Air Duct Cleaning Scam Exposed!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 เม.ย. 2023
- Have you guys seen these Air Duct Cleaning posts?! They seem to be everywhere on Facebook. Who's behind them? Is it a scam? Will you really get your ducts cleaned if you call them? I take you behind the curtains in this video and I think you'll be pretty surprised.
Thanks to SocialCatfish.com for the great reverse image search tool.
Come hang out with me on Instagram: / pleasantgrn
And on Twitter: / pleasantgreen - บันเทิง
I run a local FB group and for a year+, I've had a policy: No Air Duct adverts. I honestly didn't know they were a scam until now, but now I feel better about rejecting them!
If you didn't know they were scammers why were the adverts banned? 😹
Cool
Yeh yeh
@@starcherry6814 scammers post the same thing everywhere it gets annoying
@@starcherry6814 lmaooooo you thought this was gonna be your “gotcha” moment but now u just got strangers pokin at ya for bein ridiculous😂
I had a call one day and he used my name and said he was from a duct cleaning company. He said that he had spoken with my husband and just wanted to confirm that someone would be home the next day between 12 - 4 so they could clean the ducts. I said "my husband arranged this?" He said yes and that he agreed to have the $350 payment for the technician. I said "well then I guess he will be here waiting for you." He said great. I then said can you please tell my husband when you see him tomorrow that I would like to meet him because I'm not married that I know of and am very interested in meeting him. 😂
I would have thought he would have given up here but he actually continued the call and said that he could do the cleaning for me if I was interested. I said no. He asked why. I said because we started this relationship based on a lie and I don't think that is a very healthy relationship when I can't trust you. Have a great day! 😂😂😂
Wow great catch!
Using a first name as a last name is a lesson from this video. 😉🤣
maybe he is your husband :)
I bet you had a good laugh out of that, but in the future be careful about telling strangers that you're a single woman, especially if you're also living alone. There's another, more sinister reason for such calls, like robbers and other criminals looking for vulnerable targets.
@@Dr_V I didn't say anything more than I was not married. I know better... 😂
I'm from Pakistan, and I've noticed a significant increase in scam call centers here. I'm even aware of the locations where many of these call centers operate. I briefly worked in one of these offices at night, but after learning about their practices, I realized it's considered haram (prohibited in Islam). Unfortunately, there are also similar scams related to braces and internet services that are becoming more prevalent in Pakistan
Im curious, since its considered haram, wouldn't courts and police take it more seriously since Pakistan is such a religious society? Seems like something that would get lots of backlash.
@@imgamerful The police and courts are often considered a joke in Pakistan. It's easy to bribe them. Even if your mobile is stolen and you have the exact location of the snatchers, they won't look into the matter because they are receiving bribes from them
@@pak2y1928 Hello from North Carolina, USA. I'd say that with the government and the media and Big Tech and Big Corporations in the USA, all conspiring together with the Billionaires with unknown names who are working to rule the world, we are nearly in the same position as Pakistan. We still have a shot at saving ourselves but the outcome is uncertain. The shame of having the fool in the White House is unbearable. We are no longer the land of the free. Thank you for your posts.
@@kathym6603would you rather have a dictator-want-to-be Trump in the Whitehouse? 😅😂
Tell these guys they are going to HELL or the Mouslem equlivant.
I worked in HVAC for 25+ years. If you live in a newer house, don’t have dogs or cats, and haven’t done any major remodeling (something that would kick up a lot of dust and dirt), chances are that you don’t need your ducts cleaned. If you’re in an older house and have pets, you may want to have them cleaned about every 5 years. It’s very easy to find local reputable HVAC companies that offer this service. Some carpet cleaning companies, like Stanley Steamer, also do duct cleaning. A reputable company will usually send someone to give you a quote before scheduling an actual cleaning. HVAC companies that don’t do duct cleaning can often recommend someone. Keep local and vet any company you don’t know, like checking with the Better Business Bureau.
What is considered a newer house? What is considered an older house? 🤔
Thanks for your post.
I didn’t want to take a chance- I had mine replaced.
@@sylviagreenburgmodern. 10years or less. Also, if you have ceiling, high wall vents; chances are they’re pretty clean. Floor vents on the other hand get extremely dirty
@@vince2997 Thanks for the information. Really appreciate it.
@@sylviagreenburg No problem. It cost a pretty penny to get air ducts clean and I hate seeing people get ripped off. All together- unless you’re autoimmune compromised, ducts don’t need cleaned. Remember, you’re breathing in fresh air after it passes through the filter, you’re not breathing in your RETURN vents which they will show you in before & after photos. (Just keep that in mind) 😎
I own a duct cleaning company in Indiana and am constantly battling these con artists ripping people off and hijacking our name. We actually had one arrested in 2020 as the customer called us to complain about the fact we only "take cash". Once she realized it wasn't actually our company she panicked, I called the local sheriff and he blocked him in her drive until we could get there. These guys are awful. This particular man had 5 warrants out for his arrest for fraud. Stay smart people, do your homework. Thanks for this video.
Are u in NW Indiana?
I bought a house in Dyer & need ducts cleaned
If I hadn’t worked in the hvac field, in the office, I would have no clue. They use your lack of knowledge against you. We have too many company’s that are scammers & not licensed properly but the govt does nothing to stop them. We have another company using our name & they are trash. Always harder for the good guys.
So you’re a scammer? YOU DONT EVEN NEED YOUR DUCTS CLEANED
Sounds like a load of bullshtt to me. If he had five warrants, the sheriff would likely have just arrested him not "blocked him in until you got there". And if they did what they were paid to do, then nobody got "ripped off". As for your trademark infringement issues, that is a civil matter. Nobody is smarter for watching and believing anything said in this video, or your comment.
