Where’s my Sears.com refund?

February 21, 2013

Question: I ordered three items from Sears.com three weeks ago. Two arrived, but the other — a coat for $75 — was canceled by Sears the same day I placed the order because it was no longer available in a warehouse or store.

It has been 20 days and I’ve received no refund for the canceled item. I’ve done online chat, e-mailed, and contacted Sears on Twitter and Facebook. According to @searscares, I am now on a waitlist for a “case manager” regarding my refund.

I have also escalated a claim with PayPal, as I paid for my order with PayPal
funds and Shop Your Way Rewards. Can you help me get a refund for the canceled item? — Elizabeth Smith, Johnson City, Tenn.

Answer: Sears was dragging its feet on your refund, no doubt about it.

A look at its own return policy and PayPal’s policy reveals … well, not much. They are long, convoluted documents that make it difficult (if not impossible) to know the timeline for a refund.

That’s not just a Sears and PayPal problem — you see it everywhere. The money is taken out of your account at lightning speed but returned at a snail’s pace.

Here’s the problem I have with your case: You didn’t cancel the transaction; Sears did. There’s no reason it shouldn’t have quickly returned your $75.

Companies will say that it’s not that simple. There are complex systems at work behind the scenes, managing millions of transactions. But the truth is, refunds could be made as quickly as purchases, if companies were willing to invest in the technology.

You could have filed a dispute with PayPal, which functions similarly to a credit card dispute, but that might have tied up your refund even longer. You were better off asking Sears to do the right thing soon. Too bad no one was listening.

By the way, if you ever hit a brick wall with Sears again, try emailing someone higher on the corporate food chain. All Sears email follow the convention firstname.lastname@searshc.com. Forwarding your email to a supervisor would almost certainly ensure your case would be assigned a higher priority, but I can’t guarantee it.

I contacted Sears on your behalf. It processed your refund within a few hours.

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EdB

Just because they are not currently set up to do the pre authorization doesn’t mean they can’t get it set up that way. Ones who don’t just don’t want to get their systems set up to do it. Online merchants like Amazon do it that way so it can be done.
EdB

Just because they are not currently set up to do the pre authorization doesn’t mean they can’t get it set up that way. Ones who don’t just don’t want to get their systems set up to do it. Online merchants like Amazon do it that way so it can be done.
emanon256

My merchant bank would remit $100 to me, and bill me $2, and when refunding, would pull $100, and bill me an additional $2. I would bet this is different for each merchant, or by country as you mentioned. I had multiple merchant accounts for various departments, and money from different POS systems went into to different accounts while I paid all of the transaction fees centrally.
emanon256

My merchant bank would remit $100 to me, and bill me $2, and when refunding, would pull $100, and bill me an additional $2. I would bet this is different for each merchant, or by country as you mentioned. I had multiple merchant accounts for various departments, and money from different POS systems went into to different accounts while I paid all of the transaction fees centrally.
Andrew F

I don’t know about credit cards, but this was PayPal. I sell stuff from eBay from time to time; a few times, I’ve sent full or partial refunds to unsatisfied buyers. In case of a refund, PayPal returns the fee — pro-rated, if the refund was partial. The refund takes the same time as the initial payment, i.e., a second. There is simply no excuse for dragging your feet on refunds!
Andrew F

I don’t know about credit cards, but this was PayPal. I sell stuff from eBay from time to time; a few times, I’ve sent full or partial refunds to unsatisfied buyers. In case of a refund, PayPal returns the fee — pro-rated, if the refund was partial. The refund takes the same time as the initial payment, i.e., a second. There is simply no excuse for dragging your feet on refunds!
TonyA_says

The real test for a vendor’s reputation is what does it do when a customer has notified them of a problem. Read here: https://www.sears.com/community/questions/placed-an-order-on-november-25th-paid-with-paypal-sears-received-the-funds-on-the-25th-sears-cancelled-the-order-on-the-26th-since-the-product-was-out-of-stock-today-its-december-6th-and-i-st/
The OP’s issue with Sears is not unique. How many more customers need to get screwed before Sears fixes this kind of problem?
TonyA_says

The real test for a vendor’s reputation is what does it do when a customer has notified them of a problem. Read here: https://www.sears.com/community/questions/placed-an-order-on-november-25th-paid-with-paypal-sears-received-the-funds-on-the-25th-sears-cancelled-the-order-on-the-26th-since-the-product-was-out-of-stock-today-its-december-6th-and-i-st/
The OP’s issue with Sears is not unique. How many more customers need to get screwed before Sears fixes this kind of problem?
http://www.facebook.com/franklin.shaffer.3 Franklin Shaffer

