Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  01/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased an air duct cleaning through Groupon by Ventilation Purification for $99 and they provided the service on March 7, 2023. I was charged an additional $589.75 to include an additional supply main trunk line, additional intake main trunk line, cut ins with system resealing, blower motor cleaning and inspection, and sanitizer. They turned on the furnace as soon as they sprayed it and I had a reaction to it and began coughing and couldn’t catch my breath. I immediately ran to turn off the furnace. There was an increase in dust and particles after the cleaning, but I had no idea why. When the furnace started running more regularly this January, I noticed I was feeling sick anytime I was near a vent and was unable to take a deep breath. I called Ventilation Purification on 1/15/24 because I thought I might have been allergic to the spray. After 3 phone calls, I was finally able to get the name- Microban disinfectant spray. On 1/19/24, I had the furnace serviced, which showed that the previous blowdown air cleaner in the air intake was covered in mold and filth and wasn’t in use. The filters inside were filthy and shredded. The furnace repairman felt that the sanitizer could have caused the filters to shred and it was his opinion that the air duct intake was never cleaned by Ventilation Purification because there was about 50 years worth of dirt in the intake. He discovered that the air vent attached to the intake in the basement was opened and the air from the basement was what was being circulated throughout the house. Since then, I have tried to resolve this and every time I have had to explain the details again and finally asked for a refund. They offered to inspect the ducts again for free, but it is affecting my health and I told them I would not trust them to tell the truth or do it efficiently. I’m worried that they could be doing this to other customers and I know the way they applied the sanitizer was in violation of the EPA’s regulations for Microban.

  Business response

  02/07/2024

  First off this job was done almost a year ago. 2nd off she only paid 589.75 total to us. That's a fact. 3rd of all she is talking about a built in electric air cleaner an filter system that she had installed who knows when that we had nothing to do with. Those things need cleaned out from the customer. It wasn't hooked up when we got there to do the job and we don't even install those systems.  From the looks of the picture. She's never cleaned it out. No where in any of those pics was there any pics of the ventilation system that we cleaned. We asked to come back out to inspect her system with her. We have called back a number of times with no response back to this. Also I never got anything in the mail about this. We did not spray sanitizer into that broken electric air cleaner. We spray into the supply vents from the rooms. We don't use any sanitizer that's not promitted to be in ductwork. We didn't even know what she was talking about when she called. Now lookin at the pics she sent in. Those are her permanent filter system that she had put in from what looks to me ages ago and has never been taken care of or cleaned out. We don't have anything to do with customer built in electric air cleaners. I will be more than happy to go back out their personally to remove that contraption and reinspect her system and show her its clean and or clean what she would like. Whatever furnace guy that came out there definitely knew what that was and got her worked up for whatever reason, I don't know. 

   

   

  Customer response

  02/08/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

   
  I apologize because I thought that the Groupon rate was paid separately, but I could be mistaken and would want a refund for the amount paid. The job was almost a year ago, but I had no reason to suspect that they didn’t complete the job until the furnace was inspected in January. I had no idea how the ventilation system worked to know that was the air intake, so I never cleaned it or changed the filters. Unfortunately, that makes this very easy to prove it wasn’t cleaned by Ventilation Purification, despite being charged to clean the main intake trunk lines and blower motor.  The intake itself was full of about 50 years of dirt, so it was never cleaned along with the filters, but that’s why their company was hired to clean it. Although the blowdown air cleaner from 1940-50 was not in use and was NOT built in, it was just left in there and not cleaned. I have no way of taking photos inside the ventilation system to prove anything else. I spoke with Jim 5x to resolve the matter and I asked to speak to the owner directly, but he still has not called me back. Their first offered solution was to send a photo of the Microban label, then after I explained this in an additional 4 phone calls, they offered to inspect the vents. As it is affecting my health, I explained that I needed someone that would objectively assess the vents because what they had done had already caused harm, so I asked for a refund. It is concerning that the owner does not know the NADCA standards that must be followed in order to efficiently clean the system in order to spray the Microban, as listed on the EPA’s SDS. The system must be cleaned and free of all contamination, corroded metal components must be removed, filters that are contaminated must be replaced, etc, before Microban can be sprayed into the air ducts. The Microban then has to dry completely before the system is turned on again and it was turned on immediately after it was sprayed. Even if Ventilation Purification only sprayed the Microban into the vents and not directly onto the air intake, turning the system on immediately then circulated the Microban through the entire system, including the air intake. Because of the heavy contamination in the air intake alone (and possibly other parts of the system), this would dislodge and circulate the contaminated particles throughout the house. It seems as though the owner is not aware of these regulations, otherwise he would have actually known what I was talking about when I called and explained this to Jim and when I wrote it in the complaint. Because the owner is not aware of the regulations for spraying Microban in air ducts, I feel that the owner and staff need to have additional training on this along with giving me a full refund in order to resolve this matter.

