LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Several Louisville customers said they paid hundreds of dollars upfront to a local appliance repair company but never got the parts they paid for.
The appliance repair company, called Joe's Appliance Services, has a one-star rating with the Better Business Bureau and a 1.6-star rating on Yelp, where multiple customers have posted complaints about its service.
Susan Horn is one of those customers.
Her refrigerator suddenly stopped cooling earlier this summer, so she searched online for a repair company and went with the company because of its lower prices.
A technician told Horn a faulty sensor was causing the problem. She was quoted $384 and told she needed to pay upfront to order the new part.
Horn said she was initially told the part would arrive within a few days. Nearly three months later, she said the sensor still hadn't arrived and the company stopped responding.
"$400 dollars may not seem like a lot to some people but for us that's groceries," Horn. "That's half of our mortgage, that's a car payment."
Horn eventually gave up on getting her refrigerator repaired and financed a new one.
But Horn isn't the only person who said they paid Joe's Appliance Services hundreds of dollars without getting their refrigerator fixed.
Another man said Lowe's, the home improvement store, recommended the repair company to an elderly relative.
The man, who wanted to remain anonymous because of "fear of retaliation," said technicians visited the family's home several times, and they spent more than $700 on replacement parts the company said they needed for the refrigerator.
Eventually, the man said the company stopped answering his calls, too.Â
"He's just a scammer," the man said about Joe Hume, the manager of the company. "He lies and goes in circles about everything until he gets as much money as he can. Then he just drops you."
WDRB called Hume to ask him about the customer complaints.
When asked what he would say to customers who believe they paid him without getting anything in return, Hume responded by asking a question of his own.
"What I would say to those people is, who are you?" Hume said.
When asked specifically about Horn's case, Hume blamed the supply chain, claiming the sensor was still on backorder.Â
Hume said customers don't get refunds for specially ordered parts because he doesn't get that money back either.
Hume was also asked about the company's poor online ratings.
"People are people," Hume said. "They go on there to complain. It's all they do."
Hume shared a photo of his what he said was his company's internal review system, which showed a 4.7-star rating.
For Horn, the experience came with a simple lesson she hopes other families won't have to learn the expensive way.
"Research, research, research," Horn said.
She said a simple search of the company's reviews could have saved her family hundreds of dollars.
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