Victim Location 80228
Type of a scam Home Improvement
I purchased a voucher from L*** S*** for a Whole-Home Air Duct Cleaning Package. The promotional value was $240.01 and the voucher was $34.99. It was advertised to clean up to 8 ducts, intake/return and dryer vent cleaning. I scheduled an appointment. Nothing was said to me about the need, and extra costs, to "deep clean & sanitize" the return and furnace area including scrubbing the vents if I had not had my vents cleaned at least 1-2 years. I even called back this morning to ask more about the procedure, prior to the technicians coming. I have rented/lived in MANY places throughout my adult life and never ONCE heard people talk about the need to have your vents cleaned, let alone every 1-2 years.
I thought I would just be doing something extra to have the vents vacuumed out to control dust and debris. When the technicians arrived I knew they were going to do an "inspection" and to check to see how many vents I had and where they were located. They did that in less than 2 minutes then they unscrewed the intake/return cover off. They asked when the last time I had the vents cleaned and I told them that I am renting this condo and I know it has not been done in at least 10 years. When they saw that the area around the furnace, intake, etc was dirty they quickly went into their scam telling me that there’s no point in using the vacuum cleaning to clean the vents (the service purchased) because now the "entire system needed to be scrubbed and sanitised". When I questioned that they quickly said ,"You don’t want to get sick do you?"and "Will your landlord pay the bill if I get sick?" Then they went on to say "Because the vents have not been maintained you are risking getting very sick and that my health was in danger, as well as this is a fire hazard!" The technicians then went more into their scam saying that I needed to call my landlord because the cleaning needed to be done right away. The cleaning would cost another $395, then they would be able to do the vent cleaning that I originally purchased. I knew I could not get in touch with my landlord until the evening and I also know that something that expensive would require more estimates. The technicians continued to try to get me to pay and then get a refund from my landlord! Thankfully I am not a complete [censored] and escorted them to the front door.
I called the main number right away and spoke with the woman who scheduled my appointment. I told her what happened and then questioned why nothing was put in fine print on the voucher or explained to me when I scheduled the appointment. She quickly became defensive and said "The cost depends on the technician’s findings from their inspection and how often your vents are cleaned." I asked to speak with a manager and she went on to say that she is only the scheduler and I could send a complaint via email. The email address wasn’t even the company name. when I questioned that I was told "It is just an email address for complaints and it is different because they couldn’t get an email with the company name." Complete waste of my time and went straight to the ScamPulse.com website.