Cell phone companies are doing all they can to get your business including “hard to beat” offers like buying you out of your old plan. It sounds like a good deal but I’m learning you have to be careful with such big promises.

The companies promise to make your switch easier than ever but for Jackie Hoffman it turned into months of hassle that landed her in collections.

“It was just a horrible mess,” Hoffman recalled.

In April, Hoffman switched her family of five to T-Mobile. She didn’t have a contract with her old carrier but did owe almost $1,800 for cellphones. T-Mobile promised to pay it all off.

“I was hesitant because I did ask them if they would be paying this to where we wouldn’t have any problems. They said no, there’d be no problems,” said Hoffman.

She sent in the reimbursement form and was told she would get the refund on a debit card in six to eight weeks. Several months passed with no refund.

“In between that time I was sent to collections, paying $100 per month to keep my credit in good standing,” explained Hoffman.

Hoffman never got the cards because they were sent to the wrong address. Then she had to pay $50 to have them reissued and when they finally arrived, they were $500 short of the full amount.

“They tell us they’re done with us. And uh, basically too bad so sad,” recalled Hoffman. “I got so exasperated. They’re lucky I couldn’t reach my hand through the phone.”

A cell phone company isn’t worth going to jail over so Jackie called me and I got in touch with T-Mobile. The company realized its mistake and agreed to send Jackie a card for the full remaining amount. Now five months later, Jackie hopes this is finally over.

“I don’t know if it’s angry or just irritation that someone can do things like that, control you like a puppet and not even blink an eye. So disappointed, yea, yea I’m disappointed,” exclaimed Hoffman.

T-Mobile issued this response in regards to the Hoffman case:

Taking care of customers is our top priority, so we hate it when things don’t go smoothly for them. We’ve paid off more than a million customers’ early termination fees without incident. Nonetheless, we absolutely understand that the delay in this case was frustrating.  We needed some documentation to pay off Sprint’s cancellation fees, and once we got it, we moved quickly to resolve the issue for Jaqueline.

Here’s what you should know if you decide to do a contract buyout. Cell phone companies often use third parties to issue the refund. This opens the door for all kinds of issues so don’t assume the process will go smoothly. Pay your bills as you normally would that way you can avoid collections if you end up having a fight on your hands.

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

At the busy Sea-Tac airport, Marci Taylor got the itch–to buy some Washington Lottery scratch off ticket. And for a moment it appeared Taylor’s luck had taken flight.

“Are you seeing this, this is $20,000 right? And he says, ‘oh my gosh, you just won $20,000,” recalled Taylor.

But when Marci tried to collect her winnings the state put the brakes on her winnings. Taylor said she was told the ticket wasn’t valid because the serial numbers didn’t match.

“I’m pretty sure I just immediately cried,” exclaimed Taylor.

Taylor played the $2, Frosty Crossword game. If you find 11 words you win $20,000 – which she did.  So what happened?

“She goes, ‘wow our machine completely cut this ticket wrong. Somehow the other letters got affixed to your card’,” said Taylor.

The answer portion should be at the bottom of the ticket not the top.

“It was cut that way by your machine, why is it my responsibility if your machine cut it wrong?” questioned Taylor. “I absolutely believe I am owed the money. I believe I have a winning ticket.”

We asked the Washington State Lottery Commission about other invalid or disputed scratch tickets. Out of the $1.1 billion dollars of scratch ticket sales the last three fiscal years, the commission said it doesn’t have any records of non-winning tickets submitted for dispute or review.

“There are other people out there I know have purchased tickets, paid their money to play the game, and won’t have valid tickets either, and who knows how long this has been going on,” said Taylor.

We also asked the commission how many other potential winners were affected by this mistake. A spokesman declined comment because of the investigation into Taylor’s case. A few days after our interview, Taylor got a check in the mail from the State Lottery Commission.

“I said ok, they are going to be honorable,” explained Taylor.

But that was not the case. Her check was for $2, the cost of her ticket.

“I was actually pretty angry,” explained Taylor. “They are going to do everything they can to not pay out something they don’t want to pay out.”

The state did tell us that all the winning $20,000 dollar tickets were redeemed before Marci turned hers in.  It also fixed the faulty machine at Sea-Tac.

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

Erin Alice Haltom is a Bremerton food truck builder who owes thousands of dollars to customers.

Now she says she’s filing for bankruptcy.

That isn’t the best news for Mike Guanlao. Haltom owes him $12,000 for a food truck deal that went south.

“I wasn’t surprised. I really appreciate letting the world know about her. But I didn’t think all of the sudden the story would come out and then I’d have a check for $12,000,” Guanlao said.