Haha, these days i just assume all air duct cleaners are frausters.
As someone who used to actually clean air ducts..I've straight up told folks you don't need your ducts cleaned, even when I'd lose money when I did. Can't stand scammers
What kind of business would you recommend that would legitimately clean dryer vents/ducts?
@@SilencedByTH-cam Some local HVAC companies do duct cleaning services, or can recommend you to a company they partner with for the service.
IMO as an ex-HVAC installer the service isn’t worth it. Depending on how old your ducts are, they could have holes or rips in them or not have good seals. You’d be better off saving for a duct replacement.
@Andromeda H If your duct guys aren't hooking up a 6 inch+ vacuum hose directly to your basement trunk lines (or right above furnace) then they aren't actually cleaning. Real duct cutting a circle in the duct work for a vacuum line, a large one. Then the tech will go to every heater vent first (or air returns depending on tech order) and blast air down each vent so all dust and dirt goes to trunk lines. (Trunk lines are the larger ducts, branch lines are what goes to each individual vent) once everything is blasted down Into the trunks, you will drill small holes in trunk lines in basement and blow all the debri you collected closer to large vacuum. At the end you clean up and debri around heat exchanger, and furnace, then fix up any holes you drill.
When you ask what the duct cleaning entails and they don't say something along these lines then I wouldn't accept their work.
Scammers are the best for real 😂
I do the same. I only charge for ducts that need cleaning with a $299 minimum
I love that you bring up the “kindly“! That is one of the many clear signs
Andrew Ryan was the OG
I swear it said you had 11 replies
Only show one
TH-cam can you kindly explain lol
With all due respect is kindly the national catchphrase
As pastor says this in his texts
0:07 my father is the man in the blue shirt holding the bag. He has a legitimate air duct cleaning business and his photos are constantly stolen for these scams. He mostly gets customers through referrals and some Facebook advertising so luckily it hasn’t affected his business. He has a lot of social proof on his business Facebook page which helps. His customers let him know when they see a scammer using his pictures. Unfortunately they are so prevalent that it’s impossible to get them all taken down. It just makes me sad to see my fathers face being used by these scammers in order to trick people.
@@BlackLion85 not really.
Like I said my father gets a lot of business through local referrals from previous customers. He does all the jobs himself so people know him. He also has a ton of reviews left by his customers on his Facebook business page.
The name in the post over my father’s picture is also not my father’s name and his business name is also not visible in the picture.
This video is talking about scammers so of course stealing pictures for these posts is not surprising behavior coming from a scammer.
I want people to know about these scams so that they can avoid them. I have personally heard some of my father’s customers talk about how they were previously scammed by these “air duct cleaners” and how happy they were with my father’s work.
He takes pictures throughout the process to show his customers before and after pictures of their vents. He will show them larger things that he finds in their vents like toys, construction materials or tools, or any of the other weird things that he has found. My father is a very kind man and he wants people to be reassured that he is doing his absolute best to ensure that their vents are clean.
I even showed my father this video because he was just as curious as I was about the reason behind all of these “air duct cleaning” posts that kept stealing his pictures. Then my father shared it on his business page so that his customers could also be informed and inform their friends and family. The more people that hear about this scam the less people will be scammed by it.
I hope he still wont get confused with these scammers by other people
Thats Dope fr!
This is crazy. I work for a company that does furnace cleaning. I had no idea there was this whole other side to the market.
Sure you do buddy…
@@smalle trust and believe. I wish I didn't
Are you arobot from Pakistan?
not as crazy as using comic sans. Can you spot it at the 0:15? 🤣
It's not a side of furnace cleaning any more than refund scams are a side of the retail business. They are liars and not representing the actual industry
I’ll never understand the gall scammers have to be so rude, it baffles me that someone clearly in the wrong can be so disrespectful
respectful ≠ scamming
Everyone who they can't scam is an asshole. They want greed and lack a moral compass.
Look at it from a perspective that ignores your current morals
Because they believe we westerners fall for it?
I suspect it's a combination of narcissism and desperation.
They are rude because there is no punishment. The US isn’t going to go in and arrest a Pakistani, Nigerian or an Indian scammer. And the respective countries aren’t going to expedite scammers.
Furthermore, they aren’t legitimate business so they have no reason to be nice. They’ll curse you out. Hang up and call someone else.
All of these together, tells you why they aren’t nice. They don’t have to be.
Ive told the callers, " you were just here yesterday and did a great job". They pause and say thanks and hang up.
I remember running into an air duct cleaning scam 10 years ago. I can’t believe this is still going on.
New generation, new ignorance….this is what all industries count on.
Pakistan and India still exists sooooo yeah, scams still ongoing.
@@notfiveo Sure, $75 service call fee. Don't pay it? Lien on your house and the property within it till you do.
Yep, been around for a while but they were calling before. I think they realized most people wouldn't take the bait (heavy accent and all!).
My daughter's experience with this kind of company in Wisconsin was as follows: They gave a quote of around $250 after asking about the house size. They have the people come over and they do the "service" which is only vacuuming out each vent in the house without cleaning the ducts at all, and they say that there was more work than they thought, and up-charged her to $500. The techs only vacuumed the very end of the ducts with no additional air or heavy suction going through the ducts and wanted $500 for doing a small 1500 square foot house.
This was my experience. I had no idea it was a scam, since my stepdad recommended them to me.
I had a call once, they asked how many rooms were in the house, I said 14, they asked how many floors, I said 4 and a half, they said goodbye *click :D
tbh the price is pretty cheap compared to a plumber who just had to replace a tiny section of pipe on a kitchen sink where the seal had broken & the pipe had clogged - $450
of course it was a "specialty part" that he just so happened to have one left of.
same for me different number but sae upsell
@@DragoNate plumbers and HVAC companies…
They know they’ve got you over a barrel so it’s easier for them to become corrupt.
