Concord woman says she was bedridden, had no heat, had problem getting it fixed

CONCORD, N.C. — Carrie Tarquino bought her “forever home” recently. However, she said, “I realized on the first cold night, I have no heat."

Even worse, she said she was dealing with some major health issues.

“I couldn’t get out of bed. I would be sick for eight hours at a time,” she said. “Everything had to really be done for me and that was a very helpless feeling I think.”

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Tarquino had a home warranty, Choice Home Warranty. She said Choice sent out Merit Home Maintenance, but the repairman didn’t fix the heat and left a hole in her siding.

“Anything could get in: critters, bugs,” she said, “I was balling. I did not have any recourse. I did not know what to do.”

So she did what many do. She emailed Action 9's Jason Stoogenke. Action 9 emailed both Merit and Choice. Merit didn't respond. Choice did. It said it handled her claim "in accordance with the terms and conditions of [her] service contract." But it went ahead and made things right anyway.

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Tarquino told Stoogenke Choice sent out another contractor and waved all her fees.

“The second you guys got involved, everybody was calling me. They -- I’ll be honest -- bent over backwards after that to make things right," she said. “They wanted to make sure everything was good with me and that I wasn’t left in the dust with no help."

When you buy home, a lot of times, the seller includes the home warranty. That was the case here. Still, make sure it’s one you want. Then, if you use the warranty, ask what contractor it plans to use, research that company, and see if you want that one.