I was fairly sure that the local Sears would be at least as confused when I dropped off this mower, so I tried to call them to get as much as possible straightened out in advance--instead I wound up in voice menu hell, winding up with someone at a distant call center rather than at the local store. Call center operator assured me that the local store would be ready for me. It was almost time for lunch, but assuming that I'd be dropping the mower off for a later decision I loaded the mower into my Beetle and headed to Sears, thinking I would be back in 20 minutes or so.
The guy in the repair department had to go ask what to do...then came back and handed me the same bulletin I already had, and told me to go call the number. I told him that I already did that, and was told to drop it off to him. I tried to call the number again while still at Sears, got a busy signal. Repair guy offered to let me talk to a manager. Manager then asked most of the same questions, then wanted to know if I had a receipt, tried to look up the information from the mower. He finally gave up and passed me off to Lawn and Garden with a note.
Went to Lawn and Garden, He asked if I wanted a new mower, I said that would be fine, and he disappeared in the back again. A few minutes later he came back, and tried to figure out how to ring up the transaction, finally sent me back to the repair/merchandise pickup area to get my mower...which turned out to be a corded electric. Back to Lawn and Garden, more paperwork, and wound up with the floor model cordless--but until I checked, without the key or charger.
Despite my griping, I'm quite happy about the result of all this--I got to trade a nearly worn-out mower for a nicer brand new one. Sears really shouldn't have to do all this--the 'safety defect' is pretty minor and the mowers in question are all at least 10 years old.
The gift that keeps on giving.
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