1st Duct Cleaning

Guess I should have checked Unilocal first. They were RUDE RUDE RUDE. Did I mention rude? Oh yes, and all the same stuff about the hard sell and scams that everyone else reports. And they left a huge gnarly mess in my driveway and my house. Bummer. STEER CLEAR, even with Living Social coupon like I had.

1^st DUCT SCAM! I would give this company a negative rating if I could. I wish I had read the other reviews before purchasing the Living Social deal, because this is truly a one-​of-​a-​kind scam.
The Deal says a full $ 300 cleaning for $ 40. The «technician» gave a cursory inspection of my unit with his eyeballs and after 30 seconds told me it needed a deep cleaning, even though the furnace was only 3 years old. He said he would give me a discount for $ 195.
Now you can say that I should have known better, but truth be told I have no idea how these systems work and I have dogs in the house, and was really looking for a reprieve from my allergies. I opted for the «deep cleaning» and the tech proceeded to unscrew the motor and whipped out the almighty toothbrush to wipe away the dirt that had accumulated. I asked him to step aside so that I could see what he was doing, and saw that there was hardly any dirt on the motor. Add insult to injury, it took him an entire 15 minutes to complete the «deep cleaning.» I thought he was going to do more work, but that was it. $ 195 for a toothbrush cleaning. INCREDIBLE.
He then brings in a large metal tube that he attached to ONE air vent and spent another 15 minutes «sucking out the dirt.» I asked him if he was going to clean the other 3 vents, and he said that would cost an additional $ 25/​vent.
After the tech left, I called two other duct cleaning services, one of them being Sears which is a very reputable company. They charge $ 265 for a thorough 5-​step process which includes cleaning of up to 6 vents AND the main unit, plus brushing of all the air ducts. Sears had never heard of a deep cleaning of the motor. The second company reiterated almost the same process.
I left two messages for the manager (Ben) of 1^st Duct Cleaning and have yet to receive a call back. I canceled my check for the additional fee and filed a complaint with Living Social. I am also filing a complaint with the BBB.

Is it possible to do minus stars? This company is not anyone you want to do business with. I won’t waste any more time on them going into details but this company is a total scam. I am surprised that Living Social would continue to offer their vouchers. You can get a credit back from Living Social if you bought one. Don’t let these people into your house. I had to throw the guy out.

1^st app. was on Dec 5^th, 2^nd, Dec 10 and 3^rd on Dec 16^th.
I wish there was negative rating so i could give this guys a ZERO or –1.
These people are useless — I had made an appointment three times and 1^st time, I had taken ½ day off but 20 minutes before they called and said we don’t have technician in the area so I rescheduled. 2^nd time, they didn’t even call so it was no Show. When I called, I was told that their technician’s truck broke down. So, I gave one last chance and rescheduled. this time their technician called me 9:00 am (my appointment was at 4:00 pm) and says, I am in the area and can come in 5 min. then he asks some questions… About how old the furnace is, when was the last deep cleaning service was performed, what kind of filter do you use, etc… then immediately says that it will cost you about $ 900 but I will give you $ 50 off. On top of the Living Social deal of $ 39. When I called back the office to report their technician’s behavior, the office didn’t even bother to say sorry not offer any other services or offer to reschedule with better tech.
In short, don’t even waste your time with this guys, they are SCAM and useless. I can’t even believe these type of people are still in business.

I agree with all the previous reviews. I got pulled in the offer an of $ 29. Before they even arrived the technician was calling wanting to do additional work. I suggested it would be better to discuss additional work, once he was on-​site and could evaluate the condition of the vents. When he arrived, he started trying to sell deep cleaning and the UV light. My $ 29 vent cleaning was now escalating to over $ 1,000. I turned down the UV light (after some high pressure sales), but I did let him deep clean the downstairs furnance and sanitize the vents. They did the sanitation from the central furnance but charged by the vent. I only later realized that we have 2 furnances, so ½ the vents he claimed to sanitize could not have been done. I have called them twice asking for a refund and they promise to call back with a supervisor (I am still waiting). Stay away from this company!!!

