Air Duct Cleaning Scam Exposed!

Great detective work! Thank you for publishing this. Think I’ll just start by cleaning the ducts myself… 😂

I keep getting calls- between 20 & 350 a day, even weekends- by people who sound like they are in India, saying they're from:
* Medicare
* Medicaid
* some sort of mortuary (advertising funeral insurance to leave an inheritance after my expenses are paid)
* "Hi, I'm from Health Care"

EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM IS THE "JUST SAY 'YES'" THING! I've been getting under their skin lately. I used to put my Bluetooth earpiece in an old stock pot and bang a screwdriver against the sides until they hung up. I'd tell them, "Drop dead you scamming scum bag!" I was angry all the time. I'm moderately autistic; I don't know about normal people, but I internalize stuff like that, and it affects me deeply. It was at the point where I wanted to cry when the phone rang. Then, earlier this year, I read Pat Sajak's commencement address for Hillsdale College. He talked about civility. That affected me, too. So now, when I get a scammer, I say, "May The L-rd bless you & keep you; have a great day/afternoon/evening!" I had one female scam caller say, "Uh, what?" as I was reaching up to the button on my earpiece to hang up. They didn't know how to respond to positive, but I decided to never be negative to them again. The seed may have been planted by the former host of "Wheel of Fortune," but I decided that as an iron clad rule for myself a few days ago after watching with my mom the 5 part saga of "Officer Casey Hunter," and how @PleasantGreen and some Canadian PI worked together to not just save people from the scams but save him so he could get out of The Life and be a respectable, legitimate delicatessen owner, a husband to his fiancée, and presumably someday be a father, they are people in abject poverty, some of whom don't have a choice or can't get out because they'll get killed because Life is so cheap in places like that. By the Graces of G-d, the help of my mom, my priest (I'm Catholic, too), and the methadone clinic (which has provided me with several great counselors over the years), as of 16 June 2024, I've got 7 years clean of heroin and sober of alcohol. I know what it is to be stuck and have no hope. At 29⅔, I didn't think I'd see 30, even though it was so close. I didn't even think I'd see the 🇺🇸 Independence Day fireworks. "Casey's" story resonated with me because it could easily have been me.

I wish I knew how to make the calls stop without changing my number (because the reprieve will only last so long). But, until they do stop someday, I'm going to bless them when they call, because a little bit of positive goes a long way; it doesn't cost anything, it doesn't hurt, and maybe it'll help them 'cuz they're people too…

Medicare insurance scam the elderly by enticing them with gift cards for food and other medical stuff. So when the elderly accept the gift card, they automatically get switched to another health insurance company

This isn't just Air Duct Cleaning companies. Almost any "service" found through internet ads.

i am craking up right now…this is hilarious

I'm Canadian and we used to get a lot of unsolicited calls offering duct cleaning. (The caller inevitably had a South Asian accent but I couldn't tell you if they were from India, Pakistan or one of the surrounding countries.) They were so frequent that someone at one of the online newspapers (possibly CBC) contacted someone who taught HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) at a community college and discovered that it's actually a bad idea to clean ducts because the process puts a lot of dust and other crud into the air; his advice was NOT to clean your ducts. It seems to me that offers of duct cleaning tapered off and gradually stopped after that article was published.

2:20 that's exactly what I was thinking. 😄

I think I was ripped off by one of these criminals years ago. Two teen-agers came in to my new rental – finished in a half hour and there was no difference in the dust or smells. It was over $200.

mark is scripted name of agentts

call center work in pakistan and offers servicesa at usa tc

Amazingly VERY FEW forced air duct system EVER need duct cleaning these days. Duct cleaning WAS necessary with gravity heating systems, in which heat rose from a furnace in the basement, before blowers were used.
Nowadays, forced air systems have much better filters, and the air is moving too fast for dirt to settle and stick, so no cleaning necessary.
I am a retired HVAC & Sheet Metal Contractor of 45 years, who actually was chosen to sit on the board to help re-write the Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning Contractor's test for the California State Contractor's License Board, just so you know my credentials.

Actually I'm in the process of getting estimates for my air ducts cleaned & had in-depth conversation with a potential provider.
Here's what I learned:
Legitimate air duct cleaners use the industry leading Roto brush tool.
Negative air method doesn't work. It only cleans around the opening of the vents.
And why the before & after pics only show this part.
It takes time to thoroughly clean the air ducts.
The more vents there are, the longer it will take.
Pricing is based on the number of vents, which correlates to the length of time.
Any service offering $99 or something that sounds too good to be true is a scam.
It takes 3-4 hrs to complete a typical residence w/ 2 workers.
How could a company make any profit after paying 2 workers for 3-4 hrs of work if they only charge $99?
Here are the typical scam tactics to avoid…
–Bait & switch pricing… they quote a low price but when they arrive on site, they charge $500. These companies may be legit, but the pricing isn't.
–Negative air method… they use the ineffective negative air method, cleans around the vent openings, takes about an hr, nothing else gets cleaned. You pay for an incomplete job.
–Incomplete job… they use the Roto brush, but only clean around the vent openings, takes about an hr, nothing else gets cleaned. You pay for an incomplete job.
–Overpricing… legit air duct cleaning service, but they overcharge (like $800) for their service.
A legitimate service would be Roto brush tool, they sweep back and forth a few times through each vent w/Roto brush, then use disinfectant to kill any mold left behind in air ducts, takes about 3-4 hrs, $250-$350 price for typical residence.

I finally had mine cleaned a forty yesr old house and 2guys came out wacuumed it all out. There was basically a little tiny amount of sandpd and dust in there. Basically nothing. I thought my ducts were like the dryer vent. They werent it was basically 100% clean.

I don't understand these pictures of the cleaning service. As someone who grew up around this business I do know what goes on in a legitimate and liscence business. Please visit a real HVAC service and skip the cleaning. The pictures of equipment are not real. The dryer vent lint is also not real.

I had a Friend who lived on Ben Dover Lane… his name was Phil McCracken. XD

It is not a scam. They are running business in Pakistan, but not honest.

Can’t even spell please correctly.

These types of posts are all over my groups except for car detailing.

or just don't schedule an appointment through Facebook

You are amazing 10:36 that was legendary

How about we will clean your main ducts, and then take a picture of of one saying it would be another 100 dollars. That's what they did to my Mother. She told them she couldn't afford it. I'm at her house the next day and she tells me the story. He took a picture of the vent and it was loaded with dust . I took my phone, put inside the supposed dirty vent, took a picture. My Mom said the picture he had was loaded with dust and dirt. My old Mother was being scammed. The guy told them he was Jewish. Don't be afraid to call the cops on these people. It is steeling!

It's unfortunate sometimes that people do get tricked, but this isn't fundamentally a scam. The people from the other country are essentially marketers. The people that went to that for sale house to clean that air duct we're actual real workers. The job of the marketers is to find customers. They give the contact information to a local business that pays for that contact. They do the job and they split the pay. It's as simple as that. Nothing complicated or scammy essentially. Well I do know that sometimes there are bad people who will try to take advantage of this focus business, most of it is good.

Holly Kindly !!! I use the Word KINDLY in my daily work … what should I use instead ??😂