As submitted to the Vancouver Island Better Business Bureau but they could do nothing because of Sears 90 day return policy:
I purchased the sofa on June 16, 2007 at the Nanaimo store with the intention of having it delivered to Campbell River BC for the house that my husband and I are renovating there. I had carefully selected the sofa to match the paint colour we had selected for the living room. The sofa arrived in Campbell River about a week later and was completely covered with cardboard and plastic wrapping. We picked it up with our truck and stored it in the heated garage at the house in Campbell River. The renovations did not go as planned and we had big delays. In the spring of 2008 we had completed enough to take the sofa into the house. When we tried to get it through the doorway it would not fit no matter how we attempted to move it. This should of been my first clue that things were not right with this sofa. We then moved it back out into the heated garage and stowed it there until we could get someone to remove the windows thereby allowing us room to put the sofa in the house. My husband asked various contractors that are particularly hard to get a hold of if this was possible. After finally getting a response that it wasn't I asked my husband to bring the sofa down to our house in Parksville BC as the colour would also match our living room scheme and it would fit through the doorway. My husband brought the sofa down on October 1, 2008 and the neighbour helped him move it into our house in Parksville. That evening when I got home from work in Nanaimo we opened it up and that is when I discovered that it was no where near the sofa that I had purchased in the store. The next day I called Sears Nanaimo and was put through to the furniture department and I think the person who I spoke to was Lisa. She listened to my story and said that I would have to return it to the outlet in Campbell River and that she was busy and could not talk. I told her that I had purchased it at the store in Nanaimo and that it would be most convenient for us to return it at either Parksville or Nanaimo. I then e-mailed [email protected] and outlined my story to verify if I could return the sofa for another that actually matches my decor. I was answered on October 3, 2008 that I would have to contact the store where I purchased the sofa and sent their "return policy" link which states that I have 90 days to return a purchase. I had explained that the sofa had never been used, was still in it's wrapping and I had all the receipts. I felt like I was talking to a wall.
My husband called the Parksville outlet to see if we could return the sofa there and they begrudgingly said OK. On my first day off we loaded up the sofa and took it to the Parksville store. Marilyn called corporate in Ontario as she said she needed permission to accept the sofa. Corporate would not let her take the sofa so we had to take it back to the house again. I am very upset that I have to keep a sofa that I did not want, and think is very ugly. I have long ago paid for the sofa and feel that Sears has grossly misled me. I feel that Sears wanted to rid themselves of this sofa and were hoping that someone like myself would come along.
I am now stuck with a sofa that I cannot use and out $750. If I try to sell the sofa I will get a maximum of $300 if I am lucky.
I have been with Sears for years and had one of their Sears cards too. No more. This kind of reward for the customer loyaty I have shown all these years just makes me feel like a fool.
I hope this serves as a warning to other potential customers. Sears does not stand by it's products and did not even bother having anyone inspect the sofa to see if what I was claiming was accurate... they just don't care.
Good luck dealing with this greedy corporation.
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