Culligan Water Conditioning

We received a call from this party on 1/27/2015 to service a water softener that she purchased from a plumber 4 years prior.  We advertise that we service all brands of water softeners.  Many brands of water softeners are sold by big box retailers or by contractors or well drillers who do...

not provide service on the equipment that they sell.  We have a policy that we will refund any service call charges on an off brand softener if they purchase a Culligan system within 90 days of the visit.  We advertised a $49.95 inspect and check promotion in the first quarter of 2015.  With the inspect and check the customer gets 2- 50 lb. bags of salt, a water test and a 10 point inspection of their water softener.  This call indicated that service was needed not just the inspect and check.  No mention of this promo was made by this party or recorded during the customer call.  If we use a tool and tear into the system our normal service charges apply.  That is what our technician did on 1-30 when the call was done.  Our service call charge of $85.00 was applied plus labor of $43.75 and a dose of mineral reactivator for $3.00.  Grand total with tax is $139.00.  The party called into the office 3 days later to complain that the water was no better.  Our technician that handled the call advised her to shake the brine tank to loosen the salt in the brine tank.  There was a bridge of salt over the water in the tank.  There water is now soft and the system is working because of the efforts of our technicians. This person paid $50.00 because that was the amount she feels she should pay.  I have offered to split the difference ($44.50) to settle this but she has refused to compromise.  It costs our company $65.00 per hour to have a technician on the road in a truck and to have all of the support staff to provide this service.     I attempt to be reasonable in dealing with our customers.  This offer of $50.00 is not reasonable in my opinion. Thanks,              [redacted] 2200 Pioneer AvenueRice Lake, WI  54868[redacted]
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because the Culligan's respondent did not address my primary concern of Collections.  I wanted this withdrawn from the collection agency and a guarantee that this item would not appear on my credit even as being paid, if I were to agree?Also the main reason for me being “constantly delinquent” was because Culligan was not complying with their end of the agreement. I agreed to pay and they agreed to replace the water filter yearly and service the system. When these actions were not done I stopped paying. It was this neglect which made me want to purchase a system outright so that I would not keep paying for services that I was not receiving. Next I spoke to the [redacted] in person in regards to equipment and I did mention that I wanted the rental unit removed and replaced with one that I owned. The respondent does appear to be the same person so he/she was not there and therefore cannot attest to what I did or did not mention. Also the Sales Manager did come out to my home but only left a business card stuck in my front door. He did not leave an analysis or a recommendation which is why in June I followed up by contacting Culligan and have the phone records and emails from [redacted] as proof. In June my call was not returned so I decided to look elsewhere. Finding out in the response that my account went to Collections in October is a shock as I did not receive any notice of this action until December. I do not understand why it would take another month after sending an account to collections for Culligan to attempt to retrieve their system. Perhaps it's because the longer they leave the equipment the more months of rental fees they can charge. It's strange how I was "constantly delinquent" and yet the account never went to Collections. I think this action was the result of someone realizing that they had equipment that should have been removed from my house and knowing that I would not willing pay for 5 months of rental fees for an unwanted system decided to send the account collections to force payment and recoup the loss of an abandoned rental system not being in service. There was no misunderstanding between the [redacted] and I, he knew what I did and did not want. This whole experience is just riddled with examples of bad customer service on the part of Culligan from the noncompliance with their agreement to the numerous unreturned phone calls. They have their equipment back in perfect working condition and I am not charging storage fees for the use of a 400sqft garage for six months. I believe that is fair and that this matter should be considered settled and my account closed. 
Regards,
[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern:I believe that [redacted] owes us the amount of $121.90, which has been due since 12/14/14.  We have made several attempts to collect the money from [redacted] without success.  I have included all information regarding [redacted]'s account, which started...

in June of 2010 with us.  I have included all account information including the service work, transaction history, a goodwill credit, original sales order for the well tank, and documented Culligan employee statements regarding what happened with regard to the outstanding balance with us and how it came about.  [redacted] called us on 12/9/14 to service his account with us.  At the time of his original call on that date, we were not told at that time that he had tenants in his home and that they were responsible for the charges on his account.  We even called him with a reminder call of the appointment prior to our scheduled appointment on 12/18/15 and he did not mention tenants occupying his property. He did not provide any information regarding their name or phone number, nor did he ever tell us that they were responsible for any charges on his account with us prior to us servicing his account.  Mr. Kevin A[redacted] was requested to service [redacted]'s property because he had a pressure drop problem on 12/9/14.  A service call was scheduled for 12/18/14 and Mr. A[redacted] did a diagnostic evaluation along with talking to [redacted] regarding his property for a 40 minute period from 9:30 am to !0:10 am, according to the work order, plus driving to and from his home. We only service our customers when a request is made to do so.  Just because [redacted] decided to handle the necessary service work needed to rectify the problem for which he originally called us for by himself or utilizing another company, he still owes us the amount due to us for the diagnostic work that was performed.  He owns the property and the account is in his name with our company. We don't provide free service.  If we did, we wouldn't be in business since 1947 taking care of over 25,000 Culligan customers.  We pride ourselves on our ability to provide our services at the going rate to service our community's water treatment needs.
Sincerely,
Debbie R[redacted]

