Reviews

I had to file a claim because of a whole house surge protector. I did what they asked and sent in receipts for labor, parts and for some replacements of smaller items. Items that most would consider Disposable, I wrote next to them , "Not Cost Effective to Repair" I had to have certain items repaired ASAP, such as my furnace, refrigerator, internet etc but other items I could wait on. Even said, I looked for the lowest price for the labor, parts or the items I replaced right away and put what I could through warranty even though I did not have to use a warranty because of Levitons failed surge Protector. I also did many of the repairs myself. After more than a month I finally received an offer to replace my damaged items. All they included was the items I sent invoices in for to repair or for parts or if I had an original invoice of when I bought it. Even said, their "Fair Market Value" is equal to what you might pay at a yard sale. The disposable items they did not include because I did not get estimates. I asked who it going to pay for the estimates and in most if not all cases, the estimates or cost to repair will exceed the value of the new cost of the item. They do not say in their warranty who will pay for estimates or if you will be reimbursed but they do have a clause in there to be able to inspect your damaged items. They declined to have anyone inspect them. I asked to speak to their legal council and I received a call from Mr Vincent Lonigro, AKA Clarence Darrow or want-to-be. I told him their offer of $3100.00 was ridiculous. He said he thought it was $4500.00 and I said not. He asked what I would accept and I told him the least amount $6500.00. Unlike most people, I have filed many cases in court myself and have no problem going up against an attorney since I have many times before and won. He said they have never lost a case. I did a little research on that and do not believe it to be true but it was a limited search. In most cases, they know most people will accept there offer like I read one person did and Leviton knows this because if the amount is under $5000.00 an attorney will cost you almost that, so it does not pay to hire one and again Leviton knows this. After a few emails, Mr Lonigro got a little to insulting and finally said, his offer was $3800.00 and if I did not accept it by the end of the day, Sue Us! I sent him an email back telling him I will accept it but not because I feel I would lose in court. The fact is, I know I feel I would prevail and even for up to a few thousand more, but in court I would need an expert witness and estimates to repair the rest of the items which may cost more than the item and never know if the court will award you the estimate cost along with the fair market value as well or only one. The other issue is when you file the claim, they ask you to send the surge protector back for testing. At this point you have lost control of having it tested by an independent company, so it makes it much harder to prove it was the cause of your damage even if your house burns down. Attorneys like Mr Lonigro get these jobs because of security, a good salary and the fact that if they were an attorney on there own and had to be in court defending criminals, drunk drivers or doing injury cases, they may not make it in the real world. For the most part, these Corporations hire outside law firms in other states and only once in a while a corporate attorney will get involved in the case. They also have to work under the other attorneys license if they are not licensed in that state and need permission from the court and sometimes the defendant. I have been involved in one jury trial like this and they asked my permission. Maybe these kind of Corporations look for Jerks like this to deal with claims. There are higher up attorneys there but they will not let you speak to them. If this attorney was in private practice, I would never hire him or buy Leviton Products again.