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:12/01/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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 had air duct services booked on 16Aug2023. On the day of service, the technician quoted me several services for a total of $1313.96. I initially agreed and entered my payment information online but have not submitted it yet. After the discussion with my husband, we decided to only keep some of the services and not to perform the other quoted services. My husband told the technician we only want to have some of the services done (air duct cleaning, return vent cleaning and air duct antimicrobial treatment) with a total fee of $822.83. The technician agreed but said the initial agreed services have already been charged and the difference of $491.13 will be refunded back to my credit card in a few business days. Almost two months have passed, I did not see the refund, so I called the company on 13Oct2023, I was told I will receive the refund in a few weeks. Now in November/December, I still do not see the refund. I called the company again on 30Nov2023. They said they will review my account and call me back. They did not call me back so I called again the next day 01Dec2023. They refused to refund the difference because I agreed to the initial services. The receipt I received clearly shows that the services they have done were charged for $822.82 and I paid $1313.96, and there is difference of $491.13 that I have overpaid. If I knew they wouldn’t refund in the first place, I would have them perform all the services. After having been told twice that they will refund the difference, now they are refusing to refund the difference that I have overpaid.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/13/2023

  I have reviewed the account in question and have the following findings:

  - On 8/16/2023, Zerorez Cincinnati completed and air duct cleaning service for ****** ** at *** ******** ***** ****. ********* ** ******

  - The total, paid invoice amount was $1313.96. Technician notes on the invoice state the following services were added to the original booking: Dryer Vent ($155), 4x bathroom exhaust vans ($106), and Coil Blower Cleaning ($200)

  - The technician notes state that Ms ** approved the additional services and provided payment. Indeed, her card was presented and charged the full amount of $1,313.96.

  - The technician notes state that, after services were completed, Mr. ** called and did not want to receive or pay for the aforementioned additional services.

  - Zerorez Cincinnati performed a re-service at the address on 8/22/23 after the client reported that the vent areas was still dirty.

  After reviewing all invoices and notes, I find that a refund is not warranted. The work was completed as described and priced.  The invoice which include the itemized services and all technician notes are attached (the technician notes can be found on page 3 of 4). Further, we honored our 30-day warranty for a re-service to address the client's issue.  Had Mr. Li's phone call rejecting services come prior to them being completed we would have ceased work and adjusted the invoice. However, it is our policy to not grant refunds for work that has been agreed to and completed.

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/16/2023

  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, reasons for rejection are included below.

  The technician did not complete the 'extra services'. The company was trying to imply that the initial services were quoted for $822.83, but then I approved extra services which resulted in total of $1313.96 and refused to pay for the extra services that were completed. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The company quoted initial services for total of $1313.96, when my husband requested to cancel some of the services, the technician just started and agreed to cancel some of the services he had yet to perform. So the services listed on the receipt of $822.82 were the services that the technician actually performed. Yes, they did come out later again to clean that one dirty vent, but that one is irrelevant to the refund. It is interesting that the link to the receipt which previously shows the final receipt of $822.82 reverts back to the initially quoted receipt of $1313.96 and with the additional technician note which was not there previously. I am glad I saved a copy for the receipt of $822.82. Also the screen shot of the text receipt obviously shows that there was $ -491.13 due to the overpayment. If company claims that they performed all the services, why they would show the negative balance on the receipt and why they agreed to refund when I called in Oct2023 after they reviewed the account. 
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ****** **
  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/30/2024

  
  Please see the business response:
  
  This is a tough circumstance to adjudicate fully because of the distance between the service and the original complaint. Our records and the recollections of those involved are consistent with the disputed services having been completed. The technician notes mentioned previously were time stamped at 10/16/23 at 10:12 AM. It then appeared that the technician took the services off the invoice when the clients stated they did not want them but were re added since they were already completed. We also do not typically collect payment until after as service is completed further confirming to me that the client got all services they paid for, although in this case, it does appear that we collected payment early (likely due to the client not being present at the service location).
  
  Thank you,
  D**

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/22/2022

  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.

  Dear BBB
  I will like to file a complaint on the following carpet cleaning service and subsequent damage to our high quality ******** carpets at our residence
  Date of serivce: Oct 15, 2022 Money paid $353.49 Refunded on Nov 8 ,22 for unsatisfactory service provided.
  
  •Oct 15 , Mr ***shon G*** from Zerorez serviced our White ******** Kashmere carpets for deep cleaning. 2 bedrooms,a hallway and a flight of stairs.
  •Mr G*** used a brush cleaner to remove the stains in some areas.It was mentioned to him that these are ********.He assured that the brush cleaner will not damage the carpets but will only extract the dirt.
  •Result:Some areas had deep yellow stains.Multiple places on the carpet were damaged as fibers were pulled out in the places where the heavy brush machine was used.
  •Oct 26, 22:Complaint to Zerorez: Mr. G*** & SupervisorMr Ronnie came for reservice.Ronnie mentioned that the carpets were damaged and will file a claim for replacement.
  •Oct 27, Ronnie brought Don M******-Zerorez Cincinnati GM. They ran the machine in an unaffected area and we noticed that the fibers came out. Damages are clearly seen and photos attached for reference.
  email:*************************
  •Don explanation or opinion that the carpets were damaged earlier and prior to Zerorez service is absolutely not true. We have 2 other rooms where the same carpets are plush and undamaged not serviced by Zerorez
  •A sample of the carpet was provided to Mr Don for follow up.
  
