“I took a bath first, for quite some time, and then afterward I took a shower and it was just liberating,” Alpine resident Darrel Pingleton said, “I can say that it was liberating.”
Liberating because Darrel said he went nearly ten months without hot water. He said that was not the original plan when he went shopping for a water heater last November at Home Depot.
“I had explained that I wanted a new water heater with installation and delivery because there’s no way I could have took it in my car,” Darrel said.
Darrel said he paid $600 cash for a new water heater, with the understanding that Home Depot would determine what it would cost to deliver and install after an assessment. After he left the store that day, he said no one called him.
Three months later, Darrel went back to Home Depot.
“They took my information, my driver’s license, and my receipt and said they would get back to me,” Darrel said, “Just like the first time, never received a call from them.”
In the meantime, Darrel was living without hot water. More months went by and Darrel said he didn’t think Home Depot was taking him seriously.
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“They had told me because it wasn’t an electronic transaction, the only way they could verify what I was telling them was to look on the [surveillance] video and see when I purchased it,” Darrel said.
After nearly ten months with no water heater, Darrel turned to NBC 7 Responds for help.
“It took me contacting you and your news staff to actually get the wheels rolling,” Darrel said, “Within a week, I had heard something back.”
Matt Harrigan, a spokesman for Home Depot, said there was a misunderstanding when Darrel originally purchased the heater but the store wanted to make things right. The store delivered and installed Darrel’s new water heater, waiving any extra fees.
In an email, Harrigan said, “We apologize to Mr. Pingleton for the misunderstanding with his water heater purchase and we’re glad we could get it resolved.”
