On Your Side recovers or saves Arizona viewers over $30K in July

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- John Kurczek had a $27,000 bill hanging over his head. But thanks to On Your Side, it’s a bill he doesn’t have to pay now. “I can’t begin to tell you how elated I am that I contacted your company and your station,” John said.

John removed solar panels from his roof because he says they never worked when they were installed two years ago. He says he complained to Sunrun Solar, the company responsible for panels, but got nowhere.

On Your Side got involved when John discovered Sunrun put a $27,000 lien on his home for those panels. After asking Sunrun to look into the issue, the company removed the lien, meaning John won’t have to pay that bill after all. “I would recommend the station and Gary Harper to anybody who is having difficulties with what’s going on consumer-wise,” he said.

On Your Side also helped Krista Luciano. She used Airbnb to rent a room she found on their site. “You know it looks clean. The floor looks clean,” said Luciano.

But when she arrived at the house, her jaw dropped. For starters, the front door lock didn’t lock, allowing anyone to walk inside. Then she discovered the home had been converted into several bedrooms that were being used by strangers. And Krista was supposed to share a filthy bathroom with those strangers. Krista never stayed at the home because she says she didn’t feel safe, but Airbnb refused to refund her $1,200.

On Your Side got involved, and things changed. We sent Airbnb pictures of the home, including that bathroom. We also sent police records we uncovered showing cops responded to the home nearly 20 times for calls of statutory rape, burglary and suspicious activity.

After reviewing the documents, Airbnb immediately refunded Krista her $1,200. “I’m very grateful. It’s money that I really needed to get back and I would not have gotten it back had you guys not got involved,” she said.

And On Your Side was happy to help Chuck Zerby. His family gave him a $400 Visa gift card for his birthday. But he got bad news when he tried to use the card at a retail store. “The cashier says, sir, you only have a $1.32 on here. And I’m like, what are you talking about? We just took it out of the package when we got here,” said Zerby.

After months of trying to get a replacement card, On Your Side got involved. And in less than a week, Chuck was sent a replacement card with $400 on it. “Gary Harper and the On Your Side team got involved, and it was settled in less than a week,” he said.

When you add up all the money On Your Side was able to save or recover for our viewers, it amounts to $30,100 for July. And for the entire year so far, it comes to $379,162.

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