CALGARY- A warning is circulating about unlicensed furnace cleaners, as many Calgarians prepare their homes for winter.
It turns out that an unlicensed business may be calling potential customers, posing as a legitimate company.
Sonja Sadden is one of the people who received a call from someone claiming to be from Alberta Furnace Cleaning, who she uses regularly. So, she booked a duct cleaning, but was shocked to return home to find dust blown all over the house, damaging her walls.
“The furniture was all over the place, there was dust sitting on top of everything,” she explains, adding that when she phoned Alberta Furnace Cleaning to complain, they told her they weren’t the ones who’d gone to do the work.
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After the real Alberta Furnace Cleaning company got a number of similar complaints, the owner decided to investigate for himself.
“I personally called them myself anonymously with my service manager present, and sure enough they answered the phone with our name,” says Grant Carlson.
So, he booked an appointment with them, and on Wednesday afternoon two men in a cube van with Ontario license plates showed up with a portable generators and some plastic hose in the back.
The workers were actually from a Toronto-based company called HVAC Duct Cleaning Services, and claimed to be trained and licensed. However, they couldn’t produce a Calgary business license and the City of Calgary confirms they are not registered.
“What I saw in the back of their truck doesn’t even come close to industry standards in equipment,” says Carlson. “Obviously they’re a fly by night operation.”
He is now filing a complaint with the city and launching legal action.
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