My knees have been preventing me form taking baths for many years. I have had to settle for taking showers. I have a problem standing for very long and even the shower takes a lot out of me. I had been admiring a bathtub for several years that I would often pass on a billboard while going into the villages where I shopped. It advertised walk-in bathtubs that were easy to get in and out of for those of us who have trouble getting around. After a couple of years, I decided the it was time to give in and invest in a new handy cap accessible bathroom and, of course, one of these wonderful walk-in tubs would be at its heart.
I was so excited to try out the walk-in bathtubs that on August 18, I drove down to The Walk-In Bathtub Store Inc in Mount Dora. This was before I had even settled on a construction contractor. The trip was just over an hour each way and Hurricane Fay was quickly approaching Florida. I wanted to hurry before the storm made it ashore.
From the time I arrived, I was shown several tubs and was quickly caught up in a hard-sale strategy by the showroom manager, Monica. I was subsequently handed off to the owner of the store and creator of the Alexander walk-in bathtub. This was an In-house manufactured walk-in tub that was being pushed by these 2 ladies. Everything about the Alexander sounded wonderful but they didn't have this tub in the showroom for me to try for myself. They said that they had one that was just cast in the shop. The 2 ladies insisted that we follow the store owner for the 5 minuet trip so that she could show it off.
The manufacture shop was a dirty tiny little fiberglass/boat shop. The cast of the tub looked great and shefor some strange reasoninsisted on showing me the actual molds for the tub. I thought that was strange and I was put off the hard-sale that she was putting down. Now that I look back with hindsight it was almost desperate.
We drew up the sales contract and I agreed to have my adult son come in the next day on the 19th and pay the $4,950.00 full sales tax exempt price for the tub. I was to obtain a prescription from my doctor and fax it before shipping to get the tax exemption. I was assured that even though there were about 4 other Alexander Walk-In Bathtub orders ahead of me that it would be ready when I needed it. The owner said that just let her know when the building contractor was almost ready they would deliver it.
My son carried the cash down to The Walk-in Bathtub Store Inc the next day on the 19th and obtained a receipt on the sales contract stating paid in full. I obtained a doctor's prescription for the tub on August 26. Just a little over a week after purchasing the tub. I started getting worried when I tried to fax the prescription on several occasions and couldn't get through. It took me a couple of weeks to successfully send the faxed prescription.
Some where in first or second week in September I called down to The Walk-In Bathtub Store to inform them that I needed the tub delivered. It took a couple of days of calling. Finally, I had to have my sister contact them form a different phone number just to find out that the business had been sold. We were given the number for the new owner of the business. Oddly enough, around the time of Hurricane Ike was making landfall in Florida, the showroom manager, Monica, seemed to be reaching for a name to give me. The new owner's name was Kirk Eisenhower. He, first claimed not to know what we were talking about. Ever since then it has been, I'll have it in 2 weeks. I have a lawyer involved but he can't do much. It is always, I'll have it in 2 weeks. My construction contractor is being held up on finishing my new handicap accessible bathroom.
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