Family Finds TV Full of Dead Roaches

The News-Dispatch ^ | 3/21/2009 | Deborah Sederberg

[nickcarraway]

Used set was purchased from Rent-A-Center.

When Joseph and Jyll Anderson purchased a used 62-inch flat-screen digital light projection television March 13, they knew it had been sold as-is.

They understood that whether it worked for a week or for 10 years, the seller, Rent-A-Center, 1411 Franklin St., had no responsibility for it once sold.

Never in their wildest imagination, however, did the Andersons expect the chassis of their new television to be filled with the carcasses of dead cockroaches.

That's what they found upon opening it to see why it smelled bad when turned on.

Rent-A-Center's sales manager Edwin Rivera said his company is not legally responsible for returning the $700 the Andersons paid for the TV, when The News-Dispatch called Friday. Nonetheless, he said, "They will get their $700 back."

But the couple also wanted Rent-A-Center to pay for having their house on Country Road 400 West inspected and treated by a reputable pest control company.

Rivera said he could not authorize that expense but he was talking with his regional manager. By 1 p.m. Friday, a Rent-A-Center representative called Anderson to say the company also will pay for the house to be treated.

"The woman who called was very nice," Jyll Anderson said. The refund on the TV and treating her house make her happy, she said. "That's all I really wanted."

Rivera got the TV from a store in Rensselaer, Ind., he said. Since most of the items he rents have been used by other families, he sanitizes them with a spray. "But we can't do that with laptops or televisions," he said.

Still, a TV full of bugs?

"I want this thing out of here," Jyll said Friday morning after calling the newspapers. The Andersons have three children, Emily, 3 years, Joseph, 1 1/2 years and Elizabeth, age 7 1/2 months. "Elizabeth naturally crawls," her mom said. "She's curious about everything she sees."

The living room carpeting in the Anderson home is spotless, but Jyll worries because roaches are notoriously efficient breeders. In addition to the dead bugs, the TV is infested with what appear to be egg sacs. "I'm afraid they're going to break and then we'll have roaches everywhere," Jyll said.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, roaches not only carry disease (including food poisoning), but they and their droppings can trigger asthma attacks.

She said she appreciates Rivera's efforts to get the matter settled.

[The Brush]

I used to work for a place that fixed TVs,VCR's and other appliances. We would regularily find roaches in things that were brought in for service.
The most appalling was a microwave that was brought in for service. When it was opened it was loaded with mice droppings. The "problem" was the dead mouse that had shorted itself out in the HV capacitor.
I called the customer to ask him where he got the unit. (Many people would pick them up off the street and bring them in for a free estimate) He told me it was his from his kitchen.
I explained the problem and he wanted to know if it was fixed yet!
He finally told us to throw it out when we told him we refuse to repair it.

[Nipplemancer]

it’s the 60 hertz frequency that powers your home that they have an affinity for. roaches just love it.