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Report: #286593

Complaint Review: Great Southern Water - Longwood Florida

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  • Reported By: CASSELBERRY Florida
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  • Great Southern Water 1600 North Ronald Reagan Blvd Longwood, Florida U.S.A.

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the co.put a water softner in my home and charged me $7.990 and i had all sort of water leaks in my home. had to put in new floors ;as the water damaged alot. i have asked them to come take it out. they just keep threatening me and calling my work almost evry day. coming by my home and trying to make pay and threathing me with susing me. please help me.

great southern ionic"s came to my home and gave me a 4 hr. they told me how bad how bad my water was . said that it was going to hurt me and my son . they also took some water out of the faucet and was trying to show me what sort of things were in my water. they went on and on and had me scared to death. i did not get any time to think about it. later after i had the water softner installed i found out that i had paid way to much money. i was having problems with my water pressure. then a few days later water started leaking in the room . i did not use that bed room so they installed in there. i called them up to tell them to come take it out and they said no. they told me that if i did not pay thta it wiil be put on my credit report. and so they did. the room where it is installed has a bad plug where they put in. i unplugged it soon after they installed it of fear it could cause a fire. also now the floor is falling in that room now. so i guess it has leaked in ther also. i have receipts where i had i had to get new floor in the kitchen and the water closet where thy connected it to the water heater. those people have been calling my work almost evry day. i have asked them several times to please stop. then 2 sales lady came by to collect money. said they were going to sue me if i did not pay. i gave them a check to hold until dec.4th. i am going to have to stop payment on that check. i do not have $80.00 a month to pay on it. i am a single parent with a son.

Barbara
CASSELBERRY, Florida
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 11/25/2007 12:01 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/great-southern-water/longwood-florida-32750/great-southern-ionics-great-southern-water-longwood-florida-286593. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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#10 UPDATE Employee

Letter from GSWT

AUTHOR: Longwood-fl - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, August 03, 2009

This is to inform anyone investigating GSWT or Ionics.

They sell a product that does filter water.

They can pay their employees a large commision for closing sales.

Now, after saying that, I must also say this:

1: The cost of one 'Terminator' for GSWT is $350. Add the cost of ins for the vans, cost of labor and misc parts and the cost to install a 'Terminator' is close to $600. The asking price has changed over the years and is now $7995. Now, if you go buy a Lambo then plan on spending $150k and I would think that cost of this vehicle is close to $75k. Soooo cost is relative. If it is worth $8k to you then buy it. If not, then the rep should have done a better job of creating more value.

2. The reps are trained NOT to discuss any paperwork except the 'freebie' paperwork they have to fill out for the free items. They will never openly tell you about the 3 day right of recission. But, then again, why would they? Does a car dealer tell you you have a right of recission? Well you do! But you would never know about it because they don't sell you on the idea of trying it out and then saying no. Nobody wins in that senario. Just always read before you sign. If someone tries to rush you.....red flag.

3. Training for the reps. They are put through a full week of training which consist of memorizing certain facts and figures which help create the want for this product. It is a tough week and full of hype and the promise of riches. Reps go out of that room like monkeys with excitement. They dont know that their commisions can drop from 20% to 5% in a wink. But they wont find this out for about a week so they are ran all over the state chasing 'hot leads'. Look, if it is too good to be true.... so just keep that in mind.. I started out a rep and I made over 10k my first month with no prior experience but I am not the norm. I helped inspire the people who went to training with me. Some were succesful and some not. This job is not for everyone.

4. Management. I was promoted to mgr and in charge of training. My directives were to get them really excited, keep them pumped up, and send them out of that room ready for them to slit the troats of the soon to be customers. I did a good job at this because I still belived in what I was doing. I even bought a system which I payed 5k for. I dont think I over payed because I belive it is worth that but I should have done more homework. Anyway, one of the jobs as a manager was to take TO calls when a rep was not closing the sale. I got on the phone with a customer and would sometimes 'give the system at cost' for a mere 2995. There were a lot of tricks and white lies we will use to get the deal. That is how we are paid. At the end of the day, we are getting them in clean water right? That is what is beat in our head until we finally wise up and figure out the game. It is like the movie Boiler room. If you havent seen it you must to understand what it is like in this type of enviroment.

