David
Las Cruces,#2Author of original report
Wed, May 07, 2008
The employee rebuttal as to Aquativa not having a distributor in New Mexico is accurate, however simply reading my original complaint should have clarified that. They had a distributor in El Paso, Tx. Since I paid $5000 upfront, this extremely poorly designed unit was not financed. Since Covenant manufactures and/or sells these defective units, the liability for repair of defects and refunds is theirs. This is a common problem, in that their distributors close down, and Covenant continues to sell their overpriced filters while being 'apologetic' as per no more distributor. I can produce proof that my defective unit is from Aquativa, that it is paid for, and that I have ordered filters for it. I am currently in the process of locating others who have been scammed by the 'company'. Meanwhile, their standard denial of 'wrong company' doesn't 'hold water' (pun intended, as neither does their product). To their credit, they are an equal opportunity scammer, with consumers as well as their salespeople. Just my $5000 worth of observation....
David
Las Cruces,#3Author of original report
Mon, May 05, 2008
Here are some additional accounts. How this 'business' operates is interesting, in that they have distributors who are selling their products, the distributors offer the incentive of a free system to their salespeople (who have complained that they never received them), and then the distributors fold leaving the customers with a defective product. The 'business' in IL sells expensive filters which must be purchased according to them annually to maintain the warranty. So by setting up 'de facto (Existing in actual fact although not by official recognition)' representatives of their 'company', they avoid responsibility and liability. Interesting scam. Below are two other complaints I've copied, and I will be happy to provide the links. FLORESVILLE The six persons issued citations Dec. 27 for making door-to-door sales calls without a permit were found to be legitimate representatives of Aquativa, a company that sells water softening products, according to Floresville Police Department Investigator Chad Clark. A representative of Aquativa contacted Clark to convey that fact and told Clark that Aquativa did not need a permit in Floresville, because of a recent court decision. Clark has asked Floresville City Attorney Howard Berger to investigate the companys claim, but said that the officers who issued the citations were enforcing the existing law. The Floresville Police Department had received numerous complaints from residents about the aggressive sales tactics of the companys representatives. The residents complained that the sales representatives did not produce identification, made false claims, and made persistent efforts to enter residences. The Aquativa spokesman said that these individuals had been fired, according to Clark. On Dec. 29, four persons not the ones issued citations in Floresville were arrested in San Marcos and charged with deceptive business practices, according to the San Marcos Daily Record. These individuals also said they were working for Aquativa. The San Marcos Police Department had received complaints similar to the complaints made in Floresville about their sales tactics." AND ANOTHER (IN THE INTEREST OF BREVITY, I WON'T POST MORE ACCOUNTS UNLESS AQUATIVA DBA COVENANT CONTINUES THEIR REBUTTAL. "First a woman called asking if we wanted our water tested, and that after it was tested if we decided to have it done we would be given some kind of gift. We said sure, and a the salesman, Tom Overtun, (I won't forget him any time soon) came over around 6:40 pm and stayed until around 11:30 pm presenting this water filtration system. We told him we couldn't afford a 6 thousand dollar system, we just had a kid and bought our house no more than a year ago. I wanted him out of the house, told him we would take it and just cancel the following day. Well, the only number we had was his, and the next day we did call, told him we couldn't afford it, and he told us he would take care of it. Then later, they delivered the system to the house and we got a bill from the extremely rude American FInco. We called Aquativa and they said we had to send in the cancelation notice by mail within 24 hours if we wanted to cancel and that we were stuck with the system. That might have been possible, but Mr. Tom Overtun had all the papers. Not only that, but our payments were not what he said they would be. We called Aquativa several times, each time talking to someone new who had no idea what was going on saying, "Well we are new here in Oklahoma, we are still getting organized," or some other lame excuse as to why they couldn't help us. Every time someone came out to talk to us it was someone different than who we spoke to on the phone and of course after a while I just immediately started yelling at them the moment the door opened. Every time, "Hey man don't yell at me, I don't know what's going on! they didn't tell me your situation!" The filter and all its parts sat in our garage for a month and a half, with my wife and I making payments on it. I said to screw them, I don't care if we don't pay for it. My wife did not want our credit going bad so we paid. If I didn't have a family, I could have cared less. Then finally a "technician" came to install it, (plumber) and he said that he had to install part of it in the room where my daughter was sleeping. He said he could come back later and finish up, but the next time a "technician" came out, it was some spanish guy would could barely speak any english and not once did he come into my house to install anything. So me and my wife thought, this whole crappy ordeal is done with. At least we have filtered water, right? For about two weeks we did. I started calling Aquativa again, telling them that the water was making my skin feel slick instead of squeaky clean but its not anymore and if I had to replace the salt in the filter. They