Another complaint about company promising computers to folks with poor credit

Gary Muehlenbeck works as a mechanic at a local waste and recycling company.  He was trying to rebuild his credit, so when he heard an advertisement on a radio station last year from a company called Blue Hippo, he tells me “it seemed perfect.“  He says the company told him if they received payments on a layaway plan, that he could purchase a laptop computer.  He was promised that the laptop would arrive in the mail after three months, but that he must continue payments until the entire bill was paid off.  “After paying out about $140 dollars the first three months, plus a fee of 99 dollars, I kept assuming the computer would arrive,“ he tells me.

That was about a year ago now.  He has never received his computer, saying he’s made probably 50 phone calls to the company.  After paying nearly 12-hundred dollars without results, he says “I finally got the bank to stop payments, even though Blue Hippo said I still owed them almost 800 dollars.“

Muehlenbeck’s wife saw our recent story about another Savannah couple dealing with Blue Hippo.  Derek and Chanel Curry contacted me a few weeks ago saying they had been trying to receive a computer promised to them and had been waiting for well over a year.  I emailed the company through its website, since I could find no other way to get in touch.  (I called but was on hold for more than 40 minutes.) A few days after my email, the Currrys got their computer.  I have no way of knowing if there is a correlation here since no one from the company will return my emails.  Even with the computer the Currys say the company hasn’t kept its promise.  They say they were promised a free printer, a free ditigal camera and a $300 rebate certificate, which they have still not received.

According to Ross Howard from the local Better Business Bureau “Blue Hippo has an ‘F rating ‘ and about 4,000 complaints nationwide which the has not responded to at this time.“

The Federal Trade commssion filed suit in 2007 and Blue Hippo paid out five million dollars to consumers, many of whom complained that they had had money withdrawn from their accounts by the company, but never received the promised computers.

At this point, Muehlenbeck says he’s given up on ever seeing a laptop or getting his money back.  “I just wanted to warn others not to use Blue Hippo.“

Muehlenbeck thinks the company should not be allowed to advertise to Georgia consumers or do business in the state. 

Bill Cloud from the Georgia Governor’s Office of Consumer tells me that Georgia is involved in a multi-state investigation regarding Blue Hippo.  He says any local consumer who has issues with Blue Hippo should report their problems by calling 1-800-869-1123.  “We will make an effort to get their money back,“ says Cloud.

Someone who answered the phone at Blue Hippo’s customer service number told me they could not answer any questions and referred me to another number (which I have called several times before.)  I got a series of prompts and never was connected to a person.  I have emailed the company now for the third time, asking about products the Currys say they have not yet received and requesting a response regarding why Muehlenbeck has not received his laptop.