Ann Wood uses a cane to get around her house, a 780 square foot mobile home so cramped with furniture there is very little open floor space.
The 79-year-old leaves the audio turned off on her TV since she is extremely hard of hearing. She must rely on closed captioning to understand the programs that occupy much of her day.
[WEB EXTRA: Florida Department of Elder Affairs Abuse Prevention information ]
Although family members had cautioned Wood against inviting in strangers, the elderly woman said the door-to-door salesman who showed up at her home in July seemed nice.
"He came to the door and wanted to know if he could clean my rug," said Wood, who agreed to write a $13 check for the service.
A short time later, Wood became the owner of a Rainbow Cleaning System, a high-end vacuum cleaner that "offers indefinite motor life", according to the product's website.
The retail price of the vacuum: $3099.
"I didn't know it cost that much," said Wood. "I can't afford it."
Dynamic Air Distributors, the Orlando company that sold the vacuum to Wood, has been the subject of multiple consumer complaints filed with Florida's Attorney General, News 6 has learned.
Most of those complaints accuse the company's salesmen of pressuring elderly customers into purchasing vacuums they cannot afford, including at least one man in his late 80's who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
"He just shoved the papers and said 'sign here'," Wood told News 6. "I didn't realize what it was, I guess."
The sales contract Wood signed shows the Rainbow vacuum had been financed for 2 years at a 21.96% annual percentage rate.
Before signing that contract, Wood claims another salesman walked into a spare bedroom and hauled away her old vacuum: an expensive, high-end model manufactured by Kirby which Wood said she had purchased from a door-to-door salesman a few years prior.
Although Wood's contract indicates the salesmen gave her a $600 credit for a trade-in, she insists she never gave them permission to take her old vacuum.
"I just felt like I was kind of dumb or something," said Wood, who claims she was intimidated and confused by the salesmen walking through her house. "Why didn't I yell at him and say, 'Hey, you can't do that'? But the fact that he took my old vacuum and walked out the door, I thought if I didn't buy this one, I wouldn't have a vacuum."
"I felt they were taking advantage of my grandmother," said Jeremy Wood, who believes it should have been obvious to the salesmen that the elderly woman is hard of hearing and easily confused.
"You have to repeat everything four or five times," he said.
Ann Wood admits she did not immediately contact Dynamic Air Distributors within the 3 day "cooling off" period allowed under Florida law to return an unwanted purchase, a right explicitly mentioned in the vacuum sales contract.
Instead, Wood said she wrote the company a letter asking them to take back the unused vacuum. The company refused, she said.
Wood’s daughter-in-law said she later tried contacting Dynamic Air Distributors in hopes of returning the vacuum but claims company representatives either would not return her calls or refused to speak with anyone but Wood.
Jaime Griffith, the registered agent of Dynamic Air Distributors, did not return numerous messages left by News 6 on her cell phone and with representatives who answered the phone at the company's office. Griffith also did not respond to an email sent to her by News 6.
Griffith, 33, has been an officer of Dynamic Air Distributors since 2013, according to state records.
Prior to that, she was president of Southeast Association Inc, a now-defunct company that sold Kirby vacuums using at least some of the same salespeople, records show. That company was originally operated by her father, Steve Griffith, according to state records.
In 1993, Steven Griffith was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison after a jury convicted him of multiple counts of wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering related to another business venture, federal court records show.
In 2009, Steven and Jaime Griffith were arrested in Kissimmee following allegations that they were involved in a scheme to alter identification numbers from vehicles stolen by others from Walt Disney World and other Central Florida locations, authorities said. Two employees of the vacuum sales business were also taken into custody.
Steven Griffith later entered into a plea agreement on fraud and petit theft charges resulting in jail time and probation, court records indicate.
It is unclear what happened in the criminal case against Jaime Griffith since it appears her court records may have been expunged from the Osceola County Court Clerk's office. A representative with the Office of Statewide Prosecution said there were no records on her case that could be released under Florida's public records law. Jaime Griffith's former attorney, Jose Baez, said he was unable to comment on the matter.
Although Steven Griffith is not listed as a representative of Dynamic Air Distributors, records indicate he may still be working with his daughter in the vacuum sales business.
In February 2015, a letter that appears to have been signed by Steven Griffith was sent to Sonya McLeod, demanding payment for the Rainbow Cleaning System that was sold to her.
