Micro Clean Inc

The first scheduled appointment, I am the one who had to reset because a family emergency came up.  After that, I had at least three cancellations.  They did not call me, when they did not arrive at the scheduled time, I called them and stated it was canceled due to vehicle problems.  The first time, I moved all the furniture so that they could clean carpets.  After that, I stopped doing it, finally, the time before they finally did the job, they assured me they would arrive, again, they canceled.   They finally arrived to clean the air duct systems, the initial cost was $129 plus 3 free rooms of shampooing.  They showed me the system in the attic, there was a lot of rust, etc., and convinced me that if I didn't do the extra that it would harm the system.  Therefore, I did do it.  Honestly, I don't see anything different in the way the air cools in my house.  Unfortunately, the carpet shampooer was broken and they didn't finish the job of cleaning the carpets.  Again, several cancellations later, they finally showed up on a Saturday.  They were in such a rush to do it and leave my house.  The carpets were soaked and they did not do a good job.  I had to use my own shampooer in order to dry the carpets from the excess water.  I WILL NEVER USE THEM AGAIN.  They did call me, because they make random house calls, that is how I decided to use them, and asked if I needed air duct system.  I told them I had a BAD experience and that I would never use them again.  They stated that they wouldn't have been in business for 10 years if this occurred and that I should have talked to the Manager.  Well, I didn't and I guess, now it is my fault.  I would NOT recommend them to anyone.

My husband received an unsolicited call from this company offering to clean our vents/duct work for $150.00, with that we would get free carpet cleaned in 3 rooms and a hall. The individual he spoke to stated that their company had been with Angie's List for years and had very good scores. (He took them at their word and did not read all of their reviews.) We have 3 dogs and that was the main reason we wanted the carpets cleaned. My husband was told the carpets would ?sanitized? with some special treatment for homes that have animals.

 It took about a month to get an appointment scheduled. The night before the first scheduled appointment someone called to cancel stating that the tech assigned to us was at the hospital with his wife who was having a baby. We rescheduled, the morning of the next appointment someone called saying the tech was ?sick or something.? We decided to give them one more chance and rescheduled. (Third time's a charm, right?) They came out about 2 hours later than scheduled and promptly after beginning their work, found "bacteria" growing in our duct work. My husband also saw the alleged "bacteria," which he described as "black dusty looking stuff." The tech said he took pictures and would email them to us. (We requested this because we are insured against microorganisms.) When I asked how the tech knew it was bacteria versus mold he said in essence dust and dirt plus condensation equals bacteria. As a former Infection Control Practitioner, I found this answer to be less than professional. No cultures were taken.

We were quoted approximately 3700.00 for removal, disinfection and preventive treatment against future growth of alleged ?bacteria.? I thought they would be returning to do all this work as it was close to 4PM when they discovered the alleged ?bacteria.?

 They made a tremendous mess of dust and dirt at each vent where they dumped duct dirt into our home and spent almost 8 hours stomping around in the attic. They sprayed what that claimed to be hospital grade disinfectant in the vents and duct work making it nearly impossible for me to breathe. I did not see the techs wearing any kind of respiratory or other protection from the alleged ?bacteria.?  I finally had to go to bed as I get up at 4:00 AM. My husband finished the evening with them. Constantly reminding them of the time and that I was attempting to sleep. The 'owner' came by at about 11:00 PM to bring something to the techs and was speaking loudly. My husband had to remind him several times that I was trying to sleep. They did not get the carpets cleaned that night. My husband was assured someone would call him first thing the following Monday (this was a Thursday) to schedule the carpet cleaning.

We understood why they needed to clean the carpets after they did the duct work. At the base of the attic stairs and all along the route their hoses took from their truck into the house the carpets were much more soiled than when they arrived. There were very dark squishy wet areas directly under the attic stairs

After about 10 days of hearing nothing from Micro Clean, my husband began calling them and attempting to schedule the carpet cleaning and obtain the pictures that were taken of the alleged ?bacteria.?. He basically got the run around for several days and had to be assertive almost to the point of threatening to get them to come do the carpets. They scheduled the carpet cleaning and again arrived about 2-3 hours late.

When I arrived home from work after the carpets were cleaned, the entire house smelled like a barn. I inspected the cleaned carpet areas and found the carpet to be soaking wet in the corners and at most of the edges of the carpet where it meets the walls. I used about 2 ½ cans of spray Lysol to try to kill the stench. I then called the Micro Clean office and asked what type of solution was used on our carpets. I was told they didn?t use anything but steam, but the office personnel I spoke with told me they would have the tech that cleaned our carpets call me with further information.

