This is a pretty funny costume! It gave Neil and I a good laugh!
Sadly the air duct cleaning scammers have been out in full force on social media. Here are some tips to help identify the scammers from the legitimate companies like ours.
1) The often have poor English in their wording. Often the scammers are based out of other countries. Sometimes they even have Vancouver or local numbers.
2) They offer too good to be true rates. Remember, skilled labour is not cheap and cheap labour is not skilled!
3) If they use a system called RAM Air, RUN AWAY! There are some legitimate businesses that use this system. You will often see carpet cleaners with them. If their van is used for both carpet cleaning and air duct cleaning, you don't want them cleaning your air ducts. I'm not saying they aren't great at cleaning carpets or they aren't great people, they just might not have the skills or knowledge needed for proper air duct cleaning. Maybe they saw this system and thought it's affordable, looks easy enough and helps them add another service to their business. Again, I'm in no way trying to bash these companies....they likely just don't realize that they aren't doing the job correctly. It's the RAM Air company who is scamming people by selling this terrible system.
The problem with this way of cleaning your air handling system is, it doesn't really clean much. It may clean a few feet of your air ducts but there is not nearly enough pressure to get all the dust and debris out of the entire system. You air duct cleaners should be using a high powered duct cleaning vacuum that uses a 220V outlet, a gas powered portable vacuum or a truck mounted gas powered system. They should also be using duct cleaning rods that reach far down each duct. A shop vac or a vacuum that uses a standard outlet is just not good enough.
4) If you are on Vancouver Island and you see a social media post offering duct cleaning by a husband and wife team and the post was not made by myself (Stephanie Ballard), or Neil, IT IS A SCAM! It frustrates me so much, knowing that the wording from my posts are continuously stolen, changed slightly and reposted by scammers. It makes it hard for potential customers to know which ones are scams and which aren't. If you are ever unsure, tag me in the post and I'll tell you whether it is a scam or not.
5) They will usually try to get personal information from you so they can scam you or commit fraud with your info. They often also try to take a deposit and then no one will show up to do the work.
6) They can't answer your detailed questions because they do not know the job. I LOVE the questions and will answer them all (or I'll ask Neil!).
7) They may actually send someone or some company to your home for the services you requested. Whomever shows up, is going to do a terrible job and you might not even realize it. Often these scammers are lead generation companies who sell your information to whoever pays for it. When hiring an air duct cleaner, you are trusting that we are actually doing a good job like we say we are. This is why it's so important to do your research on the company you wish to hire. Ask all the right questions.
These scammers are affecting our business and probably others as well. If you see these scam posts, please make sure to comment SCAM and report them immediately. We all need to work together to put a stop to this nonsense!
~ Stephanie