Water Heaters Discussion Board

Sears.com gave me a price and when they cam to install the y changed the model + price

SearsCares-Robert — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:27:54 GMT

Dear yoavile,

I can understand your disappointment & skepticism. I am very sorry that you have not received the level of customer service that you deserve. This is definitely not the type of experience our customers should encounter with us. We would like to talk to you about this situation and see what we can do to make it right. Our team is part of the corporate executive social media customer relations department. We handle the highest level of escalated customer relations issues. Emails sent to our corporate offices are handled by part of our team and we (Sears Cares) handle issues escalated via Social Media, such as MySears Community. Your issue will remain here in our office with a personal case manager who will oversee the problem until it’s resolved. I encourage you to allow us to try and help. Please send us an email containing basic contact information (preferably a phone number) and screen name (yoavile)to SMAdvisor@searshc.com to the attention of Robert.

Thanks,

Robert B.

Social Media Moderator

Sears Social Media Support

Sears.com gave me a price and when they cam to install the y changed the model + price

yoavile — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:32:01 GMT

My old water heater died last Thursday so despretaly I called Sears.com... The gentelman on the phone was really firendly and I told him which model I wanted which was a 50 gallon natural gas, he told me the he would even improve the was that was online as part of a price match program that they were running and gave me a quote#.

I called back and asked another representative that I wanted to move forward with it... The next day an installed showed in my house with a 40 gallon water heater and my wife told him that we ahd ordered a 50 gallon. He went back to a local Sears and i was called from there explaining that the 50 gallon would be $200 more (funny that is what I had ordered) It was a Friday and basically I had no choice. Waitting for the next business day was not an option.

Problem is and even the guy who installed it explained is that when you order Sears.com there is no one to complain to. Basically you are on your own. I will never buy again from them again and I have been buying all there applinces for years

Water Heater overheating

Billfish — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 03:48:29 GMT

When we worked in the field,we were told in a situation like this to go out to the truck,get two new thermostats (with emergency cut off if so equipped) and two new elements and replace all the parts.From a production standpoint this was the right way to go-it would complete the repair 999 out of a 1000 times,it was quick and mechanically simple.After all a bad heater can indeed still cause overheating,if its shorted to ground.

After a while though i got to thinking that maybe this was a systematic overcharge.The fair and correct way to do it would be to sit down and evaluate the parts individually till you diagnosed the failed part.However,to do so would usually mean you had to cancel a call at the end of your route,and we can all see by reading the complaints on this forum,you dont get much love by cancelling a call from lack of time,because people think mostly of themselves and the hell with their fellow man.What a wonderful thought for thanksgiving,eh?

Anyways,even now I know guys who do it both ways.If you are getting paid by the hour you will likely do a thorough electrical evaluation.People will have to pay a heavier labor charge but should likely save money for unneeded parts that they were charged for.The plumbers who just replace everything will be in and out faster,but they might charge you for some parts that didnt need replaceing.

My advice is this:The answer will most always be found in the wiring diagram."Reading a wiring diagram is the most necessary skill involved repairing an appliance".Every water heater I have ever seen has the diagram glued to the tank.It is the most concise piece of service data that you will ever find.Use it (or learn to use it) (or hire somebody who knows how to use it). and go forward.

Water Heater overheating

lightsaber — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 01:27:18 GMT

Hi kjhansen49;

Your hot water heater I'm guessing is electric? The A, B, C settings are more or less a ballpark setting, but if you want it set exactly, before anyone has run hot water in the morning you can run the hot water at say the kitchen tap for one minute. Then fill a cup to 3/4 full and hold a candy thermometer in the cup of hot water. The candy thermometer needle will rise and then level off with a more accurate reading than the water heater thermostats can give. Make small adjustments, and check again the next morning to get the temperature exact.

