Sears has over 7,000 technicians running appliance service calls and those technicians are scared to death that Sears is going under and that they are going to be out of work. This translates into a gold mine for all of the independent appliance repair companies. Customers will be scrambling to find someone to repair all of their Kenmore appliances. For many decades Sears has been the largest appliance repair Company in the United States. Not too long ago Sears sold 70% of all appliances in the US.
However, times have changed. In my short time of being in the appliance repair business, I have had more and more people come to me complaining about the quality, reliability, and timeliness of Sears appliance repair service. They have been stood up one too many times. It is only getting worse and customers are looking for alternatives. The word is now out as magazines and newspapers circle the dying dinosaur like vultures. Amazon, Home Depot and Lowe’s have been chipping away at Sears market share for a long time. The technicians at Sears are demoralized and overworked.
I don’t need to read the articles in the newspaper to know that Sears has a problem. And how do I know? I know because Sears representatives have called me numerous times to run their service calls. It’s obvious that they cannot get the work done and need help. Their good people are all gone. I have turned them down half a dozen times and irritated at the numerous phone calls. I have no interest in being a representative of a national company that has a terrible reputation for quality service.
All of this creates a tremendous opportunity for anyone interested in entering the appliance repair business or growing their existing business or diversifying their business. Folks such as handymen contractors, plumbers, HVAC companies, and electricians should all seriously view appliance repair at this time as a huge diversification opportunity. For anyone in the appliance repair business, it’s as good as the California gold rush!
I worked for Sears for 20 years the first 10 were good then Eddie Lambert took over and it went down hill fast. Now self employed Sears or Service Live as they call it, wont stop calling me to do their service for customers they can’t satisfy. I also turn them down. I too have had their customers pay me instead of waiting for Sears to honor their contracts being 3 weeks or more before they can service a refrigerator! FYI they are running service under the name A & E Appliance Service. Most of the good technicians I worked with have left and gone with other companies, or took early retirement, except the few that have been there for ever and are too scared to leave. (fear of the unknown) Most new Techs don’t last but a few months or even weeks because they are abused so badly my management. They are technicians not salesmen. So glad to be gone from there.
I agree, Sears has gone a long way DOWN from being the leader in in home appliance repair. The technicians are no longer getting vital training and updates in repairing newer appliances. Instead the higher ups at repair services want techs to sell home warranty policies and fixing appliances are not a priority. Many of their experienced techs are getting fed up with being traveling salesman and quitting.
Tim,
That is exactly what my customers are telling me. I know a few Sears techs and they are very unhappy guys. Some customers get so fed up with Sears that they pay me to do a job rather than wait for a FREE Sears tech to show up. Amazing but true.
Well I did it, I left the “dark side” or what is now the dark side at Sears after 25 years and started my own appliance repair company. It will be great to go out and actually repair appliances without trying to strong arm the customer to buy a home warranty and be under pressure to meet their sales quotas. I may not make the steady money I was with Sears, but the low stress and working under my own terms will be worth it. Many thanks to this site for the startup tips!
I just retired from Sears 2-1/2 months ago and started my own appliance repair service. Best decision I made, ironic that I’m running Sears overflow calls and making more money than actually working for them! I also run calls for Choice Home Warranty, and will soon be an authorized service tech for Asurion who handle service contracts for Home Depot. In my area there are very few appliance repair techs, but an abundance of HVAC techs who won’t touch a washer or dryer so I won’t have a problem keeping busy.