Customers In Gree Dehumidifier Recall Start Receiving Checks
Date: 12-02-2013
Earlier this week, we shared a note from a reader who sent away for a refund when her dehumidifier was part of a massive recall because dehumidifiers aren’t supposed to catch fire. She wondered why her refund check was taking so long to arrive, and got even more confusing information when she called the recall hotline. Could we help? We could try.
We knew that many readers owned the dehumidifiers in question, so we put out a call: had any other people who had sent away for their refunds received their checks yet?
Here are our utterly unscientific statistics. Readers were waiting for refunds on thirty dehumidifiers. (Some correspondents had more than one dehumidifier, or had taken care of the refund paperwork for a neighbor or relative.) Of these, nine refunds had already been sent, or the readers us know that they had received the checks after writing to Consumerist about it. Twenty-one refunds were still outstanding, but it sounds like the checks are hitting the mail this week.
Some readers were pretty distressed about the situation. Dehumidifers aren’t cheap, after all, and some homes have more than one. You might have a few hundred dollars lying around that isn’t already earmarked, but many Americans don’t.
“My husband was afraid of this,” wrote Joanne. “We cannot afford to purchase another until we get the refund and our basement is getting damper by the day.” She wasn’t the only one who couldn’t afford a replacement without that refund check.
“Now, if I want another dehumidifier, which I really need, I’ll have to take it out of my Christmas money. I am forever done with Frigidaire, Soleus Air and Gree products,” grumbled Darrell when he wrote to us to let us know that his check hadn’t arrived yet.
Yesterday in our comments section, reader webalias pointed out that there’s a flaw with the refund calculations: in their community, there’s no way to dispose of a dehumidifier without paying some kind of disposal fee. The refund check was about $25 less than what this reader paid for their appliance, and then there was that fee.
We knew that many readers owned the dehumidifiers in question, so we put out a call: had any other people who had sent away for their refunds received their checks yet?
Here are our utterly unscientific statistics. Readers were waiting for refunds on thirty dehumidifiers. (Some correspondents had more than one dehumidifier, or had taken care of the refund paperwork for a neighbor or relative.) Of these, nine refunds had already been sent, or the readers us know that they had received the checks after writing to Consumerist about it. Twenty-one refunds were still outstanding, but it sounds like the checks are hitting the mail this week.
Some readers were pretty distressed about the situation. Dehumidifers aren’t cheap, after all, and some homes have more than one. You might have a few hundred dollars lying around that isn’t already earmarked, but many Americans don’t.
“My husband was afraid of this,” wrote Joanne. “We cannot afford to purchase another until we get the refund and our basement is getting damper by the day.” She wasn’t the only one who couldn’t afford a replacement without that refund check.
“Now, if I want another dehumidifier, which I really need, I’ll have to take it out of my Christmas money. I am forever done with Frigidaire, Soleus Air and Gree products,” grumbled Darrell when he wrote to us to let us know that his check hadn’t arrived yet.
Yesterday in our comments section, reader webalias pointed out that there’s a flaw with the refund calculations: in their community, there’s no way to dispose of a dehumidifier without paying some kind of disposal fee. The refund check was about $25 less than what this reader paid for their appliance, and then there was that fee.