LANSING, Mich. — A personalized wheelchair that's not living up to it's promises, that's what one local woman told Fox 47. She said the company, National Seating and Mobility, that made the chair for her, isn't standing by their product.
Hundreds of dollars and hours go into making one of those personalized wheelchairs. However, the woman said you could never tell because parts are held together with duck tape.
"It's scary to think that I'm going to get on a bus and lets hope everything stays on my chair today," said Amanda Bilinksi.
Amanda has a custom made manual wheel chair from Lansing's National Seating and Mobility. She said there's nothing custom about it.
"This chair itself is a little bit less than a year old. And we've been fixing parts since the day we bought it," said Bilinski.
Amanda described that day as the start of her wheelchair headache. The chair wasn't measured properly, too high off the ground, she couldn't reach the wheels. She said that parts have broken off and duck tape becomes the solution.
"Everytime I turn around something is falling apart or even falling off while I'm sitting in the chair,like arm rest, back plates," said Bilinski.
Amanda has two medical conditions, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Those conditions leave her, at times, unstable on her feet, easily dislocated joints, heart rate problems, blood pressure concerns.
She uses her chair 75% of the time. She said her safety concerns should be more of a priority for the company.
"I have talked to everyone in the company who will talk to me.I have heard everything from we are ordering a part, to someone will come out to evaluate it," said Bilinski.
Amanda said she has considered calling a lawyer.
"You just don't know what's going to come off. There's the hesitation is it going to be a small part is it going to be no big deal can I stick the piece in my pocket and put it back on when I get back home," said Bilinski.
Since the company heard of this story they told us that the regional area director has personally trying to reach out to Amanda, something that's not common.
National Seating and Mobility sent us this statement:
"National Seating & Mobility cares deeply about our clients. Due to HIPPA and privacy practices, we cannot discuss the specifics of any client case, but we can confirm that we are in communication with this client. In the complex rehabilitation industry, every client's situation and needs are unique, including the healthcare provider's prescribed care, the client's health care benefits coverage, and the equipment components needed for custom mobility solutions. No one case is like another, but our focus is always to provide the best mobility solution for each client."
The prescriber or doctor, according to the company, would be the one to make the call if a new chair was needed.
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