Oct 8, 2008 4:11 pm US/Pacific
Call Kurtis: Blue Hippo Hard Sell
Sale Short Merchandise
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
Carol Evans bought a computer online from Blue Hippo, a well-established company. But she got less than she bargained for.
"I was happy. I was excited," says Carol Evans when her computer arrived at her doorstep. "I couldn't wait to plug that baby in and go to town on it."
Carol thought her years' worth of payments and waiting were worth it.
"I did everything book by book by book"
She made her payments on time. And she paid off her balance in August, 2007.
But the deal Carol got with the online lay-away company has turned out to be an ordeal.
"Very ugly, I'm very disappointed."
She did her part -- paid the $2,178. But Blue Hippo has yet to send her everything it promised.
Carol says she's missing "a color printer, $700 worth of software, and a $500 rebate."
Offers either shown in writing ... or stated in the audio recording of her sales transaction, which Blue Hippo allows customers access to on their web site.
Carol called, wrote letters, and sent emails to Blue Hippo, which wrote her back acknowledging that she is eligible to receive her free items and will be shipped -- Carol waits with bated breath.
A year goes by but still no freebies as promised. It appeared Blue Hippo was done dealing with Carol.
"And I said 'ok, how do we get Kurtis,' uh huh you know."
She went to our website: "I clicked on there I was like yes, yes and then that's when I emailed you."
We started digging.
We quickly found out that in February 2008, Blue Hippo lost a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission.
Among other allegations, the FTC says many consumers did not receive the merchandise they ordered -- sounds familiar to Carol, and not for a lack of trying.
"And I done wrote, I done emailed them... but yet I have not received anything."
We found it impossible to get through to a human at Blue Hippo, but we finally got a media rep to return our calls.
They promised us they'd investigate Carol's problems, and get back to us.
Then just yesterday, six weeks after our first call to Blue Hippo, they emailed us.
Regarding Carol's software, they said it "…normally arrives with the computer …but we are more than willing to send another set …"
And as for the $500 rebate the rep told us "I have processed Ms. Evans rebate, and a check will be mailed to her shortly."
Good timing because Carol was done holding her breath.
"I said how much patient do you want me to be."
The California Attorney General's office told us it's received complaints about Blue Hippo and encourages people to continue sending them in.
The AG's office also said it's looking at the FTC settlement to see if it's actually making a difference.
"Let the buyer beware" applies in the case of Blue Hippo.
Carol paid over $2,100 bucks for her computer!
That's about three times the cost for a similarly equipped computer in most retail stores, and there are many complaints posted with online consumer sites.
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