I first told you about Haltom and her company, Pacific Mobile Kitchens, in November.

I had heard from many of her customers who had questions about their money and the months-long delays with their trucks.

Cynthia Mora of Kitsap County paid $13,000 for her truck in 2013. Almost two years later, she got a mechanic and a tow truck and pulled it out of the shop.

Simply put, she was tired of the wait and the excuses, “Her employees quit. Her employees didn’t show up for work. Her children were sick. She was going to be out of town. It just went on and on,” Mora said.

Guanlao’s case was similar to Mora’s. But he decided to check out her story with Labor and Industries, the agency that regulates food trucks.

He just wanted to know if Haltom had actually filed plans for his truck.

“I called L&I to see if they’d even submitted the plans and they didn’t even have the plans,” Guanlao said.

Craig Sedlacek at Labor and Industries says it’s not the first time he’s received a call like this from a Pacific Mobile Kitchens customer.

“The ones that have been calling, they’re ones that we have not received plans yet. There’s been commitments or statements made that, ‘Oh, the plans have been submitted to L&I. I just haven’t got them back.’ The customer will call and then come to find out that no, the plans have not been submitted for review yet,” Sedlacek said.

I asked Haltom about the delays in a previous interview.

She said, “We only have about 50 percent of our trucks that are behind. We are actually complete with a lot of them on time.”

But this is how she addressed the issue on her Facebook page: “And this is the point in the day when I get as drunk as I (expletive) can and tell all our customers they are dirty (expletive) savages who need to learn when to shut up and wait for us to do their jobs. You have been told.”

Now Haltom says she is going to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. That means Guanlao will now have to go to federal court to get his money. What she has offered to do recently is to replace a damaged fan in his truck in lieu of payment. And to that and the bankruptcy, he says, like the name of his food truck, Kiss My Grits.

Joanna Jackowich spends her days in the ring training horses and riders.  But recently she’s in a new ring, the boxing ring.  Her opponent is Century Link.

This started last summer after Century Link came out to see about installing a phone line in her horse barn.

“It was not going to be a viable option to have a hard line in.  The installer mentioned he would go back to the office and he would let the billing department know it was a no-go but unfortunately that didn’t happen,” recalled Jackowich.

Instead, the trainer was hit with an added $322 installation charge to her August bill.

“We of course called and said, it never happened.  They said, no problem, we’ll take care of it.  Then subsequently we did receive a letter from their collections company,” explained Jackowich.

For weeks Jackowich was up against the ropes with Century Link.  But, she was in this fight to win it because money’s tight on a farm.

“The margins are already razor thin,” said Jackowich.  “I have to deal with it.  They’re involving my credit now at this point.”

She contacted me and I stepped into the ring and this mess was resolved within 48 hours.

“I’m going to be relieved for the fact that it has been resolved the way it should have been but definitely quite frustrating it takes a news reporter contact or an attorney to get anything done,” expressed Jackowich.

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

Last month General Motors announced a  recall of more than 1.2 million cars due to a fire risk.  There’s just one problem – the automaker doesn’t have the parts to make the repairs.

Gregory Carter is afraid to drive his 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix because it could go up in flames.

“The oil leaks and if the oil gets on exhaust manifold, it’s going to ignite a fire,” explained Carter.

There have been 1,300 fires reported because of the oil leaks.  But GM said it doesn’t have the parts to fix the 1.2 million cars impacted by the recall.  Instead, the automaker is suggesting that customers only park outside and not in a garage/structure until repairs are made.

I asked GM when parts would be available and it said, “We do not have timing for the parts yet.  We will notify customers as soon as we do.”

GM says the the condition does not affect the safe operation of the vehicles.

Vehicles impacted by the recall include:

1997-2004 Buick Regal
2000-2004 Chevrolet Impala
1998-1999 Chevrolet Lumina
1998-2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
1998-1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue
1997-2004 Pontiac Grand Prix–all equipped with 3.8L V6 engine

Click here for more recall information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

Imagine getting a home energy bill in the thousands of dollars only to find out the utility company is making you pay for a mistake it made years ago!

It’s called backbilling and now there’s a movement in the legislature to stop it.

Margaret Williams has paid her electricity bill faithfully for years.  So why was she hit with a $1,200 bill?

“I hope they can’t get away with this.  It’s their responsibility, their error, not mine,” exclaimed Williams.

Margaret’s meter had been broken for two years.  Even though it wasn’t her fault, she still must pay.  It’s called backbilling.  Utilities can go back six years to bill customers for their mistake.  While consumers can only seek a refund for three.

A new bill in Olympia is trying to change that.

