RainSoft review: no money refund from rainsoft! 49

I just moved into a new house, and all I did was fill out a Walgreen's survey card stating we would get a $25.00 gift certificate to Walgreen's for filling out the survey. So, I filled it out and sent it in. We then got a call saying that we had to let someone come in and test our water (No mention whatsoever of the Rainsoft Company). They made it sound like they were just gathering data. My husband got the call or else I would have told them no. Anyway, we were told it would take about an hour and that we both needed to be home because they had had problems in the past with testers being physically assaulted by husbands or some dumb crap. So the guy showed up a half hour late, however he did call and tell us he was running late. You could tell right away it was a sales pitch, but we let him go on about his testing, etc. He did come off as fairly funny and fun, still a salesman, but it wasn't completely boring. That is, of course, until the demo was over and the money talk started. He gave us the initial price and we said, no way, then he said, "Well with this special program...", we still declined. He then started talking about the soaps etc. etc. At this point it was well into 2hrs.(only supposed to be 1) and we DID have somewhere we needed to go before we put our daughter to bed. We apologized for cutting him short but that we really needed to have left an hour ago and we were just not interested. At this point the said, "What if I had a system in my car?". I had to step in at this point, because my husband was obviously ready to hurt the man. He finally left, but I was VERY VERY unhappy with the experience, especially because I NEVER signed up for a sales pitch or a 2hr. jerk-off show! Regardless of how the system works or doesn't work. Any company that would put people like that out to sell their products doesn't deserve my business. I can't imagine that this guy was just a bad apple. He seemed VERY well trained in how to make you feel bad about the fact that you are giving your children bad water, stupid for wasting money and down right rude when you did not wat to purchase a $10, 000 item which is obviously marked up 6500%

Good Morning!

My name is Mark Vance. I am the Chief Marketing Officer at Aquion Water Treatment Products, the parent company of RainSoft. I have read the posts on complaintsboard regarding the challenges that some customers have had with some of our authorized dealers. As with any organization as large as ours, there are bound to be opportunities to improve. We're dedicated to working with our dealers to improve the level of service they provide to their customers. We do not wish to ignore the legitimate issues raised here. We are committed to answering each and every issue proactively and productively. I invite anyone to let us know when you have a concern or comment. Please contact us at comments @ rainsoft.com. (Just remove the spaces.)

Sincerely,

Mark A. Vance

Please... If you email comments@rainsoft.com also comment here. Do not just send a comment to RainSoft. They are horrendus (just like the spelling). I just called to cancel the next morning and was transferred around. Finally I got a call back from the area manager on his cellphone while he was driving. What if I can get you a used one, ours has 1 inch pipes. yadda yadda... Aweful.
Funny, a previous poster mentioned the call to the boss for america rewards. Same here! They even use your phone to make calls when they have cells in their car. Guess it's to record caller id and location data. I have a local guy here installing a Clack WC-1 48k for $900. Way better than rainsoft and any person I call can service it. I can even get parts online and do it myself.

My husband and I bought the rainsoft system 3 years ago and have had nothing but problems, we have had them out several times, and the system will work for a month or 2 then something else goes wrong. Every time they come out they want to blame uis for the problem. we were told this thing would be just about maintance free, HA HA, we are contantly adding bleach, salt and draining etc...NOT to mention they charge 100.00 everytime they come out and we can't afford it because we are still paying on this stupid thing. we are not rich but because of the storms we had a few years ago our well water turned dark and had a bad smell and taste, it also stained our clothes. we had to do something..they told us all kinds of promises and told us (which is why we were sold on the product) that it was guaranteed for LIFE. BULLSH! this thing is nothing but a NIGHTMARE!BEWARE DO NOT BUY THIS SYSTEM if your not happy you have no way out, , , THE FINANCE papers you sign put your home up as collateral, we did not know this it did not stte this in contract, its the type of form they use that automatically allows them to attach to your home. YOU ARE SKREWED if you try to withhold payment.

We had rain soft installed when we purchased our home 2 years ago. We were excited to hear that the shower door would not have water spots and that the calcium buildup around the sinks would not be there let alone the rings in the toilets. Well, the shower door has terrible water spots that CLR won't even remove. I am a clean freak so it's not due to not cleaning the doors. I have had to use a form of sand paper to get the rings out of the toilets and there is calcium around the faucets. We called rain soft to ask them to come and test the water again. Of course it was time for a service and they would not come unless we wanted the service for $80.00. My boyfriend told them then come get the system it has not done what was promised. They told us to basically it was to bad, there was nothing they could do. I will NEVER trust Rain Soft or purchase from them again due to the rudeness on the phone and their lack of even wanting to try to help. I don't think it was to much to ask them to come test the water in the Kitchen and bathrooms, but no, not unless we were going to pay the service fee. Oh not to mention the one under the sink already has a huge leak and they will not come repair it unless we pay the service fee. We have not used it for about 1.5 years but my God, we have to pay the bill. I am one discouraged owner. If they would have just sent someone out to test the water, assured me that it was working properly I would have not had a problem having them come back to provide the service. I would have trusted them and their product . There is no customer service or satisfaction in our area.

