Our Appearance on Dateline NBC
In January 2011 Dateline NBC aired a special episode exposing scam artists in the duct cleaning industry. There are frequent avertisements for duct cleaning for anywhere from $40-$99 to clean the duct work in an entire house. These same companies then pull a “bait & switch” when they arrive at the customer’s home, asking prices that frequently reach into the thousands; a far cry from $40. If they are not turned away immediately at that point, they do the cleaning and the customer often ends up paying thousands for shoddy work. We are asked to re-do their work on a regular basis.
Hi Tech Duct Cleaning, Inc. was approached by the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) prior to filming and we were asked to be part of the show. Our role was to come in after the scammers finished and re-do the duct cleaning in the correct way. Although in the video it is not pointed out which crew is ours, you will see examples of our work and what the duct work looked like after the scammers, and then after we cleaned it.
Included here are parts 1 & 2 of the Dateline segment.
Letter From NADCA About the Episode
Hi Tech Duct Cleaning was featured on Dateline NBC with Chris Hansen. The show exposed scam duct cleaners and showed the shoddy work they were doing in residential homes. Hi Tech Duct Cleaning was recommended by the National Air Duct Cleaner’s Association (NADCA) to NBC to come in behind the scammers and clean the duct work correctly. The following is a letter from NADCA concerning the NBC special:
“We’ve all seen the coupons and advertisements promoting ‘whole-house air duct cleaning’ for $49.95, and heard the horror stories from consumers who got taken by these companies. Now the national media is taking notice.
NADCA worked with Dateline NBC over the past six months to expose a scam operation and the company’s unethical business practices. Tune in to NBC this Sunday, January 30 at 7pm (Eastern Standard Time) when Dateline will present the Hansen Files, a new series that features Chris Hansen as he exposes frauds and helps educate the general public about the HVAC cleaning industry.
NADCA president Buck Sheppard served as the industry expert and may be featured in this report. This episode will show hidden camera scenes uncovering instances of brazen scam artists preying on uninformed customers.
Special thanks go to NADCA member Steve Wladysh of Hi Tech Duct Cleaning, Inc., out of Hamilton, Ohio, who contributed to this project by having his team come in to do a proper system cleaning, taking care of the mess left behind by the scam.”
What's next?
Give us a call at (513)737-3200 to get a free quote, discuss your service needs, and allow us to answer any questions you may have.