  As an experienced professional carpet cleaner Zerorez has clearly ignored cleaning recommendations for ********'s carpets to use only hot water cleaning extraction.
  •These damages are still available for any independent review and inspection.
  
  •Nov 13 As requested by Zerorez manager Don,a quote for repair/ replacement of carpet was submitted via email.Quote from the authorized ******** dealer McSwain carpets attached
  •Nov 21 Don email: submitted all the information to the head office/technical team for further action.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/02/2023

  We conducted carpet cleaning at this client’s residence on 15 October 2022. Shortly after the appointment, the client contacted us about two issues: browning and damage to his carpet. We scheduled a re-service which was completed on 25 October 2022.
  
  The re-service was conducted by one of our carpet cleaning technicians and our technician manager. They assessed the browning was likely caused by wicking due to excess moisture. Re-cleaning these areas reversed the browning. The client showed the damage areas to the technician manager who took photos so that we could further assess the claim.
  
  From the photos, the damage appeared to be wear or cornrowing. Cornrowing is a type of wear that presents as irregular rows in the carpet fibers. Often, cornrowing occurs over time in high traffic areas of a home. Indeed, in this client’s home the cornrowing was pronounced in a bedroom and on top of the stairs. The client had expressed his belief that the cornrowing was caused when the technician used a the Zr lifter- a brush machine that is used on carpet and high traffic areas to remove dust and other debris in the carpet before a wet cleaning. Technician often use this device on high traffic areas to help restore cleanliness and reduce the appearance of wear.
  
  To this point we had never seen or heard of any cases where a Zr lifter caused damage to a carpet. To investigate further, the technician manager and general manager visited the client’s home (the client was both welcoming and accommodating). We inspected the carpet in person and ran the Zr Lifter at the wear spots. During this test, the machine did not appear to cause any further wear or damage. We took both photos and videos during this test. These photos and videos were then sent to technical experts at Zerorez corporate headquarters and to mangers of other Zerorez locations for further assessment. Further, the client provided a sample of his carpet for testing.
  
  The client’s carpet, produced by ********, is a nylon carpet. The age of the carpet cannot be specifically determined but we believe the client stated it was present when they bought the home. This implies an age of several years which makes it susceptible to wear. Our system (including the use of the Zr lifter) cleans nylon carpets many times every day. Further, the same Zr lifter has been used daily since 15 October without any damage claims.  We used the Zr lifter on the sample provided by the client and no damage occurred. Based on these facts and the feedback from our bases and technical experts, we assess the client’s carpet is showing normal wear caused by high traffic and not damage from our equipment. It is possible the wear appeared more pronounced after the cleaning due to carpet fibers being raised and in comparison, to the clean and non-worn areas of the carpet. We communicated this assessment to the client on 21 November 2022.
  
  During our assessment of the damage, we offered the client a full refund for the services we provided. This refund, totaling $353.49, was processed on 8 November 2022. We offered this refund due to his dissatisfaction of the service and our multiple visits to re-service and assess damage. Our final assessment is that our services did not cause the wear patterns seen in the client’s carpet.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/08/2023

  Better Business Bureau:

  
  Please continue to register the complaint.
  
  
  
  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, reasons for rejection are included below.
  

  I did contact Don M****** , the area manager a couple of times regarding my complaint and replacement oif the damaged carpets.
  He still claims that those damages were there before and is in constant denial . Even though he and his colleagues mentioned in the complaint actually did a sample test using their machine that proved the damages to the ******** carpet, they seem to not to care.
  I am very disappointed with the irresponsible response and no action or compensattion done.

  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  **** *****
  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/20/2023

  Photo 1 shows one of the areas in question. From the photo you can clearly see wear / damage in the carpet. This wear presents as the various lines in the carpet. The lines are inconsistent in length and direction. Mechanically caused issues are usually more defined and straighter. This looks like wear caused over time from foot traffic. The location of this photo is near a wall in a bedroom. We believe this wear was likely caused over time from someone getting in and out of bed and / or walking alongside of the bed. It is possible the wear symptoms became more apparent after the cleaning as the carpet fibers were lifted.
  
  Photo 2 shows our test of the ZRlifter when we revisited the client’s house. The photo shows the carpet as it was brushed. The carpet fibers are uniform in appearance as they were brushed in the lifter’s direction of travel. These lines are normal and similar to what occurs during vacuuming. During our test, we did not notice any damage being caused to the carpet fibers. The above evidence and the fact that this tool is used daily, on similar nylon based carpets, led to our determination that Zerorez did not cause any damage.