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St. Louis family suffers in cold home

Garner said the furnace broke almost a month ago and she was waiting weeks for Sears Holdings Corporation to fix the problem.
A thermometer reads 50 degrees inside a North St. Louis home that has been struggling with a broken furnace for weeks.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis family was kept in the cold, living with a broken furnace for nearly a month.

And after waiting weeks for repairs, they called 5 On Your Side for help.

“This is the piece they said was cracked in the furnace and needed to be replaced,” said Wanda Garner showing a furnace piece.

Garner showed us the reason she's been wearing a coat day and night in her North St. Louis home.

“Then he came back and said the furnace, we would have to get a new furnace,” she said.

5 On Your Side gauged the temperature with a thermostat. It recorded only 50 degrees.

Garner said the furnace broke almost a month ago and she has been waiting weeks for Sears Holdings Corporation to fix the problem. Purchase records show she bought the furnace and a warranty from Sears.

“I’ve been calling them off and on, and everyone’s like ‘Oh well we’re working on it,’” she said.

According to Garner, Sears said they were waiting for approval to install a new furnace. But that approval hasn't come.

“In the nighttime, it is freezing in here. Like right now my hands are freezing,” she said.

But Garner isn't as worried about herself as someone else.

“My father is 87 years old,” Garner told 5 On Your Side.

Garner's father Alfred Hagens also has a heart condition.

“My daughter is helping me all she can, but it’s only so much she can do,” said Hagens.

Sears offered them a gift certificate for two space heaters, but it is not enough to warm an entire home. Hagen wears four layers of clothing to stay warm.

“I don’t know, I just want to die,” he said. “I don’t know what to do.”

On Thursday afternoon, 5 On Your Side heard back from a Sears spokesperson. To their credit, they started working on this as soon as we contacted them. They plan to fix the furnace tomorrow and cover the costs.

Statement from Larry Costello, PR Director, Sears Holdings Corporation:

“At Sears, the satisfaction of our members is our top priority. Our member solutions team has resolved Mr. Hagen’s situation and a local installer is scheduled to replace the unit tomorrow. Additionally, we are covering the non-covered costs. We regret the delay and hope he remains a loyal Sears customer and Shop Your Way member."

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