This is why I teach myself and DIY, whenever possible (or, at minimum, teach myself more than the average consumer, so that I at least know when they’re blowing smoke).
My Mother (dementia impaired) let a stranger in who said he could clean her air ducts for $135. Luckily, I happened to be there. He walked around the condo counting ducts, got all sad and said since we had so many he would have to make the price$1875. I asked if he really was going to clean the built-in stereo speakers. Fortunately, he got mad and left.
LMAO
@@privateaccount9835that's bullshit,300 to 400 at most
@@privateaccount9835 -- You're a duct cleaning scammer aren't you?
Being a retired A/C mechanic, I agree. I had a commercial high-rise building that had 3' diameter supply ducts that were wide open when they sprayed a coating that covered the steel and concrete girders and the inside of that 3' duct. Since flex-duct became a real popular item, the brush the duct cleaners use will probably DESTROY the inside liner of any flex-duct.
You have to use a softer bristle brush on them so they don't rip.
I just had mine done, and they use a pressurized air hose, not brushes. One vent is hooked to a vacuum, and they blast the others with air.
@@AshleySpeaks4U, hmm. I can only imagine how many PSI it would take to dislodge dust and debris from the inside of ducts. It would seem they'd blow before they got clean.
Meanwhile, in my shop, I have three dust collectors with little 8" lines. I have to run 3 and 5 horse motors to move enough air to keep the ducts flowing. NO plug in vacuum is going to build that kind of pressure and no plug in air compressor would pump out enough air to do it either.
lol my heart dropped for a second going into this video. We just bought a home that was 40 years old and heard about duct cleaning. We were glad we did it because the guys said the ducts were very dirty and had already managed to fill up our brand new filter on our brand new HVAC, which makes since because the ducts were probably never been cleaned before. But this was a small family owned business based in Atl.
I had a legitimate air duct cleaning business. I never had to use social media or advertising of any kind. My work came from word of mouth. You do good work, you get referrals. I was constantly having to explain to people how the scammers worked and how they did sub par work. There's money to be made our there. Just do it honestly and you'll never have any problems.🙂
I also do duct cleaning, I’ve gone to neighborhoods to work and the next day several of this gentleman‘s neighbors called me asking for quotes. It’s such a simple thing you don’t need social media you just need to put in good work.
@@benjaminwurtz1811 exactly.🙂
The problem of course is, all air duct cleaning is a scam. It's totally unnecessary. I've dealt with a few very honest HVAC guys, and all of them told me the same thing. If a person vacuums their house and changes their air filter regularly, there is no need for air duct cleaning. Any issues with air ducts would quickly be found by an experienced HVAC professional. So basically, you were providing quality useless service and you most likely know it.
@@Bear_Armsright cause mice, rats, bugs, etc have never gotten into hvac cause yanno filter!!!!😂 and kids NEVER put stuff in.... oooooo and that filter is at the beginning of every return rightttttt... Yeah no.😅
sadly these scam things put a local ma and pa duct cleaning company out of business.. they started using their name and photos.. the locals all knew who they were and kept them in business as long as they could but I guess when covid hit they hung up the hat.
I used to work for a carpet cleaning company that also offered air duct cleaning services. One time I was cleaning this lady's house and asked if she wanted her air ducts done while I was there. She said someone had recently come and done it, so I looked in one and it was totally dirty. I asked how long it took and she said about 45 minutes, and that's when I realized she got scammed. I felt bad so I ended up doing it for her for free lol. I just wanna say, air duct cleaning is a real thing that should be done every 5 years or so. Just make sure you get someone local, and don't use the worst place in the world to conduct any kind of business: Facebook.
But how will I sell my used electronics?
@@SolidSonicTH Ha ha the only thing facebook is actually good for.
Every 5 years? I guess if you run your HVAC system without a filter or use those cheap fiberglass filters, then maybe. But when the return filter is fitted properly so that air is not leaking around it, and you are running a merv 8 or higher filter, you may never need your duct's cleaned. After my new unit was put in, 4 years later I looked at the inside coils and duct, still clean as the day they were put in. On air conditioning, I have the fan run an extra 5 minutes after the compressor cuts off to help dry the moisture off the coils, that's a function in the programmable thermostat, and it keep the coils from getting mold/mildew on them. I have looked at a UV light, but haven't had an issue since the fan runs extended.
@@stevem1081 I'm a new construction plumbing contractor (semi-retired now). In 1986 I bought (and plumbed) a brand new house... the house I live in today. In 1987 my AC friend installed an in-line "dryer and filter" in my AC system when I relocated my condenser. He said this system will last forever now. I replace the air filter twice a year no matter what. It's May of 2023 now and I thought I'd take a look at my coil in the attic....bright and shiny like new....and I buy the less expensive filters. (expensive ones can be too restrictive) So 36 yrs old..... heats and cools just fine.
I do my own. So I know it's done properly!
I stumbled upon this video as I am looking for air duct cleaning services.Your investigative work is very impressive😃👍🏼 Great job exposing these scammers. Thank you 🙏🏼
Thank you for sharing this and investigating! I have an air ducts cleaning business and we have had people use our photos on those scam sites. Literally 5-7 seconds into your video, I saw my picture!!!! I am holding a clear bag and have a Navy hat on. It’s crazy and hopefully people don’t confuse me with the photo! I’m in Murfreesboro TN area
These scams are so out of control, I literally had to to deal with this type of scam the other day, keep up the good work! ❤
Thank you for talking about this and diving deeper!!! I was always wary of it those posts cuz I found the same wording and photos in other groups.
