PETERSBURG, Va. -- Lori Colbert said she has waited long enough and she cannot wait any longer.
Colbert, 60, called CBS 6 for help because her home warranty company has not been able to replace her broken refrigerator.
"Frustrating is putting it lightly," Colbert, who shared she battles high blood pressure and diabetes, said.
She said she’s had a warranty for years, so when her fridge stopped working near the end of 2023, she was hopeful it would be swiftly fixed or replaced.
She said the warranty company sent a contractor out several times and on their last visit she was told the refrigerator needed to be replaced.
"I waited for about two weeks, I didn’t get a callback, so I called back and she said it would about a month," she said. "I’ve been waiting ever since, every now and then I call trying to figure out what going on and why is it taking so long."
Colbert's son Brian, who moved to Virginia to help care for his mother, said the situation has impacted his mother’s mental and physical health.
"She’s diabetic, high blood pressure, it has to be low sodium so most of the things in the can even the vegetables aren’t [good for her]," he said. "We either rotate [food] between the deep freezer and the cooler or we have to use natural means and put things on the deck and hopefully it’s cool enough where things don’t go bad."
Colbert said she was not sure how much longer she could take living without a working fridge.
"It would mean everything to me [to get a new fridge]," she said. "I could eat the way I normally eat, it would just encourage my life so much."
After speaking with Colbert, Joi reached out to the warranty company directly and spoke with a supervisor.
The supervisor explained that typically when someone claims to replace a refrigerator, the company sends a store gift card within 30 days for them to then purchase a new one.
When Joi explained that had not yet happened, the supervisor provided a direct line for Colbert to resolve the situation.
