ComplaintsforHague Quality Water of Kansas City, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  01/23/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  During a visit to Powell Gardens with my family, they were set up doing a raffle for a Chiefs Jersey. I and a couple of my family members signed up for this raffle. After nearly a month on 1/19 they called me while I was waiting for a doctor's appointment and was told that I would be given a free prize for letting them test my water for hardness and listen to their presentation. Foolishly, I agreed as I was trying to get them off the phone. During this appointment which came off like a magic show, I was told that not only would the product they were looking to provide be free (which I've found from the left behind documentation is untrue as it costs $99 per month), but also it was reiterated that my prize was free. After nearly two hours of presentation during which any question I had was redirected and I was actively lied to about the length of the presentation, I was also presented with the products of another business claiming FDA and EPA registration as though that's the same as being certified, saying "That's how you know it's for real", also claiming to be free despite a several hundred dollar price tag. After it was revealed to me that they can't advertise on TV, it was revealed to me that I would be paid for marketing which seemed to be under the table if I recommended it to my family and friends and they bought in as well as a "Finder's Fee", with no mention of legal documentation as a contractor. It was at this point I demanded them to leave my house, which was followed by them slowly packing their things and trying to sell me on the product despite my demands for them to leave. They insisted on leaving the certificate of the prize which required me to send $50 to a separate business in Florida, and as such is not a FREE PRIZE. I then was given a follow up call from a restricted number and I informed them of the fraud of their 'free prize' and hung up. If you're going to promise a prize, deliver it. Otherwise, leave me alone and stop holding scam raffles.

  

  Business response

  01/23/2024

  We are sorry that you did not enjoy your experience with our representative.  When it comes to cost of our product we have different payment programs to try to fit each individual.  If you go to the Water Quality Association website (wqa.org) it will go through different ways that softened water can save you money.  Such as clothes, cleaning products, beverages, energy, household appliances, as well as many more.  What our representative was attempting to show, is that when you add up those savings for a lot of households, the savings can be greater than the cost of the system.  So in a way, the system is paying for itself.  He obliviously missed the mark with you on explaining the information.  For that we apologize.  The second product we show during the presentation was soap from a local soap company.  The company makes pure soaps, and it is something that we offer to go along with our product, not separately.  It seems our representative missed the mark on explaining this as well. When it comes to marketing we have a lot of people that have our product and greatly enjoy. They like to refer friends and Family, and when someone does that and they get our system installed, we give the person that referred the individual $200 for sending them our way.  A lot of company's do this.  We do everything above board.  It is a check that we definitely show in our records and on the company taxes.  When it comes to the gift there is a $29.95 refundable room guarantee when booking the room.  On step 4 of the guide, it tells you after the trip to submit for a request for a refund of you $29.95.  So you do get that money back at the end of your trip.  I have attached a picture of this, with it highlighted.  You do have to pay the hotel tax fee of $24.80.  There is nothing that can be done about that.  The hotel is free but Uncle Sam does want his money.  One big thing I have learned from this is the representative that came out definitely needs some additional training, and we will be addressing this issue. If you would like to discuss any of your concerns or the taxes on the gift please reach out to us.  ************

  Customer response

  02/28/2024

   
  ********** ********  
  I am rejecting this response because: I was called earlier once again about this issue. I requested to no longer be contacted about this issue. Send whatever you'd like (or don't, I really don't care) but I am standing by my principles regarding this. I do not agree with your business practices, they come off to me as shady and do not desire contact with your company any further, period, in any form. I will continue to hang up on and block any numbers you call from. Consider the case closed if you like, but my stance regarding this will not change; leave me alone.
  
  ********** ***** *********

• Initial Complaint

  01/22/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  This company is deceptive. I entered a drawing for a jersey. They called and said my name was drawn for the second prize, a hotel voucher. I would need to let them test my water and tell me what is in my water. I agreed for two reasons: to find out what is in my water and to get the hotel voucher, neither of which actually happened. The so called “water test” involved the rep putting colored drops of liquid into samples of water. She didn’t know what the liquid was. The “results” were nothing I didn’t already know. She said I have hard water with sediment. Everyone in this area knows we have hard water with sediment. She could not tell me what was in the sediment. Many studies actually show health benefits of minerals in our water. The second thing the “test” showed was chlorine in the water. I think everyone knows that the city does that to kill bacteria. If you can’t test my water without sending it to a lab, then either send it to a lab or don’t tell me you are testing it to tell me what is in it. The rep packed up to leave without mentioning my “prize”. I asked for the hotel voucher. She pulled out brochures of electronics I could pick. This proved my name was not the second card drawn of their contest. Every person they called was given this “prize”. She had to go to her car to get the hotel information. She came to the door and handed me a piece of paper. I asked how it worked, and she didn’t even answer me and left. I bet they didn’t even give the jersey away. This is not a hotel voucher. This is a SCAM. I have to send a fee to even get an activation form. I then have to pay taxes before knowing what hotels and dates are available. If I then can’t use it, they keep my $55.00. In no way is that a free prize. The form states this is for the “purchase” of a vacation certificate and this is ”an offer to sell travel.” I could add much more but don’t have enough characters in this. How do you give this deceptive business an A rating?

