Family Fights For Reimbursement After Refrigerator Spoils

Chances are, your refrigerator door gets opened and closed all day long. But for one New Jersey family, repeated break-downs left them craving a reimbursement. So what do you do when negotiations start to spoil?

Scott and Stacey Gordon bought a Viking refrigerator nearly four years ago. Since then, the Gordon's say their unit has been repaired or replaced five different times after failing to work properly. Correspondence with Viking's local service representative, Carl Schaedel wore their patience thin.

"When they came, it often took five days or a week for them to put us on the schedule and address the problem," said Scott. "So we were without a refrigerator for significant periods of time."

After lots of persistence, the Viking Range Corporation agreed to refund the Gordon's their money so they could go with a different manufacturer. That's when a dispute arose over whether they would give the refrigerator back.

"He actually mentioned nothing about taking back the refrigerator," said Scott, "and on the last go-round in this five times having it replaced or repaired, we said we don't want anyone else from Carl Schaedel to come here anymore to do anything with our refrigerator. We don't believe this is ever going to work. We cannot continue to go through this process and take all of our time.

The next six months were spent cooling off. But by the fall, negotiations were back on the table. This time, the Gordon's agreed to return the refrigerator for a full reimbursement. Then - just days before the scheduled pick-up - the couple received an e-mail stating they'd only be refunded for the wholesale price of the refrigerator... about two-thousand dollars less than their purchase price.

"That had never been mentioned before," said Scott. "That was not what was agreed to and we had already gone out and replaced this unit with a unit from another manufacturer that actually works for a comparable price."

That's when they called "Help Me Howard." With just a few phone calls, Viking Range agreed to refund the Gordon's their full purchase price, so long as they presented a valid receipt. In exchange, the Gordon's agreed to have Viking's service provider, Carl Schaedel pick up the refrigerator.

Here's what Viking had to say: "While a product refund was agreed to in the Gordon's case, the terms for them to receive the refund, specifically proof of purchase and return of the product in exchange for cash reimbursement, could not be met by the Gordon's in the past. We are glad that this issue is resolved."

The Gordon's have since received their reimbursement and bought a new fridge with a different manufacturer. Along with the check, they also received a notice informing them that their model fridge had been recalled just two weeks ago!