Local store.

Sears service has really gone down hill unfortunately. If your local store has a good reputation, I would go with them.

Sears, period.

Sears..I have no love of them but you can return with no questions ask...doubt your local store would.

Hate Sears, love Lowes.

After reviewing my previous comment I feel it needs a bit of clarification and explanation. First off there is absolutely nothing wrong with supporting your local appliance dealer. But many times that relationship comes with a caveat!

Purchasing from the big box stores will usually give you better pricing, and even more important better customer service after the sale, should things go south. While Sears, HHGregg, Best Buy, Lowes, etc. will easily exchange or replace a defective appliance, the local shop most likely will not, and you will quickly be deferred to manufactures warranty. Big retailers purchase in such volume its a non issue, and a certain percentage of those sales are a given to be damaged, factory defects, or customer returns. The overhaul financial arrangement with the vendor and supplier are much more liberal than a local shop.

Poor service has been mentioned time and time again, but keep in mind "appliance service" is out sourced from all of big boxes and the locals also. Few if any retailers these days service the products they sell or maintain their own service network. You can expect a crap shoot with incompetent technicians regardless of where the appliance is purchased. Really is just the way it is, there entry level low paying stepping stone positions. The days of the seasoned old time pros is pretty much behind us!

And finally, if your purchasing a reasonably costly appliance and extended warranty is offered, do yourself a favor and purchase it. It does add to the overhaul cost but provides you with peace of mind in the future. With agreements if your appliance is non repairable, repaired several times in a given period, serviceman screws it up, it will be replaced. Appliances these days are commodities and throw away with a planned life cycle.

Sears has 6% ebates rebate right now, that would be about $100 of ebates, I am leaning towards Sears because of this. If there are any issues, do I need to use Sears or do I contact the manufacturere (Electrolux)?

Issues? With Sears you can try it for 30 days if you don't like it. Other big boxes offer similar return policies. If it needs service, it will be covered under the manufacturer warranty. If it's catastrophic or multiple attempts to repair, Sears will simply exchange the unit. Matter of fact, my Kenmore was replaced at 6 months no questions asked. The Replacement has been flawless. (Knock on wood) A simple call to corporate customer care and a new unit was delivered the next day. You will not have this level of customer satisfaction purchasing from a local dealer. I would also purchase extended warranty. Sears will service what it sells, however as I mentioned above good technicians can be a crap shoot.

I'm pretty sure if your buy from Sears that they are your first go to for service.

I'm more for the local mom and pop store. Can they price match with the "ebates"?

It's not so much about the sale but more about the service after the sale.

Do you have experience with either Sears or the local shop in your town? The reason I ask is that I think it's too subjective to give an answer unless you know those specific stores. In my small hometown in Iowa, I'd go to Sears over the local guys in a flash. I've had too many bad dealings with the local appliance store and I know that with Sears there's at least a chain of command to pull on if things go south; not so with that small shop. Here in Chicago, I have at last two "local" shops that I trust and would use over Sears any day. The Sears near me still has Sears & Roebuck chiseled in the brick and looks like it hasn't any updates since they built in. Most days you could walk through the appliance section without seeing another shopper (or an employee, for that matter).

Go with your gut.

My local Sears can be described as you've done Alex; strangly quiet.

My reasons for recommending Sears is solely based on their 30 day return policy. You don't like it, return it for another machine, or a refund. I don't think an independent dealer will do that. On the other hand my local Sears sells Samsung, yet won't tell you there's no one locally to service them. I've recently been told there's no local service for LG in my area either, true or not I don't know...but wherever you buy from make sure you can get local service.

