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:07/16/2024

  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.

  On July 3, 2024, Elite Clean Steamers performed a duct cleaning service at my house at ********************************************************* At no point during the cleaning service did the cleaner go to the furnace (located in the garage). I had even asked the cleaner if he needed to know where the furnace was, and he said he did not. I have since learned that a proper duct cleaning is supposed to involve blocking off the furnace return so that no dust is sent to the furnace. Had the cleaner done this, he would have also noticed that there was not air filter in my furnace. I just bought the house, and it had a new HVAC unit installed, but I was not aware no air filter was installed with it. During the cleaning, a supply duct was broken (disconnected) and holes were created in the return duct. The return duct holes caused attic insulation to be sucked into the furnace system. Without the return being blocked off, this insulation covered my furnace, the blower fan and the evaporator coil and pretty much everything else. This issue was not immediately noticeable until I returned later that evening to find that no air was coming into my house while the A/C was running. This was the night before July 4th, so I had to call a 24/7 service to get support over the holiday. I have worked with ************* Services to resolve all of the issues with my HVAC system as a result of the improper cleaning. I have attempted to seek resolution from Elite Clean Steamers, and they take no responsibility in the matter, trying to claim that I did not pay for such additional services. I paid $309.44 to Elite Clean Steamers for this poor duct cleaning service. I have since paid ************* Services $3,763 to clean the furnace, make all necessary repairs, and re-clean the ducts.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/19/2024

  Hello, I have serious issues with this complaint. 

  1. We guarantee our work, and it would have been appropriate to have allowed us to come back out to correct and cleaning issues or damages.

  2. The other company that performed the work, stated that just because we didn't close off the vents and use the truck system, that our method of cleaning was automatically the wrong way, is false due to the fact that there are a few other ways to properly clean the duct system, just like there are different ways to clean carpets in a home.

  The tech shows me with that statement that he is bias, and I'm not surprised that he would say that we damaged the ducting as well, along with any other negative things.

  I'm sorry that the customer feels like we didn't do a good job with the cleaning and damaged his ducting, but a call should have been made directly to me, so that we could resolve the issue.

  I left my business card with the customer as well.

   

  There were many steps that should have taken place, before this complaint was submitted and count against our company.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/19/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  The work by Elite Clean Steamers was done on July 3rd, the day before the July 4th holiday. It was already at least 10:00pm  (on the 3rd) when I returned home to discover my A/C was not working properly. I needed to call a 24/7 company, as Indiana ******* are not a good time to have an A/C failure. It also was not clear to me until after the other company came to take a look that the issue was directly related to the duct cleaning work. This is why I did not contact Elite Clean Steamers first.

  The issues have now been resolved by the company that was available to help me. Regardless of whether Elite Clean Steamers would have been able to resolve it themselves, that is still a financial loss to the company, so it should not be an issue to provide that assistance in the form of the requested reimbursement for the related repairs from the guaranteed service.

  Regards,
  
  ***********************