Couple’s long ordeal to get computer, were they still ripped off?

Derek and Chanel Curry feel like they’ve really put in their time when it comes to trying to get a computer delivered.  They ordered the computer in April of 2008 from a company called Blue Hippo.  The couple saw an advertisement on television, saying the company catered to those with low credit scores.  “We thought it would be a good way to get a computer for our kids,“ Mr. Curry says.  “We would have been better off to have just saved the money and bought one ourselves.“

According to the couple, their contract said they had to pay an inital fee of $124.00 plus $35.00 per week for 13 weeks.  “Then the computer would be delivered,“ Curry says.  “We would keep paying after that, but we’d have the computer.“

They say 13 weeks went by and that turned into six months and then a year.  “We probably made 100 phone calls as of June when we were entirely paid up and were constantly calling trying to find out if we were going to get this product delivered.“

The Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission have heard of the company.  “Blue Hippo has an ‘F’ rating with the Better Business Bureau and about 4,000 complaints nationwide that the company did not respond to,“ says Ross Howard of the local Better Business Bureau.

I tried calling Blue Hippo for a response but could not get through to a person.  I did email last week through the company website asking about the Curry’s case.  After my interview with the couple Friday morning, they called later to say the computer had been received via FedEx at their home Friday afternoon.

Monday morning we spoke again.  They still weren’t happy.  “It’s been almost 18 months before we even got the computer and they still didn’t keep up their end of the bargain,“ Mr. Curry told me.  “We were also supposed to get a free printer, a free ditigal camera and a $300 rebate certificate. I dread the thought it might take another 16 or 18 months to get those.“

The Currys say looking back, they probably could have checked out local stores or computer stors on the internet and bought the same computer for about one third of the price, even with their credit.  “We paid Blue Hippo so we could have just done our own layaway program basically and saved up the money until we had enough,“ Mr. Curry says.  “So don’t deal with these people, even if it sounds good because they never keep up their end of the bargain. Again, you’d be better off saving your own money and getting it on your own.“

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. Ross Howard from the Better Business Bureau in Savannah says “I would not use this company.“