Jim D'Amato
701 Owl Place
LV 89145
October 10, 2005
Better Business Bureau
2301 Palomino Lane
LV 89107
Gentlemen and/or Ladies:
No I'm not satisfied with Culligan's answer for two reasons.
1)
With my other utility companies, I don't pay for their product when I don't
receive their service. Nevada Power, Southwest Gas and the Las Vegas Valley Water
District only charge me for these products when I use them that's why they have
meters. Cox and my Broadband supplier give me credit on the bill when there's an
outage some time during the month. I don't see any reason I should pay for Pure
Drinking Water when it tastes like crap because the filter needs to be changed.
These service or utility company's don't change me for their service when it's
not working. I currently have to put the so called Pure Drinking Water through a
Brita filter to make it taste good. Culligan should have been changed the filter
by the end of June. I called in mid-June 15-16 and left a message that I needed
to have a filter change. Instead of a call back I got a post card from them two
weeks later saying that "their" records now show I need a filter change and that
I should to call and make an appointment. Culligan's phone was busy when I
called the Friday before the 4th of July weekend.
2)
a. Culligan has treated me with such arrogance and superiority it's
unbelievable. I have told them many times of my condition. I'm disabled and I'm
usually home unless I'm at a doctors or other medical appointment. I was seeing
4 different doctors at that time and I have had 4 back surgeries since April of
2003. Culligan's comments about my disability are insulting, discriminatory, totally
inappropriate, incredibly rude and extremely hurtful. I challenge anyone at
Culligan to live in my body. BTW, My only transportation is by Para transit bus
as I can't drive anymore. To ride Para transit a reservation must be made in
advance. I can't live without making an appointment in advance. I make sure all
the necessary information is given.
If anybody is coming over to the house, I tell them to knock loudly and to do it for a long time. Then to please give me plenty of time to get to the door as it is difficult to walk. I gave the above instructions to Culligan on July 6 when I made an appointment for July 27. I made a point to the person on the phone, doing it twice. Obviously Culligan ignored the information I gave them.
On May 25, 2005 I had a Medtronics Spinal Cord Stimulator implanted in my back. I was still very weak on July 6 when I made the Culligan appointment. One of the incisions wasn't healing properly and I was confined to bed, a chair or the couch. The implant surgery was the most painful of all the surgeries. It felt like they broke all my ribs. The first three or four weeks were exclusively spent in my room. My room is in the rear of the house, so instructions to someone coming over to service something must be followed or I might not hear them at the front door, especially with the air on. I had another surgery on August 8, 2005. I've finally healed and was released to Physical Therapy on September 20, 2005. Now I begin to try to walk again using the implant and will attend Physical Therapy 3 times a week for months to come.
b. As for my not answering the phone. My number is very close to a Discount Tire store's and get many calls from their customers who have misdialed. I also have a "Teen" line which piggybacks on my 6669 number and it gets numerous calls for somebody named Bubba. I had to go on the Federal Do Not Call List and Caller ID became a necessity. Now I don't answer the phone unless I recognize the number calling me. I keep a cordless phone at my side as much as possible instead of having to get up. A fax machine answers after the fourth ring and anybody that really needs to communicate with me can always send a fax.
Did you know? Culligan does not identify themselves on Caller ID. Why? Every legitimate business I know of uses caller ID to let people know they are calling. Culligan said they called on July 26 to let me know they were coming the next day. On July 26, I was at the surgeons office when they called. If Culligan had Caller ID I would have known they called and returned the call. Impossible; if Culligan doesn't use Caller ID.
On July 27 I was in my kitchen preparing lunch by 1:30 PM. The kitchen is near the front door. If the Culligan Man knocked on the door that afternoon he didn't do it very loudly and didn't do it for a long time. On that day I only got one call while on the phone. If Culligan did call when I was talking to my Social Worker, Ms. Bassett I couldn't answer their beep. My Medicaid was set to expire on August 1, 2005. I had called Ms. Bassett the previous day about the documents she needed for my reapproval for Medicaid. I needed to know if she'd received all the necessary faxes. She called me on July 27 a little after 2 PM. I wanted my case to be cleared ASAP as the August 8th surgery date was already scheduled and I was concerned that surgery wouldn't take place on time. If the surgery wasn't done on the 8th it could prolong an already serious medical situation. Needless to say I wouldn't answer any call when I was speaking to my Social Worker that day. She's decides if I get medical care and food. When I got off the phone with my worker I checked the Caller ID to see who called. It said unavailable. So, I went back to my lunch.
I called Culligan back not 15 minutes after I discovered their note saying they were at my door at 2:30 PM. I found the note when I went out front to get the mail. I had heard the Postal Truck while I was eating. At about 2:45-50 Culligan refused to come back and service my filter. Then Culligan said they weren't coming back unless I paid a past due balance. Culligan was aware of the disputed bill when they made the appointment for the 27th on July 6. I've been disputing their old bill for over two years. Now the water has tasted bad for over 3 months since I requested filter service. The last time the water tasted bad it took them over two months to fix the situation and that's why I told them I wasn't going to pay for two months of crappy tasting water. Their office manager did agree to give me credit for 1 month recently. BUT! There was and is still a month in dispute. I'm sure Culligan is now going to try and charge me for the months since July their water is bad again. I won't pay this time either.
Culligan has really poor service except when they know they have made a mistake. Then they will come back the next day to fix it. But it takes Culligan 45 days to get a clean filter to a customer when the customer needs it.
Without the Brita filter, the Culligan water couldn't taste worse if it came straight out of the tap but it looks nice. Culligan should be fined for their poor service and reprimanded for their discrimination against disabled people.
Sincerely
Jim D'Amato
As well as being faxed to the BBB, this will be on the Web @ http://aaarf.net/culligan3-BBBletter.htm