Home warranty company apologizes to 80-year-old customer who went nearly a week without heat

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – An 80-year-old Toledo woman who went nearly a week without heat in chilling temperatures, now has her furnace fixed.

The issue came after a warranty company she’d dealt with for two decades was not initially responsive to her needs.

The fix came from members of the Toledo community and the warranty company is apologizing.

“Last week I was pretty down, I was very anxious about not having heat,” Mary Leiter said.

Now things are looking up for Leiter, just hours after 13 Action News aired Leiter’s story a Local 50 union member reached out to help.

“Today I’ve had someone come in and fix the furnace, I’m up and running it’s comfortable in here, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, things are not so bleak,” Leiter said.

Leiter had issues with Oncourse Home Solutions with returning her calls and responding to her claims.

Saturday, a regional manager traveled several hours to apologize to Leiter and attempt to make things right.

“I got the feeling it was really very sincere and that made me feel a little less hostile towards the warranty company,” she said.

In a statement, Oncourse Home Solutions apologized:

“At Oncourse Home Solutions, we are committed to serving nearly 2 million customers with excellence and providing them with peace of mind that we will be there when they need us. In this case, we fell short of our high standards and sincerely apologize to Ms. Leiter. Our executive team is putting enhanced controls and customer support measures in place to ensure that customers receive the high level of service they deserve. We feel extreme gratitude to Ms. Leiter’s church, caregiver and the good Samaritan who stepped up to help her in her time of need. We are appreciative that Ms. Leiter is giving us a chance to make things right. In addition to replacing her furnace, we have promised to upgrade other appliances in her home…to ensure her home is fully functional and comfortable,” Phil Edens, the Chief Customer Officer, said.

“Which will mean I won’t have any trouble with it for some years to come and that’s certainly a big load of my mind,” Leiter said.

For now, life is back to normal for her and says she’s grateful for the outpouring of support.

“I really feel, kind of rejuvenated learning how many kind, and generous and sympathetic people there are out there,” Leiter said.

Which includes her nurse Cate, who never gave up.

“She was going to push people’s buttons until we got something done and that support was a big help to me that somebody was paying attention you know,” Leiter said.

Toledo 2J Supply Company learned of her story and donated the appropriate part. The price out of pocket would have cost nearly $300.

In a statement, assistant branch manager Nick Hammer said in part:

“It’s truly dangerous and no one should be left without heat. There was no hesitation to help out when we heard the story. I was thankful and blessed we got to lend a hand in restoring her heat.”

Latest Local News | First Alert Weather | Crime | National | 13abc Originals