   

  I was originally mistaken about the amount of money spent on the Groupon for Ventilation Purification. I was able to find the Groupon receipt, and it was from 12/12/22 for the amount of $51.99 with the original price listed as $259.95 for “Air Duct Cleaning for Whole House with Dryer Vent Cleaning.” As listed on the receipt from the date of service (3/7/23), Ventilation Purification was paid an additional $589.75, making the total amount paid as $641.74.
  When the air ducts were “cleaned”, they sprayed the Microban Disinfectant Spray and turned on the furnace immediately and a considerable amount of dust, debris, etc started to come out of all the vents. The techs told us that this was normal and we could expect to see more dust for a while after they cleaned the air ducts, which is part of the reason that I didn’t call to say there was more dust than before the cleaning. Once the furnace was on more regularly this January, I started to feel sick any time I was near the vents, so I called Ventilation Purification and asked what the disinfectant was because I thought I could be allergic to one of the ingredients. I also thought there could be a problem with the heating elements, which is why I scheduled the furnace to be serviced and inspected. When they came and realized what was in the main air intake, they immediately removed it from the intake, so I don’t have a photo of it inside of the intake.
  When I tried to resolve the issues with Ventilation Purification, I kept asking to specifically speak with the owner because I thought he might not be aware that his employees were not cleaning air ducts properly and spraying the Microban disinfectant spray in a way that was not consistent with the labeling and in violation of federal law. The owner would not call me back and had his employee, Jim, be the one to communicate concerns. After 5 different phone calls, it really seemed like they didn’t understand what I was saying and the seriousness of the situation. After I asked for a refund, I never heard back from them.
  

  SEE ATTACHMENT

  Regards,
  ******* *******

  Business response

  02/09/2024

  I know how to apply sanitizer to a ventilation system. I will come out personally and inspect the system with the customer. I will clean anything that is not cleaned which I highly doubt is. She is sending no proof of the services we charged for that we cleaned that she is claiming are dirty. She is referring to an extremely old air cleaner filter system that we had nothing to do with. It is not our job to clean a broken down air cleaner system that she has never cleaned out herself in decades,  which is why it's is the way it is. It was taken out to clean the main duct and put back in as we found it. If she doesn't want me to come out and inspect her system, then we have no way of knowing anything is still dirty. In good faith I will refund 100.00 and that's it. If she would like a refund of the 51.00 for the Groupon she purchased then she needs to contact Groupon for that. We have no control over that amount. 

   

  Thank you,

  Matt M***** 

  Customer response

  02/12/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  This is not an acceptable solution because the business owner still does not seem to be aware of the regulations on how to safely use the disinfectant spray. I have attached a copy of the EPA’s Safety Data Sheet for the spray, but this is something that the owner should already have and be aware of. Even if he isn’t NADCA certified, he still is required to follow the label instructions as described on the SDS. I cannot see inside the rest of my ventilation system, but the intake itself and blower motor were never cleaned by Ventilation Purification, let alone the air cleaner and filters, despite being charged an additional fee for each. I still have the contents of the inside of the air intake in my vacuum cleaner in the basement because I wasn’t sure if whatever was inside would be safe for me to be exposed to in order to clean it. There was styrofoam attached to the blower motor when the furnace was inspected and new pieces of it are still coming through the vents every day. I don’t know how the styrofoam got into the air intake to begin with, the only time any of the vents or intake were opened prior to the furnace tech coming to service the unit on 1/19/24 was when Ventilation Purification accessed them to clean the air ducts. 

  Regards,
  
  ******* *******

• Initial Complaint

  03/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought a deal on Groupon and told my daughter I paid for it. I bought a basic package. They did not ask her if she was the homeowner and went and did a lot of extra things I did not want or ask for. They did not ask her if she was the homeowner and charged 340 for extra services. We have a small home. I have no idea how they could charge that much. I left a message with the business and spoke to Groupon. I was so mad when I woke up. I work nights and have been trying to save money but this nearly wiped my account. I'd like a refund of at least half of what they charged her. I understand they did do cleaning but they were only there for about 40 minutes and did work I did not request. They should know to ask if they are the homeowner.

  Business response

  03/29/2023

  Complaint ID ********* 

  03/23/2023 
  

  
  I'm just now writing back to this BBB complaint because I have been trying to get a hold of ****** We have called multiple times and have left multiple messages for her to call us back to try to resolve her issues. To this day we have not heard back from her. The tech made recommendations outside the coupon to clean a supply main, intake main and sanitize the whole system. Not a lot of extra stuff. The adult woman in the house said she needs to call her Mom and talk to her about it. The adult woman in the house then walked outside with her phone to call her Mom. When the adult woman came back in from talking to her Mom she told the tech to go ahead and do what he recommended. The adult woman signed off on the work order to do the recommended services and then the recommended services were completed. At the completion of the job the adult woman paid in cash so I'm having a hard time understanding how it almost wiped out her account. I don't believe my guys or my company acted in any ill way here. With that being said; we are a very customer driven company and I am willing to refund $100.00 out of good faith. I would need Susan to call us back so we can make this happen. 
  
  Sincerely, 
  
  ******* ****** 
  

  
  

  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