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BUSTED! Scammers Exposed
We've all seen the coupons and advertisements promoting "whole neighborhood air duct cleaning for $49.95," and heard the horror stories from consumers who got taken by these companies. Now the national media is taking notice.
NADCA worked with Dateline NBC over the past six months to expose a scam operation and the company's unethical business practices. Tune in to NBC this Sunday, January 9 at 7 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) for a special two-hour Dateline as reporter Chris Hansen exposes these frauds and helps educate the general public about the HVAC cleaning industry. (Please note that the segment on air duct cleaning will be at the end of the second hour.)
NADCA president Buck Sheppard served as the industry expert and will be featured in this report. This Dateline episode will show "hidden camera" scenes uncovering instances of brazen scam artists preying on uninformed consumers.
NBC has agreed to provide a link to the NADCA Web site once the episode has aired. It is NADCA's hope that after this episode airs, consumers will be better informed about how to spot these scams. Please alert your personnel that this episode will be airing so they can be prepared to respond to questions from your customers. Suggestions for addressing customers' concerns include:
- Direct customers to www.NADCA.com, where they can quickly get educated by reviewing our videos, such as the NADCA Guide to Proper Air Duct Cleaning.
- Recommend that customers review NADCA's brochure, "What You Need to Know About Air Duct Cleaning," located at http://www.nadca.com/download/Residential_Brochure_060507.pdf
- Let customers know that if they are going to have their HVAC system cleaned, the EPA recommends that the service provider follow NADCA standards. (If you have not reviewed it recently, the EPA document "Should You Have the Air Ducts in Your Home Cleaned?" has been updated as of January 4, 2011.You may want to review this document, at: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/airduct.html.)
- Take a moment to review your company's policies and practices - do some refresher training so your personnel are prepared to respond with confidence to your customers' questions.
Special thanks go to NADCA member Steve Wladysh of Hi Tech Duct Cleaning Inc., out of Hamilton, Ohio, who contributed to this project by having his team come in to do a proper system cleaning, taking care of the mess left behind by the scammers. Big thanks also to NADCA Director Pete Haugen of Vac Systems International, Burnsville, Minnesota, for stepping up on short notice to provide the remote visual inspection equipment used for this project.
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NADCA Featured in Angie's List
The consumer referral service Angie's List is also taking an interest in the scammers in the industry, with an article titled "Beware of Air Duct Cleaners who "Blow and Go." This article, and a related article, "3 Red Flags when Hiring for Air Duct Cleaning," can be found at http://magazine.angieslist.com/air-duct-cleaning/articles/beware-of-air-duct-cleaners-who-blow-and-go.aspx. Executive director John Schulte has worked with Angie's List on several occasions and is quoted in the article.
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