Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/03/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Service provided on September 15th, then a couple weeks later with a new carbon filter. The service we were provided was fixing our system, and servicing it to be up to 100% to become part of a monthly service plan for a flat fee and we could have our system serviced/fixed at any point in time for a monthly fee. After hearing nothing about the program from Culligan a month later, I called and was told we didn't qualify for the plan as our system was too old.... Why would you let us do the full service knowing we didn't qualify? Within 2 months of service our water started to smell again, and my husband called another water company as he doubts the service we get from culligan every time. The earliest the company could come was January. Turns out a part that was supposed to be fixed was actually broken/damaged (one that they told me they fixed) and no chlorine was being put into our system for months. Because of that, our carbon filter has solidified and needs to be replaced again.... we JUST paid $500 for that filter to be replaced. The other company fixed the part that was damaged, as well as one other little injector part, and I requested culligan reimburse us for the bill because it was only due to their negligence. After speaking to them on the phone today, they state they cannot reimburse us because we didn't give them a call to let them know something was wrong. She told me we would have had 30 days from service to have it fixed for free (but this was noticed after 30 days). I want reimbursement from culligan for the bill we received from the other company for fixing the parts that culligan was supposed to fix, and replacement of the carbon filter. I kept the damaged part that was taken off the system. Or if they won't reimburse me for that bill, to reimburse me the payment I paid Culligan for service that was technically not completed as promised. (they also dumbed all the carbon on my basement floor and the woman claims it is impossible to be them)

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/06/2023

  On September 14th, 2022, we had a service appointment scheduled to complete an annual feeder service and determine if a carbon rebed was needed.  If the rebed was needed, we were to provide pricing.  This call was initiated by Mrs. ********* on 8/3/22. On September 14th a new order was initiated by Mrs. ********* to move forward with the rebed.  We returned on 9/29/22 and swapped the carbon tank – all rebeds are done at the Culligan of Scotia’s office.  They had been quoted $545.00 plus tax and we made them our first appointment for the day.  We also called them the day before and gave them the 2-hour window of 8-10 am for our arrival to complete the swap. On October 27th, we received a call from Mrs. *********.  They were looking to subscribe to 5-star or Privilege plan.  This is a maintenance program where they pay each month and are provided service at no charge.  Unfortunately, the age of their equipment made them ineligible for any of the maintenance plans.  There was someone that was supposed to give them a call and that didn’t happen.  As a courtesy, our customer service representative issued a credit of 10% off and applied this as a credit on the *********’s account.  This was the last time we heard from the *********’s in 2022.On February 20, 2023, Mrs. ********* called about having us credit them for the bill they paid from an alternate repair company they chose to call for service when they started to get a smell.  At this time was the first complaint about carbon being dropped on their basement floor.  This was referred to the service department, but there are no further notes for me to say what may have happened at that time. On March 3, 2023, Mrs. ********* called the office again, looking for an adjustment for the amount of the service call from the alternate provider.  Her call was transferred to a manager.  The alternate company was at the residence in January 2023.  The length of time between calls was concerning to us as we were not aware of the issue.  It was told by Mrs. ********* that her husband made the decision to seek an alternate company to service their equipment. At that time, It was explained to Mrs. ********* about what was done with her call in October and agreed to send the credit balance back to her.  This is in process so our corporate office can send back the credit of $68.48.  Also, during this call, it was explained that the service manager that had been on site with the technician in September 2022 was no longer with Culligan, but a conversation would be had with the current service manager about the situation. On March 6, 2023, a call was returned to Mrs. ********* referencing the conversation she had with the office manager on March 3rd.  It was explained to Mrs. ********* that our original position was still standing.  We were denied an opportunity to review what was completed and determine what was required to fix the current situation.  They made the decision to use another provider and therefore accepted the charges.  It was further explained service work has a 30-day window where if we had to come back, the labor is at no charge. It was also explained that if a part that had been replaced failed, then we would be able to honor the warranty on said parts and replace them.  During this conversation, Mrs. ********* disconnected her call with the office manager.  We were not aware of anything other than the ineligibility of their equipment to be enrolled in our maintenance program until their February 2023 call.  It is our position that we were not aware of the issue, and we were not provided the opportunity to review the system after the issue developed.  It was decided by the customer to use an alternate vendor and therefore the bill from the alternate company is their responsibility and not Culligan’s. 