5. Telemarketers. there are some things that GSWT does in order to get leads that some might consider wrong. Well, if anyone feels they have been violated then I recommend call the state attorneys office and go through the appropiate channels. But I can say that this enviroment is very fast paced and what ever it takes attitude is the best if you want to stay employed. This meaning the girls calling will say a lot of things to get the rep in the door. So if you dont think that the water company would give you a 50 gift card for just picking up a sample of your water from your tap, and they require both husband and wife to be home, then you might not want to set the apt. These girls are on commision as well so if you dont want a vist, SAY NO. Dont wait till the rep gets their to cancel. It was not the reps fault. They are told you want to see them for a water test and then consider buying equipment.

6. FInancing. This is a VERY VERY GRAY area of this business. Just remember to review your contract BEFORE you sign. And if you happen to buy one of these units, notice where the rep puts your envelope with your copy of the contract. It is most likely in a junk drawer in your kitchen.


All in all, Al and Alex are business men. They are a couple of selfish, mean, hardasses. They are not a joy to work for. It is as if you sell your soul to the Devil himself. BUT, for some, this is a great business. If you are too stupid to realize what your doing (me) or if you simply dont have a care for others then this is a GREAT business.

As the late PT Barnum once said, "There's a sucker born every minute!"


In closing, GSWT is a money making machine. Do you want to "Waste?" or "Invest?"

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#9 UPDATE EX-employee responds

one more thing

AUTHOR: Rl - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 07, 2009

I almost forgot in my last rebuttal,
The people calling the women in question and showing up at her home is THE FINANCE COMPANY, not gswt. gswt is a sales company, not a finance or collection company. If you don't want to get sued by the finance company, then pay them, it's that simple. If you can't afford it then don't sign contracts for things you cannot afford. She and Ryan in Rockledge could have said NO at anytime, or called an cancelled in the 72 hours given to them by Florida law. They failed to do so and want to blame everyone else for their own lazyness. What ever happened to personal responsability?

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#8 Consumer Comment

$9500.00 Down to $2200.00

AUTHOR: Knight - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, April 06, 2009

I talked them down to $2200.00. They are a rip off. From $9500. To $2200.? Come on.... I'll never call them again.

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#7 UPDATE EX-employee responds

to ryan in Rockledge

AUTHOR: Rl - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, April 06, 2009

I have to start off by saying that I'm sorry you feel ripped off. Its a bad feeling to have no matter the situation."Defend a murderer with blood stains on his shirt" really? The company is not O.J Simpson nor am I Kato Kalin.
Now having said that. I used the "car" analogy because it seemed to fit. People always feel they paid too much for cars they buy, so I went with that. Again I submit to you, if you take a car back to a dealership, and say you want to return it because you did not like the financing after having the car for SEVERAL MONTHS, what do you think the response is going to be? Not happy with the car analogy, fine how about a boat, or a motorcycle, or four wheeler, or jet ski, or camper, or R.V? Are any of those better for you?
I'm sorry, but no company can be held responsible for customers who do not read their contracts. There are phone numbers to the office, and to the finance company. If you have questions about how it works, then call and ask. It will be a few minutes of your time, that's it. You cannot blame any company for you being too lazy to do some reading or making a phone call. You seem to have plenty of time to write on here. Also you say the average person isn't familar with financing, this may be true, but these same people buy homes and cars, and furniture, and they sign financing for those. This is not any different.

Here is a good question, how can the homeowner blame the company for leaking pipes in her home. I've seen many of these units installed and they do not get connected to pipes running through the interior of the home, they are connected to the main line comming from the city on the OUTSIDE of the home (Unless you have a "loop" in your garage,then it can go there) You should know this, you obvisouly own one. Sounds like the pipes in her home ALREADY had problems with leaking and she is trying to pawn the cost of the repairs onto the company. I absolutly do not believe her that the unit was installed in a spare room in the home. They do not do that at all. I worked there for almost three years and I NEVER saw one installed in a bedroom. I would like to see some pictures of this supposed "bedroom install". I'm willing to bet she cannot produce them.

