ELK GROVE (CBS13) — An Elk Grove man has mildew growing in between his dual pane windows.

When he filed a claim under his warranty, he got denied.

It all has to do with what types of windows were put into the homes, in the nine year old subdivision called The Preserve in Elk Grove.

He has a warranty in hand for his windows so how can they tell him, he has different windows?

“It looks scary, I’m not sure if it’s spore life growing in there,” said Chester Chu.

Chester can’t get a clear look through his windows.

“I’m thinking I might be crazy, I’m seeing spots everywhere,” said Chester.

Spots of mildew and condensation in between his dual pane windows, he can’t clean.

“I have about 10 windows that are failed,” said Chester.

That means the seals have been compromised and they’re no longer blocking out the cold or heat efficiently.

Still within the 10 year warranty, Chester called the window manufacturer Alside Windows but the company told him, he had a different warranty and this wouldn’t be covered.

“I looked at the warranty I got and I compared it to my neighbors and it was exactly the same,” said Chester.

And we confirmed it with Chester’s neighbor, who has the same exact warranty for Alside Windows.

“I’m very devastated. I thought they would have better customer service,” said Chester.

“Well it’s totally absurd,” said Eric Ratinoff, consumer attorney, KCR Legal.

Ratinoff says if the homeowner has a warranty and it’s in writing, that’s what the company should stand by.

“If the company made a mistake and gave him the wrong written warranty, that’s their problem, not his,” said Ratinoff.

The home builder, Centex, has been taken over by Pulte Homes. We contacted them and they also confirmed Chester’s warranty is correct and with Alside.

We then contacted Alside’s parent company, Associated Materials, which tells us:

Somehow, Chester was “given a warranty for products made on the east coast.”

Agreeing the windows has a “seal failure,” they agreed to replace his failed windows.

– Dana Schindler, spokesperson

Chester can’t wait for the day he’ll stop seeing spots.

“I’d be ecstatic, it would almost be a new house,” said Chester.

Pulte Homes pulled out the contract and confirmed all 90 homes in that subdivision have Alside Windows.

We wanted to know if Alside would stand by the warranty for those homes and the company tells us quote, “we honor all our product warranties.”

Chester tells us after waiting five months, his windows will be replaced next week.

LINCOLN (CBS13) — A Lincoln woman says her cell phone company told her she could get out of her contract because of poor cell reception.

But she later got charged more than $1,600 in early termination fees.

How many times have you been told one thing by customer service, only to have no proof of what they told you?

If the company records your call, can you record them too?

Verizon rep: “In all honesty, I agree with the situation we told you incorrect information.”

After getting hit with a $1,676.92 early termination fee on her Verizon bill, Shannon Boisvert wanted proof, she was told by three different reps, she could cancel without any penalty over poor reception.

When the Verizon rep said they were recording her call?

“I said okay, I’m going to record you too. He said, that’s fine, he didn’t even care. So boom, we hit the record button,” said Shannon.

During the call, the Verizon rep is heard repeatedly admitting the company made a mistake.

Verizon rep: “… Actually remarked on the account that said you could be waived for the early termination fee.  I’m not going to dispute that in any way, shape or form.”

Shannon: “then why are we disputing it?”

But Shannon says the company wouldn’t drop the entire $1600 plus bill.

Verizon rep: “I do feel for your situation.  Yes I agree, we did wrong you. That’s why I’m going to take care of literally 80% pretty much.”

“I’m frustrated, I’m angry because it has gotten this far,” said Shannon.

But you shouldn’t just start recording phone calls, it can be considered wire tapping, which is a federal offense.

UOP McGeorge School of Law professor, John Sims, says in California, both parties must consent to being recorded.  But he says they don’t necessarily need to say they agree to the recording.

“Once you go ahead with the conversation, after you’ve been told it’s recording, you are consenting,” said Sims.

But just because they’re recording you, can you record them?

“I think the safe thing to do would be to say you’re recording? Well, I’m recording too. Now, let’s talk about the issue,” said Sims.

We reached out to Verizon. They didn’t comment on the recorded call, but in an email, they apologized saying:

“In Ms. Boisvert’s case, we didn’t live up to our standards and have since resolved the issue.”

– Heidi Flato, spokesperson

Verizon waived the entire $1600 plus bill.

“I feel vindicated right now, I feel like I stood up for myself,” said Shannon.

Illegally recording calls could send you to federal prison.

It’s also illegal in California and you could serve jail time here, too.

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Sacramento couple say their tax-refund money they planned to use for an anniversary trip never came.

“It’s our one year anniversary. We’re both really excited,” said John Kalinowski.

Just months before their Costa Rica trip, John and his wife, Ashley, got a letter from the Franchise Tax Board, saying their entire $531 state tax refund was being withheld, tied to an outstanding fix it ticket.

“They said oh, the dDepartment of revenue took it,” said John.

But he knew he had no outstanding fix it ticket for his vehicles.

Then his bank account was garnished another $615 plus another $100 bank processing fee.

