When we lived in the trailer, our water heater had to be replaced. Rather than go the hardware store and buy one, I went to Sears. After all, Sears does have a service department and the hardware store doesn’t.

After selecting a 50 gallon gas water heater, we loaded it into the car and headed home. A few minor adjustments on some fittings and we were back in business. Hot water!!

Then, one Saturday morning in February, we went to take a shower only to discover that we didn’t have any hot water. I checked the pilot but it was fine. Ah, Sears has a 24 hour emergency number for service. But, when I called the number, I was told that hot water heaters don’t fall under the emergency classification. Rats! Whats more, I was told to call back on Monday. So, we heated some water on the stove and did the best we could with a wash cloth.

Bright and early on Monday, I gave Sears a call. I knew that they probably wouldn’t make it out on Monday but I figured they could certainly get someone out by Wednesday. To my dismay, they told me that they only go to Lowell on Thursdays. Well, I guess I can wait until Thursday.

Then, they told me that someone needed to be there when the service person arrived. When I asked why, they said to let the service person into the trailer. But when I told them that the water heater was accessed from the outside, they agreed that no one had to be there.

We arrived home on Thursday evening expecting to have hot water. Instead, we found a tag on the door instructing us to call the service department. When I called, I was told that no one was home so the service person could not work on the water heater. I told them that access to the water heater was on the outside, but they said that someone needed to be home as they had to shut off the gas. When I told them that the gas shut off was also on the outside, they agreed that no one needed to be home. Great! When I asked if some one would be out on Friday they said that they only work in Lowell on Thursdays. Drat.

We arrived home on Thursday evening expecting to have hot water. Instead, we found a tag on the door instructing us to call the service department. When I called, I was told that no one was home so the service person could not work on the water heater. I told them that access to the water heater was on the outside and so was the gas valve. But they told me that someone needed to be home so that they could relight the pilot lights. Fine!

Come Thursday, I had to miss work so that I could let the service man in to light the pilot lights. I patiently waiting not knowing when he/she would arrive. Around 10AM, the service van pulled up out front and a man came to the door. I took him back outside to the access panel.

When I opened the panel, he took a quick look at the water heater and declared that the burner was bad. Great, he knows what the problem is. He then turn the knob on the water heater to the off position and removed the burner.

He didn’t have to shut off the gas, he didn’t have to relight the pilots. He could have done the very same thing weeks ago. Oh well. That no longer mattered. I would soon have hot water!

The man then announced that he didn’t have a spare burner and that he would have to order one. What!? The man told me not to worry that he would put it in as an emergency order. Great! When I asked how long it would take to get here, he said about 6 to 8 weeks. 6 to 8 weeks for an emergency order?! I hate to think how long it would take for a regular order.

Since it appeared that we were going to be without hot water for a length of time, we came up with an alternate plan. On Fridays, we packed soap, shampoo, towels and hair dryers when we headed into work. Then, after work, we headed over to Calvin Seminary to take advantage of their shower facilities. After showering, we would go out and get something to eat.

The routine of heating water on the stove in the morning for washing and shaving with a full shower at Calvin on Fridays seemed to work quite well. It wasn’t nearly as convienent as having running hot water, but it served the purpose.

Not wanting to trust Sears, I called the service center weekly to check on the status of my order. And as promised, 6 weeks later the part arrived. Great!

The service center scheduled a service person to arrive on Thursday and told me that someone needed to be home. When I told them that they didn’t need to shut the gas off and that the water heater could be accessed from the outside, they agreed that no one needed to be home.

We arrived home on Thursday evening expecting to have hot water. Instead, we found a tag on the door instructing us to call the service department. When I called, I was told that no one was home so the service person could not work on the water heater. Realizing that I was not going to get any hot water unless I took another day off work, I once again rescheduled the service person for Thursday.

Thursday arrived as did the service man and the part. The three of us walk to the side of the trailer and opened the service panel. I was expecting to see a 5 minute install of the burner. Instead, the man announced that he couldn’t install the valve without the gas shut off. I told him that the gas shut off was at the meter. That’s when he threw me a ringer.

He told me that there needed to be a gas shut off valve at the water heater. I asked him why the other man didn’t have a problem with that when he took the part. He lold me that code didn’t require a gas valve for removing the part but it did require a gas valve for installing the part. What ever!

The man packed up the part and his tools and told me to reschedule when I got the valve installed. Since I had taken the day off anyway, I decided to install the gas valve that very day.

Once I had the gas valve installed, I called the service center for an appointment. The person on the other end told me that I needed to be home when the service man arrived. I told them that access to the water heater was on the outside and that the gas shut off valve was installed next to the water heater so there was no need for someone to be home.

We arrived home on Thursday evening expecting to have hot water. Instead, we found a tag on the door instructing us to call the service department. When I called, I was told that no one was home so the service person could not work on the water heater. Realizing that I was not going to get any hot water unless I took another day off work, I once again rescheduled the service person for Thursday.

Thursday arrived as did the service man and the part. The three of us walk to the side of the trailer and opened the service panel. Seeing that I had installed the gas shut off valve, the service man announced that he could now install the part.

I expected him to shut off the gas at the newly installed gas valve and install the part. Instead, he installed the part without shutting off the gas. Once the part was installed, he lit the pilot and the burner kicked on. 3 months of waiting to do a 5 minute job.

I will never buy an appliance from Sears again.