Thanks for making this video! I actually had an appointment set up after an ad was placed on my local FB group. They set us up for a Sunday which I thought was weird but if they wanted to work weekends that’s up to them. Sunday came but they didn’t so we messaged them to find out why they didn’t come but didn’t hear back until Monday morning. They said their tech was injured, sent a picture of his injured hand and wanted to reschedule but now I’m afraid to. Thinking I might just clean my own vents.
I used to get calls from people claiming to offer Duct cleaning services.
I would tell them I don't have DUCKS but do have a CAT and a DOG, the silence was hilarious.
When I was a kid my cousin prank called the company Hooked on Phonics. He said "hooked on phonics worked for me, and my dog and my cat, but you have to pull their tails!"
@@Eyes0penNoFear I dont get it
@@flavoredmints8094 put a book in front of the animal, then pull its tail and it makes noise as if it's reading along.
They had to explain it to me too 🤷
Love it
Another amazingly detailed and explained video! Thankyou!
Side note* Not enough people thank creators like you for doing this, yes TH-cam pay your and you have membership option, but for the most of us your providing all this for free, both helpful and entertaining content! Thanks Ben!
I appreciate it. 😊
@@PleasantGreen They also run this same scam posing as independent WiFi/CableTV/Satellite installers. I catfished a guy pretending to be local to me pitching installation promos but Grabify had him in Pakistan. He started cursing me out when I asked if he or I was covering the cost of the flights from Pakistan? 😂
Great comment Oliver.
@@PleasantGreen I think you did not understand the real scam here. If they operate from the countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh etc. they do not need a lot of operating cost. They can act like a call center. All they would do is that they would hire the guy for you and they take the commission. And also Purple duct, blue duct etc. are just the names they use in the US. All are running from the same place but in different names. If you complain about one of them, you might see new companies like Green Duct, Red duct. All are running from the same place at a very very low cost exploiting the cheap work force in these countries.
what a LABRYNTH OF EFFERY! KUDOS to you for taking this on, producing a vid and sharing your findings. THANKS!
I am aware of the scams going on. I never realized that the air duct cleaning scam was around. Thank goodness for people like you and Pierogi!
I grew up in Ontario, Canada and as a kid, the ONLY spam calls we ever got were these stupid duct cleaning calls. Im amazed they are still going on today and have expanded to the internet. I got a call from one last month and they still insisted I need the service even when i said i rent and have no central heat or air ducts.
1) Don't worry we can all tell you're from Ontario cause of the mask obsession.
2) I used to be a duct tech, and I did a damn good job for people, treated every single home like it were my own, I even insisted at the end, clients came downstairs and looked into their duct work, I showed them everything, it took me 2 - 3 hours to clean a house with my partner. I made a living doing this.
3) moral being they're not all bad or scammers. Duct cleaning paid my way through University.
@@En1337Rich awe still got the cry babies crying about the masks. I bet you've got a fk trudeau flag welded on back of your dodge ram going around town 5km/h too. 😂
There is a new scam now but its in Chinese so I can't really understand what they are selling
@@bensterWasHere 😂😂😂
@@En1337Rich Masking seems to make more sense than duct cleaning to me.
Started using an MERV13 filter for pandemic mitigation. This prevents the ducts from getting dirty.
My family has been getting phone calls for air duct cleaning from these guys for years. They always had the telltale signs of a scam, but I never knew what their angle was. Thank you for doing this research! I was so curious.
My dad always replies as if he was a duct cleaner too. "No, I can sell YOU duct cleaning! You want duct cleaning?"
Duct cleaning.... if I ever crossed this I would just ask how high he wants my ass inn the air while cleaning it. 😂
they could be trying to apply surveillance - people do not know this is going on --
YES! I say that all the time. If someone tells you to "kindly" do something and they aren't a sheriff in a western, then it is most likely a scam. I swear, we could block 99% of all spam and scams if we filter out messages with "kindly" in them.
Thank you for the duct cleaning scam alert!
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
A properly installed HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter will greatly reduce or even eliminate the need for duct cleaning. The pleated design allows much greater air flow while still blocking smaller particulates. For example, a 20”x20”x1” standard fiberglass filter has 400 square inches of surface area, but a 20”x20”x4” HEPA filter has 3,200 square inches of surface area.
Thanks for sharing!
I am a HVAC Technician going on 8 years now. Duct cleanings are pretty much always a scam. at least in the state I live in "Texas" most ducts are whats called flex duct and they are made up of primarily plastic inner liner with insulation around it and a outside liner and if you clean flex duct it can rip holes and destroy the flex duct with the brushes used to stir up the dust inside them. Now if you do what you are supposed to do as a home owner and change your filters every 30 days (for 1") 60 days for (2") 6 months for (4-5") you should not have dust bunnies like they show in the pictures as your return air is being filtered and your supply air has positive pressure mean it will blow anything in the duct out into your house. Now mobile homes and floor vents are a different story as they can accumulate dust and debris that fall down them which is probably what we're seeing in these pictures they are showing, now in that case they are usually metal so cleaning them is worth doing if they are extremely dirty like that. Also like 70% of contractors you see advertising on FB market place are scams. The best advice I can give you from a Technicians standpoint that has worked for many companies including fortune 500 companies the best way to find a good reputable company is to find a small family owned company that has been in that area for a longtime. DONOT go for companies like A #1 Air or one hour air yes they can get to you next day or even same day but you will pay 30-50% higher prices for even the most common parts then you would've paid if you simple went with a small family owned business. Remember if they have big advertisement expect a big bill because they will charge you more to pay for those advertisements. Also big companies like that pay their tech as commission base pay so the only way they make money is to sell you something you don't actually need. We call them sales techs because they can't fix anything they just sell you a new one.
