Complaint Review: Wheelchairs of Berkeley - Berkeley California
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- Author Not Confirmed
- Wheelchairs of Berkeley 2911 Shattack Avenue Berkeley, California U.S.A.
- Phone: 510 549-8727/415 284-9424
- Web:
- Category: Medical Supplies
Wheelchairs of Berkeley -Unreasonable rip-off charges
*Consumer Suggestion: Suggestions for Dealing With Wheelchairs of Berkeley
*Consumer Comment: How can I avoid the same thing.
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I ordered an electric scooter/wheelchair from Wheelchairs of Berkeley on April 13, 2001. I was required to put a $500.00 deposit in May when the paperwork from my health insurance company approved to pay for half of the scooter. The scooter was delivered on June 5, 2001. I wasn't sure what color seat I ordered in April, but thought I ordered a black seat.
I contacted the sales rep. and informed her the scooter came with a gray seat. She arranged for an exchanged and scheduled to have the gray seat picked up on June 13, 2001.
Within the two (2) weeks I called several times, leaving messages for the sales, rep., the female who took the $500 deposit, store employee and the store manager. When I spoke to the store manager on June 22, 2001 and explained that the wait is unacceptable and that I have left several message and had not received any information on why it's taking so long. The store manager insisted that it was the fault of the factory for sending the wrong seat. I explained to her, that is between her and her vendor. I made an agreement with Wheelchairs of Berkeley and not their vendor. She also told me the seat came in today, but that they would not deliver it until next week.
At that point, I had had enough. There were several ways of correcting their mistake. They could have apologized, or send the seat FedEx, or given me a discount, or left the wrong seat with me until the correct seat came in. They refuse to do any of these things because it would have cost Wheelchairs of Berkely $$.
I informed the store manager this has been a horrible experience and that I no longer wanted the scooter. She informed me that I would be charged a "restocking fee". I informed her I felt it was not right since they were the ones that made an error. Why should I pay for their mistakes? I spoke to the owner of the store on June 25, 2001 and explained to him the difficulties I have had. He stated that I am making this much more dramatic than it really is. He also asked me my "level of disability" which was rude and inappropriate. Their employee was the one who wrote to my health insurance verifying my disability. Anyways, I was calling him to talke about the scooter, not to talke about how disabled I am!
I got a letter from them June 28, 2001 stating they charged me $443.10 for a "restocking fee" and the only credit I would receive from my $500.00 deposit is $56.90...
Then I call my health insurance company to inform them I have returned the scooter since I did not have a seat, and my health insurance company said their only vendor for scooter/wheelchairs is Wheelchairs of Berkeley. I would have to pay for the full price on a scooter or I have to wait unitl April 2002 to change my health insurance coverage. This is just not right!
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 06/29/2001 12:00 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/wheelchairs-of-berkeley/berkeley-california-94705/wheelchairs-of-berkeley-unreasonable-rip-off-charges-5586. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content
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#2 Consumer Suggestion
Suggestions for Dealing With Wheelchairs of Berkeley
AUTHOR: June - (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Friday, December 27, 2002
I too typed in "Wheelchairs of Berkeley" and came up with this. Frankly, it kind of scared me so I went into it aggressively. Yes, there are ee's there who are rude and know nothing about what is going on.
However, there is one employee who knows what is going on and her name is PAULETTE. Ask for her. I talked with my doctor's office secretary and she, too, found that Paulette was the best there. She knows her business. Forget about the other clowns.
Also, if your wheelchair is on order, ask for Sue in the warehouse regarding the status. She is very nice and helpful.
There are good, helpful people there. You just have to luck into them when you call!
Hope this helps!
#1 Consumer Comment
How can I avoid the same thing.
AUTHOR: Evangelina - ()
SUBMITTED: Monday, April 22, 2002
I just typed in Wheelchairs of Bereley on my search engine and there was this "Rip-off Report." I had never heard of you before. The amazing thing and also scary is that I am trying to order a wheelchair from this company and I have been having some of the same problems.
I call and leave messages and don't get a call-back in 3 or 4 days sometimes a week. I have been in this process of getting things together for about 2 months. "The Lady" who was reported in this "Rip-off" Report sounds much like the lady I am working with.
I am told I have to work with this company because they give my insurance company a preferred provider discount.
My chair is going to cost nearly $8000.00 and I have to pay 20% of it. That's a lot of money. They finally called today and said they need a deposit. They can't take a credit card - they have given me nothing to look at and read about their policies and after asking and proding "The Lady" in charge wasn't even around to discuss with me - I had to ask the office staff what the return policy was. That young girl said there was a no return policy.
They have had no chair for me to try out on their display floor. I haven't signed anything or read anything - it just sounds so unofficially offical and after seeing this Rip-off report it sounds like I may be headed into a disaster.
What do I do. Do things work differently because it's all handled through the insurance. They have also stated that they were giving me the discount and when I added everything up - it wasn't discounted.
I had to point that out and when the office called me back they said they were sorry that they just didn't realize that and now the totals would be different. She went through and gave me new totals - I was happy about it being less but before I made the check out to send to them I decided to figure things out again and it seems like they are still not getting it correctly - by a few hundred dollars in their favor.
I just want to know what my rights are and I don't know if I should make my own report or ask the editor. I haven't actually gotten or even paid the money for the chair yet so I feel I shouldn't have my own report. Please let me know.
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