No service for you! Sears calls community near Yarmouth 'remote'

A couple living on the outskirts of the largest town in southwestern Nova Scotia says Sears asked them to make their own plans to fix a broken appliance because their location is too "remote."

John and Julia Aldrich live in Rockville, about eight kilometres south of Yarmouth, which has a population of about 6,700.

In October, they purchased a new Kenmore stackable washer and dryer manufactured by Samsung from the Sears Outlet store in Yarmouth, fully expecting there would be service if they needed it.

"We were operating on an assumption that Sears had always stood behind its products," John Aldrich said in a phone interview.

Sears does not manufacture products itself. Items under the Kenmore line, for example, are made for Sears by other appliance manufacturers.

'Remote community'

But when the washer malfunctioned, the couple was surprised to find Sears does not have a service person in the area.

When they asked for a repair, Sears told the Aldrichs in an email they were living in a "remote community" and would have to make their own arrangements.

"To facilitate a faster response to your service issue, we are asking for your assistance to identify a repair person," the retail chain wrote in an email.

The email went on to say the couple was authorized to pay as much as $300 after locating a repair person to fix the problem. They were told they could submit the receipt to Sears for reimbursement.

"It's obviously completely backwards to the way things should be done," said Aldrich.

He said Sears told him if the bill was more than $300, the couple would have to contact Samsung for authorization. "Then the whole thing would grind to a halt for an even longer period of time," said Aldrich.

Yarmouth: on the edge of service

The characterization of the area as remote also left Aldrich incredulous.

Rockville may be tiny, but Yarmouth is a port town that serves as a vital hub for the province's fishing industry. A ferry linking the town with Portland, Maine, carried more than 35,000 passengers in its most recent season.

"It's on Highway 103," said Aldrich. "It's central and it's the population zone for southern Nova Scotia."

Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood found the remote comment absurd.

"Actually, my first response is to just laugh right out loud," she said. "It's absolutely ridiculous. We're not remote."

In fact, Mood pointed out, the town recently rebranded itself as "Yarmouth: On The Edge of Everywhere."

"It's just crazy to think any business would not look deep enough to see exactly where we are," she said. "We're very well connected not only to the rest of Canada, but the rest of the world, so we're smiling down here in remote Yarmouth."

Problem solved

Aldrich said he was subsequently told by the Sears Outlet manager there was no misrepresentation when the items were sold because at that time there had been a technician in the area.

Since CBC contacted Sears, the company has agreed to replace the couple's Kenmore washer and dryer with Kenmore products made by LG.

Aldrich said that suits him just fine because LG has warranty service in his area.

Remote cases rare

Sears Canada spokesman Vincent Power said in an email "remote areas usually refer to the areas that are a significant distance away from service provider locations that tend to operate in urban centres."  He added all retailers and service providers struggle with these areas.

He said the cases are rare and the company works with customers to find acceptable solutions.

"Over the past three months in Nova Scotia, for example, only one per cent of the service calls we received ended up being of this 'remote' nature, where no service person was readily available at the particular time of the service call being received."

Power said they have had repair service in the Yarmouth area in the past and while it's a challenge, they are hoping to re-establish it.