This response is regarding the inquiry for Mr. [redacted].Mr. [redacted] would like our company to pay for damages that was the result of a worn brass hose fittingthat he purchased 22 years ago (6/4/1994). This fitting was not leaking when our service person was atthe home earlier, but started leaking...

sometime afterwards.Upon Mr. [redacted]'s call to our office, we cancelled our other scheduled work and immediately sent ourgeneral manager and another service tech to the location with a shop vacs to help clean up the mess.Our employees spent 5 hours at the location.Mr. [redacted] called our office and spoke to our secretary to compliment both Harryand Storm on the workthey did on helping with the clean up.Sometime later, a representative of Mr. [redacted]'s homeowners insurance called and inquired about thecause of the incident. It was explained that the leaking fitting was the property of the homeowner and itwas over 22 years old. I told him would gladly give them our insurance provider information, but heagreed that it would be fruitless, since it was beyond the warranty of 1 year on parts and fittingsregarding plumbing installations.Mr. [redacted] then called and inquired why it was his insurance that was covering the cost of damages andwhy our liability policy was not. Mr. [redacted] was not happy with the fact that our insurance companywould deny liability regarding this incident. I then tried to make an apples to apples comparison of ascenario that if [redacted] installed a hot water heater 22 years ago would he think [redacted] would beresponsible for a leaking plumbing fitting from so long ago? There was no voice raising as Mr. [redacted]wrote in his letter, but he did not want to hear the logic of the situation.Mr. [redacted] was a happy Culligan Customer for 22 years. We regret his decision to go with anothervendor, but we do not have control to require our Insurance provider to issue monies they are notobligated to provide. The fact that Mr. [redacted]'s homeowners carrier decided against subrogation clearlysuggests that there was not liability on our part.Sincerely;[redacted]Dealer

They quoted me a rate then later said they had accidentally quoted a consumer rate (1.64%) for my vehicle purchase and the rate for commercial was 3.9%. This delayed my vehicle purchase by 2 weeks while they figured out they had messed up and then a week of them trying to fix it. Ended up going with dealer financing (3.10%) which I had been approved for before all this wasted time and money with Eastman. Ended up with $150.00 in charges from my CPU to get all the information they requested together for them. The dealer on the other hand needed virtually nothing paperwork wise. I'm not happy with Eastman and will not do business with them in the future. Be careful if you do ... they will tell you something them later change their minds leaving you hanging. I feel like I've been lied to from the start.

Our after hours answering service was texting the details of this after hours service issue to a non-working cell phone. Thanks to the Revdex.com for contacting me. I emailed the customer last night and called the customer first thing this morning to set an appointment to access the situation and make any...

appropriate repairs. We at Culligan pride ourselves on our products and services. We will proactively review our after hours process to prevent this rare occurrence from ever happening again. Jim D[redacted], General Manager

I spoke with Mrs. [redacted] earlier this week. I told her I would check with the finance company to see what their policy is to refund her money.This gave me a few days to investigate the situation, and speak with all parties involvedCulligan will refund her money toward...

the purchase if that is ultimately what she desires. She originally had a rental softener installed and wanted to switch to a purchase plan on a new unit.She signed all required disclosures and finance paperwork and was approved for the loan.I believe she has sense spoke with a family member or 3rd party that is telling her she could get a cheaper unit elsewhere. I had already made arrangements to meet with her today and I will follow up to this email as soon as I know how she wishes to proceed.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

I reviewed and attached the contract that applies to complaint [redacted].  We do not install surge protectors with our equipment.  We believe that a power surge or outage is the responsibility of the homeowner.  The homeowner can seek reimbursement through the power company if it was a...

surge or use their homeowner's insurance.  The portion of our contract that applies to this complaint is shown in the attachment.  Please see section B and the last sentence of section Q.  This is the back of the contract signed by our customer.Thank you,Dan B[redacted]Manager of Culligan Water[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]

June
11, 2014
 
RE:  Complaint ID # [redacted]
 
 
 
I
am in receipt of the above referenced complaint.  I have read the specific complaint and I am
directly familiar with the circumstances behind this event.  In the complaint,...

the customer claims that he
had received faulty equipment.  He also
makes the claim that I lead him to believe that he would not be charged for the
services provided, and that I would be giving him a credit for his direct
expenses related to this entire claim.
 
