7 On Your Side helps customer get refund for appliance repair

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- If you you have a favorite old appliance that suddenly goes on the fritz there are two options: either get it repaired, or get rid of it. A San Francisco woman says she made the wrong choice when she faced that very scenario.

Debra McAuliffe is happy with her new stove, but not for what it does, but for what it doesn't do.

Her old one did more than just break down. It was literally haunting her, breaking out at all hours with a noise that drove her crazy.

"It was beep-beep-beep-beep," said McAuliffe.

The beeps were erupting at all hours. She works as a church singer and this was rattling her nerves.

A technician came from Continental Appliance in San Francisco and he fixed the electronic controls and the oven quieted down, but only for a short while.

Soon, the technician was back and tried another fix. But after he left the oven began beeping again and it even locked its own door. She couldn't bake or sleep.

"I'm being tortured by this demon stove," she said.

She was out $800 for repairs, still couldn't cook and the noise was driving her crazy.

McAuliffe called Continental and she asked for a partial refund. She says Continental didn't respond, so she contacted Seven On Your Side, who helped her get refunded for half the money.

A Continental spokesperson said, "We tried everything we could to figure out what was causing that noise. We still don't know. We just wanted our customer to be happy."

McAuliffe says her oven was about 10 years old and so it was probably not a good idea to sink a lot of money into a repair. She used her refund toward a new stove that manages to cook and keep quiet.