Acorn Stairlifts

I was a dealer for Acorn for 10 years with poor customer service for their product. When I have problems I call the local Florida office and get my sales rep, which changes on a daily basis due to the turn over rate with Acorn. All sales rep are told not to help with replacement warranty parts and also they tell me that I cant speak to anyone else above them. I can agree that out of every 10 lifts I buy I get a good one and all others are junk. The Acorn company has came in my area and sold to my neighbors telling them to buy direct and save from local dealers. What they forget to tell my neighbors is they don't service anything and you will have to contact local dealers for repairs. Here's the problem, they promise all these warranties but expect the local dealers to cover, and when the customer saves the couple dollars on the direct sale and install we charge them extra to make up our lost in sales.
My professional opinion is to read these story's and stay away from Acorn Junk.

my aunt had a lift installed 9/7/14 and got home on 10/8/14 from rehab and tried to use the lift for the first time---she wanted to get the chair adjusted to feel safe while in the chair and was told that a service guy would not be able to come until next thursday
- meaning she would have to sleep down stairs in a chair for a week- very sad---they took her paid in full check but can not help her til next week- did not buy this product

If you are still having problems with your stair lift here is Acorns contact numbers http://www.acornstairlifts.com/us/locations.php
I have owned an Acorn lift for many years using it roughly twice a day with no problem. I cannot understand all these comments that are not trying to solve your problem

Consumer's Original Complaint :
My father is 87 years old and has a broken stairlift for a month. I am unable to find anyone to fix it.
In 2010 I purchased a stairlift from Acorn Stairlifts from American Medical Equipment. About a month ago, my father hit a pair of slippers and the stairlift did not stop as it does on the commercial. I call American Medical and they do not have anyone to fix it. I was told to call Acorn. I called them. My first call I was told to call where I purchased it. I told them that I could not do that. They transferred me to someone who told me that they do not repair but that they could give me a list of numbers of repair people in Maryland. I called all the numbers and everyone was out of business or told me that they did not fix the lifts. I called Acorn again and was told they could not help me unless I "pretended" I was buying a chair. I hung up, I called back and a lady answered and gave me a phone number to call. I called that number and said that I needed more numbers to call. The man "Richard" said I don't know why they gave you numbers to call. We fix the chairs in Maryland. He gave me a number to call. I called that number. I was told..."I don't know why he told you that we fix them, we dont" They gave me another number to call. I called that number and the man said "I will save you money and tell you how to fix it" Take the lift to the top and clean out the cup and then duct tape something or other. I will have to charge you a lot of money if I come out.

Consumer's Desired Resolution:
If Acorn does not fix their own product, then I would like them to come and replace the chair. I do not think I should have to pay for something that is guaranteed not to happen. The commerical says that if the chair comes in contact with something it will stop. it does not say if the chair runs into something, it will run over it and we wont repair it...I want a replacement, My father cannot stay upstairs forever.

We own an Acorn Chair Lift for 9 years and use it twice a day. Recently, in the process of placing my wife's foot on the footrest, the plastic cover broke. It is simple to replace, but the model we own is no longer available, including that part. If anyone has this part for sale, I would be interested. Thank you

I am in RI and have repaired many acorn lifts they are very simple to use and repair, one of the main problems that people are not aware of is the batterys in the armrest near the controlls go dead like every other remote controll, if you have a problem go to the just answer website and ask for the verticle solutions expert

Lies lies and more lies. They scam and pressure sell seniors. I have seen it done to my neighbor. She got an acorn lift that worked for a week. Now she is waiting for service (13 days). I got them on the phone and it seems like the are too busy installing new units. We filed a claim with BBB and it seems like it somehow not there.

I am not sure where to begin. I am an Acorn dealer and would not sell any other stairlift product. The lifetime warranty is on the motor and gearbox only and is covered by Acorn, not the dealer. These must be replace by a qualified person. HOWEVER, you can box up the carriage and send it back for the replacement. I hope that people will find a dealer in their area and buy that way. We also give one year free service on all sales. I have never seen an Acorn advertised for $1595. There is no possible way they could sell them for that price. Just not true. Parts are only available to dealers or through tech support. How would you know what to order? There are dealers all over that can fix your stairlift. In New York there are several dealers. Look on the internet!

I guess people are not happy unless they have something to complain about. Most of this is just bogus junk. If you are in Texas, check out Allstar Stairlifts of Texas. We are honest, reliable and our customers are very happy with their lifts. Linda

What a joke they are. Yes, we bought direct from Acorn, so what.
They still should respond to any service question, or have at least a parts list that one could order a replacement part and put the DAMN thing in yourself. Because there is no qualified technicians any where
near you, may all be back in the UK!
Once I thought Acorn was the "Caddilac" of stairlifts, HA what a joke that was.
R. Harrison

I have an outside Acorn stairlift which is the only way my sister can get to the outside world. When the stairlift works it works great. But when you need assistance it's tough to get someone to answer calls. I bought directly from Acorn but we live in NY and of all times for it to break down it has been winter temperatures. When I do reach them by phone they are very helpful but solving a problem is another story. It appears they do not have enough tech staff or repairmen to meet the needs.

