I have been trusting, am also a Senior Citizen and have been scammed because of both, so feel I am very vigilant in acquiring service repairs these days. I "thought" if I was doing business with a subcontractor from Lowes, I had some recourse for any issues that may come about. Little did I know!
I called Lowes Air Kleen Xpert (my invoice reads: Lowes Air Kleen Xpert Texas Duct Pros Chimney Specialists,) and asked if they were "subcontractors for Lowes" (lowes.com) and was told "Yes."
I wanted my chimney cleaned and they had a special for $99.00. I inquired if that was for all types of chimneys, and was told "Yes."
The repairman, Vince, showed up, I told him how much I liked shopping Lowes and asked him if he was from the McKinney Lowes and he said he was, but now he was out of Dallas.
With the above info, I trusted and made an almost fatal mistake of thinking..."I was doing business was Lowes!"
Vince inspected the chimney and came down to tell me my chimney cleaning would cost $150.00 instead of the $99.00, (aka: bait and switch) and that I also needed flashing, that it was bad enough it would start leaking soon around the ceiling of the fireplace, if it hadn't already. I inquired the cost of that repair and Vince told me the companies best service for this repair was $1565.00, which also, per the invoice was supposed to cover the chimney cleaning too, as that is how he wrote it up on the final invoice.
Skipping ahead, the final invoice showed: $1565.00 + $49.99 Trip Charge (which I was not informed of on my initial call) and the total invoice came to $1844.00. I have yet to figure out how that adds up to the final bill, but take responsibility that I did NOT CHECK it myself. My bad.
I approved the work, as I didn't want anything to worry about.
Vince cleaned the chimney (I hope) and when he came back down, I asked him when he was going to be able to replace the flashing. He said he had already finished it. (?) I thought that was considerably fast, but didn't question the work, as I have no clue what it involved, and I was after all, dealing with Lowes (Lowes.com)
I paid the invoice.
The next morning I checked my various accounts as I always do, and this check for $1844.00 had already cleared my bank...meaning it had to be deposited yesterday, the day of the cleaning and repair!
I thought, how did that check clear so fast through Lowes system, but thought it must be a faster clearing for checks these days (?) but then I looked at the endorsement!
The check had been deposited through a cell phone bank application!
There was NO ENDORSEMENT!
That was my RED FLAG!
I went immediately to my bank and questioned this issue and was informed to call the Fraud Department.
No...the check was not deposited into a "Lowes" account (which I had written the check too), it cleared security at the bank, even though it did not have an endorsement!
The bank gave me a Fraud Claim # and I received my $1844.00 back within 30 days!
By the way, I had my chimney inspected, the original flashing was still there, there was nothing wrong with it, and nothing was done to the flashing at all. No wonder it didn't take any time to repair it!
Lesson learned.
This is how this company runs their business, and had I not thought to check the endorsement and pursued the matter, they would have gotten away with their $1844.00 scam.
Texas Duct Pros Reviews
I have been trusting, am also a Senior Citizen and have been scammed because of both, so feel I am very vigilant in acquiring service repairs these days. I "thought" if I was doing business with a subcontractor from Lowes, I had some recourse for any issues that may come about. Little did I know!
I called Lowes Air Kleen Xpert (my invoice reads: Lowes Air Kleen Xpert Texas Duct Pros Chimney Specialists,) and asked if they were "subcontractors for Lowes" (lowes.com) and was told "Yes."
I wanted my chimney cleaned and they had a special for $99.00. I inquired if that was for all types of chimneys, and was told "Yes."
The repairman, Vince, showed up, I told him how much I liked shopping Lowes and asked him if he was from the McKinney Lowes and he said he was, but now he was out of Dallas.
With the above info, I trusted and made an almost fatal mistake of thinking..."I was doing business was Lowes!"
Vince inspected the chimney and came down to tell me my chimney cleaning would cost $150.00 instead of the $99.00, (aka: bait and switch) and that I also needed flashing, that it was bad enough it would start leaking soon around the ceiling of the fireplace, if it hadn't already. I inquired the cost of that repair and Vince told me the companies best service for this repair was $1565.00, which also, per the invoice was supposed to cover the chimney cleaning too, as that is how he wrote it up on the final invoice.
Skipping ahead, the final invoice showed: $1565.00 + $49.99 Trip Charge (which I was not informed of on my initial call) and the total invoice came to $1844.00. I have yet to figure out how that adds up to the final bill, but take responsibility that I did NOT CHECK it myself. My bad.
I approved the work, as I didn't want anything to worry about.
Vince cleaned the chimney (I hope) and when he came back down, I asked him when he was going to be able to replace the flashing. He said he had already finished it. (?) I thought that was considerably fast, but didn't question the work, as I have no clue what it involved, and I was after all, dealing with Lowes (Lowes.com)
I paid the invoice.
The next morning I checked my various accounts as I always do, and this check for $1844.00 had already cleared my bank...meaning it had to be deposited yesterday, the day of the cleaning and repair!
I thought, how did that check clear so fast through Lowes system, but thought it must be a faster clearing for checks these days (?) but then I looked at the endorsement!
The check had been deposited through a cell phone bank application!
There was NO ENDORSEMENT!
That was my RED FLAG!
I went immediately to my bank and questioned this issue and was informed to call the Fraud Department.
No...the check was not deposited into a "Lowes" account (which I had written the check too), it cleared security at the bank, even though it did not have an endorsement!
The bank gave me a Fraud Claim # and I received my $1844.00 back within 30 days!
By the way, I had my chimney inspected, the original flashing was still there, there was nothing wrong with it, and nothing was done to the flashing at all. No wonder it didn't take any time to repair it!
Lesson learned.
This is how this company runs their business, and had I not thought to check the endorsement and pursued the matter, they would have gotten away with their $1844.00 scam.
Please be careful!