Dec 3, 2008 4:00 pm US/Eastern
3 On Your Side: Service Contract Fees Refunded
The stairs in homes can be
difficult for senior citizens to manage, so some opt for lifts to make it
easier. But if those lifts keep breaking down, it's like money down the drain.
3 On Your Side's Jim
Donovan came to the assistance of two women who paid for service but didn't get
it.
Bernadette Gerhardt and
Claire Wittland had a similar problem. They each paid a company called United
Lift to service the lift chairs in their homes. Mrs. Wittland paid $497 for an
annual maintenance contract.
"You would be half way
up the steps and it would stop," she said.
Despite the contract, Mrs.
Wittland would have to wait extended periods of time to get her lift chair
fixed. After sending in her contract renewal, she had second thoughts and
cancelled it before the contract took effect.
She says she was told,
"write us a letter in writing and we'll send you the check." But that
refund check never arrived.
United Lift couldn't fix
Mrs. Gerhardt's chair lift either.
"Every week for eight
weeks they came," Mrs. Gerhardt said.
Mrs. Gerhardt said she paid
$320 for her annual maintenance contact with United Lift. Eventually the
company stopped coming out all together.
Her daughter, Bernadette
Coskey said, "They would say they were coming out just I think
to appease you and they were never showing up."
Camden County Consumer
Investigator Abigal Cortez-Treherne said she's heard the complaints before.
"It takes about six
months for them to come out and when they do they do a repair, that actually
lasts one day," she said.
So 3 On Your Side paid
United Lift a visit.
"We've not been doing
well," said Carol Carty, the company bookkeeper and wife of United Lift
owner Fred Carty. "I'm embarrassed to say it, but we're trying our
best."
When asked if the customers
would be getting their checks as promised Carty responded by saying,
"Yeah, yeah they will."
And indeed they did making
it a 3-On Your Side Problem solved.
But Mrs. Gerhardt still had
a wish.
"I'd like them to go
out of business," she said.
She got her wish. United
Lift has since closed up shop.
Remember any time you
purchase an extended warranty or service contract, it's only as good as the
company that's offering it. So be sure to do your homework before paying for
one.
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