  

  Business response

  01/31/2024

  *****, first I would like to apologize for the experience that you have had with our company. I definitely am taking your concerns seriously. We do test for various things things when it comes to the water. The hardness of the water will tell you how hard the water really is, and in some homes you do have a higher hardness count. The tests that we preform allow us to direct them in the right direction to filter their water. We do have a few options for our gifts that we hand out for watching our water test. This is a thank you for watching the demonstration. We have had pretty good feedback from the hotel voucher from our past appointments. There is a fee to hold the room, but they do refund that amount after submitting a request for a refund. Unfortunately you do have to pay the taxes of $24.80 total for the stay. I enjoyed our conversation today, and I will take the concerns and feedback to better our future experiences with potential clients. Our goal is to better our overall experience with our potential clients! Once again thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. 

  Customer response

  02/07/2024

   
  ********** ********  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I cannot yet accept this response because she said she will be mailing me something.  I cannot accept or reject the response until I have received what she said she would mail me, and I have not yet received it. 
  Thank you. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ******

  Customer response

  02/25/2024

  The company contacted me again, and this has now been resolved satisfactorily. Thank you. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My 17 year old daughter signed up to win a guitar at a concert and then received a call that she won a prize, however, she had to provide her parent phone number. I received a call from Hague water softener telling me that I had to have a water softener demonstration in my home or my daughter would not receive a prize. It is unethical to trick kids to sign up, tell them that they won and then require a water softener home visit. I would never do business with this company.

  

  Business response

  06/29/2023

  I do apologize for the confusion, but on our sign up forms, it does state you must be 18 years old to sign up. This is in bold writing at the top of all sign up forms. We unfortunately do not have a way to verify age until we speak to the person. At that point we give an opportunity for the parent to claim the prize if there was someone under the age of 18 that signed up with us. She was also not chosen for the guitar giveaway, she was selected for an alternate gift. The one stipulation is to allow us to demonstrate a free water test, so I do apologize that we were not able to get you the gift. Please let me know if this clarifies everything. 

• Initial Complaint

  02/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The company was advertising a contest at ****** in Blue Springs, Mo. The first prize winner won a signed Chiefs jersey. The company called me today to tell me I was the second runner up and I could choose between a 3 night hotel stay at one of 50 locations, a smart watch like the Apple watch but Android version, mp3 player, Blue Tooth Speaker or earbuds. I thought I really won a contest. They told be I had to have someone come to my house and talk demonstrate the water system, and test my water. They needed verbal consent by the homeowner to come out. I agreed and to my surprise they were able to schedule same day at 5:30pm, tonight. I listened and asked questions. I didn’t want to immediately purchase, but I wanted to research before committing. The rep ***** asked me which prize I picked, which was confusing, because he was handing me papers. I told him earbuds. He handed me a prize brochure and told me he can’t just carry around prizes of value in case something happened to them. When I saw all the prize brochures I realized I wasn’t a special winner so I asked if everyone gets this. He told me the company picks 4 people everyday. He didn’t give me a card or anything so I asked for his name and number. He wrote his name and number down. I was still excited to get my prize when he left and I was very interested in the products. I read the prize brochure and it states that I have to pay another company $19.95 activation fee and shipping and handling fee. This was not told to me by anyone. This is not a prize if I have to pay for it. They took advantage of my information that I stated I didn’t want to receive advertising from on the prize entry. They falsely claimed I won a prize to get me to purchase their products, then never gave me s product they told me I would receive. A third party brochure with a prize that has to be activated and charged for is NOT what was told to me. I would not have sat through the presentation if they were honest. I am interested in a water purifier, and will look into other honest options. The company lied. I would like the prize they told me I received. I did my part. I will, also, be contacting ******.