This
gentleman initially entered into a contract with our organization on July 10,
2012.  This is a seasonal contract that
typically covers the summer months of the year. 
The customer rents portable exchange deionizer tanks from us for us in
his business.  Theses tanks are billed to
him on a monthly rental basis for the time in which he possesses the
tanks.  These tanks do require periodic
exchanges, similar to propane tanks used for grills, and there is a fee each
time that these tanks are exchanged.  At
the end of the season, the customer returns the tanks back to our facility and
we put the monthly rental charges on hold until the following season.  Most of our customers that use a similar
product will have our organization deliver these tanks directly to their
facility and have us connect them to their water supply.  This service does come with an additional
fee.  This customer has elected, from the
beginning of the contract, to come to our facility and pick these tanks up
himself, then return them to his facility or job location and connect the tanks
himself.  As stated to our company at different
times in the past, one reason he does this is due to the fact that the delivery
location of these tanks tends to vary and that he does not want to pay the
additional service charges involved.
 
Now
that I have explained the type of service provided and when this contract
initially began, I feel that I need to explain the events directly related to
this complaint and our position with this complaint.  On March 27, 2014, the customer arrived at
our facility in order to pick up a fresh set of tanks for the start of this
season (please see the attached copy of the service order).  As usual, the customer received these tanks
on his vehicle and he paid the current rate for these tanks.  Once the tanks were picked up from our
facility we have not heard anything from this customer until recently.  On May 21, 2014, the customer called our
office to inform us that one of the tanks had sprung a bad leak and requested
that we provide him service immediately. 
Unfortunately we did not have any technicians available at that time to
respond to his request.  We did offer to
provide service at the soonest possible time that a technician was available,
but it would not be on the very day that he called.  He then stated that he would be at our office
at approximately 10:00 AM the next morning to get another set of tanks.  I happened to be the only person available to
assist the customer in loading these tanks when he arrived.  Upon inspection of the tanks, I found the
tank adapter O-ring had pushed out from between the tank collar and the
head.  My initial assessment was that
this was caused by user error and not by faulty equipment, as the customer
tried to claim the entire time that he was in our facility.  Once we exchanged the tanks, I proceeded to
have him sign the paperwork.  He noticed
that he was being charged for the tanks exchange and asked why.  I again stated that it is not a warranted
situation because it appears that the leak was due to user error or
mishandling.  I then tried to explain to
him that we did not connect these tanks to the water supply, he did.  Therefore, we cannot warrant the work of
someone other than a Culligan representative. 
He then asked about his time spent to travel to Roanoke and his down
time.  I explained to him that we did
offer to come to him but that he refused. 
Since he came to use, he was not being charged the service fee required
when we go to the customer.  He insisted
that we not only do not charge for the tanks but that we also give him a credit
for his inconvenience.  I again repeated
that I cannot do that.  However, I did
say that I would have my plant representative look closer at the tank and see
if there is any evidence to conclude that the leak was in fact due to faulty
equipment of user error.  I even wrote
this on the service order that the customer did sign.  This service order also reflects the charges
for this tank.  The conclusion given to
me was that the leak strongly appears to be due user error, therefore, the
charges to remain on this account.
 
On
June 9, 2014, the customer called and asked to speak with me.  He was very upset that he received a bill for
the tanks.  I attempted to explain
everything to the customer yet again. 
However, he was not accepting it to any extent.  I apologized to him and let him know that he
is welcome to submit a writing complaint and request for review of the charges,
but that the charges do stand at this time. 
He then asked for the contact information of the “boss”.  I explained to him that I am the manager in
charge and that the decision solely rests with me.  He insisted on getting the owners contact
information and requested to speak directly with him.  I again tried to explain to him that I am the
manager and that his call to the owner would simply be given back to me for my
handling of it.  The customer has since
requested, by email (see attached), for the contact information of my
boss.  What I am providing to him in his
request is the direct phone number to the office of the President and consumer
affairs of Culligan.  He is welcome to
express his concerns or complaint with that office.  I am providing that information here.  The contact information is:  Phone, [redacted]; email, [redacted] fax, [redacted].
 