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/08/2023

  Culligan has made arrangements to meet with Mr. ********* to review the equipment on Friday, March 10th at 4pm.  No further information can be provided until after that time. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/13/2023

  The issue is just not resolved yet as they need to return this week to asses the system after changing the chlorine intake. should we close it and then reopen if the issue is not resolved?  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/28/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We purchased a water softener system and a service contract (approximately $4k) from Culligan Water which was installed on November 22, 2022. Early the morning of November 23rd, 2022, we woke up to an inch or two of water throughout our entire finished basement. Water was gushing from the unit until we shut off the water. Area rugs, flooring, trim, Sheetrock, furniture, Christmas decorations etc all ruined. Culligan was notified immediately and told us they would pay for clean up and all damages. To date, the only thing completed is a dried out almost gutted basement and an air quality test (20 days after requested). We have been unable to use half our home including a bedroom, full bathroom, office and storage room since that date. We have been told repeatedly Culligan would take care of this mess. They sent their own ‘contractor’ to do an estimate of repair but were not given a copy of this estimate. We were told we had to get three more estimates which they wanted copies of. This was for their benefit and wasted our time and the contractors time. To date we’ve received ZERO compensation for our personal property, three days lost wages from missing work, loss of use of our home and NO information on moving forward with home repairs. Our salesperson turned it over to a regional manager who has done nothing but stall and buy time. We’ve demanded at this point they also come remove the entire system which we will not be paying for. Yesterday we were told that Culligans Insurance company is only for Liability and that s faulty O ring may have to be investigated for further action. We have now asked our homeowners insurance to get involved and will expect Culligan to accept responsibility and pay our deductible. This is not a company I would ever recommend to anyone after our experience. We have a large number of emails, photos and texts to support the above information. Culligan also received a lengthy itemized list of damaged items .

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/29/2022

  Culligan of Scotia is well aware of the complaints of the ********. A claim has been opened with our insurance carrier.  The insurance carrier has been in contact with the ******** and spoke with them regarding the claim.  The ******** want to get their home back to normal and we understand this.  The claim is still open and pending completion by the insurance company. Culligan is in constant contact with the insurance carrier to assure they have what they need when it is requested of us, but we are unable to move the process along faster than the insurance carrier allows.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/03/2023

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.   Regards,  ******** *** ***** ******  I’m happy for the quick response but please note the incident happened on 11/23:22 and we still have no resolution in the near future. Culligan told us th they would pay for all daggers and costs. They subsequently submitted to their LIABILITY INSURANCE CARRIER. That representative clearly told us two weeks ago that they are looking to determine liability on the ‘faulty’O’ ring manufacturer’ which means a much longer delay. It is our opinion that Culligan should pay for our damages and let those two companies figure out liability.  Also the same representative told us they do not cover our list personal belongings, the crazy high electric bill or loss of use or work—/Culligan has NOT even responsive with any of that. We feel they are stalling and meanwhile have No solid answers.   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/05/2023

  We understand and appreciate the level of frustration that the ******** may have.  Our process is that our insurance provider is involved when claims are estimated to be at a certain level.  Businesses have insurance for exactly the reason we are working with the ******** on.  It was unknown if this cause of the problem was installer error, manufacturer defect or related to town water pressure.  This has been an ongoing investigation through both Culligan and then the insurance company which is the reason that it has taken time. Culligan of Scotia is responding to inquiries and requests of the insurance company as soon as they are received and answering/providing anything requested and often the same day of the request. Culligan also wants to fully resolve this matter as quickly as we possibly can. Our regional manager also spoke with Mr. ****** about the process and status yesterday, January 3rd.  We will continue to work with the carrier as needed until the claim is finalized. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/06/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I began my contract with Culligan in April 2022. I signed up to receive 3 bottles of water each month and the dispenser. The initial set up went smoothly. It has been a disaster ever since. The next month the driver couldn't locate my apartment despite standing outside the door marked with my apartment number. The following month I upgraded to 4 bottles yet somehow the driver only delivered 3. The month after that he never delivered at all despite the fact I received a confirmation call. Finally I hit my limit in July when once again I should have received a delivery but didn't. I called to have my service canceled and was told the empty water bottles and dispenser would be picked up last Tuesday. They were not. I was then told everything would be picked up on Friday (8/5) and according to the office my address was on the driver's manifest and he never showed up. I had to call the office 12 TIMES before I got in touch with someone. The manager, Stephanie B  assured me she was sending her service tech, Adam, to pick up everything last night and I would receive a phone call confirming. Adam neither called nor showed up. For reference my account number is ******. I made it clear to Stephanie that I am vacating this apartment over the weekend and the dispenser and bottles MUST be gone. Stephanie apologized profusely to me but at this point that isn't enough. I deserve to be compensated for my inconvenience and other consumers need to know what awful business practices are occurring at Culligan.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/26/2022

  Ms. ********** was a bottled water club subscriber. The bottled water club is a program where a customer gets the use of a cooler and a regular monthly delivery of water.  They can have a 3 bottles, 4 bottles, or 5 bottles water club.  The billing for this club is a flat amount each month.  Included in the rate is the cooler use, bottle deposits and a regular monthly delivery of fresh bottles.  The monthly rate increases with the increase of the number of bottles in the club.

