A woman spent years trying to get a refund when the company from which she ordered a stairlift for her father wasn’t able to deliver one before his death.
Three years ago, U.S. Army First Sgt. Willy Pandy's health was deteriorating, and getting up and down his stairs was difficult.
“He, being such a proud man, wanted to be as independent as possible, and so it was our job to make sure that happened,” his daughter Lajune Pandy said.
In October 2013, she hired Access Mobility Equipment of Virginia to install a used stairlift, initially giving the company $450, then another $500 in November.
In February 2014, she reached out to the company to see if it had any luck finding a stairlift for her father, but it had not.
Then in June 2014, her father died.
“Dad was gone, and if someone says they're going to do something, I’m one who takes someone at their word,” Pandy said.
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She asked the owner of the company for a full refund.
”He said he understood and he was going to refund us the money,” she said.
But for the next year, she said, she tried unsuccessfully to get the refund. She filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and took the owner to court.
“He was a no show,” she said.
After NBC4 Responds emailed the owner of the company, Pandy immediately heard back.
“It was miraculous,” she said. “It was a week-and-a-half after your producer contacted him that I received my refund.”
In a statement, the owner of the company said the family was told upfront that a used stairlift would be difficult to obtain and there were other solutions, but they declined, and, according to him, never finished paying for the stairlift that became available. He acknowledged the need no longer existed since Mr. Parady died and, as a "courtesy," he offered a refund.
“I felt finally it is really over, and it was almost like we could really put Dad to rest,” Lajune Pandy said.
