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Call Kurtis: Bad Dishwasher Installation Ruined My Floor

SUISUN CITY (CBS13) -- Simon Lau is thankful he caught the problem before it got any worse, he said.

He noticed water pooling at the base of his new Best Buy dishwasher, installed just days before.

"I saw that water was dripping," Lau said. "It flooded underneath my kitchen cabinet and then go into my living room."

He knew it would take a lot of time to fix, he said, especially when estimates showed it could cost more than $15,000 to repair -- but Lau didn't think Best Buy would make him figure it out on his own, he said.

Lau paid Best Buy to install the dishwasher in January, but he said when the dishwasher leaked Best Buy said he had to file a claim with their insurance company Gallagher Bassett.

But then Gallagher Bassett told him the installation "was done by a subcontractor" Best Buy hired, and said "they are then liable."

"I was mad," Lau said, interviewing with Call Kurtis across from a pile of furniture he moved to keep dry. "I told my wife it's gonna be a long process to get this thing fixed."

"I need to get this fixed," he said.

Most services like this are between the customer and the company they pay directly.

If Lau paid Best Buy -- Best Buy is ultimately responsible, according to consumer attorney Stuart Talley of Sacramento law firm Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff.

"The consumers' contract is with Best Buy," he said. "If they hired somebody else to do it, that's their problem, not yours."

After we got involved, Best Buy promised to cover all repairs to Lau's kitchen and living room and apologized for the delay.

"We apologize to Mr. Lau and we much appreciate his patronage and patience," a Best Buy spokesperson told Call Kurtis.

"We are in the process of resolving this issue, at the store level, for Mr. Lau. It appears as though Mr. Lau was pointed directly to the insurance company and so therefore the folks at our store were not aware of the issue."

Lau is happy his dishwasher problems will soon be solved -- and said he likes the dishwasher he bought too.

"It's a big relief," Lau said.

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