"change your filters every 30 days (for 1") 60 days for (2") 6 months for (4-5")" You might should wanna read up on air filters, pahdnuh!
So glad you covered this! I am so irritated by the unrelenting calls. Once, I ended up telling the guy I don't live in a house. He started laughing and asked for more information. I told him I had a box, and he could clean that before hanging up. It seems to have slowed down in recent months, but it's so obnoxious.
I'm an admin for a Facebook group and we get plenty of fake profiles that want to be added as members. I never understood the duct cleaning scam angle until you explained it so thank you.
Fantastic work. Neighborhood group admin and it's amazing the number of these and the maturity of the profiles they use.
It's great that you're covering this, I kept getting cold calls here in Ottawa and the guys sounded like he was from Pakistan and it was literally probably the guy being referenced by the two guys who were arrested. This was happening awhile ago but it's crazy how small the world is sometimes.
Yeah I get those calls too soooooo annoying! It’s fun to talk to them though. Some swear at me when I call them out it’s so funny
Ben...of course you are getting cold calls.... you are in *Ottawa* and it's April. Sorry, I couldn't resist.
@@macforme 1 I don’t get the joke. And two I don’t live in Ottawa sorry
@@jessicas2379 My comment starts with the name *Ben* who does live in Ottawa.
As a fellow Ottawa resident (haha, cold calls…), I haven’t had many duct cleaning calls of late, mostly just calls from “credit card company” about various imaginary purchases on some un-named card. But I can usually tell when it _is_ a duct cleaner call because there’s almost always an electronic “bloop” just as the system connects me with an operator, so as soon as they come on the line I ask, “Duct cleaning?” They confirm, and I hang up. Don’t know if they think I’m psychic or what, but I like to think I’ve left them a little baffled.
Thank you for this video! I just moved into a brand new community and I was wondering why the hell we were getting so many ads for that, so many scams lately! I like your smirk as you were outing the scammers too, job well done!
Unfortunately one of these air duct scammers made it into our HOA Facebook group so I thought they were legit. They gave me quote of $199, 2 guys showed up in an old mini-van, barely spoke English, and began work (1 just smoked outside). I was working from home and within 5 minutes they showed me a photo of tons of lint and said we have mold and need $3200 worth of cleaning. I said no. They said they would do the regular cleaning and then demanded to be paid $400 (apparently we have two duct systems-so they needed to charge double. I said you quoted $199, they said we are not leaving without full payment because we will get fired. I tried to call the “owner” and no answer. I said we will wait for the owner to call me back and they got angry. After no call back the 2 guys getting angrier by the minute. I was home alone with a special needs child, and I just needed them out of my house, so I paid them what they demanded. When hubby got home and I showed him the photos, he said that isn’t even our house. Then of course they disappeared off Facebook. The whole thing felt so scummy-or should I say scammy. NEVER AGAIN!
I wish you had called the police on them.
I have been investigating them myself as they have been popping up all over Facebook groups and I have had two of the reps send companies out and I found a lot of the same information:
They claim to be in one state while servicing another.
They sent out a different group each time but the deal they offer never matches what the tech who shows up does for example both companies that came out to perform the service tried to show me pictures of my AC System right after it was serviced a week before by an AC Tech and the pictures they showed me were of a completely different system with mold and other issues that did not match the pictures I had from my AC Tech and when I pointed that out they said were the wrong pictures and they were sorry.
Apparently the goal is to show you pictures of issues to get you to agree to their deep cleaning at 3 times the original amount but when you refuse they then will not do the original cleaning and claim that was not part of the service you got even though the post states it. (AKA they will only clean one duct instead of all of them which they simply do with a shop vac attempting to vacuum them out quickly not actually go through the ducts and clean them properly)
At this point I have over 30 pictures of different ad's and have just been pointing it out when I see the posts, but you had more luck tracking them down before they came out where as I tried seeing if they actually send someone out who doesn't attempt the bait and switch scam as everyone else posting about it felt the same way.
I will have to point out your video as well now on the posts as they seem to post every day it seems.
Great work on this, glad I am not the only one curious about these weird posts.
Excited to see a new video about something I have real experience with! Worked about a year for a decent sized (for a small town) local business that specialized in mold and water remediation. Most of the time our air duct vacuum was used to cleanup after we did a large restoration job, though we did have certification to offer it as an independent service. Super useful for those with allergies or especially for dryer vents. Can't stress clearing those out enough, fire hazards are no joke! Your advice holds very true when vetting any contractors work. If they are actually qualified to provide the service there shoulde be ZERO issue with providing verifiable proof.
Great video as always! Appreciate the time and effort you put into creating them.
Great video. On a side note, I'm actually a duct cleaner. You don't need duct cleaning if air quality is your main concern. Just replace your furnace filter and you're golden. If that doesn't help then get an air purifier. There's even an EPA study done on duct cleaning's effect on air quality and it had no effect. Technically, residential ducts are hardly designed to be cleaned. Some builders may think about making it easier to clean the ducts or make them harder to get blocked unintentionally. There's still a purpose for duct cleaning which is to clear any build up in the duct and which is mainly for efficiency. And if your ducts aren't blocked or congested, it will even take 3-5 years to get a good build up inside, maybe even decade/s if you keep your house clean. If mold inside the duct is the concern, there are sprays we apply in the ducts.
Quote "And if your ducts aren't blocked or congested, it will even take 3-5 years to get a good build up inside", so I don't understand this conflicting statement. Most buildings exist for multiple times more than 3-5 years so could potentially have buildup. However I agree about air quality, that if you have duct buildup in a properly designed system, it's only happening because it's recirculating the contamination already on the premises, and failing to filter it out.
