Sears service quality seems to vary dramatically depending on where
you live in the country. It has always been adequate in my area
judging by my experience but one of the news shows had an expose a
while back about how people with Sears service agreements waited
months for service and parts in certain areas.



"Mad Mac" wrote in message
s.com...
Just a few comments (as an ex-Sears appliance tech) re Bob's
experience.

1) Something doesn't sound right here. Sears do not, so far as I'm
aware,
send out "estimators" - the people who come to your home are repair
techs,
who are qualified to carry out repairs. It may have been that he
would have
had to arrange a return visit because he would have had to order
parts.

2) $70 sounds like a trip/estimate (diagnostic) charge. This IS
applied
towards the total repair charge. The only time there is a "basic"
charge
like that is if you decline an estimate. If you have your receipt
from the
tech, it should say something like "38 - CUSTOMER DECLINES
ESTIMATE".

3) I never worked dishwashers, but the 2 year parts warranty on
"electronic
controls" sounds about right. The tech who comes to your home has
some
discretion as to extending the waranty period and/or applying a
customer
satisfaction discount (up to a point). My personal inclination,
given your
circumstances, would have been to cover the parts "in warranty" and
charge
trip/labour. If the tech feels that the level of discount necessary
is
beyond his/her authority, they can contact their manager for
guidance/approval. Your receipt should have a local address/phone
number -
suggest you call that number and ask to speak to a Technical
Manager. I
don't know what area you're in, but where I worked (LA/Ventura
counties,
California), the managers there were fairly decent about keeping
customers
such as yourself (who had spent a considerable sum of money in the
fairly
recent past) happy.