Acorn Stairlifts

Worst decision ever, installing an Acorn Stairlift! Unless you pay for the YEARLY $750 maintenance plan, you will pay $250 up front for them just to come over, and then I think $250 hourly after that. We are on our third set of batteries in three years - They should last at least that long to begin with! We just had new ones installed in December, and here we are five months later with dead batteries again and my 93 year old deaf/blind mother stuck upstairs!

I purchased the Acorn Stairlift approximately two years ago. We asked the installer that we wanted it installed on the other side of the stairs, but installer insisted that it would not work on that side of the stairs which it was a straight stairs with no turns, this did not make sense to me but had to accept his position. About a month ago, the seat cracked and I called Acorn and wanted to order a replacement seat due to this one was cracked on the edge. Acorn advised that they could not sell me a seat directly due to a liability problem they would have if it was not replaced by an Acorn installer. I asked what liability problem they have had. I did not get an answer, but Acorn would not sell me a replacement seat that has five screws holding it to the frame. I can't see paying Acorn $150.00 for a service call and the cost of the seat, that would take approximately 5 minutes to change. Very sad Company.

After 4 months, the stairlift installed in my friend's home is still not approved by the inspector. Appointments are constantly changed and delayed. The price was substantially higher than what was advertised. Because there were two turns in the staircase, I thought the price was probably ok. I could have lived with the overcharge on the price if the installation had been accomplished and my friend could use it. The sales person came out in mid-December. I got a call at the beginning of January to set up the installation, but installation wasn't scheduled until February. I was told that we had to wait for the inspector, but the first inspection appointment was scheduled out almost 5 weeks. Then it was cancelled 5 minutes before the inspector was supposed to be there. Acorn blamed the state inspector, but when the inspection was rescheduled 3 weeks later, the inspector actually had no record of a prior service call.

I bought a lift for my mom. First the price is unreal, way too high. Talked me into buying a extended warranty. Was told it would only take 2-3 hours to install. They sent an guy from sales to install. It took him 7 hours to install. Less then two months after it was installed it stopped working. I called Acorn, was told I had to pay $500 out of pocket up front before the would sent out someone to look at the chair. He would look at the lift and order parts. Then I would have to pay another $500 for him to come back out and fix the chair lift. That the warranty just paid for parts. The $500 service fee plus the fee to work on the chair lift was not covered. And had to be paid up front.

Last January I referred a friend of mine to buy Acorn stairlift, after she bought it, I called for my referral check of $200 and was told it would take 4 to 7 weeks. It has been over 2 months, so I called again and they are giving me the runaround telling me they tried to contact the person I recommended, but are unable to reach her to confirm my referral. I doubt they ever intended to pay me.

My husband was having ankle surgery and had a heart attack a couple years ago so we decided to have a stairlift installed so he would eventually be able to get to his office downstairs. A lady from Acorn Stair Lifts came and measured and led us to believe the track would be not flush but close to the wall so others could walk up and down the stairs without concern. We had to put five hundred dollars down for this and did while trusting this woman's evaluation for us. A guy came to install it and informed us it would have to come further out practically to the middle of the stair. No way!!! So we did not let him install it and told him we wanted our five hundred dollars back.

These guys are sweetest salespeople before they sell you the chairlift which is generally priced minimum twice (They claim they are the best and therefore sell the most). Don't get taken for that sales jargon. Once you bought it forget about everything. Be prepared to open your wallet for everything. Carefully evaluate the contract before you purchase and if you do end up paying anything more than $3K even for 2 90 degree bends in your chair rail make sure you ask them to provide PM contract for minimum 5 years preferably 10 years (for both parts and labor) otherwise be prepared to fork out as much as 10%+ purchase price for annual maintenance contract.

My mother originally scheduled an appointment with Acorn Stairlifts to install a stairlift system for my ailing father. The appointment was scheduled for 4:30PM so she had time to get home from work to meet with the consultant as my dad had been very unwell and not in a state to make financial decisions and she made it clear when scheduling the appointment that both of them would be there. The day of the appointment, she ran about 15 minutes behind because of a delay picking up a prescription for my dad from the pharmacy, and in the 15 minutes it took her to get home by 4:45PM the consultant Mike ** had already completed a contract with my dad and processed their credit card.

These people do a bait and switch. We told them we only needed the stairlift for a few months and were told they would be happy to buy it back. When the person needing the stairlift died BEFORE it was ever used they refused to take it back. They lied. We have a witness that was present when the salesman was in the house and said they would buy it back. BEWARE. These are dishonest people.

Bought an Acorn Stairlift Sept 2017. Cost $9000. Relative passed away in Oct 2017. Used 4 times. Tried to get a buyback, they don't do it. They know of someone that buys them very cheap to take it off hands. Told me to call other companies. But they won't give rights for other companies to fix it.

My elderly mother has dementia and is becoming housebound. She had a bit of a fall on the stairs and scared my stepfather into wanting a stairlift NOW. He called the first ad he saw, Acorn. BIG MISTAKE. My daughter is a doctor of physical therapy and recommended another company for us after we saw the horrible reviews. When Acorn came for the estimate, they were told we had another estimate scheduled and no decision would be made that day. My mother's caregiver was there and heard the rep agree to that.