House Bill 2261 will shorten the time all utilities can backbill to six months.  In a bill hearing, public utility representatives said that means all consumers will pay more.

“If you relieve one customer you put the burden on the other customers who may be equally low income,” said Dave Warren with the Washington PUD Association.

But lawmakers aren’t buying the defense.

“I find the defense of this disingenuous because it doesn’t seem to me like you are trying to bring a solution you are up here saying you just don’t like this idea.  So it’s a little bit frustrating,” said Representative Richard Debolt.

State Rep. Matt Shea from Spokane sponsored the bill and said both public and private utilities will be covered under the proposed law.

“So I think there’s going to be an adjustment we need to make on this from six to three or hopefully down to one because with all of the technology, this shouldn’t happen,” said Shea.

In some cases we’ve heard where a public utility has asked for immediate payment of a back bill.  PSE is a private utility. It is regulated by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.  The commission is investigating a rule change to curb back billing to six months for private companies.

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

Customers of the Snohomish County Public Utility District are demanding answers about why their bills have gone up drastically over the past few months.

Hayley Shapiro’s typical Snohomish County PUD electricity bill is about $60.  But that changed this month.

“I was like, $481 dollars! I thought it was a typo. I thought they meant $48 and whatever cents,” explained Shapiro.

It’s a financial jolt that some of Snohomish County PUD’s 300,000 customers are feeling in their pocketbooks.  Some have seen bills triple or quadruple in the last month.

Shapiro has lived in her house less than a year, is at work all day and lives alone.  When she put her story on Facebook and it darn near broke the internet.

“Like instantly, within 20 minutes, I had like over 200 comments!” exclaimed Shapiro.

Jim West, assistant general manager for customer service at Snohomish County PUD, said the reason for the issues is that the utility changed its billing from bi-monthly to monthly billing.

“We’re getting more calls day to day.  It’s about 30% more than last year,” said West.  “We still read your meter every two months and we still bill you for how much electricity you use every two months.  What’s different now, half way into that two months we are going to calculate an estimated bill.”

That estimate is from the previous year’s usage. In Shapiro’s case, her house was empty this time last year so her estimated bill was zero.  The next month Snohomish County PUD added up her real usage over the two months and shocked her with that $481 bill.  My advice, call the utility get on yearly billing that evens out your bill for the entire year.

“We certainly want to work with those customers who have questions or feel like they need assistance with the new system,” said West.

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

Yesterday I told you about customers in Snohomish County who are facing higher than average utility bills. The response was massive. Thank you to everyone who wrote in with comments and submitted their bills. Today I went back to Snohomish County PUD to see if I could clarify some things.

Jim West at Snohomish PUD said the issue began when the utility changed from bi-monthly billing to monthly in the fall. It then began to read meters every other month. One bill is customers real usage. The next is an estimate from the previous year. But customers aren’t buying what the PUD is selling.
“Estimated bills are working well for the vast majority of our 300 thousand customers and we want to work with customers who have questions or need any assistance with a new system,” said West.

We’ve also learned the PUD has upgraded its billing systems. I asked if the utility audits its system for issues.
“We look at that system every day and every week and every month,” said West. “Nothing about going to monthly billing has raised anyones rate, changed the price anyone pays for electricity or caused any over charging over a two month basis.”

PUD also points to this winter being colder than last. The average low is only around three degrees colder but PUD says it doesn’t look at averages. Instead it’s a comparison of the number of really cold days which would cause people to run their heat higher and for longer. My advice – go to budget billing to spread out your bills evenly for the entire year and ask to get your estimate from the past 60 days not from last year.

Click here to watch my full interview with Jim West of Snohomish County PUD.

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

Snohomish County PUD customers outraged by recent bills had a chance to voice frustrations at today’s utility commissioners meeting.  Unfortunately, the meeting was the same old questions with the same old answers.

The meeting focused on the accuracy of customers’ bills.  Complaints of bills doubling or tripling since the utility moved from bi-monthly to monthly billing have been growing.  Hundreds reacted angrily on my Facebook page about the switch.

“When we moved into this apartment my bills skyrocketed to almost $500 dollars and I’m confused how it went from less than $100 to $500,” exclaimed Jolynn Traynor, a PUD customer.

Snohomish County PUD bills monthly but checks meters every other month.  One bill is customer’s real usage, the next month is estimated from the previous years’ usage.

“It would be a lot easier on everybody that has these issues with their bills to read their meters every month. That way you wouldn’t have this issue,” said George Smith, PUD customer.

Kyle Herman moved into his home a few months ago.  He said his family of three is paying the estimate for a family of five that lived there a year ago.

“If I just moved in four and a half months ago, how are you judging my bill off of somebody else’s bill from last year? It makes no sense at all,” questioned Herman.