The following month, the company filed a lawsuit against the 81-year-old woman in Orange County Circuit Court for breach of contract.
During mediation proceedings with Jaime Griffith, McLeod agreed to settle the lawsuit by paying Dynamic Air Distributors $700 and returning her unused vacuum, records show.
“Representatives of Dynamic Air have a pattern and practice of using unfair and abusive sales tactics to coerce the sale of vacuums, mostly targeting the elderly...by not leaving until a contract is signed,” McLeod wrote in a complaint to Florida’s Attorney General.
McLeod’s complaint is one of three filed with the state since November 2013 against Dynamic Air Distributors. The attorney general’s office received two additional complaints against Southeast Association Inc. in 2009.
“The salesman went into my kitchen, took candy from my candy dish... then went into my bedroom to flop down on our Tempur-pedic bed,” a 73-year-old woman from Haines City wrote in another complaint. “Those are invasions of my privacy.”
In a third complaint, a woman accused a salesman of using “deceptive and predatory practices” against her 87-year-old parents, including her father who has Alzheimer’s and dementia.
“Due to my parents’ mental condition, it is very difficult for them to complete even simple memory and contractual tasks,” Joy Lowenberg wrote. After unsuccessfully attempting to return the vacuum on her parents’ behalf, Lowenberg claims salesmen returned to the elderly couple’s home and tried to sell them a carpet shampooer.
"Many of our seniors are isolated and more vulnerable to people who use a sales tactic like that," said Allison Bryant, the elder abuse prevention coordinator for Florida’s Department of Elder Affairs. “Many seniors may not report it. They’re embarrassed and won’t want anyone close to know.”
Although it is a felony in Florida to knowingly exploit an elderly or disabled person, Bryant said the law generally applies to family and other trusted caregivers rather than salespeople.
“As adults we all have the right to make a bad decision. The onus is on us,” said Bryant, who urges seniors not to feel pressured into making purchases. “If it does cross the line of how the sale was made, law enforcement can get involved.”
Although Ann Wood claims a representative from Dynamic Air Distributors threatened to sue her if she refused to pay her monthly bill, Wood said she had no intention of paying for the new Rainbow.
“All I want them to do is take that vacuum back and get it out of here. I'm fed up with it,” Wood told News 6.
Wood also wanted the company to return her old vacuum, which they reportedly took as a trade-in.
According to Wood’s sales contract, the Rainbow vacuum was sold to her by Chris DeGennaro, an independent contractor who indicated on the document that his title is “manager”.
When a News 6 reporter attempted to visit the main office of Dynamic Air Distributors in Orlando, DeGennaro and three other men appeared to be loading vacuums into an SUV. The men then drove off.
News 6 followed the SUV for more than an hour to a neighborhood in unincorporated Polk County. Located near Auburndale, Jones Road is lined with mostly older mobile homes ranging in value from $39,000 to as little as $7125, county records show. That’s where DeGennaro and the other men appeared to be going door-to-door selling high-end Rainbow vacuums.
DeGennaro does not have a valid home solicitation permit in Polk and Osceola counties as required by state law, according to court officials. First time violators can be charged with a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail. Repeat violators face up to five years in prison.
News 6 questioned DeGennaro about the vacuum he sold Ann Wood, who lives in Osceola County.
“Do you know Ann?” asked reporter Mike DeForest.
“I’m not sure,” replied DeGennaro as he climbed into the SUV, which promptly left the neighborhood.
Less than two hours later, Wood’s family notified News 6 that a representative of Dynamic Air Distributors had left a note at the elderly woman’s home.
“Sorry we missed you,” the unsigned note read. “We came by to drop off your Kirby and pick up our Rainbow.”
However, the Kirby vacuum the representatives left at Wood’s house was not the same one salesmen had taken from her two months earlier, she said. Although it looked similar, the used vacuum had rust in the hinges with debris caked inside.
“That’s not acceptable,” said Wood’s grandson, who suspects the company may have sold or destroyed his grandmother’s original Kirby vacuum.
The following day, News 6 left a message for Jaime Griffith at the company’s office.
A week later, another salesman stopped by Wood’s home to pick up the new Rainbow vacuum. He also exchanged the dirty Kirby vacuum for a much cleaner used model.
“They wouldn’t have even returned the phone call if not for (News 6),” said Jeremy Wood, who hopes his grandmother will never answer the door to a salesman again.
“They shouldn’t be out preying on the elderly,” he said.