said they would send someone over to take care of it. The guy came over and pushed a button and left. Honestly. Well, again, we just blew them off--it was more trouble than it was worth. Yet every month that $110 payment came through the sparks were re-kindled, and we were assured our system was working, we were just getting used to it. I made threats, (which is very unprofessional and unwise) but I couldn't help it. Almost a year later I had Hague Water systems come out and check the water. Not to my surprise they said nothing was being filtered. SO then I called the aquativa company, and again, not to my surprise, they aren't in Oklahoma anymore. Aquafusion bought them out apparently. Apparently, Aquativa had gone bankrupt. SO the techs from aquafusion came out and told us (no surprise) that the filter had been doing nothing for months. The salt had not even gone down, and they were at our house for a couple hours flushing out the system. They told me the people at Aquativa were people who didn't know what they were doing. You think? Well another myth in the water filter business is they will tell you that it will keep your pipes clean, that it won't fix existing problems, but it will prevent more from happening. Bull. since we had the Aquativa system, we had to pay a plumber twice to unclog the drain pipe to our washer. it was nearly $200 the first year, and fortunately I had better contacts this year and the guy was able to do the exact same kind of flushing routine for $50. And now, the filter system under our sink to this day leaks a steady drip you barely notice. We didn't know until we stepped on the wood boards the water was leaking onto and found that they creaked and were warping. Currently I am trying to get a hold of either of the companies, and all I can do whenever I call is leave voice messages. In the end i am thinking I want payment from them not in cash but in pints of blood. I am so sick and tired of this whole thing. Rocky Oklahoma City, Oklahoma"
Timothy
Bradley,#4UPDATE Employee
Thu, April 03, 2008
Covenant Air & Water of Bradley, Illinois is a manufacturer of water treatment products. We are located south of Chicago and have never done business in the state of New Mexico. We manufacture water equipment products for independent dealers in the U.S. and other countries. Covenant does NOT and never HAS sold products to consumers down New Mexico. The story this complaintant describes may well be true, but this complaintant has listed the WRONG COMPANY. No employee of Covenant has EVER been to this person's house (or ANYONE'S house in New Mexico for that matter). Covenant has absolutely nothing to do with the sale of this product or the financing of this product. This complaintant needs to target the independent dealer from whom he actually purchased the product, the one who installed the product, and the company that financed the product. We consider the statements about Covenant to be defamatory, and expect this mistake to be corrected.
Timothy
Bradley,#5UPDATE Employee
Thu, April 03, 2008
Covenant Air & Water of Bradley, Illinois is a manufacturer of water treatment products. We are located south of Chicago and have never done business in the state of New Mexico. We manufacture water equipment products for independent dealers in the U.S. and other countries. Covenant does NOT and never HAS sold products to consumers down New Mexico. The story this complaintant describes may well be true, but this complaintant has listed the WRONG COMPANY. No employee of Covenant has EVER been to this person's house (or ANYONE'S house in New Mexico for that matter). Covenant has absolutely nothing to do with the sale of this product or the financing of this product. This complaintant needs to target the independent dealer from whom he actually purchased the product, the one who installed the product, and the company that financed the product. We consider the statements about Covenant to be defamatory, and expect this mistake to be corrected.
Timothy
Bradley,#6UPDATE Employee
Thu, April 03, 2008
Covenant Air & Water of Bradley, Illinois is a manufacturer of water treatment products. We are located south of Chicago and have never done business in the state of New Mexico. We manufacture water equipment products for independent dealers in the U.S. and other countries. Covenant does NOT and never HAS sold products to consumers down New Mexico. The story this complaintant describes may well be true, but this complaintant has listed the WRONG COMPANY. No employee of Covenant has EVER been to this person's house (or ANYONE'S house in New Mexico for that matter). Covenant has absolutely nothing to do with the sale of this product or the financing of this product. This complaintant needs to target the independent dealer from whom he actually purchased the product, the one who installed the product, and the company that financed the product. We consider the statements about Covenant to be defamatory, and expect this mistake to be corrected.
Timothy
Bradley,#7UPDATE Employee
Thu, April 03, 2008
Covenant Air & Water of Bradley, Illinois is a manufacturer of water treatment products. We are located south of Chicago and have never done business in the state of New Mexico. We manufacture water equipment products for independent dealers in the U.S. and other countries. Covenant does NOT and never HAS sold products to consumers down New Mexico. The story this complaintant describes may well be true, but this complaintant has listed the WRONG COMPANY. No employee of Covenant has EVER been to this person's house (or ANYONE'S house in New Mexico for that matter). Covenant has absolutely nothing to do with the sale of this product or the financing of this product. This complaintant needs to target the independent dealer from whom he actually purchased the product, the one who installed the product, and the company that financed the product. We consider the statements about Covenant to be defamatory, and expect this mistake to be corrected.