A very disappointed customer that's not afraid to sign her name. Christene Brown in Porterville California.

I was approached several times at Home Depot about having my water tested. Finally I gave in, which was the first mistake I made. The Rainsoft salesman requested that my wife be home for the sales presentation. After the presentation I was offered a unit at an extremely high price. ($6500.00) We told him that it was WAY out of our price range. I know our water is bad, but i never thought it would cost this much to purify it. The salesman threw in (free) coupons for all sorts of things and soaps and explained how this 6500 dollar investment would actually pay off quickly in food savings and clothing and pipes and so forth and so on. He then made a calculation and told us that we could pay on (installments) of $168/mth. My wife looked at me and said, i think we can afford that. So we told the salesman we would take the system. We very quickly signed some paperwork, and he took personal information that I assumed was so that the company could run a credit check or something in that nature to assure i would be able to repay the amount over the period of time.
PLEASE READ THIS REVIEW! IT WILL SAVE YOU!
I couldn't sleep for two nights and finally i called the company and i told them i couldn't afford the system. $6500 is just too much. The sales rep not quoting him, told me in so many words, questioned whether i was concerned about the health of my family. He hard sold me on a unit that would cost $4800 and the payments would be 124/mth, which i thought was still very expensive, but reasonable. I thought i could swing that.

When the installer came that day, he did not bring the less expensive (mechanical) unit, he only brought the $6500 unit, probably betting i would not notice and then refuse to change it out once it was installed. They had someone bring over the $4800 unit with the addendum to the original (contract). He installed the unit and i asked him if he had the contract or any financial paperwork, because i have not seen one thing since the salesman was here. He told me i should contact A+B marketing and then will send that stuff over. The QA rep would be here in 3 days (go figure).

So the QA rep calls me to schedule an appointment to test my water to assure the system is working properly. I told him that i need him to bring the financial papers and contract with him, because i still have not seen what i was supposed to pay and when and how. You get it? He tells me, " you haven't seen what your paying or any other paperwork?" Anyway, after he does a water test on his own company's system, he tells me my water is great! (Go figure). He then gives me the "Americana 3" coupon packet, which they claimed would save me all kinds of money... Two problems, its all saving on total garbage that i would never buy, and the process in which you receive your money, or rebate is so arduous, it would be a waste of time sitting in front of a (fax) machine sending who knows what to who knows who. I told the QA rep this, and he tells me, yea, its basically made that way so it hard to do, so people don't even bother. (Good thing he's not in sales!) He may be the only honest guy working there. Poor guy has to go to people's homes and deal with what i would imagine victim after victim. After asking him, he slides me the financial paperwork and i see the cost of the unit, $4800.00 @ 18% interest, with a finance charge of $2560.00. I just about lost it. I told the guy that i didn't ever agree to this. I don't even have credit cards, my wife and i pay everything in cash, even our cars, so what makes you think i would ever agree to pay an 18% interest rate on a water filter? I told him to call his company and tell them I want to cancel the system and they can come and take it back and some other poor sucker can have it installed in his house. The QA guy leaves and i'm on my way to Home Depot to talk to the manager. I told him the situation and he assured me that Home Depot would take the hit if this not pan out. They have had problems with outsourcing in the past. I told him this company has predatory solicitors in their store and i'm suprised Home Depot hadn't done more research. I left feeling better, as i like Home Depot. It is a great store, and if they can help me through this nightmare, i will only have more great things to say about them and I will obviously continue to shop there.

I never received a call from A+B marketing, so I called them. I talked to the same hard selling salesman that dogged me into the unit I actually folded on. I was on the phone with him for a good hour debating about this, while he continued to try to convince me that i needed this product. I definitely insulted his company and he was quite upset, as i am quite upset that they are going around trying to swindle money out of people's pockets. So now i'm paying almost $7, 700 for thing with a 52% interest charge! So if you break that down, i'm overpaying for the unit, plus, i'm buying soap and coupons on a high interest credit card! I'm getting 10% off Uncle Bens rice at 18% interest! WTF! I'm buying laundry detergent on 18% credit! Oh yea, i almost forgot, its "all natural". Anyway, he told me he would talk to the owner and do some research into what happened and talk to the sales rep. I told the guy, really, think about it. 3 days after the install, after finally seeing paperwork and financial documentation, i want to cancel, and not before? What does he think i did, bottle up a thousand gallons of Rainsoft water and sell it all for profit?Now i want to swindle them by returning the unit? Come on! He tells me he will call me back within 20 minutes.