John is now out $1246 and he can’t seem to get anyone from the state to explain why!

“Frustrated, really frustrated and scared too,” said John.

We went searching for answers.

Our investigation started at the Franchise Tax Board which told us to get check with the Department of Revenue Recovery.  They then pointed us to the Sacramento County Superior Court, where we figured out exactly what happened.

The courts mistakenly tied a fix it ticket John got while in a company vehicle, to John when his work was responsible for it.

To make things more complicated, John moved so the courts sent notices to his old address.

“Because the error was caused by the court, the court would be responsible for the penalty,” said Betty Williams, Tax Attorney, Williams and Associates.

Williams says while the court made a mistake, John should’ve updated his address with the DMV, which he admits he didn’t do.

“He would’ve received the notice before his bank was ever touched and he would’ve had the opportunity to fix it,” said Williams.

After we got involved, John and Ashley finally got their refund plus the bank waived that $100 processing fee.

Money they got back in time for their anniversary trip.

“It feels relieving to have it all taken care of,” said John.

By law, the DMV requires you to update your address within 10 days of moving.

And if you move out of state, be sure to let all tax agencies know too or you could be responsible for fines and late fees, you don’t know about.

LINCOLN (CBS13) — Diane Jay thought she had taken every precaution.

“I did everything that they recommend,” the mother of seven said.

Jay bought signature confirmation and insurance on the $1300 MacBook Pro she sold on eBay to a buyer in Berkeley.

But the buyer never got it, she said, and PayPal refunded the buyer in Berkeley his money, leaving Jay without her money or her laptop.

The signature delivery receipt doesn’t appear to show any signature on it, so Jay thought she’d get her insurance claim right away.

“I understand mistakes happen,” she said. “And that’s why I buy insurance.”

But the Postal Service denied her claim, saying the package was “delivered as addressed” — indicating the blank space on her receipt was in fact a signature.

“That’s clearly blank,” she said. “Quite honestly I kind of feel like I’m being robbed by the Post Office.”

“It’s ridiculous,” said consumer attorney Stuart Talley of Sacramento-based Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff.

The Postal Service may be breaking the terms of its own insurance agreement with the customer, Talley said.

“They can’t give people the runaround,” he said. “They have to give people the benefit of the doubt.”

“I paid for insurance — I paid for a signature,” Jay said.

A Call Kurtis producer asked USPS about Jay’s claim. Where did her laptop go?

“We don’t know for sure what happened,” spokesman Gus Ruiz said, adding, “We are not investigating.”

But Ruiz and spokesman Ralph Petty admitted Jay’s claim should not have been denied in the first place — or on the following two appeals she filed.

USPS agreed to send Jay a check for the full amount of her insurance claim.

“It may have taken a while, but at least they did follow through and do the right thing,” she said.

Jay and her eBay buyer filed a police report with the Berkeley Police Department for this laptop, but she is not aware of any possible leads.

FORESTHILL (CBS13) — A trio from Foresthill say they had a horrible trip to Hawaii.  After driving around for two days looking for their vacation rental, they found it abandoned.  When Expedia didn’t resolve their complaint, they called Kurtis.

The family says the trip was the ultimate vacation nightmare.  They couldn’t even find the place for two days.  When they finally did, it didn’t look anything like the pictures, and they couldn’t stay there even if they wanted to.

“The waterfall is beautiful, the swimming pool is beautiful,” said Ed Williams, while looking at the vacation rental he and his family booked for February.

It was also the ocean view and the secluded 25 acre property that lured Williams to the rental on the big island of Hawaii.  His niece, Ila helped him book the trip on Expedia.

Williams was traveling with his wife, Shonelle and brother-in-law John Ford.  They used Expedia a few years ago with no problems.

“We had a great time through Expedia, we really did.  Booked us a beautiful hotel, everything, so we thought we did it again,” said Shonelle.

But this time, problems popped up almost immediately.  After getting to the island, they drove around for hours, looking for the vacation rental on unmarked streets.  Calls for directions from the property owner went unanswered.

“And I kept telling these guys, ‘Even if we found the place, how are we going to get in?’” recalls Shonelle.

So they called Expedia.

“‘We can’t do anything until you find the place.’ That’s what they told us,” said Ed.

Ila was doing all she could from the mainland to help them find the place.

“I felt horrible because I booked it,” said Ila.

They gave up after a full day of searching and bought their own hotel room.  After nearly a second full day of driving around, they finally found it.

“I saw the sign “VR” and I go, ‘VR, you guys, VR, vacation rental.’ I go, ‘Follow those signs, follow those signs!’” said Shonelle.

But the excitement was short-lived.

“It was just a dump, it was a dump!” said Shonelle.

The pool was dirty and dark, not sparkly and clean.  And the ocean view was barely visible, with the overgrown grass and weeds.  What about the waterfall?  The Williams say it was nowhere to be found and locals told them it had been backfilled a while ago.  The house itself was locked up.