 

While awaiting the return call, I called about 3 or 4 national carpet cleaning chains asking what solutions they used to steam clean carpets where pets reside. I received answers that all included some type of sanitizer or deodorizer and at least 2 of them said the used a water softener. When the tech returned my call he verified that that steam was all that was used and explained that using ?soap? would leave residue in our carpeting which would collect dirt. I asked him if he was aware of any substances that were not soap that could be used to steam clean carpeting. He repeated his ?soap? explanation. Understanding that this young man was simply regurgitating what he had been taught I gave up.

Before we received the pictures, I spoke to my insurance adjuster, explaining the entire situation. She gently suggested that this did not sound like a true ?microorganism situation? and that perhaps we had been ripped off. She left me with the caveat that when we got the pictures, I should forward them to her and she would look at them. After hearing this I made a few calls to state agencies and other organizations that would have further info on microorganism abatement. I was told that when microorganisms are found in a home or other building, it is almost always cultured to ascertain if the organism is harmful to humans and animals. I also learned that in Texas, microorganism abatement services are required to be licensed by Texas Department of State Health Services.
Bottom lines: 1. We were ripped off.
2. After reading the owner?s response to the other (Angie?s List) reviewer who thought they were ripped off I am sending of reports on this situation to the appropriate state agencies.
3. I hold the belief that this company has had some kind of problem from telling people they have "mold" and have switched to telling people they have ?bacteria,? instead of mold.
4. If the people I spoke to at Texas Department of State Health Services are accurate in what they told me, Micro Clean will be out of the microorganism abatement business soon.
My advice to other consumers:
5. Check with your state authorities, get cultures, and 2nd and 3rd opinions before being scared into this type of situation!
6. Regardless of what you are having done...if it seems fishy to you it probably is.
7. Whenever possible pay with a credit card, you have a greater chance of recouping your money if you are ripped off.

 

I am completely shocked and frustrated by the horrible service and what appears to be deceitful practices of Micro Clean DFW.   They called me with  a "special" of celaning All my air ducts in whole house and steam cleaning 3 carpet rooms for $199.95    The Rep, Krista, told me on the phone that they insert brush and vaccum into each air duct, and vacuum out with a HEPA system.  Then the tech inspects system for mold & other contaminents.
 
