Hall of Shame: Dirty duct cleaner won't come clean

Dirty air duct company only cleans out wallets say angry customers

Rob Wolchek is on the trail of an air duct cleaning company that goes by many names - but might as well be mud, after customers say they were overcharged with no work being done.

FOX 2 - Meet Moe.

Moe: "What's the name? what's the name?"

Rob Wolchek: "Moshe Peretz. That's you."

Moe's the partner in an air duct cleaning company that's sucking in the cash.

They clean up by using dirty tricks according to some of their customers with a bunch of websites for supposedly local 5-star companies that lure you in.

They use a technician with a shop vac and an attitude - as well as a method to make sure your money is funneled their way.

Wolchek: "Do you know what a bait and switch is?"

Moe: "What?"

Wolchek: "Bait and switch."

Moe: "No."

Wolchek: "Ok. I'm going to show you."

This is Shayla.

"I called a local company called Nectar," she said.

At least they look like a local company. Their address is in Redford Township where Shayla and her husband Steve live. And Nectar duct cleaning has some sweet reviews - look at all those 5 stars!

Technician Dennis from "Nectar" showed up and told Shayla her ducts not only needed cleaning but a chemical treatment to kill germs.

Shayla told him: "'Just keep it as cheap as possible, that is it, those are the only two services I want,'" she said.

An hour later the Nectar guy was done, the bill was big.

"'What, what do you mean $2100 dollars!?'" she said, recalling her reaction.

Yep. Shayla and Steve shelled out more than $2,000.

They say their ducts aren't even any cleaner. So Rob opens one to see what $2,000 worth of duct cleaning looks like.

Wolchek: "There's all kinds of crap in there. Old dog food. But it's filthy. It's definitely not clean, this is dirty."

And then there's this gadget.

"Apparently they charged $699 dollars to put a UV light inside the furnace that's supposed to kills the bacteria in the furnace," Shayla said. "Our furnace is two years old. I would have never asked for that."

Shayla's an 8th grade teacher, and this looks like a student's science project. They headed to Nectar's supposed office.

But when Shayla and her husband came looking for Nectar duct cleaning in Redford, the address came up in an alleyway.

Yep. Nectar apparently doesn't even exist - except on the web.

Wolchek: "You called Nectar to come out."

Shayla: "Right. The bill that was sent to my husband's email was from AM Pure. "

Wolchek: "You never heard of them."

Shayla: "I never called them."

April hired a company called Jones Duct Cleaning out of Highland Park.

"I was trying to do my research, trying to find someone with reputable reviews," she said. "All five-star if I recall, they had quite a few. And now I think they must have been fake. They must have been."

April was unimpressed with "Jones Duct Cleaning."

"He went around with a shop vac to the top of my vents and sprayed in a weird chemical - and I thought this is weird," she said. "I could have done this myself."

The cost? About $1,000 dollars. She paid by check.

"I said, 'Who should I make it out to?' And he said, 'AM Pure' and I said, 'That's not the company I hired,'" April recalled.

AM Pure Again? Well, what's up with the five-star-rated Jones Duct Cleaning that April called?

Somewhere on a block in Highland Park is supposed to be Jones Air Duct Cleaning. Wolchek doesn't see it.

Meet Margie, she hired Cardinal Air Ducts.

Here's their website - Cardinal Air Ducts of Dearborn which has five star reviews.

Wolchek: "So you don't think they did a very good job?"

Margie: "They didn't do a job at all."

And guess who Margie ended up paying $800 to?

The address shows a fancy place for Cardinal Ducts Cleaners. But guess what? There's no Cardinal Duct Cleaners in there - just a bunch of investment firms and lawyers.

This appears to be bait and switch. The bait - a website for a duct cleaner in your town - with lots of five star reviews.

The switch, someone from AM Pure, a company with a not-so great reviews, shows up to do the job - and take your money.

Here's some AM Pure customers.