The utility will credit the difference in Kyle’s next bill, but what if he needs the money now?  PUD is not handing out interest on those funds.

“We’re not trying to get customers to float us or ask people to pay more than they owe,” said Jim West, PUD assistant general manager.

The commissioners asked a few questions and shuffled off folks to customer service representatives.  It was clear holding a midweek, afternoon hearing hurt attendance.  Since I am a Snohomish PUD customer, I asked if the commission could schedule another meeting outside of work hours.  PUD said it would work to make that happen.  They’re considering February 16th.  We’ll keep you posted if it’s actually scheduled.

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

Watch my full interview with Jim West, assistant general manager for Snohomish County PUD. 

I’ve just learned that Snohomish PUD will hold an evening meeting on February 16th at 6pm to address billing issues with its customers.

The comes after I made a request to PUD commissioners after its first meeting was held at 1pm Tuesday. I received hundreds of emails and responses on social media asking the meeting to be moved to a time where people who work regular business hours can appear.

The meeting will focus on dramatic jumps in bills for some PUD customers. I’ve seen bills more than quadrupled in a single month. PUD officials say this is all part of changing from bi-monthly billing to monthly billing. If you have an issue please attend and have your voice be heard!

The utility scam has been around for a while. But this time it appears the bad guys are perfecting their dirty work.

Ravi Johal thought he’d paid this month’s Snohomish County PUD bill for his Everett gas station.  So he didn’t understand why get got a call saying his bill wasn’t current and PUD crews were on their way to his business.

“They were coming out to cut off the meters,” recalled Johal.

Johal was getting scammed. It appears bad guys have been watching the rising PUD bill issue and have targeted Snohomish County businesses.

“They basically had asked for double what my two month premium was,” said Johal.

The scammer refused to take cash at the PUD office or a credit card over the phone.  Instead, he wanted Johal to go to Safeway and buy reload cards.  That’s when he took a second look at that phone number.

“I did that reverse lookup on Google search, got no hits for Snohomish PUD, called Snohomish PUD and they told me this was a scam,” explained Johal.

Here are a few other tips about the call. The scammers sounded very professional.  They have a hold message that sounds legitimate and they’re patient.

The real Snohomish County PUD will always take a payment at their Everett headquarters and will stop by your home before cutting off your power.

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

Who has time in an emergency to check if a doctor is in or out-of-network?  If you don’t, you could be on the hook for thousands of dollars just because the doctors and your insurance company can’t come to an agreement.

Julie Drake of Tacoma went to an emergency room for a kidney stone attack.  She was told the hospital was in-network but she still got hit with a $700 bill.

“It showed that the doctors were not covered,” explained Drake.

The issue was the doctor who was out-of-network.  But how was she or anyone else going to know that in an emergency?  This kind of surprise billing for emergency healthcare is happening all over state.  To better inform consumers Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler brought House Bill 2447 to the legislature.

“A lot of times the hospital won’t know who’s in network and out-of-network. But i think they have an obligation to make sure that if there’s an opportunity to make a decision here they are informing you as the patient,” said Kreidler.

Some doctors have contracts to work in hospital emergency rooms but they don’t have a deal with a specific insurance company.  As Mel Sorenson with America’s Health Insurance Plan explained, that means patients may have to pay out of pocket for care.

“The problem exists where providers decline to sign a participating provider contract,” said Sorenson.  “Leaving these covered individuals in a circumstance of accessing services from a provider group that has not contracted.”

The bill would force mandatory arbitration between insurers and doctors.  In a recent hearing both sides say they aren’t interested in that at all.

“If you take balance billing out of the equation, then you take out any incentive for insurance companies to come negotiate a fair contract with us,” said Erik Penner of Olympia Emergency Services.

Meanwhile, patients like Drake don’t understand why there’s not more interest in helping patients like her.

“A lot is being done to address people who don’t have health insurance but we still need to address the fact people with coverage are not receiving what they think they are paying for,” said Drake.

Washington’s proposed bill based on a current Illinois law.

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

Buying new construction offers some home buyers a sense of security. But in Fife, dozens of homeowners have issues popping up across their home.  Now they’re facing thousands of dollars in repairs while dealing with an unresponsive builder.

From the outside, in, Tracy Berg’s home has become a nightmare for her family.

“No caulking around vents.  No sort of weather proofing around windows whatsoever,” explained Berg.  “Overdriven nails in the siding.  We’ve got water coming in all three floors.”

The Berg’s bought their new construction home in Fife almost three years ago.  It was built by Highmark Homes and is in the Valley Haven development.

