Victim Location 07052
Total money lost $95
Type of a scam Online Purchase
I bought a Groupon 7/29/19 for dryer vent cleaning. It somehow showed up a 2nd time the next day as another Groupon. I called 1-888-506-5536 to schedule and was told no one could come and they’d contact me at a later date. I called again and finally scheduled for Aug. 7. On August 6 I received a call saying that if the vent is more than 6 feet I would be charged extra at the rate of $12-$18 per foot, depending on the difficulty of access.
On August 7 a man with an eastern european or more Russian accent showed up and gave me his card. He said he had the Groupon information, but that after examining my attic he’d have to charge me $15 per foot extra as the vent was 12′, another $95.40. I paid as I was past the deadline for this required procedure, and asked for a receipt for my HOA. The receipt said, "Air Duct Cleaning 888-858-8458". It misspelled the words "Indentefication" and "technetian".
My HOA needed the address of the vendor so I called 888-506-5536 and spoke to Kael. He said the Groupon was not redeemed, there’s no record of my address in the system, nor anyone servicing my area on August 7. This is troubling in so many ways:
1. I was charged twice
2. an unauthorized person entered my home and accessed my attic
3. the receipt given has no address or certificate number/license number
4. the receipt had a different 888 phone number on it and misspellings in the form itself
5. neither Groupon appears to have been redeemed.
I now have to hire a certified and proven dryer duct cleaner to clean the vent again, costing me $95. Groupon returned both purchases, thank goodness.
Victim Location 32751
Type of a scam Home Improvement
Person called offering a $39.95 air duct and dryer vent cleaning. Then transferred to a heavily accented man. I told him "No, thank you" and hung up. I did not want to give any contact or credit card info on the phone. He called back from an unknown number and started screaming "Expletive Language….." over and over again.