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Action 9 gets results for central Florida consumers

ORLANDO,Fla. — Action 9's Todd Ulrich got answers when a frantic St. Cloud parent called Action 9 saying a local company refused to release her daughter's cap and gown in time for graduation; and he also helped an Oviedo woman who was stuck paying hundreds of dollars in vet bills for a puppy she had just purchased.

Reagan Smith's golden retriever pup is a frisky handful now but days after she bought him at Breeders Pick Puppies in Orange County her vet diagnosed pneumonia.  The prognosis was poor.

“My kids were crying. We were crying you know,” said Smith.

She paid nearly $800 for treatment, but claims when she asked the shop to reimburse the vet bills as Florida's Pet Law allows up to the cost of the dog,.

“They said no there's nothing that they could do about that,” she said.

Smith heard the shop's owner only treated puppies at its chosen animal hospital no money back.

Ulrich spoke with store owner Frank Lopez.

“Will you pay for the cost of treating the pneumonia?” said Ulrich.

“I would have to see the bills,” replied Lopez.

After Smith contacted Action 9, the shop paid $300 toward vet costs and it's reviewing other bills to pay too.

“What we're owed.  That's what we want,” said Smith.

Kayla Marx is a senior honors student at St. Cloud High. Her mom called Action 9 when she feared her daughter would miss this graduation day.

"It's just been a nightmare." Pauline Marx said a company she paid for the cap and gown would not release it because they canceled a high school ring order two years ago.

“I'm scared graduation's going to come and I don’t have my cap and gown,” said Kayla Marx.

Pauline Marx said the family canceled the order, and lost a $60 deposit.

After we contacted the Herff Jones company, the owner said it was all a misunderstanding and released Kayla's graduation gown.

“I think it's the right thing to do,” said Pauline Marx.

The Herff Jones company owner told me the family had not canceled the ring in time but he would never keep someone from accepting their diploma at graduation. He even offered to give Kayla the ring at no charge.