Quality Air Chris Gibson Duct cleaning ripoff Internet

Work performed December 15, 2010 Let me preface the report by citing an article entitled ‘Scams – Top 5 frauds sweeping the country’. This article is in the January  2011 Angiel’s list 2010 Best & Worst contractors magazine that is sent out to members. The President of the National Air Duct Cleaners Association, John Schulte, is quoted in the article as saying that proper duct cleaning should take two people about four hours for an average home. I have two furnaces and 6500 sq ft of heated/cooled living space in my home. Two full time employees of Quality Air showed up and, after some talking and the billing, spent one hour - ONE HOUR - and then left. They had arrived early and I had a meeting in my home office so I did not follow them around all the time but started thinking this cannot be right and talked to several other expert sources and confirmed it is impossible to do the size of my home with TWO FURNACES in one hour. They called it a 'blow and go' because they did not close the vents and then work one vent at a time SO THERE WAS NO BACK PRESSURE SUCKING THE DIRT INTO THEIR BLOWER. Less concern but problematic was the smell of gasoline that stayed in the house for hours and the fact they dragged their hose to connect around a doorframe in my finished basement and scraped the wood. I asked for a refund and the General Manager, Chris Gibson, insisted per the contract they had to come back to fix it. I asked him what new process he had invented that they would use and he could not answer. I told him his company was not welcome back in my home and I felt this was a total scam because it is physically impossible to do the promised work in the time spent. They use their ‘promise of satisfaction’ to try and leverage you into a return visit, despite the fact that the first service call was so unacceptable that a refund should have been provided no questions asked. Evidently they are not members of the National Air Duct Cleaners Association and were advanced as the ‘big deal’ by Angie’s list. Shame on Angie’s list for not doing a more thorough checking of this vendor. Quality Air claims 80,000 homes have been serviced and has a graphic and standing offer on their website for the same deal that Angie’s List members are offered. Please do not use this company. After research it seems like the whole approach (even when done right) provides very little effective contribution to a cleaner home. My home cost me $645,000 and this is the first time I have asked for a refund from a contractor performing services on my biggest investment. Beware.