We all got some sort of coupons in the mail or in our inbox, so today we want to talk about scams related to air duct cleaning, 'cos it bothers us, that somebody is taking advantage of our friends and neighbors. We found one particular company, called "USA Air Duct Cleaning" advertising in our local New Jersey Money Mailer envelope. This company advertises with Money Mailer for a long time and it means their ad is making money, so they repeat their bait&switch business month after month. Here is their advertisement:
Attractive ad with many colors and low prices, good ratings and certificates, warning signs etc. Many people will be attracted by this coupon and many people will not even know what to expect from a reputable air duct cleaning or dryer vent cleaning company. We decided to take a good look at this piece of advertisement and provide You with all hidden details and fake information which is not visible to a regular customer. Take a look below:
1. Scary Picture of Dust Mites - it is not possible to remove dust mites with any type of air duct cleaning, these creatures live everywhere, walls, carpets, air duct, human body. This information is misleading.
2. BBB accreditation and A+ rating - we really tried to find any affiliation of "USA Air Duct Cleaning" with BBB and we were not able to find any information. This information is fake, but if "USA Air Duct Cleaning" can show us the real BBB accreditation, we would be glad to revoke this claim and apologize.
3. $29.90 Low Priced Deal - This is not a real price for the service, it does not mean anything, but to get You call them and set up an appointment, it's not some sort of special as it claimed to the right, it does not cover Full House Air Vent Cleaning as it claimed above it, it's just a catchy price to get Your attention. Advertising one price and then claiming that it will cost more, it's called SCAM
4. Description of Services Included - Take a look at the fine print, it says "One Main Duct", the way it works, there is always a second one, or third one, there is never one main duct. You will be charged from $50 to $150 for each additional main, the price will depend on technician's, but there is never a set price. The ad is claiming "Full House Air Vent Cleaning" but the fine prints adds Returns and Main Ducts as a separate service, even though You will be granted One Free Return, but You will need to opt-out of Free Dryer Vent 'cos it's only the choice of one service you offered. About this Free Dryer Vent Cleaning, take a look at section 5
5. Regular Sized Line - What is regular sized line, we honestly do not have any idea, for us they all are regulars, but we can assume, the "Regular Size" is determined by the technician who is measuring it. In fact, there won't be anybody measuring Your dryer vent, You will be just presented with the fact that You have some "Irregular" or "Extended" line or length and You need to pay extra.
6. $35 For Dryer Vent Cleaning - Again, we see this fine print for "Regular Sized Line", so it means You will pay for additional length or size, take a look at section 5 for more details
7. Any Standard Chimney - It works the same way as "Regular Sized", different wording, but the same meaning. You will pay additional 'cos Your chimney will not be standard. There is also a warning about wood stoves, inserts and most fascinating condos chimney, we are still wondering what condo chimney is
8. 2 Year Warranty - It's a false claim, there is no air duct cleaning or dryer vent cleaning company who provides 2 year warranty for these types of services. Actually, it's recommended to clean the dryer vent every 1-2 years.
9. Licensed and Insured - We called "USA Air Duct Cleaning" and tried to obtain any type of business insurance, general liability and worker's compensation, we did not get any. It's another fake claim. Think, that if something happens while technician from "US Air Duct Cleaning" working at Your place, Your home insurance will be responsible for any accident.
10. National Chimney Sweep Guild and C-DET Certification - we checked both and found nothing, that would prove any affiliation of this company with these sources. Both, NCSG and C-DET offer to check certification on their website. It's completely fake information, but as we said before, if proven otherwise, we would be happy to remove this section and apologize.
11. Powerful Truck Mounted Equipment - This is where You get Double Scammed. It's not only a fake claim, but it is a poor quality of the service. This company just lied to You 10 times (see above), so imagine what will happen when they get to Your house, what equipment will be used, what kind of training their technicians have, will they be respectful to Your house - No, they won't.
Some of You may think, we just decided to trash talk about a competitor company, but it's different. We live in New Jersey, we work in New Jersey and New Jersey is our home. We welcome all reputable air duct cleaning companies, we establish ties, we become friends with them. This article is about somebody who is trying to take advantage of other people, who is trying to rip off and we want to encourage people to talk about it, so these scammers will be revealed to public.
For more information on, visit our Air Duct Cleaning page
Update April 15th, 2019: Thank you all for your feedback, here are some news for you, we just discovered that we are not the only one who noticed this scamming company and there is another article online about the same company and the link is below