Woman blames medical device company for firefighters breaking her door
Many senior citizens wear medical alert systems so if they have an emergency, the business can send help right away.
Jo Ann Detloff wears a Medical Guardian around her neck and swears by it.
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She told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke that her device broke a few months ago and the company told her to ship it back.
“(I) thought it was all good,” she said.
Apparently, it wasn’t. The old device was still activated and went off somewhere between Charlotte and Pennsylvania.
According to Medical Guardian’s brochure, the company knows the customer’s location. “This says you can find me no matter where I am,” she said.
Instead of the company sending first responders to where the old device was at that moment, it sent firefighters to her house to see if she was OK. But Detloff wasn’t home and when she didn’t answer the door, she says, “They had to pry open my back door, and I have two deadbolts.”
Detloff doesn’t fault firefighters. “No. Not at all,” she said. “(They were doing) everything they could do to save me.”
Detloff blames Medical Guardian for the mistake, and she asked the business to pay for her door.
“They would pay half for the door,” she said. “I said, ‘Wait a minute. How do you figure I’m half responsible in any of this? I don’t understand.’”
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After time passed with no change, Detloff turned to Action 9, which emailed Medical Guardian. The company responded:
“We sincerely apologize for the role that Medical Guardian played in the incident at Ms. Detloff’s residence. At Medical Guardian, our teams undergo extensive training to assist in the set up and return of devices and, unfortunately in this particular instance, Ms. Detloff was not informed by our team to turn off her device prior to returning it. When the alarm went off in transit and emergency responders were unable to reach her, they took whatever measures were necessary to ensure her well-being which led to the damage of her doors. Our primary concern is always the well-being of customers and we are glad that Ms. Detloff is safe. We will be reimbursing the cost of damages and have reached out to personally apologize.”
Detloff says the repairs cost about $3,000.
“It was like 1,000 bricks were lifted off of me. I don’t know how to say it any better. I mean, it was like finally. Finally,” she said.
If you have a medical device like this one or any brand and get rid of it, make sure you deactivate it.
Advice from Action 9 if you feel a company should pay for damage:
- Be persistent.
- Keep good records.
- Let Action 9 know if you need help.
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