MUSKEGON, Mich. — A Muskegon-area family initially got the cold shoulder attempting to coordinate a service call for their home’s furnace.
The couple turned to 13 ON YOUR SIDE after repeated phone calls to their utility provider, through which they subscribe to an appliance protection plan.
The numbers on their thermostat were falling and they felt they weren’t receiving any answers.
“We can't be in a cold house for 14 days,” Timothy Dennerll related via Zoom Tuesday.
Dennerll and his wife, Judy, have had warmer days.
The digits on their thermostat read 64 degrees and were dropping Tuesday. The Dennerlls suspect that’s either busted or that their furnace may be on the fritz.
Adding insult to injury, both also recently tested positive for COVID. While Timothy has largely recovered, Judy is still in the thick of it.
“We're 66 and 63 years old and I'm diabetic and supposed to be more high risk, and it's just, to me, it's not acceptable,” she explained.
The Dennerlls subscribe to a DTE Home Protection Plus Plan, which claimed on the couple’s welcome paperwork that ‘worries about unexpected appliance repair bills are over.’
It also promised ‘reliable service is only a phone call away.’
Yet several phone calls later, the Muskegon couple was told no one would be making a house call until both were COVID-free.
“We needed 14 days after a positive test,” Timothy related. “I said, Well, we're cold right now. We can't wait.”
“Obviously, the problem isn't going anywhere in the interim, right?”
“It's hard enough to be having COVID, but to not have heat and have to try to get that fixed on top of it is more stressful,” Judy said.
Flipping through the contract they signed, it appeared to be silent on specific coronavirus precautions or illness-related support delays.
13 ON YOUR SIDE reached out to DTE on the couple’s behalf.
The utility said it felt for what the couple had gone through and worked to resolve the issue, which was fixed within several hours of our initial outreach.
“They did say that there will be a tech on the way… so we're hopeful that will occur,” Timothy said. “Thank you again for getting some action moving in the right direction.”
Both the utility and the homeowners confirmed the technician’s arrival Tuesday afternoon. The Dennerlls said they were hopeful the issue would be fixed quickly.
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