dishonesty doesn't pay

Posted Mon April 16, 2012 4:11 pm, by Michael A. written to Envirocair

I recently received a few coupons for HVAC vent cleaning from various companies in the area. As Envirocair was offering the service for $44, I asked my wife to go ahead and schedule an appointment. She called and the appointment was made.

On the afternoon of the appointment, I was driving home from work when my phone rang. My wife was in a panic, telling me that your technicians had told her our air handler was loaded with mold. I got home and bolted downstairs to investigate. As we are renting the property, I contacted my property manager's maintenance office and was told I had no promise from them that I'd be repaid should I spend the money to kill and clean out the mold. We opted to refuse additional service and your technicians left our home.

My property manager contacted me and explained that she would send someone from the HVAC service company they use to take a look. When this gentleman arrived, he opened the air handler and told me there was a good amount of dirt and some greasy handprints, but no mold. He then suggested your technicians were likely just trying to generate new business by taking advantage of a young couple. I was livid, but glad I had not paid Envirocair for anything but the vent cleaning.

Please encourage an atmosphere of honesty, not the practices I saw at my home that afternoon. Does the fact that Envirocair has lost my respect and the potential of my future business bother you? It should! Because one person tried to make your company more money, you've now lost money and some business. Seems like your plans backfired!

The fact that this letter you're reading is also available online and can do serious damage to the reputation of your business should also trouble you quite a bit. If it doesn't, I can see why you hire people like the technician you sent to my home. Dishonesty may fool some people, but your game was weak and now it's been exposed.

Envirocair has done me no favors and I'll do none in return.

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Re: dishonesty doesn't pay by Mel2007 Posted Thu April 19, 2012 @ 11:06 PM My husband is a HVAC guy and he has never come across mold (not saying it couldn't happen) but he has seen a lot of nasty stuff and mold has never been one. Also he is not allowed to go work on any rentals without permission from the landlord, some will have a contract with HVAC companies. Reply Re: dishonesty doesn't pay by PepperElf Posted Tue April 17, 2012 @ 3:33 PM If you have a property manager why didn't you go through them first? IIRC your rent covers maintenance - or it should. Reply Re: dishonesty doesn't pay by petgiraffe Posted Tue April 17, 2012 @ 2:27 PM As a landlord myself, if you arranged for service of ANY kind for your apartment without notifying me and getting my permission, even if you were paying for it, that would void your lease. At the very least I would not renew it when it came due. No one goes poking around on MY property without my knowledge and permission. Reply check the law by InsaneShadow Tue April 17, 2012 @ 4:30 PM If there is a problem by petgiraffe Wed April 18, 2012 @ 12:21 PM i think he meant that you're suppose to notify the property manager of the issues, vs trying to get them "fixed" on your own by PepperElf Wed April 18, 2012 @ 12:21 PM Re: dishonesty doesn't pay by jeishere Posted Tue April 17, 2012 @ 9:42 AM I'm curious of why you didn't ask to see the mold when the Envirocair technicians were there? I assume you didn't bolt down stairs to take them some lemonade, you went down there to see the mold. I'd be afraid that the HVAC guy didn't see the mold that the Envirocair guys did. Reply they showed me by InsaneShadow Posted Tue April 17, 2012 @ 9:59 AM I have no idea what mold would look like inside an air handler. Do you? They had me pretty convinced. Reply Looks Like Dust by McJohn Tue April 17, 2012 @ 10:24 AM Not really... by jeishere Wed April 18, 2012 @ 9:05 AM Even more by MA Bellamy Posted Tue April 17, 2012 @ 11:44 AM why are you handling having the cleaning of the ducts on a RENTAL property? The maintenance of the facility is always (to my recollection) the responsibility of the owner and/or manager. I wonder too if maybe the 2nd tech wasn't wrong because the property owner knows there is an issue and doesn't want to pay to fix it. Either way, someone is being shady. Reply