Let’s start with the biggest lesson Mr. Duct Cleaner can give you regarding home service work: Be careful who you let in your home!
Mr. Duct Cleaner hears complaints about duct cleaning scammers (link to part one of blog). Those fly-by-night companies that beg for work for the “new guy“in town or offer you super low duct cleaning prices.
Why would these scammers be posting in a neighborhood group trying to get you to agree to an appointment time? What is their benefit? How are they having someone show up? How do they rip you off once there?
The scam, rip-off, play, hustle:
Take your deposit and ghost you– these folks never even make it to your home. They give you a great “over the phone” price and ask for 50% or more to hold your appointment. Then they pull a no show!
Pretend to clean- a few people show up in small, unmarked vehicles with rags, shop vacs, maybe some hangers…etc. They ,may wipe down the outside of the vents, may even take a few vents off and shove the old shop vac hose inside and quickly move on to the next week. What would normally take a professional NADCA certified cleaner 4 hours to complete, they complete in less than an hour.
If they are an advanced scammer, they may show you before and after pictures of “your” vents. Be careful, they use the same set for many different homes.
Bait and switch- a crew shows up, begins work and then informs you that the price was “wrong”. Perhaps it was for one room, perhaps a “problem” has presented that requires a higher price. They may even show you a picture of the problem. (make sure that this really is your system) The price will most likely triple or quadruple and if you tell them to stop they may demand that you pay the full new price. They will usually set a sense or “urgency”…. You need to have this done immediately so a much higher price is charged.
Rip off the good duct cleaning company– this is a bit more behind the scenes and involves misrepresentation. The scammer calls the real company and “sells” them leads for real jobs. The company pays for the lead list by group and then when they get to your doorstep, they realize that the lead generation company has quoted you a different price than they typically charge. The real company is stuck either fulfilling at the lower price or leaving a very unhappy customer (you) and walking away from work.
What makes Mr. Duct Cleaner professional? We have been in business for over 14 years and have. approximately 18,000 duct and HVAC system cleanings and counting. All locations are NADCA certified and typically locally owned. We typically use workers trained by us, and on our payroll,. Our technicians use shoe covers and plastic to protect your home from the little bit of dust that might fall as we take down and clean your vents. Our equipment is specifically designed for duct cleaning and our technicians concentrate only on HVAC system and duct cleaning and other specific products and services designed to improve indoor air quality. (Aerus Air Scrubber) (Clean Seal Duct Repair)
Mr. Duct Cleaner has a stellar reputation built upon showing up on time, doing what we say we are going to do and charging what we agreed upon with our customers. We take pictures of our work, before and after so you can rest assured your ducts and HVAC system have been properly cleaned. NO SCAMMING.
Contact us to schedule your free estimate.
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