Help Me Hank: Help Me Hank! Restocking fee runaround

Confusing road signs, unmarked streets, pharmaceutical rep Tracey knows getting where she's going is often a battle. Her husband Marc knows struggling to navigate with a map is so last century.

Marc Barenholtz, consumer
"She covers a lot of area."

To help his wife out on the road, Marc bought her a global positioning unit -- a GPS -- so she'd know exactly where she was and where she wanted to go, automatically.

Recalculating.

To watch it work, he put in his home address, a route he knew perfectly. And it took him some bizarre way, a route that took twice as long as it should.

Marc Barenholtz, consumer
"I didn't think it was working properly."

He tried again. This time the GPS made his usual 4-mile trip to work into a 12-mile trip. Global positioning, huh? Of what globe?

Marc Barenholtz, consumer
"I thought something was definitely wrong with it."

Recalculating.

Hoping to troubleshoot the issue himself, he called the manufacturer. They told him to reboot the system.

No luck, the GPS still didn't know where it was. But Marc knew: it was defective.

Recalculating.

Marc Barenholtz, consumer
"I just thought I'd bring it back to the store and I'd get my money back."

Marc already knew the way back to the store, but another wrong turn. To return the goofed up GPS, the store demanded a 15-percent restocking fee.

Marc Barenholtz, consumer
"I just wanted all my money back."

Recalculating.

He tried corporate customer service -- dead end. They said, pay the fee.

Marc Barenholtz, consumer
"I don't think it's right."

Reluctantly, he made the money losing return. Then decided it was yet another wrong turn.

Recalculating...he called someone who did know the way.

Marc Barenholtz, consumer
"Help Me Hank."

Don't need a road map for this one. We called the company and explained. You can't charge Marc to return something that's defective, no matter what the return policy.

Mass law says if a product just doesn't work the customer gets to choose repair, replacement or a refund.

Marc decided his wife could stick with maps, so he went back to the store, finding his own way, and got every cent of his money back.

Marc Barenholtz, consumer
"It really is a relief."

(Copyright (c) 2008 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)