We bought an Acorn Stairlift on Craigslist for $1,000, and hired Acorn to pick it up from the seller and deliver to us, the buyer, and install it. The installation charge of $400 included transportation within 30 miles. Our distance was 40 miles so they charged us an additional $250, and would charge us for any additional required parts. In fact what they did was say we needed a rail with a "hinge" to clear the bottom step.

Acorn sells some parts directly, other parts are available only from a service technician. My stairlift is only a few month out of their one year warranty. I am not the user of this lift, so I did not notice the broken plastic arm cover until after the warranty had expired. The cover is held on by two Philips sheet metal screws inserted from the bottom. It appears that when this lift was assembled, one of the screws was screwed in too tight. Over time the screw eventually broke off the bottom of the cover and left a hole, and the cover lifted up from the arm.

The Model 5 boards (Says Bison 80) eat batteries every year. Acorn - with some persuasion sent a technician to supply missing pieces of rail I needed to install. All in, $3500 installed, which was good. 3 years in, the board went out, so I upgraded to the T565 board with Lithium Batteries for $1000 ($250 labor fee flat rate and $750 for the kit.). With the lithium batteries, it runs faster. No major trouble other than the batteries every year for the V5 board (NiCad), which are pretty expensive at $250 for parts. The lithium batteries should last longer, are more powerful and should be good. Battery cost is the same for the lithiums, and it goes MUCH faster with the upgrade kit. Techs are always nice, the home office staff are OK. It's kind of expensive, but with eBay pricing often under $2,000 shipped, it's a lot better than paying $12,000. Sure my out of pocket is now at $4500 for this, but it's worked ok. The seat is VERY uncomfortable, only big gripe.

Two years ago Acorn changed the batteries on my parents' Stairlift £250. Yesterday the stairlift didn't work so they phoned Acorn, £230 call out. They changed the batteries AGAIN and replaced the brushes in the motor. A further £250. Nearly £500. How can they justify that. Buying the batteries and a brand new motor wouldn't cost that. Total time on site 35 minutes. They spent longer sitting outside running the clock up to justify their charges. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE never buy a stairlift from these robbing con merchants and warn EVERYONE that you know.

I just got an Acorn stairlift this month and so far am very happy with both it and their customer service and sales people. The salesperson was very professional, very nice and helpful. He offered discounts for military service right away as well as telling us we could avoid paying tax by getting note from the doctor. No pressure to buy whatsoever. Left written material to look at. When we did decide to buy, the customer service people were great as well. We were able to get it delivered and installed the very next day. The installer came, was also very professional and polite, answered all questions, let us demo it, and told us all about warranties, etc. The stairlift runs smoothly and is comfortable and already my back is hurting less due to not having to walk up and down stairs. I had fallen twice and broken my tailbone and my husband feared we would have to move, but now I can stay in my home. Thanks Acorn. You guys are great.

My parents put in the Acorn Stairlifts about 4 years ago. It is the biggest piece of junk out there. They are built to break. Poor construction and materials. The wire in the arms are 16 to 18 gauge wire and they put no slack in the wire. So as you move the handles back and forth, the wire soon breaks. My brother and I have rewired the arms on both chairs numerous times. And don't ask the company to come out. These chairs are built so you have to buy the service contract to keep them running. Total junk and a unreliable company to boot. They should be closed down for putting such junk on the market. They paid $7500 for 2 chairs because of the stairway. This only the beginning of my conquest to drive them out of business.

Parents were sold a unit that was to cost $3,000 and was to go wrap around the staircase. When person came to install, they told parents that a different model was ordered and that it would cost another $5,000 to install what they had initially ordered. My parents were very upset and fortunately did not agree to this. When asked about getting deposit back, they were told that it would take a few weeks and to call and check if they didn't get it. Acorn should deliver that deposit to them, just as my parents gave them the deposit the day of the sale. Neither the sales person or Manager took accountability, or offered to do something different for my parents. Be aware.

Spent $10,000 on curved installation of Acorn lift. Warranty after 1st year = $795!!! REALLY? EVERY YEAR?? It's always been temperamental from the start - might get uninterrupted ride up, might stop 2-3 times. We had a problem 6 days after warranty expired and you're STUCK. Find ANOTHER COMPANY!

When meeting with the salesman in regard to purchasing a new stairlift, he never mentioned that the stairlift MUST be serviced once a year. I have owned the unit for one year, and I have been receiving harassing calls to either sell an extended plan or to set up a maintenance appointment at the cost of $250+. According to the caller, I should have been told that I needed a yearly service call by the person who sold it to me. I told him that I was not informed. If I had been told, I would have performed more research. The caller then stated that the yearly service call was mentioned in the manual. The funny thing is, I did not get the manual until after I bought the unit. On another point, the unit is not functioning properly. Loud chunking sound occurs on the decent (not going up). The problems started right after the warranty ran out. Planned obsolescence... look in the dictionary under Acorn Stair Lift.