  

  Business response

  03/08/2023

  We do apologize about the misunderstanding on this particular gift. We appreciate you bringing it to our attention that they did not relay the information to you about the shipping and handling fee. We will make sure to speak to the manager to make sure they are relaying the correct information going forward. We have been giving these gifts out for awhile, and have few complaints about them. But there are mistakes made at times, and we appreciate you giving us the opportunity to make this right. We will be reaching out to you. 

  Customer response

  03/13/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Assumed Answered]
  Complaint: 1*******
  I am rejecting this response because:I have not heard from the company. Also, they relayed that I was a winner from a drawing. They were deceiving and tricked me. It’s bad business and they used my personal information wrongfully, then lied to me. Let me be clear, you do not give out a prizes.  You give a brochure for a product I can purchase. You should not be allowed to do this. It’s wrong. 
  Regards,
  ******* ******

  

  Business response

  03/21/2023

  We have been in contact with the above client. We have resolved the issue with the gift she was selected for. We have spoken with the employee that initially spoke to her on the phone to correct the concerns that she brought to our attention. 

• Initial Complaint

  12/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We have had a water softener from Hague Quality Water for about 20 years. On September 22nd, 2022 we had the softener leak all over our newly finished basement. I called the following morning explaining the problem and let the service people know this would need extensive work. We had to turn off the water to our house to get it to stop leaking. Thankfully we found it the night it all happened and we were able to clean up some of the water ourselves. However, it still caused extensive damage. I called and the company sent someone out. He said he couldn't do anything and the company would have to send a plumber. He said they would give us a call. When they didn't call after a week, I called and they set up an appointment for October 6th. The day of October 6th, they called to cancel. And tried to reset it for the 7th which would not work. It was reset for Wednesday, October 12th. On the 11th, they called to say they would be heading to my house without my knowledge that the appointment had changed. I found the serviceman polite and knowledgeable. He said the cracked tank was the problem and that the company should take care of it since it was still under warranty. It had taken so long for them to come check it out that my husband was unhappy about the customer service that didn't even want to deal with the company. The serviceman warned us that the company had terrible customer service and would try to shirk responsibility. The serviceman then told us the company would be in touch with us within a couple of days as he would have to put in a new tank, which he didn't have. Nearly 3 weeks later, they still hadn't reached out to us so I sent them a message. They did end up calling at the beginning of November, telling my husband it was our fault. They said they would call back after they figure out what to do and still have not called as of 12/19/2022. The cost to clean-up and repair was about $9000, $1500 out of pocket. This company does not care.

  

  Business response

  12/28/2022

  To respond to the above, 

  We do have record of the initial service request on 09/23/2022. We arrived the same day 09/23/2022 to see that the unit was completely disconnected from the house plumbing. The technician that was assigned to this job was not a plumber, so we did indeed have to schedule a plumber to come out and reconnect the water filtration unit into the existing plumbing. At this time there were no visible cracks or leaks on the unit. We then scheduled for this to be plumbed back into the main plumbing through our installations department. It did indeed get rescheduled once to the 12th of October. At this time we went ahead and placed an order for the watermax tank replacement through our Factory in Ohio, even though we could not hook the unit up to verify under pressure if there was a leak. We honor our warranty with the watermax unit, so there would have been no charge for this all to be replaced. As we waited for the tank replacement to arrive, I spoke to *** ****** and he did explain to me what happened with the leak. He did state he had a company already out to dry up the water in the basement and tore up the flooring. He then told me he would speak to his wife, **** ****** about whether they want to do future business with our company. As of today's date, I had not received a call back about their decision. We do have a tank replacement on standby in our warehouse if they choose to move forward. What we would like to do moving forward is verify that the watermax tank is for sure needing replaced. If the tank is cracked, then we can figure a way to help with some of the out of pocket damages. I have tried to reach out to the *******, but the numbers I have, I cannot leave messages on the phones as the mailboxes are full. I am more than willing to get someone out to get this rectified, and move forward if the customer is willing. 

