A UCAN member recently brought some problems he was having with Sears while trying to get his refrigerator repairs to our attention. If you have been having trouble with Sears in California also let us know.

UCAN member, Bill was having problems with his refrigerator. Since he bought the product from Sears, he called their service repair line to schedule a technician to come out and have a look and give an estimate. When he called rather than being able to set up his repair he was given a sales pitch for an appliance protection agreement for his refrigerator. Essentially for about $250 dollars he could have repairs up to $500 covered for a year. He decided to accept the offer as he was told that if his repairs were less than the cost of the Agreement he could cancel and receive a refund and just pay the cost of repair. After accepting the Agreement he was then able to schedule a repair appointment.

The repair technician found a problem with a gasket and provided an estimate for the cost of labor and the part. The cost of labor seemed quite high. Apparently what the consumer was unaware of (it is unclear whether the sales rep mentioned it when he called) Sears charges a flat $109 fee (in San Diego) just to come out and provide an estimate. Once that was cleared up, the estimate of $190 for a gasket replacement made a little more sense. The gasket needed to be ordered, so a follow up appointment was scheduled for the following week. The consumer was told to defrost his refrigerator in the meantime.

In the interim the refrigerator would not defrost and the consumer called Sears to alert them to the additional problem. The technician investigated and found a problem with the thermostat and would also have to be replaced and Bill was provided a new estimate.

In this new estimate the labor cost for the gasket repair cut in half. The consumer received no explanation for the these price changes and became suspicious that Sears may have been deliberately keeping the repair costs below $500 because of a term in the Agreement that allowed the consumer to put $500 towards a new refrigerator if the repair costs exceeded $500. The consumer called UCAN to help investigate.

UCAN helped the consumer filed a complaint with the Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Electronic Appliance Repair. Following the complaint and further conversation with Sears’ customer service and the Bureau, UCAN learned that repair pricing is subject to a practice referred to as “price booking.” The cost of the repair may vary depending upon the number of repairs to be completed. Sears charges more for the Gasket when it was the sole repair and it reduced that cost when it became secondary to the more expensive Thermostat repair.

The jury is still out as to whether this is a fair practice for consumers. Should a repair have one flat cost or is there a consumer benefit to this price adjustment. Perhaps it all depends on which labor estimate you think is more accurate or reflective of the work being done. Weigh in by posting your comments.