All three of us returned from picking up our Sears Craftsman 6.0 Lawnmower from the Sears Service Center (between E Humboldt St. and Keyes St.) Carla (a Latina) made an error on our transaction. Ranesha (South Asian Indian) helped us.
Paw and I went to pick up our repaired lawn mower after receiving an automated phone message left on our answering machine. We left Maw in the car to sleep.
Carla was no help. I said out loud to her that the data on OUR ticket (bar code, name, address, model number, serial number, service order, description of requested service) did NOT match the data on THEIR ticket, which was attached to a run-down looking, 4.0 green-colored lawn mower.
Carla said that’s what is in the system. And I insisted that the data was incorrect. For tracking purposes, we decided to pay $146.66 (which included the normal deduction of the $29.99 down payment).
Instead of forwarding our situation to the manager, she insisted that’s what is in the system. She even compared the bar code located on the upper right hand corner of the OUR ticket and THEIR ticket. Even the thinner, shorter, Asian boy working next to her noticed something was wrong in the computer with our transaction later on.
Paw then inspected the lawn mower and noticed that there was something wrong with the unit. It looked dirtier on the outside and inside. The back opening of the mower was NOT clean. He didn’t mention that the motorized unit was supposed to be 6.0 instead of the 4.0 as printed on the gas-powered motor, which I remembered being much larger AND cleaner.
I then mumbled all sorts of profanities under my breath, said out loud that I wanted to see the manager and that it wouldn’t look good if that the auditors saw that transaction. The manager was standing next to Carla at the time. But Paw and I didn’t know that she was Ranesha at that time when I made loud noises.
Then, lo and behold, the fire marshal of San Jose Fire Department (Truck Number 3) came in to do their inspection with the manager, Ranesha. I like Ranesha over Carla. If the Sears, Roebuck and Co. read this blog, please make sure that Carla is reprimanded for poor customer service. Instead of letting the manager handle the matter, Carla continued to insist that the computer was wrong and NOT HER!
The fire marshal came over around 12:11PM. Paw and I left the scene and informed Maw about the situation. In my louder than normal voice from above the ramp, I hollered to her below what we going on. And another person ran into the building and through the door located near the top of the ramp. Then two fire marshals in blue-colored uniform finished around 11:30PM.
All three of us went back inside the warehouse and waited quietly in front of the counter while other customers were being serviced. I yelled out loud, there are other customers waiting here! Then of course I appealed in my calm, diplomatic voice to Ranesha that if you could assist us we would be happy.
Of course, our missing mower was located by Carla. This was after Ranesha called the main service centered and talked with the guy who said that the mower was located here in San Jose, CA.
She handed Carla our stapled pink down payment sheet and correct white receipt to the incorrect pink down payment sheet and incorrect white receipt. She instructed the nasty one to look for our ‘hidden’ mower in the back room. It was ALL the way to the ‘right’ side of the aisles.
So after Ranesha wrote VOID on the check and crossed that word over and handed back our check, the twosome worked together and voided the incorrect paper work of ‘Francisco Badillo’, who unfortunately received a phone call from Ranesha earlier to make sure he didn’t take off with our mower in error.
Anyway, poor Carla was showing no emotion on her face as she sat on the stool to the left side of the counter. (Around 1200pm earlier, I saw her playing with her baby as another man smoked outdoors. The smoke entered the working area where customers were lined up: Isn’t that an OSHA non-compliant issue?) She said to us that:
It never happened before.
Of course, Maw and I retorted back:
There is always a first time.
The total of the service was in the amount of: $111.88.
Lesson of the day: Don’t pay for something that doesn’t belong to you. Make sure your keep your receipts. Verify the data matches you receipt(s) with their paper work(s). Be diplomatic but pissed off. And thank the Lord if you found your missing property. Damn!
Copyright © 2009 by Fluffy von der Flynn. All rights reserved.
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