should explain that I was really happy with the two repairman that came to service the machines. The customer service department and the parts department - not so much.

Thanks to all who had some fun with GR on facebook about all this ... you helped us smile our way through a straw that was trying to break our back. More thanks to those sweet soles who came and washed our dishes ... totally unnessecary, but oh so nice to have good conversation and a clean kitchen in the end (gave me time to clean up everything else).

My mom's been in town ... last night while we went to the MoTab concert, she got all the kids involved in hand washing the dishes and drying them. They were actually arguing about who would do the bubbles and who should rise. Hopefully we can carry this over to loading and unloading the dishwasher. I'm so behind in handing out specific chores and daily tasks to the kids. They do their share of work around here, but it's by assignment, as needed, and if I can just get some breathing room in this schedule of mine, I need to create a daily tasks chart for each of them and expand their repertoire to something more regular than - by assignment as needed.

I am just so glad this is all over! Now if Commerce would just send me the ATM cards I requested weeks ago, there will be no more reasons for me to call 1-800 CS numbers.