  Customer response

  01/07/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  Better Business Bureau:
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 

  Since I made the initial report, the company has contacted us. They agreed to replace the tank. They came out today and the plumber did verify that the tank was cracked. He switched it out. We have to clean up more water but waited to fix the floor/walls in the immediate area because of this. He also brought some water sensors.  Now we can have the workers come and finish up. The company has also agreed to pay $1000. We are waiting for them to contact us on this. I will be following up soon. 
  Regards,
  ****** ******

• Initial Complaint

  10/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We had signed up to have our water tested back in 2019. Due to covid, Hague water was behind schedule and finally called on 10/7/22 to schedule a test. Yesterday 10/11/22 **** ******* from Hague water showed up at the scheduled time to provide a water test at 5 pm. It took him just a little over an hour to run 3 or 4 tests on our tap water. At approximately 6:05pm we did agree to sit down and discuss pricing of a water treatment system for our home. Somewhere in the course of his very fast rambling we went from talking about water treatment to buying soaps. Fast forward to 6:30 pm and Mr. ******* was still rambling on about soaps, at which point we advised him that we needed to cook dinner for our children and get ready for bed as we get up early for work. Ten minutes later, Mr. ******* was still trying to convince us to buy soaps at which point I told Mr. ******* that he needed to collect his belongings and leave our residence. Five minutes after that, Mr. ******* was still sitting in the chair trying to complete his sales pitch, at which time, I told him for the 3rd time he needed to get his belongings and leave, or we will be forced to call the local authorities and have him removed from our home that way. He finally did get up and go to collect his belongings but was still trying to continue his sales pitch. I contacted the company on the same night to file a complaint against Mr. ******* and was told by the operator that I would receive a call back today on 10/12/22. Needless to say, this company never did call back.

  

  Business response

  10/27/2022

  I do apologize for the visit that you had with ****, and I spoke with **** in regards to this incident. We definitely did not want to make you feel uncomfortable in any way. I did speak with ***** today about this concern and explained that to him. From what I heard, our sales manager also reached out and spoke with ***** to address his concerns. Once again, we do apologize for the visit that you had on 10/11/2022. 

• Initial Complaint

  10/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On 10-8-22 we had a rep come test our water because we “won” a free smartwatch and complementary water test due to my wife leaving them our info at an event. They gave us a pamphlet with info on how to get a smartwatch by mail for $20. If I’m paying $20 then how did I win a “free smartwatch”? This is just another scam company you hear about on the news. And the water test took over an hour and a half of our time.

  

  Business response

  10/27/2022

  We do apologize, that particular gift does require a shipping and handling fee. We did reach out to ****** in regards to this, and resolved the issue. We do take our time answering questions, and informing our potential clients during the water test, so sometimes the tests can take that long. 

  Customer response

  10/27/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** ***

• Initial Complaint

  08/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I received a phone call telling me I won a prize from a concert I attended. I could choose from 3 different options. I chose the 3 day-2 night hotel stay. They said I would have to let someone come out to test my water to gain my prize. So, someone came out that SAME DAY (8/12/22) to test my water. After and hour and half of that, he left and gave me no information on my prize!! Of course the numbers that called me were unknown so I couldn’t call them back. I NEVER received my email confirmation they said they would send with how to use my getaway prize!!! I am disappointed in our society and that people are heartless enough to scam others!!!! I would never use this water company now that I’ve been scammed. The gentlemen that came to our house was kind and great, but due to the lack of follow through on my “prize” I will never use them and will keep telling others not to as well.

  

  Business response

  09/09/2022

  *******, I do apologize that your rep did not leave you with your gift. We appreciate you giving us your time, and in return you should have received that gift. I will personally make sure it gets mailed out to you. We definitely were not trying to scam you or make you upset. I am sure he/she simply forgot to leave it with you. Just keep a look out for it as I will be sending it today. 

  Sincerely, 

  ***** **********

• Initial Complaint

  07/29/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  In May 2022, I attended a concert and Hague Quality Water had a booth doing a drawing to win a guitar. I did input my information for the drawing, but on the entry slip, I specifically wrote for them not to call my phone number. My wife had been in contact with them and even set up an appointment for them to come and do a water test because we “won” a free prize. We were unable to commit to the meeting and since the missed appointment, they have been calling her several times a week from different numbers, even as much as twice a day and today, after my wife didn’t answer their call, they decided to call mine. They called me with the intention to reschedule the meeting they set with my wife, but I told them they did not comply with my request to not contact me and I told them I would be filing a formal complaint.

  

  Business response

  08/15/2022

  Hello *******, I do apologize that the office personnel reached out to you instead of your wife. We have since removed your phone number from our records. I will go ahead and send out complimentary gift that you would have received at the water test appointment, due to the inconvenience. Please let me know if there is anything else we can do to correct the situation. 

  Customer response

  08/15/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* *****

*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. ↩