Safe House Air Duct and Carpet Cleaning

I was quoted $85 dollars over the phone for dryer vent cleaning service, so I scheduled the service.

I was out of town at the time they came and informed my wife that a service tech would come by to clean the dryer duct and I asked her to pay him.

They came, worked for 30 minutes, and then charged me $584 for the service. I ordered the service (my name is on the bill) and my wife only knew she was to pay them in my absence. She did not know what services or price was agreed. So, when I called home the next day and asked how things were going, we discussed the usual items (kids, work, etc) and she mentioned that the guys had come and did the dryer vent work. This was a notable topic because we usually use an AmEx for all expenses, but the service only takes Visa and MC. So my wife just wanted to make sure I knew there was now a charge on our Visa which we otherwise don’t use.

I said, no problem, I’ll just go online to pay the Visa now so we don’t forget. And that’s when I discovered I was overcharged by a factor of almost 7X.

I called the company for an explanation. They told me they performed all sorts of extra services which increased the bill. I told them I did not want those services and I thought the pricing was egregious for 30 minutes of labor. They told me I set the appointment and signed the bill. I explained that I did set the appointment based on an $85 quote, but I did not sign the bill because I was out of town (a fact confirmed by airline boarding passes).

I believe they took advantage of the situation (my absence, my wife home alone) and overcharged me. I later found online reviews indicating this was a common thing for them (quite $85, charge $500 or more). This seems nothing short of a bait and switch scam and it seems to be a routine part of their business model.

On March 17th, *** came to my house to clean out my dryer vent. When I set up the appointment, I advised that my laundry room was on the third floor and I wasn't sure how long my duct work and vent was. They advised that they would be cleaning from the inside and push everything out of the duct. Fast forward approximately 2-3 weeks and my dryer was not drying my clothes - it took approximately 3 hours to "dry" a load of towels. I assumed that my dryer was dying, as it was an original at approximately 13-14 years old. I immediately purchased a new washer and dryer, on the assumption that it couldn't be my vent as I had it professionally cleaned. On the day I received my new dryer, it shut off after 5 minutes and wouldn't dry my clothes. The error message/code I received was that their was a flow problem and to check the vent. I restarted the dryer (if only for 5 minutes), went outside and saw that my vent louvers didn't open and their was lint coming out of the vent. I contacted *** and they sent a technician (the same one as before)out to my house. He was able to immediately diagnosis the vent problem from outside of the house, but he couldn't fix it because he didn't have a ladder tall enough to get to the vent. He said he would come back the next day with a ladder tall enough. I spoke with the company owner on Monday, April 8th and he guaranteed that he would send a technician that afternoon with a ladder tall enough. When the technician arrived, he didn't have a ladder tall enough, so he put his ladder on top of his van and climbed the ladder to reach the vent (I have a pic of this). He was able to open the vent and pulled the massive amount of lint out, which as he described it as completely clogged with condensation build up. I was quoted $600 to clean out vent, which I told him I would not pay because they created this mess by not fully cleaning the vent the first time. I paid $250 and I told him I've very upset by his customer service.

The team, Eddie and Miguel, did a great job. Such a professional hard working crew. The arrival window was 3 hours and they came within the slotted time, with a call to let me know they were on the way. They explained the duct cleaning process in detail before getting started. Everything was done in a clean and efficient way.

I asked for a breakdown of an estimate to clean air vents and returns and for any other removal ie. mold. I was quoted $189.95 from office worker and that the tech. would quote an estimate based on my home evaluation. I asked the tech for an estimate upon his afor $1700.00rrival and showed him a picture of the small amount of mold in the coil of the furnace. He started working and I had to request an estimate a second time. He then gave me a blank contract with no $ filled in. I pressed him and he said verbally it depended on the work maybe $1500. Still nothing in writing. When he finished the work that I had not authorized he told me it was $1700. I again asked for a breakdown of the work. He then filled it in and I began questioning the $. The furnace was not cleaned, the ducts still had dirt as evidenced by the filter. The organic cleanser was not authorized and the ultra violet light for $850 and installation was completely over priced for 30 minutes of work.

I made an appointment with this company for a dryer vent cleaning. I called on Wednesday September 6, 2017. I was all my information including address. The person taking the appointment said it would be 12:00 to 3:00 on September 8, 2017. I called around 11:00 am the day of the appointment to try and get a closer time window. They called me back and said they ere canceling my appointment because I lived to far away. REALLY!!!! They could have told me that the night I made the appointment. I took the day off for this appointment and lost pay. Say the least I was not a happy person. They already have a D+ rating, now they should get a F- rating. Do NOT call this company. I hope they go broke and out of Business. There is no excuse for their actions. It is a complete disregard for my schedule. They do not respect their customers and take it for granted. GO BROKE SAFE HOUSE.