BE WARNED IT IS A SCAM! I paid for a Living Social deal under a different name but this company showed up. They missed 4 vents and charged me and extra $ 200 to clean the furnace. They tried to charge me $ 500. When I called asking for them to come back and get the vents they missed the guy on the phone told me that with this promotion the guys are not always as trained. WHAT? I just paid $ 240 for some guys to basically vacuum a bit, and badly at that. I was able to schedule a revisit, but then received a call ten minutes before my window that they were no longer in the area and needed to reschedule. Then on the next reschedule no one showed. I’m going to be contacting Living Social and the BBB. Grrrr, these people suck!

this is a total scam. incredibly unprofessional. the lady who answers the phone seemed like it was a real business, but they showed up 30 minutes early without even knowing what time my appointment was, leaving all of their equipment in the van. it seemed the 2 men came up only to inspect my place and to see how gullible i was. they kept asking if i lived by myself and even asked how much i pay for rent. i had bought a living social deal for $ 60 for duct cleaning which usually costs over $ 100.
the services to be provided were: * Valid for 1
furnace as well as 1 main and 1 return vent; negative
pressure only * Additional fees apply for furnace
cleaning/​deep cleaning
the men didn’t even have a ladder or step stool and i had to provide them with mine. they opened my vent and began saying how i really need a deep cleaning at least once a year and kept trying to sell me on that. i asked to just have the services done which i already paid for. they stepped outside to talk because they knew i also spoke spanish. they were outside talking in the hall for so long that i asked if everything was ok. then they came in and 1 man vacuumed inside the vent while using a brush to remove mold/​dust. it took him 5 minutes and then they said they were done and leaving. they didn’t even get it clean or snake inside the vent! (they said the snake was inside the van and that’s only part of the deep cleaning.)
while the 1 guy was vacuuming, the other guy was still trying to sell me on a deep cleaning for $ 250, and then said he could give me his number and i could get it cheaper through him instead of the company. i asked him for a business card and he said it was in the van. his partner and him talked more in spanish and outside, then he came back and said he didn’t have a business card but wrote down his name and number for me.
overall, i can’t believe what a total ripoff/​scam this is and that i paid $ 60 for 5 minutes of vacuuming («negative pressure»). the whole time the guy kept asking if i live by myself and how much i pay for rent, i’m assuming to assess how much he could take me for.
after they left, i called the office number to ask what exactly was supposed to be included and the lady was very vague and said she would have to check into it and call me back the next day. she never did, of course.
avoid this place at all costs! i can’t believe living social (a reputable company) does business with them.

Why didn’t I check Unilocal before letting these guys in? Same story as Nancy H. — Green Clean telemarketing guy called. I’ve burned my finger before dealing with this company. The telemarketing guy said all the old people have been fired and the new guys will clean my vents for $ 29. I specifically asked if they will open all the vents in my home and brush clean it. The marketing guys said yes. They were supposed to show up between 10AM and 1PM today. I took off from work and waited and waited and waited. Finally, the guy (Fahima Osnat) calls me at 1:30PM and said that he’ll come over in 15 minutes. I asked him about the time and he said I was wrong and his phone shows 1:30PM to 2:30PM window. I asked him about cleaning of all vents — he said it was not included in this offer. Only one vent will be cleaned under negative pressure.
As soon as he walked in, he wanted to see my furnace. took picture of the insides of the motors and showed the blades. He said they have to be cleaned otherwise there is no use. He spoke in such a condescending tone to me about what a motor is and furnace is (minor fact: I am electrical engineer with a graduate degree with 22 years experience), that I finally couldn’t take it anymore. I asked him to close the furnace and leave.
Never do business with these guys … their business practices need some deep cleaning.