Your best solution is to replace both thermostats as it appears that one of them is defective, as well as the thermal overload above the top thermostat. My water heater did the same thing after around seven years also. Check your warranty papers to see if you can get the water heater fixed under warranty, because both thermostats together will cost around $50.00, parts only at your local hardware store. The replacement is not that difficult if you want to do it yourself, just be sure to turn off the water heater breaker first, and use a multimeter to make sure the power is off at the heater before replacing the thermostats.

Water Heater overheating

kjhansen49 — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:50:52 GMT

I have a Kenmore 80 gallon electric water heater which has functioned fine for the past 7 years. Suddenly it started overheating the water. It has three basic heat settings, A, B & C, with "hotter" after that. We've always kept it at B, which is mildly hot, I don't remember exactly but I think 120 degrees. Suddenly it's spiked up to scalding hot but the settings are still at "B." Sounds like at least one thermostat control has blown. Any thoughts?

Keith

Age of hot water heater

Billfish — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:23:18 GMT

That would be February 2004.

Age of hot water heater

DavidSusseles — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:23:31 GMT

I have a Sears 153.320893HT SN : B04208198 any idea on the age?

Thanks

Pilot light won't stay lit (cont)

JulieK — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 22:26:34 GMT

HI exxsears! We can get you in touch with SearsCares, the customer service escalation team, if you would like. I left a comment on your Home page to get your information so they can directly reach out.

BAD BAD BAD SEARS!!!!!!!!!!! Hot Water Heater Related

Billfish — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 22:26:19 GMT

There is no "hourly charge".Never was.All jobs are billed on a flat rate basis.

Pilot light won't stay lit (cont)

exxsears — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 21:45:37 GMT

Since the discussions are locked though unresolved, let's get this back on the top of the list.

PILOT LIGHT WON'T STAY LIT is obviously a KNOWN ISSUE. Magnet wears out in the Robert Shaw Unitrol control value in the WH manufactured by American and distributed by Sears/Kenmore.

The part is under warranty but Sears wants to charge me $75 for a repair call and refused to tell me the hourly charge for their technician who will tell me what I already know and probably won't even bring the part. The part costs 40% of the original cost of the WH and everybody knows it doesn't last.

The part should be replaced for free with no service charge. I'd take it in and get it exchanged but even that's not "allowed". Talked to 14 Sears reps yesterday. I am so upset and still without hot water.

BAD BAD BAD SEARS!!!!!!!!!!! Hot Water Heater Related

exxsears — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 21:40:14 GMT

PILOT LIGHT WON'T STAY LIT is obviously a KNOWN ISSUE. Magnet wears out in the Robert Shaw Unitrol control value in the WH manufactured by American and distributed by Sears/Kenmore.
The part is under warranty but Sears wants to charge me $75 for a repair call and refused to tell me the hourly charge for their technician who will tell me what I already know and probably won't even bring the part. I am so upset. The part costs 40% of the original cost of the WH and everybody knows it doesn't last.

Energy Star Water Heater - not enough hot water along with poor customer service

HotWaterHeater — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 02:33:31 GMT

OK, I got with a Sears Cares representative named Shannon and upgraded to an 80 gallon hot water heater. The unit was delievered on March 19th but not installed. I bought the original with installation and for what ever reason the new unit was delivered and is still sitting in it's box in my basement.

Shannon called my home on 21st, 22nd and 23rd asking how the installation went and I called him on the same days explaining the unit was not installed and if he wanted to catch me during the day he needed to call my cell phone but for what ever reason he called my home. Well, I have received 4 or 5 phone called from the Sears delivery department requesting to come and pick up the old unit but alas it is still connected because the installation department needs the go ahead from Shannon to complete the job.

So, I am trying to call forward my home phone to my cell phone so I can talk with Shannon as he doesn't appear to understand that I am at work in the day and not sitting home waiting to answer the telephone.

I did consider the tankless unit but went with the gas unit because I figured it would be easy.