“I was ready to cry. I was like this is not what we came here for,” said Shonelle.

The group ended up getting another hotel room on their own dime the second night before expedia booked them one room in a two-star hotel for the rest of the vacation.

“If we could have come home the second night, we would have come home.  If we could have got on a plane to come home.  Because it just set the tempo for the rest of the time,” said Ed.

“They took the vacation of these three passengers and they ruined it,” said travel attorney Al Anolik.

Anolik thinks Expedia owes the travelers a refund and then some for being negligent about the condition of the vacation rental.

“The pictures were so grossly misrepresented that expedia had an obligation to know that this place was basically shut down for a while and it was dilapidated and they shouldn’t have been renting it,” said Anolik.

CBS13 contacted Expedia, which told us:

Thank you again for contacting Expedia on behalf of the Williams’ and the Ford family.  I’m happy to inform you that the first two nights of the reservation in the amount of $218.52 have been refunded. In addition, Expedia has provided the customer with $25.00 as relocation compensation and a $100 Expedia Travel Coupon due to the inconvenience. Expedia’s findings are below.

Expedia’s records show an Expedia Vacation Package was purchased on November 12, 2013 for travelers Edward and Shonnelle Williams and John and Judith Ford. The roundtrip flights departed on February 6, 2013 on Delta Airlines arriving in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii and departing on Alaska Airlines on February 12, 2013. A car rental through Alamo Rent-a-Car was also purchased.

A reservation for the Hamakua Vacation Rental was for six days, checking-in on February 6, 2013 and checking-out on February 12, 2013. According to the Special Check-in Instructions provided during the booking process and on the itinerary, it states the following information –

There is no front desk on site. Guests are required to call the property, using the number on the reservation confirmation received after booking, to provide their contact information (preferably a cell phone number) and to receive key code information and driving directions

Expedia’s records indicate upon arrival in Kailua-Kona, they were contacted to request driving instructions to the vacation rental. On February 7, 2013, after locating the vacation rental, the customers reached out to the Expedia Customer Service Department due to the property being unattended and were unable to gain access to the property to contact the property managers. An Expedia agent was also unable to contact the property and Expedia representatives assisted in relocating the customers to the Naniloa Volcanoes Resort hotel. The customers were provided a refund for the first two nights of their reservation in the amount of $218.52 and provided $25.00 as relocation compensation. A $100.00 Expedia Travel Coupon was also added to their account for the less-than-satisfactory experience.

When a property closes, they must notify Expedia directly. Expedia will then work with the relocation team to arrange new accommodations for any possible customers. At the time of the booking, the Hamakua Vacation Rental was still open. According to Expedia’s records, the relocation team opened a file on this hotel on February 7, after the travelers were unable to check in at the property. The request to close this hotel did not reach Expedia’s relocation team until the day after the guests arrived.

 As such, Expedia has gone over their normal policy to refund multiple nights in addition to the relocation compensation and travel voucher. Expedia agents relocated the customers to a comparable property according to price point and star rating (2-star).”

Ed and Shonelle say Expedia’s resolution is not good enough.  And when it comes time to go on another trip?

“We won’t go through Expedia, that’s for sure,” said Ed.

A Citrus Heights mom bought a Living Social deal. But when the company offering the deal went out of business and she couldn’t get a refund, it was time to call Kurtis.

Some new companies use these deals to get their name out there. But for some, they can’t stay in business.

So how do you get your money back?

“She loves princesses, coloring, very outgoing,” said Angela Waters.

But Angela’s six year old daughter wouldn’t get a princess party from Enchanted Theme Parties.

The Rancho Cordova company that offered a Living Social deal, $50 toward a $150 party, went out of business. Angela says all Living Social would give back, was a ten dollar credit, instead of the $50 she paid.

“On the voucher it says paid value does not expire so i was a little bit upset,” said Angela.

The voucher does say “we provide refunds upon request only where the relevant merchant has gone out of business before the promotional period ends.”

But she didn’t request a refund, until after the voucher expired.

So is she owed anything?

“It’s going to depend on what Groupon or Living Social or one of the other companies has in their policies,” said Russ Heimerich, California Dept. of Consumer Affairs spokesperson.

Heimerich says these type of vouchers don’t quite fall into the same category as gift cards, which never expire in California.

“The courts haven’t spoken as to whether or not that actually qualifies as a gift card,” said Heimerich.

We contacted Living Social. They responded in an email saying:
“We made a mistake…” and are “sorry about that and the inconvenience this caused the consumer!”
– Elizabeth Hebda, spokesperson

We’re told their policy is to refund people when a company goes out of business.

After a deal expires, you can get a credit toward a future Living Social deal.

After we got involved, Angela got her $50 credit and learned a lesson about these deals.

“Time is short, you have to use it as soon as possible,” said Angela.

We checked with Groupon. They tell us the paid value of your voucher never expires.

And depending on whether the deal is expired, you’ll either get a Groupon credit or a refund.