Victoria got this Val-Pak coupon for a duct cleaning from AM Pure for $89.

She said the AM Pure tech started to upsell her, but she told the guy she just wanted the $89 deal. He took out a hose, and started banging around on her ducts.

Wolchek: "How much time did he spend in the house?'

Victoria: "Ten minutes. Five to 10 minutes."

He took the $89 and left.

Wolchek: "You don't think he cleaned your ducts at all."

Victoria: "No."

Joe had an $89 AM Pure coupon as well. He says the tech worked for an hour at his house, didn't even take off all the vent covers as you can see, but for $89, he was satisfied.

"I have the $90 ready for him," he said. "Literally in my hand, cash, ready for him."

But Joe was in for a big surprise. He was told he owed $1,750. Furious, Joe demanded the tech's manager's number.

"He told me 'You can't have that number. You're not privy to that. No one talks to Moses, or Moe. AKA Moe.'"

He says he finally got to speak to Moe on the tech's phone.

"Moses says 'That's our coupon. It may say that, but this is what we do when we go in. We rack up the price, you have to pay for each and every vent.'"
Joe says once he turned on the air, the dust blew all over. He says he's humiliated.

AM Pure is a company run by two old friends, Alexandru Arcire and Moshe Moses Peretz. Alex and Moe, as in AM Pure.

And purely they're living the good life. Look, Moe's got himself a new, $140,000 Mercedes! "You only live once!" he exclaims on Facebook.

Alex likes posting about his extravagant lifestyle as well.

According to their incorporation papers, AM Pure's business address is Moe's home in a gated subdivision in Farmington Hills. So if you want to complain - you can't get in.

You won't find a street address on AM Pure's website.

Unlike the websites for Cardinal Duct Cleaners, Jones and Nectar, the businesses with the great reviews the customers said they called, but were then serviced by AM Pure. Let's see if they're right.

Wolchek has an undercover customer call Nectar Duct Cleaning. The technician, Dennis, comes out, more than four hours late, we might add, and look, he's wearing an AM Pure T-shirt.

Undercover customer: "What company are you with you with?"

"I'm with Nectar Air Duct Cleaning, their technician, but I'm with AM Pure."

Dennis the tech, says Nectar is one of AM Pure's other offices and he works out of Southfield.

Undercover customer: "Southfield, I thought Nectar was in Redford?"

Dennis the tech: "I don't know where that branch you called is. I don't know where that branch part is. Where I came from, where I get my car? Southfield."

Southfield? AM Pure is supposed to be in Farmington.

Undercover customer: "Who owns the company?"

Dennis the tech: "May I ask why? Why do you want to know all this stuff?"

Undercover customer "I just like to know who I'm doing business with."

Dennis the tech: "For the most part, I'm a part owner. But I'm not like the owner of the whole thing."

Dennis spends exactly six minutes looking over the ducts and says the job will cost $1,100 dollars. Our customer says he wants to think about it.

Dennis then says there's $49 fee for the call, and promises to mail a written estimate and reciept. He then takes off. By the way, we never did get the reciept or estimate.

The van that the Nectar/AM Pure's Tech is driving, has no company name on it, but it's registered to Moe Peretz.

It's time for Wolchek to vent on this duct guy.

Wolchek: "Hi Moe. Rob Wolchek from FOX 2. I need to ask you about Nectar Air Duct Cleaning in Redford."

Moe: "I'm not familiar with that business."

Wolchek: "You're not familiar with it? Well, are you with AM Pure because that's who came out."

Moe: "You should call the city. Call the number on here. The owner's name is Alex."

Wolchek: "Yeah, well, here's the deal - you're also one of the owners because the business is registered at your house!"

Moe: "I know, I just became this year."

Wolchek: "You just became what this year?"

Moe: "Owner, ownership."

Wolchek: "What about Jones Duct Cleaning. Are you familiar with that?"

Moe: "No sir."