Since my original oral complaint to Randy Elvington, concerning attempted fraud by one or more of employees under his supervision at the Sears auto service center located in the Citadel Mall. I have made the decision that my compliant may have been taken lightly and I feel compelled to press my compliant further to protect other consumers. Mr. Elvington apologized many times over for the incident and said that he would take it up with management, what ever that means to him. I thought that given my serious charge that he or Sears would get back to me to tell me that the problem was resolved. That has not happened. I do not want anything but the peace of mind that what happened to me will not happen to another Sears’s customer

As I told Mr. Elvington on June 8, 2009, I have been a valued Sears’s customer for over thirty years. In the past, I have relied on their auto services center for new tires, oil changes and other work. However, on June 5, 2009 I lost all trust in Sears, Roebuck and Co. I brought my 2002 Chevrolet Silverado pickup in to have one of their certified mechanics look at the truck’s right rear brake as I suspected it was hung up. Less than year before, a local Chevrolet dealer rebuilt ALL the trucks brakes.

Randy Smith processed the work order and the work passed to the mechanic Charlie Jacques. He reported that indeed the right rear caliper had to be replaced. Having worked in the auto repair business I agreed to the replacement. However, Mr. Jacques went on to report, “That the front brake pads were crystallized, and the rotors were so bad he could not turn them. It was like no one had done any work on the vehicle.”

As Mr. Smith began to do an estimate that soon reached $500.00 for parts, without labor, I called the dealer and asked if there was any way they would cover the work under a repair warranty. They found the original paper work and were surprised that their work had failed. They asked me to bring the truck to the dealership and if it was not drivable, they would pay to have it hauled to the dealership. I told Mr. Jacques the mechanic to stop work and apologized for taking up their time. I asked him if I should drive the truck and he said, “No because all the brakes were ruined.” In fact, he showed me a crystallized piece of metal that he claimed was a ruined front brake pad on my truck. I called the dealer back and they had the truck towed to the dealership at their expense.

I paid the service manger $15.00 cash for the work and tipped Mr. Jacques for his work.

Much to my embarrassment when the mechanics at dealership inspected the brakes they found that, the right rear caliper had to be replaced. However, there was nothing wrong with the front brakes. I paid for the caliber and they replaced it free.

In summary the Sears auto repair center located in the Citadel Mall attempted auto repair fraud by trying to sell parts and services that were not needed. The advice to have the truck towed was unforgivable. Was this Mr. Jacques attempt at a joke?

Again, after expecting some response from Sears and wanting to protect the public from this abuse I have felt compelled to write this letter.

I have been in contact with Sam Billingsley, who referred me back to you.

Located in Citadel Mall, Sears offers everything from clothing to car repair.

This is a medium priced department store with lower quality merchandise than some of the other local department stores.

The best products in the store are the Craftman tools. They run sales every week so the best thing to do is wait to purchase the tool you want until it's sale turn rolls around again. Sears occasionally also offers coupons and that's a plus.