Colorado Radon Testing LLC

Complaint: 11184962
I am rejecting this response because:The state of Colorado unfortunately does not have regulatory authority over Radon testing and mitigation which is why our complaint is so important for the public consumer to be aware of to avoid getting taken advantage of. [redacted] is the Radon Program Coordinator for The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in the state of Colorado. On the Colorado.gov website under Radon is a comprehensive list of all current radon measurement providers and radon mitigation providers, this list is updated and kept current once per quarter to protect the consumer. [redacted] has assured us that there is no such thing as being EPA Certified anymore as EPA radon protocols and standards have been turned over to the National Radon Proficiency Program (NRPP) and National Radon Safety Board (NRSB) over 20 years ago. These are two privately-run national radon programs (listed here alphabetically) who are offering proficiency listing/accreditation/certification in radon testing and mitigation. [redacted] states that there are many companies out there that offer radon testing and mitigation that are able to offer radon services to the public and because there are no Colorado state laws requiring certification there is no way to penalize or sanction these companies and it unfortunately puts the public at an unfair disadvantage. Anyone who claims to be EPA certified is falsely advertising and misleading the public because no such certification exists anymore. [redacted] with Colorado Radon did finally provide his EPA Certification once this complaint was filed with the Revdex.com however it is important to note that it was obtained in 1998 so even if this was legitimate in today’s radon standards he would have needed to renew this certification in 2000 as these certifications where only good for a 2 year time frame. The other problem with [redacted]’s claim of being EPA certified is that his equipment should also be evaluated and approved by NRPP or NRSB at least every 7years, there should also be an expiration date on each device and the consumer should be notified of when the most current calibration was conducted when receiving the final test results according to [redacted], the Radon Program Coordinator with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.  The Radon test results report from Colorado Radon Testing LLC did not have this information on it, it only stated that the test was performed with “quality assurance standards and EPA test guidelines using and EPA approved Continuous Radon Monitor device” and it has already be determined and confirmed by [redacted] that EPA has had no current standards since 1998.The fact remains that Colorado Radon Testing LLC is not and has not been certified by current radon standards put into place by the NRPP and NRSB to test for Radon in Colorado. [redacted] claims to have been “serving the community with pride for nearly 20 years and has always endeavored to satisfy customer’s needs”, one would come to the conclusion that he and his company would want to stay current in his field and profession and become a member of and certified with NRPP and NRSB. My wife and I have [redacted] verbal telephone consent to publish the information provided to us by her in this statement. She stated and encouraged us to purse this complaint and firmly believes that until Laws are passed in Colorado to regulate Radon Services this is the only way to bring companies like this to the surface. We also encourage others to stick to the companies on the Colorado.gov Radon site to support Radon standards and push out other companies Like Colorado Radon Testing LLC to either rise to the highest standards or dissolve out of the business. [redacted] also briefly evaluated Colorado Radon Testing LLC’ s website and concluded that it was about 20 years out of the loop, has a lot of incorrect information regarding EPA, its devices and maps. We truly hope that because of this complaint others do not fall for the same false claims that [redacted] provided to us over the phone, in person and in writing. We hope that consumers will utilize the Colorado.gov website to safely and confidently work with companies that care about current standards and certification regardless of the law as any honest and respectable company would. We hope to see changes in the Colorado.gov website regarding Radon information so that it is clear which companies are highly recommended and clarification regarding NRPP & NRSB certification and that EPA certification is no longer existent. This website does list 2 options for getting radon testing done but does not only promote the use of at-home self testing kits it just happens to be the first option listed and it’s important to note that even with the at-home kits they recommend the kit says “certified by the National Radon Proficiency Program”. The website does have a disclaimer that they do not offer proficiency certification their goal is to provide a resource for radon information to the public and provide guidance on testing and mitigation measures. We do appreciate that Colorado Radon Testing did give us a refund after notifying him that we would be filing this complaint but mostly we hope that he updates his website, stops telling consumers that he is nationally certified with EPA because 1998 was a long time ago and that certification is no longer supported by current standards or the states recommendations. And lastly we hope that [redacted]’s Colorado Radon Testing LLC will rise to be a leader in his chosen field of business and does what is needed to get on the list of Certified Radon Measurement Providers. Ask far as the email communication between [redacted], [redacted] and [redacted] with Oakwood Customer Care we only received the second half of the conversation in his attempt to clear his name. As he states Oakwood homes verbiage within their email does state “EPA certified” in his defense however their current polices does state that “testing must be completed by a Certified Radon Professional” and we feel that until [redacted] updates his certification with NRPP or NRSB, his 1998 certification is not acceptable to us. We would have liked to be tested by a company that is current under all recommended standards in place by NRPP & NRSB, and had the confidence that the test, procedure, equipment and calibrations where all up to standard. We will be encouraging Oakwood Homes to update their current Warranty and Claims Instructions as well as their home owners handbook to reflect the current above information provided by [redacted] and also be asking Oakwood homes to cease the use of “EPA Certified” as it no longer exists, and to become more familiar with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Radon Program in the state of Colorado. We will also be encouraging them to only accept NRPP or NRSB Certified Radon Professionals.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