“This house was going to be not only a good investment but it was everything we wanted,” recalled Berg.

But in six short months, that all changed.  A puddle of water was discovered along the length of a third floor room.  Soon after Tracy found mold on her kids’ toys on the second floor and over the holidays, the water issue finally took over the whole house.

The Berg’s aren’t the only ones left soaking wet.  28 other homes in Valley Haven have similar issues.

All were built by Highmark and its owner, Tom Tollen.

“We’re not the bad guys.  We shouldn’t be punished for the way this house was built,” said Berg.

The Berg’s reported the issues to their home warranty but when the contractor came out, the response wasn’t what they expected.

“It was actually him that started pointing out, oh, hey I see your neighbor’s house, there’s no flashing above the windows and oh, hmm, Ok.  I’m going to have to step out and call them.  When he came back in I knew that he knew there was a big problem here,” said Berg.

Berg didn’t trust Highmark to assess or repair the issues correctly so she and other homeowners hired Chris Casey’s firm to fight their issues in court.

“This wasn’t the equivalent of a bad day.  This was the means and methods employed throughout,” said Casey.

Casey said Highmark and Tollen failed to follow state law by building homes that don’t meet the International Building Code.  He brought in experts who found incorrect siding installation, windows and doors.

Photos of Valley Haven homes show moisture issues causing mushrooms to grow, centipedes under carpet, cracked walls and excessive moisture behind the siding.

“They don’t have the money to perform the repairs or rip the houses down and start again,” explained Casey.

According to Casey, Tollen is one of the top builders in western Washington with hundreds of homes in dozens of developments.  Tollen’s been seen cruising through them in this yellow Lamborghini.  While he’s hitting the gas, the homeowners are lawyering up.  From Bremerton to Lynnwood, families are hiring Casey for issues similar to what’s happening in Fife.

If you count up the number of properties and developments, could be potentially more than 10 million dollars.

Tracy’s home was permitted by the city of Fife. In the lawsuit, Highmark and Tollen say they’ve done nothing wrong. But Chris says he can prove it wasn’t built to code.

In a hearing last month the attorney for Highmark and Tollen, Patrick McKenna, said their contracts make no promises about their quality of work.

“Let’s just assume for the moment, for arguments sake, that the building code violations exist, just for this moment.  So what?  How does that breach the contract?  How does that breach the warranties?” asked McKenna.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip Sorensen replied with exactly what I was thinking.

“I understand that I don’t have a building code in front of me but I can’t imagine there’s a building code in this country that would allow for that kind of workmanship to meet the minimum threshold,” said Judge Sorensen.

I would like to follow up but Tollen isn’t talking to me.

In the meantime, the Berg’s hopes of a shiny new home have dampened as rainwater continues to soak the inside of their house.  At least this family knows it isn’t suffering alone as its biggest investment takes an unnecessary bath.

“I want to love but my house but I can’t be happy here knowing what I know and knowing what it’s going to take to fix it.  Feeling very stuck because until these houses are fixed, there’s nothing we can do with them.  We can’t sell it.  We can’t do anything,” explained Berg.

No decision was reached at this hearing.  The two parties will meet again early next month.

One more important thing to note: Tollen is still building homes but no longer under the Highmark name.

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

Families pay for medical insurance so it’s there when they need it most.  But what happens when an insurance company calls a procedure experimental but medical experts around the world disagree?  That’s exactly what’s happening to a young man with brain cancer in Seattle.

The procedure we are talking about it proton beam therapy. It’s being used on children all over the world. It’s approved by several insurance carriers including Medicare.

Ronnie Castro has brain cancer. Surgery removed most of the tumor. The rest was located near his brain stem and inoperable so doctors recommended Ronnie to have proton beam therapy to kill the rest of it.

Lifewise denied his claim, calling proton beam therapy experimental except in the case of children.  The decision is something Ronnie’s wife Kelsey deals with every day.

“Yeah they don’t want to destroy a child’s brain, but then his brain to me is just as important, raising our children, it’s what makes me real angry,” said Kelsey.

Ronnie’s doctors want proton beam therapy because regular radiation uses x-rays that go through the tumor and hit nearby healthy tissue.  According to Dr. Ramesh Rengan with Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Proton Therapy Center, protons work differently.

“If I know where a tumor is located, then I know the depth of that tumor, I can modulate and develop a proton beam that will penetrate right to the point where the tumor is and just stop there,” said Dr. Rengan.

Dr. Rengan said the treatment delivers less excess radiation to Ronnie’s eyes and brain stem.

“Not only do you get the benefit of being treated without the critical organ nearby being exposed to radiation, you start getting other benefits reductions in second malignancies, reduction in hormone dysfunction”, Dr. Rengan explained.

