TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Shelley Beaulieu takes care of her elderly mother and wanted to be prepared for hurricane season.
So in April, she ordered a generator to run the whole house, in case the power goes out. She paid half— $6,400—and says she was told to expect installation within six to eight weeks.
When that didn’t happen, she says she was told there were issues with permitting.
“They basically were pointing fingers at each other, saying sorry that person told you that date, they were wrong and things like that. I felt like I was just getting the runaround,” she said.
“Every time we were about to have a storm or we were having storms, I was angry. I was mad that I didn’t have the generator,” Beaulieu said. “And worried, because it’s not easy to move my mom, and if we have a storm and we have to move, it’s just the worst case scenario.”
Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken reached out to the business, Lakeland Generator Service, and the general manager, Eric Brown called back to say this fell through the cracks.
“There is no excuse,” he said. “But there was no ill intentions.”
Brown explained that an employee failed to apply for the permit and has now been reprimanded and protocol has changed so this doesn’t happen agian.
He said he has sent a check via UPS to Beaulieu for a full refund.
