LA FERIA – A woman said the sales people at a local store didn’t notify her of the return policy until after she made a $900 purchase.

Janie Marez is currently battling cancer. She’s a fighter who is grateful to be alive. She said a large part of her health depends on keeping her body temperature regulated. 

This month, something she heavily depends on broke down.

“Our central air system had gone bad so we needed something to cover because of my medical situation where I have to have heat and cooling,” Marez said.

Marez explained she and her husband didn’t have the $3,000 to fix the central unit. So In a panic, they rushed down to Conn’s Home Plus store in Harlingen and purchased a $2,200 BTU A/C window unit. Marez financed the unit for $900.

She said once she and her husband got the unit home they realized it wouldn’t fit. She told CHANNEL 5 NEWS that’s the first time she learned the stores return policy.

“We bought it on Friday, he picked it up on Saturday, we took it back on Sunday, two days after. They would not take it back. That they are not refundable,” Marez said.

Marez said that’s when she noticed the no return policy on her receipt.

She explained prior to that moment she was never informed of the store's return policy by any of the salesmen.

Sandra Morin of the Better Business Bureau says a customer always it’s better to ask than to assume.

“Make sure they find out what the refund and exchange policies are before they make the purchase not after. Because if the store’s policy, if the policy of the store is no refund then you are basically stuck with what you are purchasing,” Morin told CHANNEL 5 NEWS.

Marez called CHANNEL 5 NEWS for help. Since the A/C unit was still in the original packaging we headed to Conn’s to see if a onetime exception could be made.

After learning the Marez’s situation the store sent this statement:

“Customer service is always a top priority for Conn’s HomePlus, and while the return policy on AC units is clearly stated in-store and online, as a goodwill gesture we will be accepting the return of Ms. Marez’s AC unit and providing a full refund for her purchase.

Marez was excited and grateful to hear the news. She said now she and husband can spend that $900 on other areas of her treatment and fight against cancer.

Marez told CHANNEL 5 NEWS family and friends banded together and paid the $3,000 for her original central A/C unit to be replaced.