However, in a statement Lifewise’s parent company, Premera Blue Cross, defends its denial saying,

“…proton beam radiation therapy lacks reliable evidence, such as conclusive patient studies or trials to demonstrate its effectiveness, thus it is considered an experimental service…”

Dr. Rengan strongly disagrees with that assessment.

“I think when you have a treatment where a six figure number of patients have been treated with, I think it’s difficult to say that we don’t have an adequate level of experience and it’s new,” said Dr. Rengan.

Ronnie’s third appeal was an independent review. It’s required by state law and is performed by a doctor.  But the independent group upheld Lifewise’s denial pointing to the provider’s contract.

To get the treatment, the Castro’s needed $39,000.

Friends and family started a Give Forward page and raised enough to cover the treatment.  And when Ronnie got better he hired attorney Lish Watson to fight Lifewise.

“In this case health insurers have a black eye. They certainly should have a black eye,” said Watson.

Watson is suing Lifewise and its parent company Premera for denying Ronnie’s claim. He believes he has a great case.

“I believe most of these cases are all about money. And I believe Ronnie’s case is all about money. Otherwise why would they pay for a pediatric patient to get this treatment and not an adult? Where’s the science behind that?” asked Watson.

The fact a child would get the treatment and not Ronnie is a major part of their suit.

“I think it’s an arbitrary decision. They perhaps have fewer children with brain tumors than adults with brain tumors,” Watson concluded.

The suit is currently making its way through the courts and Ronnie is prepared for the fight.

” The lawsuit is intended to help them change their policy and do the right thing. That’s what I want at the end of the day,” said Ronnie.

A Colorado family received the typical IRS scam call. This time the frustrated scammer called 911 on the victim and had the police sent to the family’s home.

According to KKTV, the scammer told the victim he was an IRS agent named David Brown.He tried to bully the victim, James Davis, into paying $96,000 in back taxes he didn’t owe. But what he didn’t know was that the scammer called 911 saying Davis was harming people and wanted to kill cops.

Police swarmed Davis’ home on Windy Oaks Road, near Northgate and Highway 83 on the north side of Colorado Springs. Davis said later there were 12 police cars surrounding his house–with his 20-year-old daughter Amber now the only one at home.

“The house phone was ringing like 50 times, so I really didn’t know what was going on, and so I finally answered thinking that it was my dad trying to get ahold of me, and this guy answered in a really weird accent and he said that my dad was under arrest,” Amber Davis said, recalling the minutes before police arrived.

When actual officers from the Colorado Springs Police Department called the house to say they had the home surrounded, she didn’t know if it was really them, or the scammer.

When Amber looked outside, she was terrified.

“I didn’t know they were here. I heard, like, noises outside, and when I finally got a call from a police officer, he told me that he was, like, outside…there was [sic] cops swarming and I went outside, and it was terrifying because there was, like, guys with shields and guns,” Amber recalled.

Nearby Discovery Canyon School was placed on lockout status.

The FBI and Colorado Springs Police are investigating the case. Bottom line, hang up on anyone who says they are from the IRS. The Feds will not call you, period. Scammers use can manipulate caller ID too. Just hang up. You can also contact the FBI and your local police department to report the call.

For years David Velez didn’t have to pay a power bill. Each month he’d receive a Renewable Energy Credit from Snohomish PUD for having solar power. On top of that cash, David would also earn a sizable yearly refund.

“I used to get a thousand dollars here and there, extra money that I was putting in my pocket. It was helping me and my family,” David explained.

But now the PUD has decided not to give the credit monthly. Instead it will hand out one big refund a year. Which means now David will have to budget for a bill he thought he’d never have to pay.

“Now I don’t see any benefit. It used to be a benefit before,” David said.

David also feels burned by the utility because he got a loan through it to go solar. He pays $240 a month for that financing, plus his electric bill. And one month that bill was 270 bucks!

And since solar customers can’t go on a monthly budget billing plan, David’s got nowhere to go.

“Why should I have to wait until the end of the year to get all my money back? I don’t understand that.”

Think of it this way. The PUD doesn’t want to pay its 1,000 solar customers until it has an accurate accounting of credits.

At the same time, the utility is using estimated billing for 300,000 of its non-solar customers.

It’s expecting payment even though there’s no accurate reading of customers’ meters half of the time.

In a statement, a Snohomish PUD spokesman says it will try to work with all of its customers.

“Snohomish PUD has the most comprehensive solar energy program in the Pacific Northwest, offering financial incentives for solar panel installations, utility production credits and resources to help customers receive additional state and federal incentives.”