As I said in the beginning of this novel of a rebuttle, it is not anyone's fault that you and the women in question WERE TOO LAZY TO READ THE PAPERWORK.

One more thing, yes you can buy a water softner for much less, BUT they do not tell you that the filters are fixed into those machines, and cannot be replaced. You have to buy a whole new unit after about two years or so. This is anywhere from $500 to $800 each time. So you are paying to keep buying new softners. With the company you OWN yours after the contract comes to fruition.

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#6 UPDATE EX-employee responds

to ryan in Rockledge

AUTHOR: Rl - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, April 06, 2009

I have to start off by saying that I'm sorry you feel ripped off. Its a bad feeling to have no matter the situation."Defend a murderer with blood stains on his shirt" really? The company is not O.J Simpson nor am I Kato Kalin.
Now having said that. I used the "car" analogy because it seemed to fit. People always feel they paid too much for cars they buy, so I went with that. Again I submit to you, if you take a car back to a dealership, and say you want to return it because you did not like the financing after having the car for SEVERAL MONTHS, what do you think the response is going to be? Not happy with the car analogy, fine how about a boat, or a motorcycle, or four wheeler, or jet ski, or camper, or R.V? Are any of those better for you?
I'm sorry, but no company can be held responsible for customers who do not read their contracts. There are phone numbers to the office, and to the finance company. If you have questions about how it works, then call and ask. It will be a few minutes of your time, that's it. You cannot blame any company for you being too lazy to do some reading or making a phone call. You seem to have plenty of time to write on here. Also you say the average person isn't familar with financing, this may be true, but these same people buy homes and cars, and furniture, and they sign financing for those. This is not any different.

Here is a good question, how can the homeowner blame the company for leaking pipes in her home. I've seen many of these units installed and they do not get connected to pipes running through the interior of the home, they are connected to the main line comming from the city on the OUTSIDE of the home (Unless you have a "loop" in your garage,then it can go there) You should know this, you obvisouly own one. Sounds like the pipes in her home ALREADY had problems with leaking and she is trying to pawn the cost of the repairs onto the company. I absolutly do not believe her that the unit was installed in a spare room in the home. They do not do that at all. I worked there for almost three years and I NEVER saw one installed in a bedroom. I would like to see some pictures of this supposed "bedroom install". I'm willing to bet she cannot produce them.

As I said in the beginning of this novel of a rebuttle, it is not anyone's fault that you and the women in question WERE TOO LAZY TO READ THE PAPERWORK.

One more thing, yes you can buy a water softner for much less, BUT they do not tell you that the filters are fixed into those machines, and cannot be replaced. You have to buy a whole new unit after about two years or so. This is anywhere from $500 to $800 each time. So you are paying to keep buying new softners. With the company you OWN yours after the contract comes to fruition.

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#5 UPDATE EX-employee responds

to ryan in Rockledge

AUTHOR: Rl - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, April 06, 2009

I have to start off by saying that I'm sorry you feel ripped off. Its a bad feeling to have no matter the situation."Defend a murderer with blood stains on his shirt" really? The company is not O.J Simpson nor am I Kato Kalin.
Now having said that. I used the "car" analogy because it seemed to fit. People always feel they paid too much for cars they buy, so I went with that. Again I submit to you, if you take a car back to a dealership, and say you want to return it because you did not like the financing after having the car for SEVERAL MONTHS, what do you think the response is going to be? Not happy with the car analogy, fine how about a boat, or a motorcycle, or four wheeler, or jet ski, or camper, or R.V? Are any of those better for you?
I'm sorry, but no company can be held responsible for customers who do not read their contracts. There are phone numbers to the office, and to the finance company. If you have questions about how it works, then call and ask. It will be a few minutes of your time, that's it. You cannot blame any company for you being too lazy to do some reading or making a phone call. You seem to have plenty of time to write on here. Also you say the average person isn't familar with financing, this may be true, but these same people buy homes and cars, and furniture, and they sign financing for those. This is not any different.