An hour later, the same sleezeball sales rep actually returns my call and tells me that i did sign something having to do with getting credit and so forth. No *&^% I did, what company would put anyone on an installment plan without first checking to see if I could actually pay down the unit? Of course i signed that stuff. The only catch, and he admitted it, was that there is no paperwork saying anything about 18% interest, nor did the salesman mention it, and the 60 months they claim i agreed to, was the 60 months they told me they would give me the super soaps. I never signed any agreement stating that i would pay a finance charge of 52% of the cost of the unit or 18% on anything. He tells me that that owner doesn't want to remove the filter because it is considered used... Wait a minute, this thing is teh Rolls Royce of water filters with a Lifetime Guarantee, what is 3 days of minimal use going to do? You have got to be kidding me!

Now i am waiting to hear from them and i will post the outcome of that. I told the manager of Home Depot that if they can help me get rid of this curse, i will buy a system from them that same day. I hope Home depot pulls through. Thanks for reading this post. i trusted this company because they were sourced out by one of the most reputable companies in the world. Do not get tied up in this nightmare like i did. I am not a water expert, so i can't really speak for the actual legitimacy of the water filter itself, but i will say this: Stay away from these guys... They are predators and they target you and your consideration for your family's well being. Look at all of these other complaints on the internet and customer reviews from other sites... These people don't practice business like Americans. They practice business like Arabs. The reason people all over the world want to do business with the US is because we honor the deal. When we shake hands, that's it, people fell good about there experience and the product and service they're getting, and the provider should feel like he's made a fair and reasonable profit for his risk and hard work. This is not an example of this. These people, Rainsoft, A+B Marketing, etc., are doing what ever they can to make a buck in these poor economic times, even if that means dogging you and leaving you out to dry, like they are trying to do to me and my neighbor. Don't allow them to ruin America's reputation and your financial status.

Make a claim against Your homeowners insurance. Let them pay for the proper repairs and allow them to collect from the bond Rainsoft is required to maintain to do business. I wonder if they have a contractors license to do this kind of work?

I received a phone call from someone I though was from Home Depot. They asked what time I was going to be home and I set up an appointment to have someone show up between 6-630. She showed up at 7pm. I was under the impression this was a 'water test' not a presentation. When she got there she asked to use MY cell phone to call her boss to tell her she was there. I asked the lady how long it would take and she said half an hour. Well she finally left my house at 8pm. The only reason I got her out of my house so soon was that I said I am going through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and was looking to get rid of debt not gain more. I asked how much it would cost and she said "well, if you are spending $50 a month on soaps, cleaners and cleansers we can find you something comprable to that price". I don't spend that much money a month, I maybe spend $10. I asked her if the interest rate was and she told me that if I got a Home Depot card I could get 6 mo. no interest. I told her I already have a Lowe's card and she was like "well you can get this one too". Uh, no thanks lady. Then I told her I have to submit a request to my HOA to get anything installed outside the walls of my home and she said "well, we would install it in your crawl space, not outside" and I told her that even then I would have to get approval. She was insisting she knew how HOA's work and I had to tell her that that is not how mine works. I admit, the water from our tap looked gross but I am not willing to pay that much money for something that's just going to give me possible problems in the future. All water issues are dealt with by the HOA anyway, I don't have to do anything. She was all nice and friendly until she realized I was not buying. I also asked her why they didn't tell me it was going to take an hour and she said "what did they tell you?" I told her they told me it was a brief test and I also said I wanted to go to the gym and that's why I scheduled it so early. She's like, well you can still go. I was so frustrated. She kept saying that I needed clean water. Sorry, I have lived how many years with the water unpurified. I think I'll be ok. I do my research before I buy something this expensive. I am a single woman and I don't need to buy things I don't need and I think this product is one thing I do not need. Maybe other people do but not this girl!

$12, 000 for the system and still have to buy bottled water. Still have to buy salt and hydrogen peroxide for the system. The promise of all your soap and shampoo and detergents for life was delivered ONCE after we had asked about it for a year. Four years later I am still waiting for a second delivery. Required through customer service, apparently they are still looking into it after several months I have heard nothing from them.

So many installation problems I will not bore you with. Many, many followup problems. So many, "Oh by the way, you have to do...as maintenance.

We bought this system thinking there was much less maintenance than the system we had. LOL

All the freebies were worthless, I threw out the paperwork for them because it was only taking up space in my files.

Do Not deal with this company.

Kara K Finn 05/19/2011