That's very interesting to know! These scammers often say that dust and other nasties build up in your ducts and can be harmful to health when breathed in consistently overtime.
@@doseofthought3922 They might not be scammers so long as they do a good job. They might just be misinformed. For the sake of transparency I even tell this to customers but a lot of them insist on proceeding with the cleaning, we even have customers that have it done every year.
@@stinkycheese804 Pardon the terrible writing and thank you for the insight. What I meant was "if your ducts aren't _already_ blocked or congested".
I'm in a neighborhood FB group and we have these fake profiles lying about where they live to try to join the group. The funniest thing I found when researching was an entire FB group composed of these people! It was a mix of standard duct cleaning scam posts (trying to sell to each other?), those who had gathered leads looking for duct cleaners in certain locations to fill them, and people selling bundles of fake profiles.
Damn, I just got two calls from one of these. They tried to sell their service to me but I didn't need it and declined. They called again the next day and when I said they already tried to call me they hung up on me. This is the first time I've seen or heard of this so I appreciate the video.
Wow! Totally different than what I was expecting. Back in 2011, I used Groupon to purchase a $99 duct cleaning prior to the arrival of our daughter. For $99 we got not one, not two, but EIGHT different techs in three vehicles at our house. All eight were dressed in suits, and began by using a high tech device to measure the “mold spore content” of the air pushing through our ducts. Unsurprisingly, our air was so toxic that we were given two options- pay $1900.00 for a full service cleaning, including disassembly and sterilization of our furnace, or having the company contact the EPA, which would “likely result in the foreclosure of our home.”
Continued refusal of the $1900 charge got it lowered to $199.00. We were told the full service would take 5 hours, meaning each of those well dressed mold experts were cleaning our ducts for a whopping $5 per hour.
As I escorted them out of our home, they contacted the EPA, advising they had a “code red situation.”.
Oddly enough, the EPA never showed up at our home, or even attempted to contact me to advise that I was living in a mold infested toxic waste pit.
Groupon was kind enough to refund my $99 though, so I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.
Wow, they were really invested in that scam.
If they told me they were contacting the EPA, I'd tell them to go right ahead, after I contact law enforcement about a case of fraud from an unlicensed business.
In retrospect, it was the suits that made it too obvious. Had one or maybe two guys showed up in a white van and work clothes and tried the same scam, and coming from the perspective of first time parents trying to get the house ready for their baby, I would have been exponentially more likely to go for it.
I would have gotten out my 12 gauge and brought it to the door.
"Sir we found nuclear contamination. We must alert the pentagon as this is a defcon situation. Unless you pay 4,999$ now for a nuclear cleaning."
Thank you for everything you do to help the elderly and vulnerable people like me 🤗🤗
I am elderly and I assure you I have all my faculties and am not vulnerable. Enough of the stereotypes already. Old people with no clue are the same people that were clueless when they were 21.
@@stefanfrankel8157 agreed
@@stefanfrankel8157 And grumpy old people were grumpy 21 year olds too?
There's no need to be nasty, Stefan.
@@stefanfrankel8157 faculties yes, but nobody is born with knowledge.
And when it comes to the modern scams and technology, so much has changed that you don't have the same street smarts you used to.
If you think you do, good for you.
But there is no need to be an arse to others about it.
If these scammers invested all the time they spend trying to scam people into a legitimate business they'd be millionaires 😂 Thanks for another informative video!!
in india and those places that's impossible
ummm no
Honestly, they probably make more scamming people.
If they told potential customers in the US that they were running the service from Pakistan they would get cold feet.
but then they would need a legitimate product or service to sell
“What the f$&@ bro? I’m not from Pakistan!”
“Uh, yeah you are”
I died from laughter
Thank you, just what I was looking for! I knew they were scams on my FB groups, just didn't know how they were scamming.
I used to work for a similar company here in San Antonio, Texas. Company name was Pure Air, LLC. Money was good, but after a while it got extremely sketchy, I know everything about the owners and I also know that they were scamming home owners so I stepped away.
Spill the info bruv
Time to make it a video
Top quality content as always. I've seen these posts for years and never gave them a second thought until now. This is honestly a good business model to match contractors with work if they were just honest about it. One of the hardest parts of being a contractor is marketing/leads and bidding jobs.
Thinking about this more and remembering the times I've worked with Home Depot and Lowe's. They do a similar process for installations. They originate the work, send the work order to an off-shore call center to schedule it and be the point of contact, then hire a 3rd party contractor to do the work at the price they billed me for.
The difference is accountability. They're transparent with the whole process and follow up to verify the work is satisfactory.
I applaud you for digging down & following this rabbit hole- wow. Thanks
Thank you for remembering Henry. The club and all of you meant so much to him. He would have been honored to receive your tribute.
Finally a video about this scam! They’re all over our local groups.
I manage a local buy/sell group for Western Wisconsin with roughly 30k~ members and realized this was becoming a HUGE issues in the fall of 2019. It was pretty obvious that the accounts posting the listings were fake but the most obvious tells were...
1. The TOTAL lack of branding across any of the posts. I see they now co-opt real businesses to help address these concerns from suspicious customers.
2. Frequent use of bolded/italicized characters. Not a trivial thing to do and in combination with zero branding, why go the extra mile for be eye catching?
3. Many of the pictures featured the duct cleaning vehicle with exteriors of the homes were visible. Sometimes, tree's and shrubs seen in these images wouldn't survive a winter in the Northern Midwest, let alone the spring/fall. (Palm trees are a dead giveaway)
After doing exactly what you did here by scheduling a tech, I realized this was a simple business referral racket. Illegal? No. Dishonest and anti-consumer? Yes. It's also bad for the local companies who would likely charge much less. The practice is predatory as a *LOT* of older folks seemed super interested in insanely priced "special" offers. I ended up setting up a bunch of keywords that auto-flagged and held posts related to duct cleaning for approval. I keep a verified list of local companies to share with anyone asking for such services.