Here is a good question, how can the homeowner blame the company for leaking pipes in her home. I've seen many of these units installed and they do not get connected to pipes running through the interior of the home, they are connected to the main line comming from the city on the OUTSIDE of the home (Unless you have a "loop" in your garage,then it can go there) You should know this, you obvisouly own one. Sounds like the pipes in her home ALREADY had problems with leaking and she is trying to pawn the cost of the repairs onto the company. I absolutly do not believe her that the unit was installed in a spare room in the home. They do not do that at all. I worked there for almost three years and I NEVER saw one installed in a bedroom. I would like to see some pictures of this supposed "bedroom install". I'm willing to bet she cannot produce them.

As I said in the beginning of this novel of a rebuttle, it is not anyone's fault that you and the women in question WERE TOO LAZY TO READ THE PAPERWORK.

One more thing, yes you can buy a water softner for much less, BUT they do not tell you that the filters are fixed into those machines, and cannot be replaced. You have to buy a whole new unit after about two years or so. This is anywhere from $500 to $800 each time. So you are paying to keep buying new softners. With the company you OWN yours after the contract comes to fruition.

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#4 UPDATE EX-employee responds

to ryan in Rockledge

AUTHOR: Rl - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, April 06, 2009

I have to start off by saying that I'm sorry you feel ripped off. Its a bad feeling to have no matter the situation."Defend a murderer with blood stains on his shirt" really? The company is not O.J Simpson nor am I Kato Kalin.
Now having said that. I used the "car" analogy because it seemed to fit. People always feel they paid too much for cars they buy, so I went with that. Again I submit to you, if you take a car back to a dealership, and say you want to return it because you did not like the financing after having the car for SEVERAL MONTHS, what do you think the response is going to be? Not happy with the car analogy, fine how about a boat, or a motorcycle, or four wheeler, or jet ski, or camper, or R.V? Are any of those better for you?
I'm sorry, but no company can be held responsible for customers who do not read their contracts. There are phone numbers to the office, and to the finance company. If you have questions about how it works, then call and ask. It will be a few minutes of your time, that's it. You cannot blame any company for you being too lazy to do some reading or making a phone call. You seem to have plenty of time to write on here. Also you say the average person isn't familar with financing, this may be true, but these same people buy homes and cars, and furniture, and they sign financing for those. This is not any different.

Here is a good question, how can the homeowner blame the company for leaking pipes in her home. I've seen many of these units installed and they do not get connected to pipes running through the interior of the home, they are connected to the main line comming from the city on the OUTSIDE of the home (Unless you have a "loop" in your garage,then it can go there) You should know this, you obvisouly own one. Sounds like the pipes in her home ALREADY had problems with leaking and she is trying to pawn the cost of the repairs onto the company. I absolutly do not believe her that the unit was installed in a spare room in the home. They do not do that at all. I worked there for almost three years and I NEVER saw one installed in a bedroom. I would like to see some pictures of this supposed "bedroom install". I'm willing to bet she cannot produce them.

As I said in the beginning of this novel of a rebuttle, it is not anyone's fault that you and the women in question WERE TOO LAZY TO READ THE PAPERWORK.

One more thing, yes you can buy a water softner for much less, BUT they do not tell you that the filters are fixed into those machines, and cannot be replaced. You have to buy a whole new unit after about two years or so. This is anywhere from $500 to $800 each time. So you are paying to keep buying new softners. With the company you OWN yours after the contract comes to fruition.

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#3 Consumer Comment

Great Southern screws another

AUTHOR: Ryan - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, February 09, 2009

The complaints toward GSWT are mounting . . .

To the "ex-employee" who took a better job "because it paid more",
First, you sound like one who will defend a murderer with the blood stains still on his shirt. You're getting on this lady because she's objecting to getting hounded by your former employer over her not paying for shoddy work? Gimme a break.

Second, the tech that installed the unit has the RESPONSIBILITY to make sure that all fittings, valves, connections, etc. are in working order before he leaves the premises.

Third, comparing a water conditioner to tires and cars? -wow- Is everybody as familiar with the going rate for water conditioners as they are for tires and cars? Nope. Tires and cars are necessities and are much more in the mainstream marketplace than silver-impregnated carbon. Bad analogy, try again.

