If a company is dragging things out, it’s best to raise a stink
Q. I have a service contract on a GE washer. The contract is for four years ending in 2012. The washing machine covered under this contract was included with the sale of our house in Dedham in June.
The General Electric Co. service contract states: “You may cancel your Contract at any time for any reason. You will receive a refund based on the specific calculations in your Contract.’’
I have sent two letters to General Electric requesting that the contract be canceled, and that a check for the unused portion of the contract be issued and mailed to me. No repair/service was ever made under the contract. Three months and two letters later I have had no reply whatsoever from General Electric. Can you please help me?
Arthur Hein
Mansfield
A. The folks at GE are willing to look into situations like this and did. While they didn’t really apologize, a check is in the mail.
“We regret any inconvenience this may have caused, but the consumer had a change of address which had not been entered in our system,’’ said Allison Gatta, spokeswoman for GE Consumer & Industrial. “While communicating the resolution to the consumer took more time than we would have liked, we have been told that a refund will be sent to the consumer.’’
If you run into long delays getting your due, make a stink. Involve a third party - the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, the attorney general’s office, and/or the Better Business Bureau. That will help draw more attention to your plight.
Another happy ending: Over the summer, we shared the woes of Alan Ornstein and Rachel Hawk of Cambridge, who had a pricey KitchenAid range with a door that kept falling off and was no longer under warranty. Whirlpool Corp., which owns the brand, agreed to have someone come out and fix it free of charge and did. But then Ornstein and Hawk reported the door fell off again.
So, Whirlpool decided to do right by its customers and made unhappy people happy by giving them a credit for a brand new range, which is now installed. “Well I have a stove! Amazing and wonderful,’’ Hawk said.
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