Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  08/22/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Fifth visit by a technician for home main water purification system. Problem still not resolved. Called off office for explanation/recommendations for self maintenance. Was told technician will not be available to help clarify his work. Charges accrue at $90 for showing up. Charges for labor and parts replacement are unreasonably exorbitant, and seemingly unfounded. A rebedding of a carbon filter was conducted that required 3 separate visits and failed to correct the issue of black soot in our drinking water. Most recently on 8/20/2024 the chlorination system was found to have failed within one month of the 3 previous visits. No explanation or recommendations were documented or offered to my wife who was present for the visit, or myself having requested via email a written set of instructions, for which we were denied by the office attendant “Kristy.” It was explained to me that we should not request an explanation “After the fact.” Our problems with this company have been ongoing and unavoidable because the home was purchased with this Culligan system already in place. Also, only liscenced Culligan technicians can asses and correct these systems. This in itself is troubling, and may be in breech of fair practices. I’m sure this company is over charging and creating unnecessary job tickets (chop shop.). For others in my community and beyond. Any assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

  Business response

  09/03/2024

  Good afternoon,

  Our apologizes on the delay. We have received this complaint and will be looking into the issues listed and respond within the next couple of days. Thank you.
  

  Business response

  09/05/2024

  Our standard service calls are billed per piece of equipment that is serviced, currently at $180 for the first unit and $90 for each additional unit plus parts. These services do come with a 60 day warranty period if another service call is needed. We quote this fee every time that service is scheduled to avoid misunderstandings.  There is not a technician in the office available for immediate consultation as they are scheduled full days in the field. Our repairs are documented and our technicians explain to the best of their abilities what caused the problem and what was done to remedy the issue at time of service.
  

  The total amount billed to the customer for their 6 service calls over the last 3 and a half years is $1549.79, including $885 in labor, $557.05 in parts, $107.94 in state tax, and a credit of $165.85. Below is a breakdown of the service history for this account.

  The customer first called us to schedule service in December of 2019 when the house was purchased.  An appointment was made, but subsequently cancelled by the customer. Contemporaneous notes indicate that the customer cancelled the appointment because they were unable to wait a week for our technician to come out, and that they called another company to come out.  Customer called back to schedule service again in February 2021. 

  On the first visit, the customer asked us to service all equipment, which had been installed in 2017, but had not been serviced since that time.  Our notes from the time that the service was scheduled indicated that the customer was advised that service on the first piece of equipment would be $155 plus parts.  Additional pieces of equipment would be $77.50 each plus parts.  While 4 pieces of equipment exist in the house (a carbon filter, a point-of-use RO filter with accumulator tank, a chlorination feeder, and a 120 gallon retention tank), and although all were serviced, we charged only for 3 of the units. Notes show that the technician replaced the four filter cartridges and post-carbon filter on the RO system, which incurred a parts charge of $278.03.  Pressure was added to the accumulator tank and a leak sensor was repaired. The use and care of this system was discussed with the customer, who also asked about the possibility of moving this system to an upstairs bathroom.  Technician noted that the accumulator tank would not fit in the vanity cabinet, and the countertop could not be drilled for the faucet due to its poor condition. The next piece of equipment to be serviced was the carbon filter.  Service for this unit included testing water quality before and after the filter, explaining its purpose and operation to the customer, and advising that the media should be replaced when chlorine started to become apparent at the spigots.  The technician demonstrated that this could be tested by the customer with the test kit used for their swimming pool maintenance.  The chlorination feeder was examined and tested.  It still contained 15 gallons of usable solution.  The 120-gallon retention tank was serviced and tested.  A disconnected leak detector was returned to service.  These use and care of these units was also explained.  Including $41.14 in state sales tax, the invoice for this visit totaled $629.17.

  The second visit occurred 5 days later on 2/17/21 when the RO system stopped working. The technician found that the leak sensor was wet and had therefore tripped, however, there were no leaks found.  The technician replaced the leak sensor with a new one.  The customer was charged for neither the service call nor the new sensor. On 3/10/21, the customer called our offices objecting to the charges from the initial visit.  At that time, we removed the additional-unit service fees of $165.85 as a one time courtesy. 

  We were called back to the customer’s house 5 months later on 7/02/21 to re-install the RO system after some remodeling had taken place in the kitchen.  Despite the difficulties faced by the technician due to the leak sensor and monitor sensor being disassembled, we charged only for the cost of a service call - $155 + $10.85 tax.

  The customer contacted us in September of 2022 to schedule a service call and asked that we waive the fee.  After being told that we could only waive the cost of this service call if the customer held a service agreement with us, the service call was declined.

  The fourth visit occurred 6/6 of this year when the customer found it was time to replace the media in the carbon filter.  This is a process that involves removing the tank from the residence, returning it to our shop to be emptied and rebedded with virgin activated carbon. The cost to rebed the filter is $305, plus the cost of the service call, which has risen in the past few years to $180.  Despite the fact that this process requires a return service call for re-installation, we charge only for the first visit. A hot water tank was installed blocking access to the Culligan equipment, causing the need for the replumb which took extra time and parts.  A hot water tank was installed blocking access to the Culligan equipment, causing the need for the replumb which took extra time and parts. A hot water tank was installed blocking access to the Culligan equipment, causing the need for the replumb which took extra time and parts. We charged only for the parts used - $60.80. During this visit, the technician also serviced the chlorination feeder.  He found that the ball and seat at the injection point was in need or replacement.  The 2nd unit service fee was $90 and parts were $93.44.  Total invoice amount was $780.29 including tax.

  The fifth visit was to re-install the rebedded filter.  There was no charge for this visit.

  Our sixth service call took place on 8/20/24.  There was some black material coming through the system.  The technician found that another component of the chlorinator had failed. We did not charge for the service call, only for the parts involved.  The total for this visit was $240.49 including tax.

   

  Customer response

  09/05/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  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.]
  System is not repaired.  Recounted billing history is inaccurate.  Service instructions have yet to be provided.
  Regards,
  
  **** *********

  Business response

  09/12/2024

  We spoke directly to **** yesterday and scheduled a service tech to go out next Tuesday, 9/17 to evaluate the equipment and explain it to ****. We also emailed **** owner's manuals for future reference. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This Kendra woman is threatening me and being very mean in her emails for a payment of 152.87

  Business response

  09/18/2023

  Please see attached email thread. We do not believe this customer was threatened as he is stating because we sent him our standard letter that we send to all accounts that are more than 120 days past due. Customer had been contacted by us many times in the last few months via phone, email, and letters in regards to their past due amount. Customer has also spoken with Chad now and advised payment is coming within the next two weeks.

*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. ↩