Sears water heater sales and install is a bad joke......just a terrible fiasco

JulieK — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 01:11:28 GMT

Hi oyvey! I am sorry to hear about the issues you are having getting your new water heater installed. I left a comment on your Home page to get you in touch with SearsCares so they can help.

Sears water heater sales and install is a bad joke......just a terrible fiasco

oyvey — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 21:29:04 GMT

My SO went to her local sears store and purchased a Kenmore 12yr gas water heater. The sales man and my SO may have miscommunicated and the salesman told my SO to go to her city hall and take out a building permit. Now this is strange because she had paid for the hwh and the installation (to be done by a Sears contracted plumber). She goes to get the permit and they tell her the installer needs to take out the permit before hand. At this point we start calling Sears to add the permit fee to the sale so the contractor can go get the permit. Sears salesman says, they don't do that. Every other Sears employee at the hot water heater 800 number and the installation 800 number tell us Sears always adds the permit fee if they are installing. We, try to get the salesman to take care of this and he keeps saying they don't do this. We are polite throughout all of this.

Ok, now we're calling the plumber, 3 days and many calls resulting in many messages left by us, we finally reach the plumber (he still had not returned our calls) and he says "I'm not going to get the permit, you do that....... it's not like we're building a house!" (the plumber does state he'll be there on time Thursday morning) OK, it get's worse.

The water heater was supposed to be installed this morning between 8a.m. and noon. 1:30 pm arrives..... no plumber, no call, nothing. Finally reach the plumber and he states Sears received the wrong water heater (now he should have known this around 8am) and they are re-ordering it. We call sears, they now tell us the plumber will get the permit and the new heater will be in next Wednesday (two weeks from the day it was originally ordered) and the plumber will install it then.

This is just plain bad business. We've made many calls to try to straighten this out, and on every call, Sears had the correct part number, how could they ship the wrong one?????

The plumber refusing to get a permit! WTF! Then his comment "......it's not like we're building a house!"

We will never again buy from Sears. We are in our 60's and back in the day, Sears was known for it's Great Products & Service, NOW SEARS SEEMS TO BE KNOWN FOR IT'S LOUSY PRODUCTS AND SERVICE!

I even worked for Allstate Insurance years ago, in a Sears Store. I had lot's of allegiance to them, not any more.

Energy Star Water Heater - not enough hot water along with poor customer service

bajakma — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:25:22 GMT

Have you considered a tankless unit? They seem to be even more efficiant than the tank type and supply hot water on demand.

Energy Star Water Heater - not enough hot water along with poor customer service

HotWaterHeater — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 03:00:53 GMT

I too have a family of 4 and the issue showed up right away. There is something called a dip tube, which brings the cold water to the bottom of the tank, and I am wondering if they forgot to install it or put in the wrong dip tube during the manufacture of this unit because the water gets cold after a single shower...

It's not a thermostat setting issue....the unit that this unit replaced put out more hot water than this one. I wish it was something simple but I think I have a lemon.

Energy Star Water Heater - not enough hot water along with poor customer service

Neeko — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:43:29 GMT

Could be a defective unit. I just purchased a new Sears Miser 9 / 50 gallon tank and have plenty of hot water. Two bathrooms, dishwasher, laundry with a family of four. The water was to hot at the recomented setting. I had to turned it down. If you have a large family and have a greater need for hot water, a larger tank should satisfy your demands. Also check the thermostat setting on your current tank. You may just need to increase the setting based on your family needs.

Energy Star Water Heater - not enough hot water along with poor customer service

HotWaterHeater — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:31:57 GMT

Hi Julie,

Thanks for your help!

Waiting to hear from them now after missing their call by a few minutes.

Energy Star Water Heater - not enough hot water along with poor customer service

JulieK — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 12:29:50 GMT

Got it, HotWaterHeater! SearsCares will be in touch soon!

Energy Star Water Heater - not enough hot water along with poor customer service

HotWaterHeater — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 02:01:47 GMT

Thank you JulieK!

I posted my info to you as a private message.