That’s all fine and good, but what David wants is to give a swift kick to the PUD where the sun don’t shine.

The PUD says it isn’t making any more money because of this accounting move. It’s just falling in line with the way other energy companies and PUDs handle solar payouts.

Also, do not forget about the Snohomish PUD meeting where you can tell the utility’s power brokers about your high bills! That meeting will be held on Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. at PUD Headquarters, 2320 California in Everett.

When you pay home insurance premiums you, expect the insurer to be there when you need it most.  We have learned some insurance companies will not cover state and federally required lead and asbestos testing and remediation.  It’s something state insurance commissioner says he can’t do anything about it.

A plumbing issues left Kenny and Leslie Stocker’s 1908 home a big wet mess.

“We ended up having a leak in the toilet of the upstairs bathroom, and it trashed the bathroom and it trashed a good majority of the ceiling in the kitchen,” recalled Kenny.

But before the couple could rebuild, they had to test their home for lead and asbestos.

“That was paramount for us. We have animals we have children and it was in an area where we make food. We wanted to make sure it was going to be taken care of correctly,” Kenny told me.

It’s more than paramount. It’s the law.  Lead and asbestos affects more than 120,000 of Seattle’s 150,000 homes.  Homes built before 1978 must be tested for lead before contractors repair or renovation.  Anything built before 1981 is presumed to have asbestos and anything after that date must be evaluated for asbestos materials.  But the Stocker’s learned their insurance company wouldn’t cover the testing nor the remediation of those pollutants.

“This is a law. How can you not cover something that’s the law? And they would never really address that,” questioned Kenny.

The insurer would only say it’s not part of the policy.  Meanwhile, the testing cost the Stokers more than $5,000.  Leslie couldn’t believe this is how they were going to be treated after two decades with the same company.

“I was so angry. And I think a lot of it was that we had been with this company for 20 years paying premiums. It seemed ridiculous and they were a brick wall,” she exclaimed.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler understands the Stocker’s dilemma.

“Insurance isn’t always fair, and in this case it isn’t,” said Kreidler.

Kreidler said to think of health insurance when it comes to dealing with lead and asbestos.

“If you have asbestos and you have lead in the paint because it’s an older house that’s kind of considered kind of like a pre-existing condition,” he explained.  “It’s something insurance companies go to great lengths to make sure they’re not paying for stuff in addition to what they have to pay for.”

Check your home insurance policy and look for exclusions.  It will say in black and white that the insurer will not cover for loss to test for, monitor, clean up, remove contain, treat detoxify or neutralize the effects of pollutants.  Pollutants is a term often used to describe asbestos and lead.

Kenny and Leslie dried out their home and rebuilt their kitchen and bathroom but want to make sure other homeowners open and read their policies before they get soaked.

“You should know that going in very specifically. And if it’s not covered you need to find another insurance company,” said Kenny.

This is a message from the Northwest Insurance Council –

Thanks for KIRO 7 TV’s report on asbestos/lead testing and homeowners insurance policies.

 As you’ve noted, the great majority of standard homeowners insurance policies offered across the nation, including here in Washington, specifically exclude coverage for testing properties for the existence of lead or asbestos (or other toxic materials). The language appears in most homeowners policies (referred to in the industry as “HO-3” policies) under property exclusions. Homeowners policies typically do not include coverage to test for, clean up or remove toxic or other pollutants (which are defined in the exclusion section).

 Asbestos, lead and other unseen hazards can be costly to mitigate. And for insurers as well as homeowners, it is possible (particularly in older homes) for generations of owners of the same property to be unaware of the existence of these conditions in the home. As you can imagine, it would be costly for consumers if insurers “guessed” about the possible existence of pollutants in a home and routinely included the cost of asbestos testing and/or removal in the price of a standard HO policy.

 Your story points out why it is so important for people to have a better-than-basic understanding of what their insurance policy covers and what it does not cover. It may be possible for property owners to find coverage in the market for some risks not covered by a standard policy, but too often, consumers find out “too late” what their policy contains – or what it excludes.

 NW Insurance Council urges consumers to review their policies regularly – at least once each year, or whenever there are changes in your household. Contact your insurance agent or company to schedule a review.

Kenton Brine President

NW Insurance Council

Jesse Jones has been demanding answers – after Snohomish PUD customers reported getting electric bills double, or even triple, the normal amount.

We are updating this post with our latest coverage to keep you up to date.

