Radon Measurement & Elimination Services

Review: [redacted] of Radon Measurement and Elimination Services installed a Radon Mitigation System in the residence at [redacted] during December of 2013. I called Mr. [redacted] on April 16, 2014, regarding the RadonAway fan operating outside its Maximum Recommended Operating Pressure as specified in the RadonAway RP Series Installation Instructions manual. The manual on page 8 states that the RP145 MROP is 1.7. Our radon system is operating outside of that MROP at 1.85. Mr [redacted] stated that he was more knowledgeable about radon fans then the experts at RadonAway who manufacture them and according to him the fans can operate at higher MROP. He also stated that he wanted more money if he were to to rectify the situation. We find that unacceptable. His tone and demeanor was such that I saw no point in continuing the discussion so I politely terminated the phone call without discussing another installation issue.

The second issue is that the radon fan freezes up and ceases operation under 15 degrees outside temperature. This happened for several weeks this winter. The RadonAway installation manner calls for installation of a WYE or a Fan Guard Condensation Bypass where freezing temperatures are expected and there is wet soil below the slab and aluminum piping is used for the vent. (Page 4 of Installation Instructions) [redacted] commented on the wet soil beneath the slab when he was here id December. He also used aluminum downspouts for the exhaust. The installation of either a WYE or a Fan Guard KIT(Cost 23.55 from [redacted]-installation 5 minutes) bypasses water and melting ice from entering the fan. We would like this condensation bypass installed per RadonAway Instruction manual at no charge.

At the end of the phone call I politely informed Mr. [redacted] that I would take further action to remedy the situation.Desired Settlement: (1)Lower the Operating Pressure, page 8, so it is within Installation manual guidelines. (2) Install a condensation wye or bypass per instructions on page 4 of the operating manual.

We only want RMES to correctly install the Radon Mitigation system as specified in the RadonAway RP Series Installation Instructions manual.

Business

Response:

We installed a radon system for the [redacted]' in the early forth quarter of 2013. This system is one of approximately 4000 we have running... with no prior complaints to us or anyone else in a 15 year period. The system was installed correctly, and exactly to the specs of the quote. Mr. [redacted] had called us in December, questioning why his manometer was reading zero. We explained that the exit point of the exhaust had probably froze shut, which was common this last winter.... and that when the temperatures reached about 15-25 degrees for a few days, the system would go back to operating correctly. We did not hear back from Mr. [redacted] until March of this year when he called to say that he had gotten a hold of an installation guide from RadonAway, the fan producer, and in it, it said that the manometer reading shouldn't be over 1.7WC.... and his was reading 1.8WC. I did not have the same document that Mr. [redacted] was referring to at the time, so I couldn't talk to the specifics he was referencing. I told Mr. [redacted] that wasn't really an important factor as we had hundreds of clients with that type of system vacuum, and asked what his radon reading was? He replied that his current radon reading was between 1 and 2pCi/L, which is what we warranty with all of our systems. This factor, along with the system meeting any and all protocols, is all that we warranty.

Mr. [redacted] then said he'd like the system re-routed to his sump crock, because he thought he might get more air-flow through the system's fan.... which might make the fan last longer. I told Mr. [redacted] that he, like all of our clients, have a 5 year fan warranty, which covers all costs in case the fan would fail. Mr. [redacted] then said he really didn't care, and wanted us to come to do this extra work. I commented that the extra work would constitute about 2 man hours, plus materials, and we'd have to charge him for this extra work.... adding that I really didn't think it would make an air-flow difference as we were already pulling from the drain-tile, as we would be from the sump crock. Again, Mr. [redacted] insisted we do this extra work, and added he "wouldn't be very happy if we tried charging him for this". I again told Mr. [redacted] that we never quoted him for this extra work, and the system was put in per the quote... per EPA guidelines... and was working properly, lowering his radon levels from about 18pCi/L, to about 1-2pCi/L. Mr. [redacted] kept repeating (6 times)that "he would have to take the necessary steps" in order to get us to do this extra work... at no cost.

I didn't hear anything back from Mr. [redacted], but was then notified by the Revdex.com that he had posted a complaint against our company, as well as another on [redacted]. On May 12th, I wrote Mr. [redacted] a multiple page letter addressing each issue that he had, explaining what he had read in the installation manual from RadonAway wasn't manometer vacuum, but Static Pressure readings. Simply not the same thing. RE: the condensation bypass.... although RadonAway recommends them, we have never used them... nor do we know other mitigators that use them, as they are problematic in our climate. Most of all, we didn't include this item in our quote, or did it ever come up until this written "complaint".... and we certainly didn't charge him for one. If this would have been an initial request of Mr. [redacted] before the mitigation, we could have addressed the issue then, but it never came up in any discussion. We are held to EPA/NRPP/AARST/NEHA protocols in our installations. None of these organizations even talks about installing a condensation by-pass in it's protocols, much less dictates that we install them on a system.

As a number of weeks had gone by without hearing from Mr. [redacted], I questioned whether he had removed the "complaints" he had posted on the Revdex.com and [redacted], and found them to still be there. Because of this, I wrote Mr. [redacted] a letter on June 4th, asking him to remove these complaints as I found them to be inaccurate. On June 5th, Mr. [redacted] again left another phone message. In it, he said he didn't care about what I had to say in the letter I had sent to him, and wanted to still get the work done (system re-routing) in the basement. He said he would "consider removing the complaints he had written about us, if we would do the work for half price". First.... he now knew that his "complaints" were baseless because of the letter and back-up I had sent to him May 12th. And second, he was going to continue to use these complaints on the Internet to pressure us into doing extra work... for no "good" reason, at a reduced price. At this point, we felt we had gone well out of our way to satisfy a "reasonable" client with a good number of hours spent to clarify his concerns, and were now faced with someone out for his own "desires" at our expense.

We again heard from Mr. [redacted] a week later stating that he was again asking us to do the work he wanted, or he was going to take "further steps". We have talked about this situation internally and regrettably will not have further contact with Mr. [redacted] due to his conduct and threats.... for any price. We will still back his system as we do all of our systems and the warranties they carry. Any "additional" work Mr. [redacted] wants done can be done by other area mitigators. We did supply this list of individuals in the letter we sent to him on May 12th.

Consumer

Response:

RMESWI is the finest contractor I ever dealt with. You are in charge while he installs a great radon mitigation system on time at a reasonable price.

The owner will provide a list of references for your

consideration. I asked to have my name and phone number placed on that list.

RMESWI is very deserving of the Revdex.com A+ rating it holds.