UPDATED: WXYZ-TV Axes Bill Spencer, The "Call For Action" Consumer Reporter

WXYZ-TV has refused to renew the contract of Bill Spencer, the award-winning consumer reporter, who ran the station’s “Call for Action” team for 15 years.

Channel 7 employees say Spencer’s last day was Wednesday. His bio on the station web site has been removed.

Spencer could not be reached.

Ed Fernandez, WXYZ's vice-president and general manager, confirmed Spencer is not longer with station, but declined to say more about the departure.

“Call for Action,” which receives some 7,000 requests for help a year, will continue, Fernandez said. 

"It's a very valuable asset for us as an organization," he said. 

In March, Spencer received a first-place award in the Associated Press Broadcasters Association competition for best individual reporting, one of numerous honors he has accumulated in his career.

In recent weeks, Spencer helped a sobbing Dearborn widow retain her tiny home; came to the aid of a mother in Ypsilanti – who is unable to work because of a brain jury – restore electricity in her home and raised $13,000 for the Westside Cubs youth football team in Detroit to travel to their national championship.