Here’s a timeline of the events:

• At the end of January, customers of the Snohomish County Public Utility District are demanding answers about why their bills have gone up drastically over the past few months.
• Jim West at Snohomish PUD said the issue began when the utility changed from bi-monthly billing to monthly in the fall. It then began to read meters every other month. One bill is customers real usage. The next is an estimate from the previous year. But customers aren’t buying what the PUD is selling.
• Snohomish County PUD customers outraged by recent bills had a chance to voice frustrations at a Feb. 2 utility commissioners meeting.  Unfortunately, the meeting was the same old questions with the same old answers.
• The utility scam has been around for a while. But this time it appears the bad guys are perfecting their dirty work. Snohomish Co. PUD customers are being targeted. Click here for more information.
• This solar customer was in for a surprise: For years David Velez didn’t have to pay a power bill. Each month he’d receive a Renewable Energy Credit from Snohomish PUD for having solar power. On top of that cash, David would also earn a sizable yearly refund. But now the PUD has decided not to give the credit monthly. Instead it will hand out one big refund a year. Which means now David will have to budget for a bill he thought he’d never have to pay. Read more here.
• On Tuesday, Snohomish PUD hosted a meeting at its headquarters to hear from customers. See a video about the meeting here. 

When Tracy Berg and her husband bought their home, they found comfort in buying new construction.  But three years later they’re facing major issues including cracked walls, water issues and black mold.  Unfortunately, the Berg’s are not alone.  28 other houses in the Fife development of Valley Haven have similar problems.  All were built by Highmark Homes and its owner Tom Tollen.

“I don’t ever want to buy another house again because of this,” said Berg.

The homeowners are now suing Highmark and Tollen over their construction issues.  In the meantime, they’re wondering how all their homes could have passed city inspection.  Perry Fegley, a building inspector for the city of Fife, is the one that signed off on the Berg’s home.   He says a developers building plans will not be approved unless it details how each phase will meet code. Highmark is no exception, with the first page of their plans referencing building code.  The homes must also clear a 16 point checklist before the city will issue a certificate of occupancy.

“Everything is looked at.  When they call for inspection, that inspection is thoroughly looked at,” said Fegley.  “So I don’t know what the problem is but yea, I am very upset that anyone has to go through this.”

Inspectors do not sit on the job and oversee the entire building process.  Instead, builders call them out   once each phase has been completed. So, if corners are cut, an inspector may not see it.   Their focus is meeting code, not quality.

“We don’t inspect for quality and people don’t understand we inspect for minimum codes.  Quality, craftsmanship, that’s why you pay a licensed bonded contractor, we would hope, to do this for you.  But we do our best,” explained Fegley.

Also, it’s impossible to inspect what’s been covered up.  In 2014 at a different development, Labor and Industries issued a warning to Highmark for covering an electrical installation prior to inspection.  It then cited the company for the same thing the next year.  According to Chris Casey, attorney for the Valley Haven homeowners, the code issues extend beyond this.

“We have structural issues that you’re well aware of out there.  Those are the issues that fall on their plate.  The string of nails that run up vertical should be secured to the studs but are free floating in the wall – it’s easy to see and you don’t need to be an expert to recognize there is a problem,” said Casey.

Inspectors specifically check structural, plumbing and electrical elements. If they fail to catch something, there’s little homeowners can do.

“In WA, unless there’s a specific promise to you, as the homeowner, made by the building officials, they have no duty to you.  That is, it doesn’t matter how bad they do their job, you can’t sue them,” explained Casey.

So who’s at fault in all this? In a recent hearing, Highmark’s attorney, Patrick McKenna, argued that code violations shouldn’t be the company’s issue.

“Let’s just assume for the moment, for arguments sake, that the building code violations exist, just for this moment.  So what?  How does that breach the contract?  How does that breach the warranties?” questioned McKenna.

It was a defense that even prompted some questions from Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip Sorensen.

“I understand that I don’t have a building code in front of me but I can’t imagine there’s a building code in this country that would allow for that kind of workmanship to meet the minimum threshold,” said Judge Sorensen.

So while developer Tom Tollen cruised through neighborhoods in his yellow Lamborghini, Tollen’s homes in the Valley Haven development are, according to Casey, falling apart.

“Someone dropped the ball.  I don’t think you have 29 homes with substantially the same defects that could have been discovered during the course of construction,” said Casey.

The attorney for Highmark and Tom Tollen sent us the following statement about our story:

“Highmark strives to build quality homes and is disheartened by its portrayal in the recent media coverage.  The City of Fife approved the construction of the homes at Valley Haven.  Highmark disagrees with allegations made against it in litigation, and will continue to prepare a defense based on the facts and applicable law.”

As for the home warranties, homeowners tell me they didn’t feel confident having Highmark or Tollen complete the repairs.  We asked Tollen to comment about this but he didn’t respond.

• Homeowners get Jesse’s help for house concerns

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.