Hey Sears, where's the refund for the Master Protection on my washer?

I'm trying to get a refund from Sears Master Protection and I'm hoping you can help. I canceled two Master Protection Agreements recently. The same clerk processed both cancellations.

I received a refund for the first cancellation, which was for my dryer, two days later. But I never received the $89 back for the Master Protection on my washer.

I have spoken to various clerks, and no supervisor would take responsibility for processing the second refund. Sears has transcripts for every external telephone call from us. They also have written internal chats with the finance department that prove the clerks never processed the second refund correctly.

Sears has told me "the bank is slow" and I should keep waiting. But it's been four months. Can you help?

Danny Gardner, Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Sears should have processed both of your refunds at the same time. I don't think "the bank is slow" is a valid excuse when an employee handled the refunds at the same time. It's far more likely someone at Sears made a clerical error and that your refund was missing in action.

That said, it appears Sears was trying to refund the Master Protection fee to your credit card, which you had used to purchase the warranty. Sears' policy is in line with most other businesses -- it always processes the refund back to the original form of payment.

The paper trail between you and Sears (and indeed, between me and Sears) shows that it made a good faith effort to refund the Master Protection for your washer. But the money never appeared on your statement.

When that happens, the back and forth with the customer service department is minimally helpful. You need to get the attention of someone higher up. I recommend appealing to one of the Sears customer service managers I list on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.

I think it's a poor excuse when a company blames the bank for a slow refund. But clearly something happened between Sears and your bank, and it's hard to know who was to blame.

I contacted Sears on your behalf. The company decided to try an alternate form of payment for your refund -- an old-fashioned paper check.

"The check from my Sears reimbursement arrived yesterday," you reported. "I have deposited the $85 online, and it has cleared my bank. Thank you very much for all of your attention to this matter. Blessings to you."

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at [email protected] or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/

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