This letter is to make other future customers aware of the problems we have experienced owning an Acorn Stairlift. We purchased an Acorn Stairlift 1 1/2 years ago. My wife and I were involved in a rollover accident in 2013 and she has extensive injuries to the spine as a result of this accident. Stairs are not an option for her as her spine cannot withstand the motion of climbing.

This Acorn Stairlifts does not service their customer. Honestly I bought Acorn Stairlift in 2014. I paid 16000 thousand dollars for one and 2400 for the other. Both of them are broken down. I tried to get service for them. I paid 900 for a new gear box and 300 for batteries. Their service charge is outrageous. Yesterday August 1 I paid three hundred dollars out for new batteries. It still does not work. My wife is crawling up the stairs now. Acorn now want 300.00 to program it because I changed the batteries. This Acorn Company should be shut down. They are very crooked. The stairlift is a terrible quality and you feel like you are going to fall flat on your face. The track cracks like twisting steel, leaks grease all over your carpets, always quits halfway up the stairs. My wife was stuck 5 feet in the air. I had to call 911 to get her off of this lift.

In January of 2017 I contacted Acorn Stairlifts to inquire about one for my 87 & 83 year old parents. I hadn't been in touch with them for 8 years due to circumstances but I reached out to help them because they needed it. I left a message with these guys and had a great talk with the first person I talked with. After explaining the situation that it wasn't for me but for my parents she agreed to not contact me and stuck with her promise. The rest of them didn't. I even got emails from others demanding that I contact them only. Wth? Then the phone calls came and never ended. It's June now.

After many calls and emails the referral cheque has NOT been sent to my brother-in-law, Acorn says it is out of their hands. I'm sure it hasn't been sent. It has been at least a month or more. Wondering about their warranty that I paid extra $ for. Has anyone else had this problem?

I purchase my first chair in 2005, and was happy with the purchase. During the years chair was old, and I wanted to upgrade the chair!!! BIG MISTAKE!!! The only chair they have is nothing to be happy about. The new and only chair was design by a monkey, chair is loose, you feel as if you are going to fall down forward on your face. Track makes more noise than a train at 90 miles an hour, it cracks as if the track is broken. Chair is not orthopedic design for a handicap person with joint problems, the foot rest is so small your feet don't fit in them or you have to bend your legs inward and still you don't have space for your feet. From the moment the chair was install I was not happy. And I want my money back. Your chair is as bad as it can be, a piece of trash. My mistake was not to keep my old one back, if you are looking for a lift, check first BRUNO OR AMERICAN OR GO SOMEPLACE ELSE FOR A BETTER PRODUCT. ACORN IS NOT!!!

I had the Acorn Stairlift installed December 2015, it worked well for the first month and then I started having problems. It quit working while my mom was in it halfway up the stairs, I then called customer service and they instructed me to turn it on/off but that didn't work and they said no one could come out for a few days. My mother had a stroke and it was very difficult to get her out, after that it ran well for a couple months then quit working again in February 2016. I called customer service and it took them a few days to come out. They told me if it was my fault it wasn't working I would be responsible for the 250.00 service charge. When they came out they noticed the harness was loose from the pin connector installer error.

I own an Acorn Stairlift. I paid right around $3000.00 for it. It has not served me well. The reason for the review is to alert others who are considering buying from this company. I purchased it in 2013. It has never been reliable. I've had to make many phone calls due to the various problems. I could not agree to service calls as their rate is way out of my affordable range. The price of their service call was never mentioned when I was purchasing. Their maintenance contract is exorbitant. I'm widowed with just my fixed income. I'm 77. I had Lung Cancer surgery in 2014 along with thirty radiation treatments. I have COPD. I use oxygen at night. I have been receiving injections in my back for degenerative disc disease.

My wife and I bought two Acorn Stairlifts for our new Townhouse on 8/24/2016. Both were installed on 8/26/2016. Called service 9/22/2016, reset computer 4 times. Called 10/10/2016. Service repair 10/26/2016 rail loose and remote failure. Called again. Service repair 12/14/2016 erratic, rail problem, stops. Service Tech did nothing, tried to ** us, and billed $250.00 for service call. Numerous calls starting 12/01/206 to 12/19/206, charges dropped. Service call 12/20/2016, fixed rail cleaned, adjusted, fixed remotes. Called again 02/21/2017, tech heard problem over phone.

I am a carer for a gentleman who is on 24hr oxygen and dependent on his chair lift. I arrived this morning 28/02/2017 with the intention of taking him to see his Oncologist only to find that despite his wife contacting Acorn on Sunday evening when his stairlift broke down, there has been absolutely no support from the engineering side of the company, just a load of waffle.

I am disgusted by the customer service of this company. For months I and my family have been trying to get some compensation for the problems we had experienced regarding our mother's stair lift and the wrong advice given continually by their customer help desk. My daughter initially recommended them as she works for Lloyds Pharmacy who sell their mobility products. We will not be recommending them to anyone in future.