That is true - it really depends on the store. Years ago, I bought all my kitchen appliances (Kitchenaid) through the nearby Sears. I received the dishwasher and it didn't work at the install. The repairman came out and said he had actually looked at this same machine (which was supposedly just a floor model), a month ago, and said it couldn't be fixed. Instead of being thrown in the trash pile (or whatever they do with faulty machines), they resold it to me. Long story short, they didn't want to take it back or give me an equivalent dishwasher with a lot of fighting. I finally got corporate headquarters involved and I did get a new dishwasher, but it was a fight. In the past I dealt with another store and had a better experience. In all fairness, recently I did buy a Bosch 800 scratch and dent dishwasher through Sears outlet, but I didn't get the extended warranty as I didn't want to deal with Sears again. And I only paid $450 for a $900 dishwasher and we picked up and installed ourselves. Too good a deal to pass up for a dishwasher that only had a scratch at the top where it doesn't show. Our local independent store is very good, but carries the more expensive brands. I am going to buy my Speed Queen washer/dryer though them.

@pink - that's not exactly true. Sears services what it sells. Again. Extended Warranty. That goes for any of the Big Box stores otherwise it is entirely possible there could be no local servicing factory warranty agent for LG, Samsung, Electrolux, etc.

In my area, if you call Sears service, you get A&E Factory Service. You don't want them ever. See other threads for tales of woe.

Buy from whoever will give you the best price and offers local service. Never fall for extended warranty scams offered by retailers always shop third party. If you don't trust Sears' less than bright future buy a SquareTrade warranty. Cheaper than any other extended warranty plan and awesome service! They have not let me down yet and I have used them 3x in 10 years on major appliance issues. I have had bad experience both at local stores and Sears but I have never had Sears not make it right.

A & E is technically Sears. Whirlpool and Sears are principal owners. Any service facility is a crap shoot. I also disagree extended warranties are scams, I have used them and find them well worth the investment. My kid had his 2700 Samsung refrigerator replaced from Best Buy at 3 years. And the biggest caveat is just because someone offers local service on a particularly brand, does not mean they are a factory warranty agent. If there not, there's no service or at least factory reimbursable! Yellow pages is full of them. You really have to do what your comfortable doing. Don't like big boxes then buy local. Don't like warranties, don't get them. BUT somewhere down the road there will be consequences for the choices you make, either favorable or not.

Thanks for all the advice!

I ordered the new Elux's the 617's from Sears, found that pricing on my phone was cheaper than on the computer, so it was way cheaper than the local store would price match (they have to be able to look up the price themselves) plus the 6% ebates. It looks like Electrolux has an extended 3 year warranty for registering your appliances currenlt on their site.

I am thinking about buying a warranty through Elux, not sure if my Sears is going to stick around.

Let us know how it goes with Sears and how your new toys work.

Congratulations! You'll love it.

Where you buy is less important than what you buy, IMHO. Buy the best appliances you can afford - makes and models that have high ratings by consumers. Sears has a great online comparison program, complete with consumer remarks. Personally, my local appliance dealer, Spencers, offers better deals than the local Sears stores or the big box stores on my wants and needs.

Another thing to think about when considering Sears, is that they're closing alot of their stores. They do not have a master list of which stores, but instead are starting to announce it to the local media in the towns they are closing in. My parents just found out the store they have shopped at for 50 years is closing. If they want to shop at another one, they would have to travel about an hour or two away. They did buy some type of warranty of something, my mom mentioned it to me just the other day wondering how that's going to work now.

Update:was expecting delivery of the W/D today, when I called Sears yesterday to check on the delivery window apparently it is scheduled to be delivered in 2036???? What? 20 years from now!!! Also they cannot change it to an earlier date because the system only lets them reschedule later. They told me to cancel and reorder.

When I called today to try to get the original price--I ordered during Sears Friends and Family(extra 15% off) now they say they can change the year of delivery. So I am hoping this works out!

Another update: DO NOT BUY FROM SEARS!!!!!

My order was cancelled and I tried to get the same Friends & Family price I had originally. They would not price match until I got very irritated and asked to speak with a manager. They finally did it but cannot deliver for 3 weeks.

I am going to order from a local appliance store instead.

I do not recommend Sears!

My wife and I decided to purchase a W/D set from Sears Canada, which I have heard still provides decent service. (Am I correct in assuming you are from the US?) We have purchased appliances from and had carpet cleaning done by Sears Canada in the past, and have been satisfied with them. The set is supposed to be delivered next weekend. I will let you know how things go.