  Ms. ********** began as a Bottled Water Club customer in April 2022.  She had received a delivery on  4/14/22 with a cooler and bottles of water.  She was put on regular deliveries at that time.  Ms. ********** started with a 3 bottle and then changed to a 4 bottle club in May.  The first month with the change, she was not given the additional bottle so we scheduled a 2nd delivery which was why she had 2 in May 2022.

  Below is the details of deliveries made along with any delays there may have been. 

  5/12 – delivery was completed

  5/24 – delivery was completed

  6/13 – delivery was completed, but we had also issued 50% credit for the month since she was delivered to late.  Her original date was supposed to be 6/9/22.  She received $17.62 that was applied to billing dated 6/30/22.

  7/7 – delivery was delayed.  We had run out of bottled water.  We do not bottle water here locally and the distributor had been detained in bringing us a delivery.

  7/11 – delivery rescheduled date for the missed 7/7 delivery.  Our driver Ryan, who is no longer with us, shows we delivered 4 bottles of water to them.  Ms. ********** has stated she did not receive this delivery. 

  7/26 – Ms. ********** contacted our office and requested to cancel service.  Ryan was scheduled to go and pick up the cooler and bottles on 7/28/22

  7/28 – Ryan did not complete the pick up of equipment as planned.

  8/5 – I had scheduled one of our service/install technicians to pick up the cooler and bottles while he was in **********.  I am unsure as to why it was not picked up.  Adam was a reliable person. My guess is that because he was on an emergency service call, it may have gotten late.  Unfortunately it had not been communicated to so I could make other arrangements.  We also never heard back from the customer again either.

  I am working now to rectify and assure the pick up the cooler and the bottles so that we confirm it has been completed. 

  I am sure that Ms. ********** did call multiple times to the office.  We are short staffed in the office and have our answering service taking calls for us when we are busy.  We do get notification from the answering service regarding the calls they take and do our best to make return calls in between answering the inbound calls.  Most days we end up taking more in bound calls than we get to call back.  We do have additional staff hired and ready to start after Labor Day and we are hoping to have a 2nd one starting shortly after that.  This has been one of the biggest challenges with answering calls and making deliveries as well.

  We had previously issued credit of $17.64 on June 9 which was applied to her June billing.  June billing is advance billing for July.  I have issued credit for that additional time since in July she did not receive a delivery and we were to pick up our equipment.  We have also not billed her after that 6/30/22 date.  Billing stopped as of the date she called in to cancel, 7/26/22.  We will need her to  provide us a forwarding address in order to send her a check for her credit balance.  She indicated that she was no longer living at the address we have on file.  Currently on her account is a credit balance of $35.26.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/30/2022

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  

  At this juncture I do not trust neither Stephanie B****** nor anyone affiliated with Culligan to resolve this issue. I would like any and all correspondence from Culligan to be via email ONLY as Stephanie has made several statements that are untrue. The driver who was assigned to my route when all these issues arose was named Julius. After I did not receive the delivery that "Ryan" claimed was delivered and I finally got in touch with Stephanie I was told Julius had Covid and that was the reason the delivery had not been made. I will not supply my new address to Culligan. I have a forwarding address on file with **** and my refund check can be mailed to my previous address of *** ********** ******. I have confirmed with **** that a piece of mail that is not from the state, government, or from a financial institution will forward to my new address without issue. Stephanie also did not mention how the water cooler and bottles are going to be picked up. I stated in my phone call to her that I was moving and that was why it was imperative these be picked up. This inconvenience has gone too far. After all these issues I frankly do not care about Culligan being short staffed. Every business is short staffed and most find ways to not lose customers at the rate Culligan is. 

  
    
  
  
  

  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/31/2022

  Culligan understands Ms. ************ frustration with our inability to be able to complete her request to pick up equipment within the time frame she had provided.  The last thing that we wish to do is cause our customer's inconvenience. Missed stops are something that should be rare.  This has been addressed with our operations team and they are diligently working assure we are keeping our commitments.

  We have scheduled the pickup of equipment and bottles for Tuesday, September 6th.

  We have processed the credit balance refund paperwork and will proceed with the reimbursement check being mailed to the Ms. ************ address of record.

  If there should be any further questions or if Ms. ********** should need to reach me, she is welcome to email with me going forward if she should have any questions.

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/06/2022

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.