Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/28/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am extremely unhappy with the duct cleaning that was performed at my home on March 9, 2023. Within a very short time after the duct cleaning, I had brown dust coming out of all the vents in my house, which covered every flat surface and the window shades. Additionally, obviously, we were also breathing this dirt.Prior to the duct cleaning, no one ever came and looked at my ductwork to determine whether it could be cleaned or not. No one from Fresh Air Technologies ever told me that some duct work is too old to be cleaned or that there are certain portions of the ducts that can never be cleaned, due to fragility. I only found this out when I began researching where the brown dirt could be coming from. When I called Fresh Air Technologies to let them know about this situation, they sent an employee out to view the dirt. Although he took the filthy air filter with him, no one ever contacted after that. The only reason for the brown dirt he said, might be that my fireplace was not sealed. Since the fireplace is sealed, that is not the problem.I paid Fresh Air Technologies $844.53 to clean duct work that I have now had to completely replace less than 3 months later. I provided Fresh Air Technologies with notice of the duct replacement in case they wanted to see the ducts before they were removed and, although they responded that they wanted to see them, I never heard back from them.A company calling itself Fresh Air Technologies should certainly be knowledgeable about the duct work they are paid to clean and has an obligation to inform its customers if the work cannot be done. To sell duct cleaning for ducts that are uncleanable is fraud. I would like a full refund.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/17/2023

  We are sorry that ****************** has had a negative experience.

  ********************** system appeared aged upon inspection. As duct cleaners, it is not our place to advise if HVAC systems should be replaced or not. It is very common for clients to call us to clean the duct work when replacing the system is not an option. That said, we would refuse to clean a system if we observed tears or perforations in the duct & plenum lines. We did not see evidence of this before cleaning. As a part of our process, we take photos before & after cleaning to document our effort. As you can see in the attached photos, the system was extremely dirty. The after photos show a very clean system. We are limited on the amount of photos we are allowed to post but we have many more that bolsters our case. We took great care in cleaning ********************** ductwork to lessen the chance for damage. She did not mention or provide proof that the duct work was torn or damaged after the cleaning. Her decision to replace the ductwork was not the result of our effort.
  

  On May 17th, 2023 ********************************* from our Company responded to ********************** complaint about dust "blowing" out of her ductwork after cleaning. We examined the ductwork and opened the plenum lines again and could not find a source area for the dust inside of her home. We offered a few suggestions as to where the source of the dust is coming from (open slats around the fireplace, degrading attic insulation) She contacted us because of a dust problem inside of her home. We surmised that what she was seeing was residual dust blowing around inside of the living area.

  As a matter of good faith, we would consider a partial reimbursement to ******************. This is not an admission of wrongdoing. We like ****************** and we can see her side of things as well. This is our 21st year in business and have maintained an A+ Rating with the BBB throughout our relationship. You can't get this far without understanding things from the perspective of your clients.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/18/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  

  I am willing to accept a partial refund, perhaps half, as I do believe this is a responsible company.  I used them in the past to fix my crawlspace and they work was well done.

  Thank you.

  - ***********************