I called United Air Care after receiving a coupon in a val-pac mailer offering Home Air Duct Cleaning for $39.95. I asked the person on the phone if there are any extra charges not mentioned in the ad & she stated that it's an extra $10 for each additional vent beyond 10 (I have 18) & $15 for each additional return beyond 1 (I have 3). So after figuring on a charge of $150, I booked the appointment.
When the 3 techs arrived late, they hauled in their giant vacuum hose, taking no care to protect my floors (New Brazilian Cherry hardwood) - red flag #1. The lead tech, after a quick look at my furnace told me he would write down a work order for what he can do to thoroughly clean my system. I said, "Sure, let me know the charge before you start anything." He mumbled something about getting me to agree to an annual contract. Ten minutes passed and he called me into my laundry room (where my furnace is located) & quoted me all of these insanely high prices for iocide treatment, mold remediation, etc., to which I responded, "Wait a minute, I want the basic cleaning mentioned in the coupon, plus the extra 8 vents & 2 returns. That's a total of $150". My house is new and small, it doesn't need all of that unnecessary stuff. He replied that I have 3 mains which is an additional $197 $187. I said, Okay, then, what's the total for all the vents, returns, & 3 mains. He said $385. I reluctantly agreed to allow him to do the aforementioned work for that charge. After less than 1 hour, he was done and he hadn't removed a single supply vent on my first floor. I watched the entire process, which merely involved sucking & blowing out dust with their high-powered vacuum from 2 of my returns. When I asked why he didn't remove any of my supply vents on my first floor, he said he didn't have to in order to clean them from the inside. (Red flag #2) In total, 4 of my vent covers were removed (all upstairs) where 1 guy was (whom I know did not have any equipment w/him). So, in conlusion, 4 vents were merely "blown" out (leaving debris all over my carpet & furniture upstairs, including my 6-month-old's crib), and one return was vacuumed out. He tried to sell me on cleaning the furnace by telling me that there's no point in cleaning the vents when the furnace is dirty. Oh boy, the nerve of this greaseball. I declined on that & when it was time to pay the price went up to $585. I was fuming by then. His response to my dismay was an offer of waiving the tax if I paid by cash. Unbelievable. These guys are probably claiming the cost listed on these phony coupons & pocketing the rest tax-free. I reluctantly issued him a check & told him I was going to call the Better Business Bureau as soon as he left. He said, "Go ahead, I'm just an hourly worker."
I contacted the BBB right away, of which this company is an "accredited member." It turns out that all you need to do to become an accredited member of the BBB is pay an annual fee. It means nothing as far as reliability, professionalism, etc. Anyway, I read on the BBB website that this company has had 19 complaints since August 28. They can easily lie to the BBB after a complaint is submitted & claim that they addressed the complaint, which keeps them in satisfactory standing on the BBB website.
I called the National Air Duct Cleaners Association the following day along with 3 NADCA certified duct cleaning companies to get quotes for the work I paid for (but didn't receive) the day before. The NADCA and the 3 other companies all quoted me within $350 - $450 for the amount of vents that I have and said it would take 3-4 hours to complete. If only I had done my homework before paying those crooks! I was afraid I would never get my money back from this company, so I put a stop-payment on the check I issued. I then contacted the Attorney General's Office.
After a few days of phone tag with the "manager" of United Air Care I reached him & explained the extremely poor service I received. He did not apologize or have any explanation.instead, he threatened to forward my stopped check to a collection agency that will "ruin my credit." I could not believe my ears. I told him to go ahead. I'll be happy to take him to court for what he's doing to people.
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