Contact 13
Contact 13 helps locals get their heat back on
Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) --- This winter has been a cold one and many of us are turning up the heat at home. But as Action News anchor Rikki Cheese reports, when a local couple paid hundreds and still couldn't get their heat working, they reached out to Contact 13 for help.
"I mean it was really freezing cold. Literally freezing cold," says Brandon Severs.
He and his wife Shadora say it was unbearable. The heat went out inside their small condo just a couple days after Christmas.
"It was just blowing out cold air," says Shadora.
Along with trying to keep their son warm, Brandon suffers from multiple sclerosis and is paralyzed. So it's not easy for him to regulate his body temperature. That's why he says they called someone to fix it right away.
"So the technician comes and talks to us, and he says it will be $480," says Brandon. "I was really upset. I didn't want to pay $480," says Shadora.
But the couple agreed, they didn't have much choice. They needed heat, and the repairman claimed he needed to replace a bad part.
"Basically he guaranteed me that once you pay this $480, I'm absolutely sure the problem is going to be fixed," says Shadora.
After the technician was done, the Severs were told to wait for the heater to start working again.
"He said give it an hour because it wasn't quite warm yet. Give it an hour, your water heater has to warm the water," says Shadora.
But that never happened. Shadora says more than an hour later they still didn't have any heat, and she wasn't happy about it.
"Upset. I'm livid. So we call the company back," says Shadora.
She says the repairman came back out and after several more attempts, he finally found the issue. But it turns out, it was going to cost them another $300.
"So I'm like oh no! Channel 13, I'm calling because I know they'll help me. So that's what we did," says Shadora.
Contact 13 reached out to a different company, who provided a second opinion. And Brandon and Shadora were shocked with the results.
"He fixed it right away. He was here and I'd say within an hour our heat was working perfectly," says Shadora. "I say thank you Channel 13. I appreciate it because you guys solve problems," says Brandon.
So here's the Contact 13 bottom line. Always get multiple estimates. In this case, the new repair company said it was a simple fix and didn't end up charging the Severs, saving them $300.
And when you're paying for new parts to fix any sort of equipment, always ask to keep the old pieces. The Severs didn't do that, so there's no way to know if the original part really needed to be replaced.
And if all else fails, remember we've got your back Las Vegas. Contact our Call for Action volunteers at 368-2255 anytime between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm, Monday through Friday. For Channel 13 Action News, I'm Rikki Cheese.
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