The Brick will honour Sears Canada warranties
If you’ve got a Sears Canada warranty that you think is little more than scrap paper now, don’t throw it away just yet. There may be another option.
On Thursday, furniture and appliance retailer The Brick announced it will be honouring all Sears Canada warranties, in some form or another.
Since the retailer has relationships with many of the same appliance partners as Sears Canada, the company wrote in a press release, it would be able to provide repair services to Sears customers if they hold a warranty.
Anyone who has an extended warranty from Sears can get a $100 gift card from The Brick when they come for repairs (the gift card is to be used towards future purchases at The Brick). If an appliance is still within the initial one-year manufacturer’s warranty, The Brick will perform repairs at no cost to customers.
“We want to alleviate some of this customer frustration by providing an alternative for those who need to have their appliances serviced or repaired,” said Dave Freeman, president of The Brick, in the release. “We are here to help.”
Sears Canada announced it would no longer be honouring extended warranties as of Oct. 18, as part of its liquidation process. Customers expressed frustration at the prospect of paying hundreds for extended warranties, only to find out that it wouldn’t be honoured.
“I’m angry,” one Thunder Bay, Ont. customer who spent almost $800 on warranties told CBC. “…it’s not just my [money]. It’s how many other people, in Canada, are going to be out this amount of money?”
Customers aren’t the only former Sears Canada asset that The Brick is after, either. The retailer is also holding job fairs across Canada in markets where a Sears is closing to recruit former employees. The Brick says it currently has 300 open positions that it’s looking to fill.
In total, about 12,000 employees are expected to lose their jobs as Sears Canada closes down its remaining 130 locations.
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