With
all of that said, I do feel that you will agree that our organization has not
done anything wrong or have provided faulty equipment.  What we have provided is a service as
requested and for that service comes fees. 
However, in an effort to resolve this concern and to satisfy our customer,
I am offering a one-time discount on the tank exchange fee in the amount of
20%.  Should the customer agree to this
offering, I ask that he provide this agreement in writing through your
organization.  Please do not hesitate to
contact me if you have any further questions or are in need of any further
information as it relates to this customer.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
 
[redacted]  [redacted]
Senior
VP, Risk Management
 
 
Cc:  customer file

We are currently working with the customer to facilitate a visit to the house to verify that the softener is out of salt prior to offering any adjustments. Follow up will be forthcoming.

I received a letter from the Revdex.com today. The email you sent letting me know about this complaint was accidentally going into my "junk email" folder. I will give a brief description of events then I will copy and paste emails, account notes, etc. at the end of this response. Our position is that...

they quit paying for their rental and also would not make the equipment available for pick up. Our company made numerous visits to their house attempting to recover our unit. The service techs. would report back that they could hear voices of people inside the home, but no one would ever answer the door. We tagged their door with notice after notice to please contact the office to make a payment arrangement. We were willing to work with them and would have accepted almost ANY payment arrangement they would be willing to agree to. Only after writing off the account and turning it over to a collection agency have I ever heard anything from them (in the form of this complaint). Please see the following:

Thank you for contacting us regarding the complaint against us.  I apologize that this email is late in reaching you. We acknowledge that the customer has been negatively impacted by the improper installation of our equipment.  It is our highest priority to provide excellent service...

and immediate attention to any issue a customer experiences.  This was a very unfortunate event and we, as always, were very anxious to make things right with our customer. Upon receipt for the shower head, a check was issued for the full amount.  However, we cannot issue any funds in response to a claim without a Release of Liability from the customer.  This is an important step to our claims process.  In the rare event that softening media is drawn into a household the effects are immediate.  Historically we have not seen any residual effects that extend beyond a few days and do not feel that is unreasonable to request the Release of Liability after a few weeks - this scenario took place 5 months ago. We would be very happy to issue the reimbursement check for the showerhead accordingly to our claims process policy.  Unfortunately, this customer has refused to sign the release up to this point.

When you purchase a new culligan system there is no lease/rental contract.

See attached

Getting an auto loan through ECU is a not so good idea. You get a fairly okay interest rate, but they have no hurry whatsoever. Getting preapproved took a week. We didn't receive proof of preapproval for a few days after that and THEN when we went to a dealership, we spent 6 hours there getting on and off the phone, trying to get them to send something, ANYTHING, saying that they intended to send the money to the dealership. The process seems convoluted. (You preapprove me but then need to reevaluate whether or not you want to give me a loan?) The customer service is fabulous, but I just feel like the process is not streamlined/they don't know how to deal with loans very well.

Owner's guide was mailed out on 06/04/2014.

This business is harassing me with growing late fees. I cancelled my service with them months ago. All invoices were paid in full. Now my bill is late fees only on top of late fees.

Review: We contacted Culligan Water Softeners after our four year old water softener wasn't removing the rust from our water. I contacted them because I saw an advertisement for a special to inspect for about $50. When the service rep got here he took a sample of the water and tested it - he confirmed that we had rust in our water. He proceeded to clean some part and change another. He also apparently gave our water softener a kick not sure why (put the compacted hardened salt should have broken his foot). He then changed the settings on our softener and left. After week were still having the problems so I called back to the local office and was told by the gal that answered the phone to give it a couple more days (My sinks, showers and toilets were already in rust again). That wasn't what my husband wanted to hear so he called back and asked if there was anyone he could talk to and she transferred us to [redacted]. After 15 minutes on the phone with [redacted] he diagnosed a "salt bridge" and explained what we needed to do fix the problem. 2 hours later we had all the salt out of the softener, put new salt in and changed the settings back to the originals. We have had NO a problems since then.

I then get a bill in the mail for $140. I sent the bill back with a note stating why I was only paying $50 of the charge. Basically I didn't get any service from the service rep the came out the first time but did get service on the phone from [redacted]. So I paid for the parts and some labor in the $50 because [redacted] fixed the problem.

When I called the business after receiving another bill he told me that I don't have the right to set the service charges that I have to pay what he bills me and I disagree. He then told that I have to pay a little more because their service rep that he sent out that day was a master plumber and he had to drive out to my house. I questioned him as to why I have to pay someone that apparently is over educated for the job but yet didn't diagnose the salt bridge.

