kenmore gas water heater - Austin Texas need local tech for repair

[washu42]

the water heater stopped working last week, the ignitor assembly was making a spark but no ignition.  The ignitor assembly was replaced, and it ignited.  Had hot water for the morning, but gone by the afternoon.  The new ignitor doesn't spark now.  Have not been able to get the contractor back (Sears) yet.  The family is very unhappy :X about the no hot water situation;  I haven't worked on gas in a long time, so I'm uncomfortable about working on a gas appliance.  we need a more responsive repairperson - I'm in the NW part of Round Rock, Texas near Austin.

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Have you called the Sears 800 number and complained that you are still without hot water?  I have a theory that one reason Sears service is so famously rotten is because they know that most of the time people will let them get away with it!  Don't be one of those!  Call and raise hell.  If you're not getting any satisfaction from the trained phone orangutan you're talking to, ask for a supervisor.  Be persistent.  Be their worst nightmare.  

What's the model number of your water heater?

[washu42]

This is the short version... I was put on hold and transferred all over the place during this...I called Saturday early afternoon, was told they were closed for the weekend, call back on Monday.  I called Monday morning, was told the first repair request was closed, they entered a new one and it would be 24-48 hours for the contractor to call and schedule an appointment (would think I'd get priority -not). I called Tuesday at 5 pm and was told the contractor was gone for the day and they would call me back at 8 am Wed.  Called at 9:30 am Wed, was told that my request was in the system and I would be called in 24-48 hours - I pointed out it had been 48 hours, they repeated that the contractor would call me.  Around 11 am I called again, was told an appointment had been scheduled, the contractor would call me - I asked for a supervisor, was transferred, that person called the contractor and said they left a message and the contractor would call me.  Called again at 1 pm, was told the appointment was scheduled but they couldn't tell me what time, said the contractor would call me - I requested a supervisor, they transferred me to someone who very nastily told me the contractor would call me and hung up on me. That was about the limit of my persistance. I even tried going thru asking for Customer Service to file a complaint, and got looped back into the same system.  I looked into getting the part myself, but can't get it locally and to go thru Sears was told 7-10 working days to get it.  Called a local company from the phone book, asked if they fixed Kenmore and the receptionist said they did.  The guys came out, but told me they didn't work on kenmore & didn't have parts, but they looked at it and said it looked like the wire to the ignitor was touching the gas tube & had melted, so it was arcing on the gas tube.  They offered to attempt a repair w/electircal tape for $150.  I felt bad about them comming out for nothing, but was not willing to pay that for a maybe temporary repair.  The Sears contractor finally showed up 9 pm, was apologetic (nice guy) said they didn't get the RO until Wed sometime ... who knows.  He tried replacing the ignitor button, which didn't work.  He was ready to order a new unit (sounded like the turnaround potential could have been 1 day but given what was going on could easily turn into another week), but I asked him if the pilot assembly might have been defective and if he could try replacing it.  He did, it worked. I won't be buying anymore Kenmore appliances - warranty is no good if you don't have a working appliance in a reasonable time frame, and I didn't appreciate their customer abuse (it was definitely NOT service).  Sorry for the long diatribe - it was a long, frustrating day after a week of cold showers.  

BTW - I love this site! I've been able to repair 3 of my appliances from your help - Thank you!!!