Fourth, don't try and tell me what any of the sales people will and won't say. I can tell you directly that my salesman lied on TWO important fronts: the terms of the "revolving line of credit" and the output of the water. I was told there would be no interest accruing during the deferrment period. That's misleading and inaccurate. He also told me that the water produced by the system would be 100% H20. Again, wrong!

Fifth, and this is not totally related to the original complaint, but if Great Southern Services wants to stay in business, they *might* want to think about reducing their fees the way the rest of the country (other than doctors, lawyers, and insurance) is doing.

There are many many new home owners out there who got nabbed by GSWT in one way or another because IT IS UNCOMMON FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON TO KNOW WHAT THEY SHOULD BE PAYING FOR ONE OF THESE SYSTEMS. The presentation that is put on is geared toward scaring you into thinking that the water coming out of your tap is full of e-coli, staff, amoeba, and all kinds of crap that we as Americans have been brainwashed into believing is to be avoided AT ALL COSTS (even paying out the wazoo for something you can get somewhere else for 1/4 what GSWT is asking). Of course, in people's brainwashed minds, anything else other than 100% pure RO system output water will look dirty when compared to it.

City water varies from place to place, but by in large, it is not the toxic sludge that these scheisters make it out to be. My clothes still fade and wear out just as fast as they did before I got my system years ago. I don't feel like I have any more energy than I did before. My skin is aging the way everybody else's is. ON and ON . . . Want good water? Well, unless you want to pay 400% more than you should to be able to flush "conditioned" water down the toilet and try not to slip in the shower or drop your toothbrush because the water is so d**n slippery, just buy yourself a good fridge with a water filter on it and save yourself about $6500.

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#2 UPDATE EX-employee responds

always read contracts BEFORE you sign them

AUTHOR: Rl - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, January 15, 2009

I am an ex-employe of the company. The only reason I no longer work there, is that I took a better paying job elswhere. Now having said that, I have the following to say to you sir.

First and foremost, either do a better job checking your grammer and spelling, or have someone do it for you before you submit a letter. No one will take you seriously with a letter full of miss-spellings and horrible grammer.

Secondly, You paid exactly what the unit you bought sells for. If you didn't like the price, you could have always said NO. When shopping for a car, do you just take the first offer given to you??? If you did, do you think the car dealership is going to just take the car back after several months goes by because you suddenly decided you paid an unfair price??? The company is very flexible to the consumer, and they will try very hard to accomodate everyones situation.

Third, I know for a fact that you are given copies of ALL financial paperwork, and in the state of Florida, you have 3 business days to terminate the contract. It is no ones fault that you did not read the copies given to you. I can't believe that you would just sign a financial contract and not even read it. The name, address, email address, and toll free number to the financial company is on all FOUR copies off the finance paperwork provided to you, if you didn't understand it, WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL THEM AND ASK???

Fourth, the water in Florida is horrible. There are dozens of stories in the Orlando Sentinal, and other Florida newspapers. If you were not sure, then you could have done some research. Again you had three days to do this.

Fifith, the unit does work. I've had one since 2006 and I've never had any problems with it. I'm not just saying this because I'm a former employe of the company. NO ONE in the company ever says that the unit gives 100% pure water, it sounds to me like you either miss-understood what the sales person was telling you, or you weren't paying full attention. Even in the guide the sales force has with them, it NEVER claims to give 100% pure water, only that it greatly reduces the impurities in the water.

It sounds to me like you have a bad case of buyers remorse. I know I've bought things and then a while later decided it wasn't as good of a decision as I thought it was. In your case, you made a sound decision to have good clean water for you and your family, but because you fell you were not informed properly, you want to lash out at everyone except the person that is to blame for not doing their homework... YOU.

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#1 Consumer Comment

Not A Rip-Off

AUTHOR: Xena - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, May 09, 2008

I haWe purchased a puronics Terminator unit about a month ago. We absolutly loved our system and very pleased with the overall experience. Our sales represenative was very knowledgeable and made us very comfortable. We got great financing and the products were great, they even made the soaps they way i needed. We have reccommended this company to several other friends and family members. Thank you for doing a great job and I know you will keep up with it.


Thanks,
Happy Customer

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