On June 6th, the 2 Reps showed up, approx 3:40. -  Justin, and Alex (who din't speak English but was Very nice & hard working )  They go upstairs, then start loading in vaccuum tubing.   Apprx 20 mins later, Justin comes downstairs and tells me that there is a problem and I need to come look.   He showed me dirt in the return vent of our 3 yr old a/c unit.  He said it was evidence that builders ran a/c while home was in construction.  He said that dirt has been circulating non-stop through our house & they would have to clean that at additional charge but it would look "Brand New" when he was done.  Then he showed me what he says was mold in our plenum box.  He said it has probably been growning for a while and that it has gotten into All of our duct work.  He said it has been continually re-cycling throughout the house & that if we did not remove it, it would cause illness and upper respiratory problems.  And, that the only way to treat it would be with their chemical process.  He explained after they complete the regular brushing & vaccuming of all the duct work, they would need to complete a detailed 3 step process.  He said after ducts swept and vaccumed, they need to sanitize all the duct work throught house, the coils, return vents and a/c systems with an industrial strength sanitizer.  It was the same grade & strength that hospitals us.   Then they had to Wash all the duct work and systems with a biological contaminant control called Sporicidin, which is Guaranteed to kill all the mold.  Then they would have to " Fog our systems" to put anti microbia Fog into each & every duct and vent and it would coat the lining of the vents and prevent mold from ever growing again.  The bill suddenly jumped to $1100. !  He said other companies charge thousands more.
Not able to get ahold of my husband, I called my brother-n-law, who is a chemical engineer.  In the meantime, Justin talked on the phone outside and smoked cigarettes while his partner was upstairs.  I finally heard back from my brother-n-law at 4:37 ( Call from Oxy Chemical on my caller ID-  see photo)   I called Justin back inside to talk to my BIL,  He repeated to him the Exact 3 step process that he told me above.   When my BIL questioned the "fogging process", Justin told him the fog would be blown into the system intake and they would watch it come out of each vent, then turn off the air and blow in more fog so that it would stick to and coat the walls of all the ductwork and vents, and that it was a long process.  I did take photo of the plenum box & emailed to my brother-n-law, while we were on phone.   He told Justin he thought it looked like dirt & rust.  Out of pure fear, I finally agreed to proceed with everything.   At that exact time, Ray, the office manager called, and Justin said in front of me, "Yes, she is going to proceed with the process" 
About 15-20 mins after telling Justin that  I would do the process, a  client of mine came by to return paint samples to me.  That was approx 4:45 or 4:50.  She told me Not to proceed... and advised me to get a 2nd opinion.   I called Justin down right away and my client and I both asked him questions, then in front of my client, I told him I was going to get a 2nd opinion, and that I only want to do the original job.  He told me it was Too Late, and that everything was already done except for fogging the system.  I knew there was No Possible Way that all of my vents could have been completed by then, much less all of the $1000 extras.  He told me to come uptairs.  He showed me the plenum box which was now clean.  It looked fine.
 I asked about coils & blower because I never saw them "before" he started. And when I was upstairs the 1st time, he never had the whole unit apart.  Only 2 vents were off of the 1 unit.  Our 2nd unit was un-touched.   He said they were already cleaned & unit was put back together.  The unit is 3 yrs old, and I know the coils, etc not be that dirty.  And, it still had the original Silver Duct Work tape on it. (except for the plenum box opening & 1 large return vent that he had removed)  He showed me the 1 return vent they worked on.  He said, "see its All Clean"  The first 2 feet was clean.  When I put flashlight to opening, I could see right at the turn it was Filthy and put my head in and saw for several feet was filthy.   He got a water hose & brought it upstairs & sprayed water inside and had other tech vaccum out from return.  he told me for the 2nd time, that it was now clean.  I looked in again and found it still had dirt All over.  They cleaned it again with water and vaccum and it finally came out.    I noticed our other unit, which is 1 1/2 months old was never touched.  It still had the white silicon glue and silver ductwork tape all around it.  So, clearly they never cleaned any of those vents.   When I questioned the coils, etc that I never saw, he reluctantly said he would take the cover off..   About that time, Justin had his helper Alex start working on steaming the carpets  ( Alex worked hard and spent Alot of time on the carpets )   About 20 minutes later,  I found Justin spraying mist from water bottle into our return air vent.  I knew there was No Way that was legit Whatever it was.   When I asked what it was,  he told me That was "Fogging the system"    Clearly that was not At All the process he described to me or my BIL.  During this process, the only items brought  into my home was the vacuum cleaner and the liquid cleaner for the carpet.  The bottle that he used to spray into my cold air return appeared to be the same bottle that was used on my carpet.   Who knows what it was.  They started packing up to leave and I was Very upset and knew I had been scammed but I was in an uncomfortable situation with the Rep and his helper and me, so I reluctantly paid them with credit card.  At the time of payment, I told him that the Fogging process was not At All as they described, that the other return air vent was never removed or shown to me, so he said, "im going to take the other return air vent off your bill".  And I said why did your phone sales rep explain process different and your website picture show tech cleaning at each vent when that isn't what y'all did.  He said they no longer do it that way.   This morning, the picture on their website of the tech vaccuming each vent was removed.  They left my house at approx 6:45.  The majority of the time was spent on cleaning carpets and waiting for me to get ahold of my Brother-n-law about the mold issue.proceed. 
 I checked the attic this morning.   I was Horrified to find screws, a screw driver, and an a/c vent cover part all over.  And, the on

Gary & helper were almost on time & worked for 6 hours. My only problem was he's a little too mouthy. I had to removed him that i was paying him not him paying me but overall they did a very good job price was a bit too high.

It was good and they were nice. They seemed to know what they were talking about and did a good job. The technicians knew what they were talking about and they went up in the attic and took the ducts off of the air conditioning unit I guess so they can clean them. They showed me how dirty they were and did what needed to be done to clean them out and to clean them out the right way and still had them do the work. It was a good experience, and they were polite, courteous, and seemed to make improvements in the quality of the air in the home and the carpets looked good when they left. I didn't do any comparison with others and I know I am real happy with what I got and for the hard work I saw them do so I am pretty sure it's a fair price. I notice some improvements in it at least my carpets are clean and the air suppose to be better. They were there when they said they would be. The technician that was out I think his name is Dan and he was real nice and professional and courteous.

The company called call us and offered their service at discounted price of $179 for 2 units.  I checked Angies list and there wasn't any review for them (positive or negative); so that I thought I'll give them a try.

Upon arrival, they looked at the ducts and showed me the dust accumulated in there.  One of the system even had some mold.  They recommended water wash and mold treatment for both units for $500.  I didn't have the chance to check the price online at that moment, they gave 1 year warranty and re-treatment for mold after 6 months.

The person who came (Ben) was very professional and left the house clean after the job.