It's annoying that we all need to be looking over our shoulders in all aspects of life these days but I like to think I'm helping squash one small problem for the community I'm a part of.
"WTF, Bro!" Very professional. 10/10 would call again. Thanks for the heads up!
Rule #1: do not curse at the customer.🤣
Thanks for looking into this. I really wanted my air duct cleaned but all the ads looked fake.
I'm not a home owner yet, so I had never paid these advertisements any mind. I had never heard of this scam. Thank you for bringing it to people's attention so they dont lose their money for bs services on their home! I can inform friends and family to be very careful and cautious if they contact anyone for these services. It is best to just call the company directly and not go through fb. Thank you for spreading awareness about this.
Thanks for the great and consistent content, Ben!
GREAT JOB!! You should do a video on the 1000's of chimney sweep scam google listings!
Can confirm: I live in minnesota and kept seeing these posts in my local buy and sell sites too. I mentioned something to my sister about it and thought it sounded sketchy and she agreed. Cool that you looked into this lol
I love how deep you've gone into this! Awesome video. Thanks for the warnings.
Thank you for the hard work and all the time you put into making this video! We need more creators like you who will expose these freaks and protect the unsuspecting public. Thank You!
unsuspecting public should not be on facebook.
@@jimzplace No, the scammers should not be on FB. Every member of the public is unsuspecting unless they're informed about bs scams like these.
Awesome investigative skills 👏👏. It was a long and weird journey but the video was worth it. Very thorough, you got a new sub.
Omg yes 🙌 we are getting flooded with these air duct advertisements right now!!!! Thanks for sharing.
An HVAC company owner told me that changing furnace and air filters makes cleaning air ducts necessary only every 4 or 5 years. I lived in my last house 15 years and ran a camera into several ducts, and they had minimal dust. I had the ducts cleaned 2x while I lived there! And it was only about $130 the last time I had it done in 2019!
Did you notice any differences after having them cleaned?
I really appreciate your clear and informative video! You're awesome!
By the way* I think you deserve more gratitude from the viewers like me. You're not only making money from TH-cam and memberships, but also giving us valuable and enjoyable content for free! Ben, you rock!
As someone who loves messing with scammers you sir are my idol.
Bro how he says “What da fack bro?” just killed me 😂😂😂😂 plus I love your videos they’re funny keep up with the same energy
That's wild. I always felt like it seemed weird and random, but I guess it's easy to scam someone with ducts because it's hard to check them yourself. Unlike with aeration, rain gutters, power washing, other things, it's harder to verify the job is done well.
Look inside the truck the container should be empty and take a look at the end of the job. Make sure the container or the receptacle bag is empty at first. 😅
Great episode man, appreciate the full story without having to watch hours of filler.
Quality content will always prevail 🎉 keep it up man.
Also love that special link builder, what a neat tool.
Wow... This work you do is so important. Thank you!
I happen to agree... If a foreign company is collecting and selling ledes, that's on, just don't lie about it.
Yes, this has happened to me. But the good part about it was we canceled. I also asked if they were certified, and they said no. Thanks for the education and shouting the light and helping others. I really appreciate it..
Certification is a scam. There is no such thing as "duct cleaning certification", and most certifications are simply cash-grabs that people pay for so they can appear more professional.
Tangled webs? Sounds like Toby Magooair needs to get on the case!
I heard he picked a pair of pickled spiders!
@@PleasantGreen trying saying that 10x fast
@@PleasantGreen 😆😆😎
@Pleasant Green can I give you a number that been trying to recruit me for job for 1 week now.
😆
That is the wildest phone center scam I’ve seen yet. But I gotta be honest the moment I saw the “and we’ll show you the camera feed from your ducts to prove they’re clean” preempted in the ad something didn’t feel right. It’s like when a scammer tries way too hard to assure you they’re not a scammer and totally 100% legit. Could not predict they actually had someone in the area that will go to your house tho
They probably do something like run a borescope down a vent in your home while showing you a pre-recorded video of a nice clean vent... If you're lucky it'll be the appropriate shape and size lol
@@codemiesterbeats That’s basically what I was thinking. I’m just curious about the smaller details, like how exactly do they pull of this convincing fake cleaning of your vents. Surely they’d have to clean at least part of the vent that’s most visible, but also look busy that entire time. At that point why not just clean the friggen vent if your gonna go to all this effort
@@monhi64 yall forgetting some folks r gonna b ignorant of some things. I just read a comment that said they would replace the duct system out themselves n it would b cheaper then cleanin it
I love that the word "kindly" tipped you off. I was literally thinking about this today: My husband uses "Thanks kindly," which is a phrase that completely confuses me. He's flat out telling someone he's being kind rather than showing it? He seems to have gotten it from his AH father though, so maybe it tracks with the scammer thing. lol
In Australia we have been bombarded with these sort of spam and scam deals. Also, I am a mould expert and test buildings for the stuff. I routinely see techies just blowing compressed air into the ducts as if that'd do anything good, especially when they don't even attempt to catch all the stuff coming out! Sure, it might be possible and worthwhile cleaning metal hard-ducts as they're durable and expensive to replace. Flexible flexi-ducts are delicate inside, have all sorts of bags and folds the stuff collects in, then so many tight bends there's really no way anyone can get a brush through them anyway. Also, if the house is actually mouldy ("moldy") you absolutely need to use a brush at very least as the stuff cakes on like cement, especially if it has been damp enough to allow the growth of mould in the first place. Ends up cheaper/better to just remove the flexiducts, scrub whatever hard junctions and the vent boxes/grilles, fan units, etc., then replace with new flexiducts after all mould remediation and drying is complete.