I purchased an acorn stair lift that is less than two years old and completely useless. The company wanted to sell me a five year warranty for $1100 and still charge $267 plus parts for someone to come fix it. I really regret buying this shoddy product. I should have shopped around. I found Spinlift.com that charges half the price and a 3 yr. warranty comes with it. A service call is 179.00and no sales tax. No sales tax on the lift either. I don't know how responsive they are to problems, but can't be any worse than acorn. Do not buy from acorn. I got mine in Sep 2014 and it is inoperative.

We had our chair lift less than two years when the batteries died. We called and the repairperson replaced the batteries.
As we had been told by the salesman that batteries would last from three to five years, we asked if we would have to
pay for the batteries or if there was a rebate as our batteries were less than two years old. We were told no. Not only
did we have to pay the full price for the replacement batteries, but we had to pay $250 for them to be installed. I
believe it would be fair to pay only for the time until the batteries died, including the battery cost and the installation
cost.
$250 is a steep price to pay for repairs. We also paid another $250 because of a repair due to the track not functioning.
So - $500 for repairs in less than two years. This is not fair customer service. I am quite disappointed.

It amazes me that some people seem to be blaming the consumer. Saying things like "if you would have checked on it first..." As if they somehow deserve shoddy products, or nonexsistant service because they decided to trust a company outright. Thats like saying, "well, if you had done a background check on that man, and asked the people around him what they thought before that date, you wouldnt be dead now...oh well, too bad for you, you should have done your research.". How rediculous! The company has the obligation to treat the customer right, and its sad that we now have to research everything in order to get proper customer service. But i am glad that i decided to check this out...i will surely be looking somewhere else for a similar product.

Ummm may I ask a question? Why would you buy something from a dealer when you can buy directly from the manufacturer? I would not trust a dealer with an investment like that, my mom has an acorn and its working PERFECT for the last few years. I called once for a new remote that was needed because mom broke it and it came in the mail 2 days later for a miniscule charge. Oh and by the way when I called them they were nothing but nice to me too.

after paying for a gold cover you do not answer the phone, nor am i able to leave a message, if nothing is done about this i will be forced to take the matter further. it still isnt working correct, and it will mot get any better without some attention. IT ONLY WORKS WHEN IT WANTS TO.

i have tried to contact you on the number you gave me but all i got was please call back later or try again lines are busy.i have payed a lot of money for this service, and i must say i am very disapointed it is still not working, so what do i do?

Have now had Acorn stairlift for 15 months and wish I had never heard of them. Have now had engineers out at least 15 times to repair/replace numerous faulty parts. The matter is now in the hands of my Solicitor as I have had my fill of this Company. Must be one of the worst in the industry.

Odd message I got about this post on Sept 6th. Some Acorn dealer in Texas wanted to disagree and call me a liar that I was never an Acorn Dealer...hmmm. I have all the invoices and problems and irate customers that can confirm my troubles during this time frame that I posted my comments.

Interesting that the commenter still would not recommend to anyone to call Acorn Direct sale office to buy one, but to call her in Texas, because she is the only one in the whole State who sells Acorn? Really? Let's call Acorn direct and see what they say when asked for someone to install in Texas?

Here is the answer: If I want to buy a DIY stair lift I can get it shipped to me anywhere. Then install it anywhere. They now have operations in Houston & Dallas.

So it depends which sales department you talk to. DIY sell the US anywhere, except where the State Atty, General has told them they can not offer that without a State licensed mechanic.

Acorn stores seems to be the new plan to sell in larger markets. If the lady who posted is a Direct store she may have some points. If she is an independent dealer, then she is in for some surprises from our friends at acorn.

If I mis-understand any of the information provided by the Acorn Sales Associate or in any way have mis-stated the facts or their sales plans or anything else, I am most happy to retract my comments.

I just offered my experience with Acorn Stair lifts back in [protected]. It kinda stays online for ever. If another Acorn Sales person has any unbiased statements, please add them to this post. That is why it is here.

Customers will sift through the Sales speak and the real customer problems.

I feel sorry for all the people who have had problems with Acorn, but seriously you should have done your research before making a purchase of thousands of dollars. It is obvious that Acorn is a marketing and sales company that has little interest in their products after purchase. My suggestion would be to find a local company in your area that carries the product you want and then research them. See if they service their products, check their bbb record, ask to speak with past customers of theirs, do your research. Don't complain when you get shammed by a company such as Acorn. If you are smart before you buy then you probably would not have had the problems you are dealing with now. And as far as Acorn goes, their stairlift is not high quality anyways. If you want a well built stairlift, you should look at Bruno or Thyssen Krupp.

I purchased an Acorn stairlift for my disabled wife in December 09. Since installation I have had an engineer out on at least 8 occasions to fix various faults - fantastic! - after only 7 months use. Acorn personnel show total apathy towards my complaints. Their only concern appears to be trying to force me into an extended warranty costing almost £1500. On one occasion they tried to charge me £20 (£10 post & Packing, believe it or not!) to replace a broken key, a key so flimsy that you get stronger ones on sardine tins. Will the chair last out until the end of the warranty period? I'm not holding my breath.
This is the worst Company I have dealt with in 40+ years for ANY commodity.
Be well warned - if you require a stairlift PUT ACORN AT THE BOOTOM OF YOUR LIST. THEY ARE A TOTAL DISGRACE TO THE INDUSTRY.