March 16, 2016Ms. [redacted]:Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this complaint.  The customer and his wife have leveled some serious allegations about my company and my performance that need to be addressed.  We have served the Denver Metro community with pride for nearly 20 years...

and have always endeavored to satisfy our customer’s needs.On February 22, 2016 I received a call from this customer searching for information about radon testing.  He did ask if we were “licensed” in the state of Colorado to test for radon.  This question comes up frequently and the response was the same for him as it is for everyone.  No, there is no licensing requirement in the state of Colorado.  He asked if we were certified and the response was yes, we are nationally certified. After answering his other questions about our basic procedure he set an appointment for the 26th.  On February 26th I arrived at his home and proceeded to conduct our test.  His wife did confirm that the builder required certification and I tried to assure her that we had the certification required by this builder and that we have done numerous tests for their new buyers around the metro area.  We conducted a full test, retrieved the device 2 days later, processed the results and provided a full written report on February 29th as promised.  On March 3rd I received a call around mid-afternoon from the customer that had such an accusatory and profane tone that I ended up hanging up. I discovered later that he had emailed a request only several hours earlier requesting documentation of EPA certification for the builder.  Unfortunately, his abusive phone call got to me before I could read his email.  Tempers flared before reasonable explanations could be made. He appeared to be more interested in accusations than listening to my responses.  Somewhere along the way his wife apparently contacted a person at the Colorado Department of Health and was supposedly told we were not certified by Colorado.  I cannot speak to what the customer’s wife concluded from her inquiry, but after some investigation of my own found that this state department strongly promotes the use of at-home self testing kits (that are NOT allowed by the builder), offers a bulletin board style listing service for some local contractors but does not offer proficiency certification.  We never like to have a customer become dissatisfied, especially over what they think someone outside the industry may or may not have said.  Generally, the information turns out to be unreliable or misunderstood. I have been EPA certified since 1998 and would have gladly provided proof of my EPA approved proficiency course work earning that distinction.We also have a Customer Care Coordinator contact in the builder’s office that stipulates that they accept any company test results as long as the professionals are certified by EPA.  We also obtained the builder warranty sheet that spells out what the home owner needs to provide to receive proper reimbursement.Based on the tone of our brief conversation with the customer, we issued a refund to the customer that very afternoon with a letter trying to explain that there have been numerous private organizations over the years that have provided approved EPA proficiency course work once EPA retracted from that duty in the mid 90's.  I wished we’d had the opportunity to explain these things to our customer.  On March 7, we received the Revdex.com notification of this complaint.  We too would like to improve customer relations whenever and where ever possible, but the customer was very clear about what he wanted and the resolution for this event was decided the day of the phone call.  This customer is only the second customer to ask for a refund in nearly 20 years of service.  The first was the result of a power failure beyond our control and the second was a failure to communicate.  Although both were unforeseeable neither was acceptable by our own standards.[redacted]Colorado Radon Testing, LLC