Keep up the good work!
This is happening heaps in Australian groups, and like you, I've been wondering what the deal is. Thanks for the video!
The creativity in these scams is astounding 😂 great video as always. Looking forward to the next!
Collection Goals... Creatvity is such a positive word, you are much too kind. I prefer to describe it as " the depravity of these scams..." 🤣
@@macforme xd
They do the same thing over and over again. Doesn't sound very creative to me.
@@MuammarQadaffi I mean scams in general have become more elaborate.
I use “kindly” in my professional correspondence. I am not a scammer, but I do work in IT where there is a diverse workforce. Love your videos and appreciate the information you provide. These scammers are horrible. Been around for years, I remember chain letters…I’m old…must be since I use the 50 year old word “kindly.” 😂 Thank you!
The guy who made this video is an idiot. He did not expose scammers; he just proved he is in fact an idiot.
Yeah, I use kindly as well. That's an odd way to pin someone as a scammer.
@@kH-bv8ixbecause all the scammers use it.
Seeing a similar thing with locksmiths as I needed my door rekeyed after buying my home in NJ. Used google to lookup a couple of locksmiths nearby and they had setup fake websites with fake addresses that belonged to other businesses. When I called I was clearly speaking with someone in India or Pakistan that sounded like they were in a call center vs. a small local locksmith like I was expecting. I asked for a price to do the work and was told someone would call me back. When I received a call back from a tech, whom I'm assuming was local, I asked what company they were with and they got angry and demanded to know if I needed my lock rekeyed or not and why I was asking these type of questions. Obviously, I wasn't comfortable having a person behaving this way rekeying my home. I later found a legitimate locksmith (drove to the store) and confirmed with them that these fake websites were going up and they were lying about who they were and with, but seemed to be doing the work. Not sure what their game was, but sounds very similar.
Here in Canada we all get constant calls from "air duct" cleaning. It drive us nuts!
yep, same here! it's ridiculous. no reputable HVAC cleaning company will hound you over the phone for your patronage.
very odd scam indeed!
Yup!
So many things I want to say about ducks or resistance heating, but better to just not engage...
Who is your phone provider? TELUS has "Call Control" for free and it prevents auto-dialers from reaching you.
@@somethingelsehere8089 Sorry we're not buying any ducks.
@@littlegandhi1199 Neither regular or nor air ducks 😜
I’m from MN and yes I can testify it’s absolutely insane. These guys are scamming people left and right, and it’s in every county or city sale page, community groups, etc.
Offshoring lead generation is actually very common in these industries. Many companies advertising electrical, plumbing, or other home services don’t actually employ technicians at all - they just take phone calls and schedule out to various small independent providers. Sometimes they employ offshoring for lead generation or scheduling, too.
Was not aware that this was happening. Thanks for the enlightenment.
whenever i see "kindly" on these scams, it makes me think of "Would you kindly" from bioshock. Anyone who knows the story knows what that means
Yep
Honestly same
Pleasant green,
I appreciate what you do for people. You’re the one creator I love watching both for the person and for what they do.
Thank you
I love the confidence on "yeh you are" like you knew everything
We have the same thing up here in Canada, although they advertise with crazy stats and numbers, stating that they have3 vac trucks that were capable of flow far beyond what even the oil patch has developed. When pushed for stats there is always zero response, I got board of comparing tri axle vac truck numbers to the pickup trucks they used and how it was impossible for them to reach the advertised numbers safely.
These 'scams' are very common in Canada. The CBC program marketplace did a report on these about a year ago. They show up with a truck and a shop vac, do a terrible job, and send money to the call centers. If they don't ask you for your filter size(s), Furnace Model, etc, then they probably aren't a legit company.
Thank you Pleasant Green for making my day better!
Every time I see a duct cleaning or detailing post on my pages I’m on, I post a link to your specific video
Very interesting video. Thx for all the people you help by avoiding them from being victim of a scam
I worked in carpet cleaning/water damage/mold remediation last year and we did air duct cleanings. 300$ / AC unit is the rate with package deals for multiple units. There is no need to show anyone a camera view of the work being done because all of the dust in the vents will collect in a giant bag we keep outside. Basically, we seal off all the air ducts except for one when we attach our hose that's connected to the bag to. There is a thin air hose with rubber strands on the end of it and it's designed to flap around all over when air is shooting through it, like an inflatable wiggly man and it's to scrape all of the dust off the sides of the vents, we run the hose throughout all of the vents and it takes 1-2 hours to finish. this should come with free things like a free dryer vent cleaning and free mold inspection of your ducts.
you should only need this service once every 5-7 years
Exactly. I use to hire the same local duct cleaning company and they always did a top notch job. They used the exact same technique you described and they always took all afternoon and charged the same agreed upon price. It’s up to the customer to do his due diligence.
Scammers panic when Pleasant Green uploads a video 😂😂
😂they sure do! It’s beautiful
“I have an experience of 9 years”
Game Over right there.
This was amazing. I'm so glad I found this. Thank you
LOL I used to live in this area, just a town over. And CONSTANTLY saw these. It’s absolutely insane. Thank you for doing this!
Please do more of the catching scams in progress and save victims. I watch those over and over again because they are uplifting .
I’ve been sharing this video as a response to every air duct cleaning ad I see in our local groups.
Don't share this video. Just report the posts you see to the group administrators so they can delete them.
@@reginabillotti been doing both. Add as a reply and report. That way it’s there until the admin takes it down.
You are doing amazing work, thank you so much.
Kindly keep doing it 🤣