Terrible. Do Not Hire These Guys.
Update: They are also victimizing Bay Heating and Air Conditioning! When they initially called me, they told me that was the name of the company, which is a small locally run business that has good reviews, which was partially what induced me to agree to schedule the appt. SCAM!
Warning:
US Water (per the phone caller ID), and
Green Heat (per the customer service person)
They used some sort of telemarketing company to call me saying that I had used them last year and it was time for another cleaning. Um, no I haven’t and when I called them on it, the guy on the phone smoothly rolled into well in that case you must be due for a cleaning! They told me the company was called Bay Heating and Air Conditioning (which they are not). I was a sucker and thought, probably so as it’s been 3 years and I’ve never had my ducts cleaned, the company had good reviews (which I later discovered was a lie as they gave me the name of a company that wasn’t them), and they were offering a special introductory price of $ 29.95 so I thought why not.
Ugh, big mistake. First off, I told them they had to be here at 8am because I work from home and my calls start around 9am. They didn’t get here until 9:25. I had 5 minutes to set them up before my next call, but it was a mess b/​c the vacuum was so loud my clients could hear it and so I had to go to the back room. Then the tech kept interrupting me asking me to fill out the form and how was I going to pay and trying to upsell me on other services and products, like a lifetime washable filter. I told the guy that I was on a call! Are you kidding me? He wouldn’t leave the room and just stood there staring at me so I had to ask my client if I could call him back in 5. I told the tech I only wanted the cleaning that was promised to me in the special promo, which was furnace blower, all ducts, and dryer duct. Then his supervisor calls me and tries to get me to tack on additional services! WTF? The guy only vacuumed the bottom of my furnace for 3 minutes (which I could easily have done) and then he tried to leave! I had to remind him about the dryer duct, which I have no idea if he actually did b/​c I had to get back on the call! He never cleaned the air ducts that were in the rooms and he insisted I pay by cash or check, not credit card. Then he skedaddled out of there.
I called to complain and they said they would get back to me. Seriously?
And I’m only now discovered the depth of the scam, after I received bad service and was calling to complain, I’m uncovering that they’re working under several names. The guys that originally called me (whom I assume were telemarketers) said they were 1 company (a legit SF company called Bay Heating and Air Conditioning). The number that called me to confirm my appt is for US Water. The invoice given by the technician says 1^st Duct Cleaning, and when I called that number, they told me they were Green Heat. Who are these guys?
DO NOT USE these guys! SCAM!!!

They telemarketed me under Green Clean… $ 29 for whole house and furnace inspection. I went for it and consider myself pretty saavy. Yes, high pressure sales… deep cleaning, to taking apart the blower cleaning, to UV light upsell $ 1800, to getting gold rated air filters… no, no, and no. Although I did go for the blower cleaning cause even I can see it was really dirty… that price went from $ 495 to $ 250. It took all of 5 min… I dont think it was worth it.
As for the gold filters, OK these are a good investment, they are electrostatic filters and are washable. You can get them online for as low as $ 36 each, so don’t buy it from them.
Would I use thse guys again? No. I don’t believe that sucking thru a regular vacuum cleaner from the furnace gets all the vent outlets clean. The scam is the initial «prom deal» and they use the oppty to hard upsell you.

I would put 0 stars if that was an option here.
Bought two vouchers on Living Social, one for my house, one for my mother-in-law’s house. Figured I would have my house done first, then schedule an appointment for my MIL’s house.
First appointment was canceled on the day of due to technician injury on the job. Of course, this is after my husband had taken a day off from work to wait for the service. So duct cleaning rescheduled us for a second appointment on Sunday, which was nice so we wouldn’t have take another day off from work. Again, on the morning of the appointment, we get the call that the technician called in sick and would need to reschedule.
Needless to say, we asked for the full refund from Living Social and kindly asked Living Social to disassociate themselves with companies that have poor reviews like this air duct company.
As I understand, this company is based out of California and probably «set up» or «contracted» to smaller companies that run a one-​man act who are overwhelmed trying to handle the Living Social vouchers.

Living Social Tragedy.
Bought a living social coupon to have the ducts cleaned. Setup and initial impressions were fine but then the guy sat me down to say that i need to have all of the ducts «Deep Cleaned.» Fine. I understood that I have never done that and said that I would need time to think about it. After 10 minutes of high pressure sales I said Enough and asked him to finish the job and give me his card. He went outside and talked to his assistant and the only thing I heard was «The guy is stupid (referring to me).»
THANK YOU AND HAVE A GREAT DAY.
To say the least very unprofessional and I voiced my dissatisfaction.
To sum up: Unprofessional, High Pressure Sales, I probably clean my ducts better but just running the darn thing and blowing all the dust out of vents, then vacuum.