I have also contacted and lodged a complaint with the corporate office of Culligan but they will not do anything because apparently the local dealers are independently owned. So I am hoping the Revdex.com can help with this issue.Desired Settlement: I would like to see the local dealer accept my $50 as payment in full and write off the remaining amount.

Business

Response:

We received a call from this party on 1/27/2015 to service a water softener that she purchased from a plumber 4 years prior. We advertise that we service all brands of water softeners. Many brands of water softeners are sold by big box retailers or by contractors or well drillers who do not provide service on the equipment that they sell. We have a policy that we will refund any service call charges on an off brand softener if they purchase a Culligan system within 90 days of the visit. We advertised a $49.95 inspect and check promotion in the first quarter of 2015. With the inspect and check the customer gets 2- 50 lb. bags of salt, a water test and a 10 point inspection of their water softener. This call indicated that service was needed not just the inspect and check. No mention of this promo was made by this party or recorded during the customer call. If we use a tool and tear into the system our normal service charges apply. That is what our technician did on 1-30 when the call was done. Our service call charge of $85.00 was applied plus labor of $43.75 and a dose of mineral reactivator for $3.00. Grand total with tax is $139.00. The party called into the office 3 days later to complain that the water was no better. Our technician that handled the call advised her to shake the brine tank to loosen the salt in the brine tank. There was a bridge of salt over the water in the tank. There water is now soft and the system is working because of the efforts of our technicians. This person paid $50.00 because that was the amount she feels she should pay. I have offered to split the difference ($44.50) to settle this but she has refused to compromise. It costs our company $65.00 per hour to have a technician on the road in a truck and to have all of the support staff to provide this service. I attempt to be reasonable in dealing with our customers. This offer of $50.00 is not reasonable in my opinion. Thanks, [redacted] 2200 Pioneer AvenueRice Lake, WI 54868[redacted]

Review: I ended up buying this product in June 2010 for approx $5000-, due to sales presentation not consistent with product warranties. I was told the product has life time warranty. The electronic board on the product was defective or did not work, right on the first day of purchase or rental of this equipment and they said its normal and replaced the board. On Nov [redacted] 2013, my basement got flooded due to improper functioning of the whole house water softener system (atleast thats what I assumed based on visual observation of culligans system) and when I called, they said they are going to send a service guy to evaluate the system right away and later they started using the escape tactics of, we went thru your contract and the product has only one year warranty and they are not responsible for the product and I should pay service charges, for them just to come to take a look at whats wrong with their product. The home owners insurance will cover the damages resulting from basement flooding. But these guys barely do not want to stand by their own product they have patents on and they almost are a monopoly in hudson valley region. My understanding of this product is, if it doesnt work properly, the result will be, water not being softened properly or sulphur or iron content in water not being properly removed, but difinetly not resulting in flooding the basement. Please resolve this issue. Thank you very much.Desired Settlement: Desired Settlement: Replacement

Business

Response:

Mediator,

This is in regards to case # [redacted], [redacted]. [redacted] contacted our dealership to schedule a service call on Nov. [redacted]. The dealership was closed due to the holiday and he was quoted our emergency service rates. He did not want to pay the emergency rate and stated that he would call on Monday the [redacted]. Upon calling he was scheduled for a service call to do a diagnostic on the equipment which he had purchased three years earlier. As the service call was scheduled that day and was an add on appointment, he was not quoted the service rate. As we charge for service appointments and expect payment upon the completion of the appointment, the technician called on route and advised what the diagnostic charge would be. [redacted] felt that we were more interested in the diagnostic fee and less about his basement flooding. That really wasn’t the case, we wanted to help resolve his issues but we do charge for services and do collect upon completion of the call and wanted [redacted] to be informed. [redacted] was not responsible for the basement flooding. My office staff and service manager did attempt to resolve the issue with [redacted] on a couple of occasions to no avail.

I spoke to [redacted] on 12-**. We had a pleasant conversation and I assured him that the staff was just following procedures and that we do have flat rate pricing, and that our rates tend to be on the lower side for water treatment and/or service companies. Due to the issues experienced, and in an attempt to keep him as a happy [redacted] customer, I did set up a service call for the [redacted] at a discounted rate. I will follow up with [redacted] and make sure all went well with the call. We also spoke about possible service contracts for the equipment, which he had looked into a year or so previously.

I care about my customers, my companies’ reputation and our status with the Revdex.com. I believe that although my staff was following standard procedures, by speaking with [redacted] and explaining the procedures, warranties and costs and then in discounting the services to him, I believe that we have resolved the customers concerns satisfactorily.

Sincerely,

General Manager

[redacted] Water Company

###-###-####

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,