SWFL woman gets refund for leaky fridge

Reporter: Lindsey Sablan
Published:

CAPE CORAL, Fla. – After eight attempts to fix her new refrigerator, a homeowner finally got the company to issue a refund check.

Julia Thomas moved into her newly-built home last September and didn’t expect many problems. But about six months later, she said her new refrigerator began leaking.

“My husband and I thought we were putting the ice tray in incorrectly or not pushing it in far enough so we tried several things. But then it got to be kind of like a flood in the kitchen,” she said.

She reached out to the manufacturer, Amana, which is owned by Whirlpool, and they sent technicians out eight times to try to fix the problem, Thomas said.

“It was just a big mess. I tried towels down, rugs, then I believe it was in September, I wasn’t paying attention, I walked into the kitchen and slipped,” she recalled.

After she slipped, Thomas said she reached out to Amana again, and they offered to pick up her leaky refrigerator and give her a refund.

“They would be willing to give me $1,191 for the refrigerator,” said Thomas. “…they told me they would hire a company to come and pick it up and that time that company would give me a check.”

But Thomas explained every time she called the trucking company to see if they had her check, they said no. Thomas then said she would call Amana who said they were, “sure they [the trucking company] had the check.”

Two days later Thomas’ check was delivered and her refrigerator was picked up, a Whirlpool associate said. Whirlpool explained what caused the confusion.

“Unfortunately the local trucking company has two addresses and we mistakenly overnighted the required paperwork to the wrong address causing confusion and delay. The paperwork was returned to us and re-sent to the correct address. The trucking company was then able to deliver the check and pick up the product on December 8th.”

Kristine Sherman, Whirlpool Corp. spokesperson sent WINK News Call for Action a statement apologizing for the confusion.

“I would like to sincerely apologize to Ms.Thomas for the frustrating process she experienced as we worked to resolve the issue with her refrigerator. On December 8th, we were able to have a reimbursement check hand delivered to Ms. Thomas and remove the refrigerator from her garage,” Sherman said. “The refrigerator is being shipped back to us so that we can investigate further. We work hard every day to learn and improve on delivering great products and service to our consumers. Again, I personally apologize for Ms. Thomas’ disappointing experience.”

If you ever have a problem, you can contact WINK News Call for Action at 800-795-9465.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.