A wheelchair using mom of three entered a review of her wheelchair today on USA TechGuide. This mothers situation brings to light some of the little known or seldom spoken of consequences related to wheelchair industry consumer support.

Heather from West Virginia generally likes her powered wheelchair, except for those times when repair services are required.

“I think I have more complaints about getting my product fixed. It seems like every time I need work done to my chair, I have to wait anywhere between a month and a half to three months. My chair is 4 and a half years old and the frame that holds the caster wheels on in the back has broke apart from the chair at the weld a month and a half ago; along with getting another flat tire. Being someone who relies on a wheelchair 24 hours a day, this is like torture to me. I had to put my life on standby to wait on someone to come fix my chair, and they were supposed to come yesterday and never showed up; he said he was stuck in the snow and he was supposed to call me back yesterday to reschedule and never did. I really like the chair, but seriously doubt that I will ever go through you guys ever again because I can’t rely on you to come fix my chair whenever I need it and not at your convenience. At this time, I have to use a manual wheelchair that has no foot rest on it because it doesn’t fit in the doorways in my home. I have three children all under the age of five and I can’t exactly take care of them if my feet are dragging on the ground and I can barely move to do and get them what they need. It is not only unfair to me to have to wait this long to have my independence back, but it’s totally not fair to them to have a mother partially paralyzed put in a position to where she can’t do much for them.”