On August 28, 2009, i had a technician from a local Vacu Vent franchise clean out central air system. At the time, i also ordered (and paid $150 for) a washable electrostatic air filter. i was told that it should arrive in about 2 weeks.
Two months (not weeks...months) later, when the filter hadn't arrived, i called their 800 phone number. i was told that the company had been swamped with requests and was backlogged, but that my name would be placed at the top of the list to get a filter and that my filter should arrive in about 2 weeks. The lady said her name was Pam.
Two and a half weeks later, i still had no filter. i called back to complain and try to get something done, but the person on the phone insisted that there was nothing he could do and kept giving excuses about the company being backlogged. He said that no supervisors were available at the time but that he would leave my name and number and one should call me within 24 hours.
When that phone call never came, i called back again. They continued to give excuses about being backlogged and now insisted they couldn't give me any idea of when i should expect to get my filter, even though i'd paid for it months earlier. i was tired of waiting for something i'd long since paid for, so i asked that they simply cancel my order and refund me the purchase price. Again, the person on the phone insisted that they couldn't do that, but that a manager would call me about it within 24 hours.
When that call never came, i filed a complaint with the BBB on November 16.
Then, on December 11, despite my request that my order be canceled and i be refunded, i received a washable electrostatic air filter in the mail from Vacu Vent. While i was still pretty aggravated with them, i would have let the whole thing go at that point...if the filter had fit properly! The filter i received was too small for our central air intake, even though it was supposedly custom made based on measurements taken by the technician who cleaned our vents.
So once again, on December 11, i called Vacu Vent. They apologized and offered to send a technician out to measure again so a filter could be re-ordered, but this was unacceptable to me. It took me nearly 4 months to get the first one, and all the while i was out $150 and still had to keep buying disposable filters at $20 per month. Unwilling to once again wait indefinitely on another filter, i suggested that instead, i could mail back the defective filter and Vacu Vent could simply refund me the purchase price like i had requested back in November. This time i was told that i could expect a call from a "Stacy" in administration by 5 that day.
Today is December 21, and i have never, ever gotten a call back from Vacu Vent. They have my money, and that's all they care about.