I ordered a part for a mixer at sears.com, paid for it with my debit card, and got a confirmation for the order. The next day, I got an email from Sears advising me that the part was no longer available and they would refund the charge. The refund showed up within a week on my card. As you can see, I had no trouble with Sears getting my refund within a reasonable time. Maybe I was just lucky.
http://www.facebook.com/franklin.shaffer.3 Franklin Shaffer

I ordered a part for a mixer at sears.com, paid for it with my debit card, and got a confirmation for the order. The next day, I got an email from Sears advising me that the part was no longer available and they would refund the charge. The refund showed up within a week on my card. As you can see, I had no trouble with Sears getting my refund within a reasonable time. Maybe I was just lucky.
lcpossum

Sorry, doesn’t work like that. When the initial charge goes through a fee is charges against the transaction, but when a charge is reversed that initial fee is also reversed. It’s not a fee plus a fee, it’s a fee minus that fee.
lcpossum

Sorry, doesn’t work like that. When the initial charge goes through a fee is charges against the transaction, but when a charge is reversed that initial fee is also reversed. It’s not a fee plus a fee, it’s a fee minus that fee.
Joe Farrell

Why did I think this was a travel blog? Did I miss a post?
Joe Farrell

Why did I think this was a travel blog? Did I miss a post?
naoma

My husband had a credit from Sears — it was a credit type card. He took it to the store (it was about 6 months old) and they could find no record of the number on it. Turned out the amount on the card was deleted an amount for each month he did not use it. So, it was WORTHLESS. Seems a sham to get a credit card that becomes worthless, doesn’t it?
naoma

My husband had a credit from Sears — it was a credit type card. He took it to the store (it was about 6 months old) and they could find no record of the number on it. Turned out the amount on the card was deleted an amount for each month he did not use it. So, it was WORTHLESS. Seems a sham to get a credit card that becomes worthless, doesn’t it?
naoma

Hear this one: SEARS. My husband returned an item to Sears and received a credit card for the value. When he went to use the card it had NO VALUE. Seems each month you do not use it, money is deducted from the credit card. This is not “written anywhere” and sounds like a SCAM to me.
naoma

Hear this one: SEARS. My husband returned an item to Sears and received a credit card for the value. When he went to use the card it had NO VALUE. Seems each month you do not use it, money is deducted from the credit card. This is not “written anywhere” and sounds like a SCAM to me.
Emmy

Oh, boy. I can see what I’ve got to look forward to. I’m out $649.42 for a dishwasher that got canceled. PayPal has been duly notified. Their customer service is appaling and infuriating to deal with. Tea and sympathy, but powerless to do anything to actually help. They offered me a $15 gift certificate for my trouble. I wonder how many MBAs thought up this brilliant strategy for hold onto cash. I wonder if it is their plan to avoid a Chapter 7 on our backs.
Emmy

Oh, boy. I can see what I’ve got to look forward to. I’m out $649.42 for a dishwasher that got canceled. PayPal has been duly notified. Their customer service is appaling and infuriating to deal with. Tea and sympathy, but powerless to do anything to actually help. They offered me a $15 gift certificate for my trouble. I wonder how many MBAs thought up this brilliant strategy for hold onto cash. I wonder if it is their plan to avoid a Chapter 7 on our backs.
bodega3

As a participant on this forum, I wanted to mention that I just have had a HORRIBLE experience with Sears.com. I had read this article, but went ahead with an order, as Sears.com had the product I needed that I had found on other websites that I didn’t know but knew Sears. I will never, ever use Sears.com again! They lied to me about the mailing of the product and had sent me an email 5 days after I place the other where they gave me a tracking number. They gave me a link for UPS to track the order except it wasn’t a UPS number, it was for USPS which couldn’t find the order. I have all emails, even the one saying the order would be delivered by tomorrow. In the end, the item is on back order, was never mailed yet they put through the charge when they never had it in store to start with. I canceled the order and will just buy a new product and forget about a replacement part. LOUSY customer service and they darn well better credit my credit card!
bodega3

As a participant on this forum, I wanted to mention that I just have had a HORRIBLE experience with Sears.com. I had read this article, but went ahead with an order, as Sears.com had the product I needed that I had found on other websites that I didn’t know but knew Sears. I will never, ever use Sears.com again! They lied to me about the mailing of the product and had sent me an email 5 days after I place the other where they gave me a tracking number. They gave me a link for UPS to track the order except it wasn’t a UPS number, it was for USPS which couldn’t find the order. I have all emails, even the one saying the order would be delivered by tomorrow. In the end, the item is on back order, was never mailed yet they put through the charge when they never had it in store to start with. I canceled the order and will just buy a new product and forget about a replacement part. LOUSY customer service and they darn well better credit my credit card!
brigid

ugh! the same thing just happened to me…..they no longer make my item and im STILL waiting for my refund. sooooo frustrated.

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