A couple years back I had the chicago branch clean my home in the northern suburbs i was very satisfied with the work that i recommened them to my Aunt in the Bay area. She is 70 years old and does not know how to use a computer so im writing on her behalf. I made an appointment for a free estimate scheduling was quick and easy my aunt even had to reschedule last minute and they were very accommodating. Jose gave my aunt a written estimate and she scheduled to have the work done a few weeks later. She was very satisfied with the work. I would totally recommend this company especially Jose. =)

Bought a living social coupon. On hold for an hour on the phone trying to schedule an appointment. well, they are so busy of course. Everyone in the city got to have their duct work clean everyday. Appointment is one month away.

I bought a living social voucher for this company, first off they sent a company called Environmental pure air. I read the reviews and never would have bought a voucher for that company!
My appointment window was from 10 – 1 and was supposed to receive call 30 minutes prior to their arrival. They called me at 2:30 and said they were waiting for me. Not only were they late but they did not call 30 minutes prior to arrival.
When they arrived they set everything up to clean the vents and then asked to see the furnace, he immediately said the furnace needed to be cleaned and that the job cost an additional $ 500 through the company. He offered to give me a discount and to pay him $ 250 cash. I kept refusing and he kept badgering us that the service was worthless without the furnace cleaning. He also tried giving us a sob story about his company sending him all over the place and not giving him enough time to do the jobs. How was that supposed to make me gain confidence in what he was doing?
We then asked for the camera inspection and he said he did not have a camera. We then asked for the dryer vent cleaning and again he said he could not because I have a flexible hose and the brush would rip it. they didn’t even use «negative pressure as they hooked their machine up to one and left all the other vents open…
So in the end 2 of the 3 services I paid for were not done and and the 3^rd 1 was not fully completed.
I am very dissatisfied with this experience and company.

A rude rip off. The company dispatches a duct cleaning guy who spends 10 minutes berating me about how my kids can be damaged by dirty ducts. I actually had to tell him to chill out. Then, six months later, we’re getting our furnace serviced, and the repairman (who we praised in Unilocal) tells us that furnace filters do all the work — duct cleaning’s not really necessary.

Annie contacted me thru Unilocal and stated that new mgmt had taken over, hired new crews and asked if they could correct the prior problem. We rescheduled a new appt and they performed everything as advertised. Pressure vacuumed the system and hand vac’d each register. Cleaned the dryer vent. Well done.

I bought a $ 59 coupon. The receptionist who scheduled my appointment was friendly and efficient. The technicians were quick. They suggested I get some other work done but It wasn’t in my budget so they didn’t push me. They did a good job and left. They were very professional.

After 25 years in this house, we finally opted for an air duct cleaning. About time, right? Didn’t know much about it; apparently, it’s typical to need more than a simple cleaning. But the $ 39 coupon got me going. So the guys came, and like the other reviewer on here, I was pretty put off when told the system would need the whole «brush» cleaning, etc. He was willing to just do the $ 39 deal, but said that wouldn’t do the job.
OK, so he had his special camera w/​scope, showing me, ooo, look, maybe scorpion bodies are down in those vents. Maybe worms? Spiders? I said, «Looks like carper shreds to me.» I wasn’t impressed. But I started researching online while the guys got started, and realized maybe it would be worth it to have the full job done.
NOT for $ 675, as his first quote suggested. I said, «Never mind then» to that. So he bumped it down to $ 475. I mean, OK, $ 275.
Got my husband in on the conversation; the guy finally quoted us $ 225. By then I’d found info online suggesting the job’s valued typically at between $ 500 and $ 1000. So. $ 225 sounded pretty good! We went for it; the guys seemed to do a thorough, decent job, and cleaned the dryer vent too. Even fixed the broken vent tubing for me.
I’d be curious what others’ experience is. I didn’t like the «bait and switch» routine, but I think this was a good deal :)