Complain about a product or service

Ecoquest

Lorraine of Shelby NC (02/21/09)
I became a distributor for EcoQuest International several years ago. I believed the vast amount of information that they supplied the distributor(s) and the information discussed in the seminars, and conferences. I sold many units repeating the information I had been told. Recently I had a very bad experience with their top-of-the-line, Fresh Air unit (that sells for over 700.).

I've been sick for about six months. It started with an allergy to a cat I adopted. I had to give the cat away but couldn't seem to clean thoroughly enough to get rid of the hair and dander. I started with one air purifier at highest setting trying to alleviate my allergy. That didn't help so I turned on a second air purifier in one bedroom (because the cat had contaminated every inch of my apartment). As the months went by I got sicker and sicker!!

In December I had an expensive allergy test--but was told I had no allergies. I bought allergy remedies but they did not help. I used eye drops but that didn't stop the itcy eyes. I read everything I could on allergies. I listened to segments of TV programs about allergies and asthma. On February 9th I was so desperate I sat at the computer and searched the Internet for an answer to my allergy or asthma symptoms. After reading many sites, and visiting many links associated with sites, I saw three little words and I immediately knew I found the answer. The three words ASTHMA and OZONE. I clicked the link and it opened up a world of information about the hazards of ozone poisoning.

I have been so extremely sick!! Now that I have turned off the air purifiers, I can breath better. I don't have the itcy eyes. I still cough and sneeze but not as often. I am slowly recovering from the ozone poisoning but it may take several months before I'm healthy again (according to the information that I have read, and documented, from the Internet). I was extremely surprised to find the number of complaints about EcoQuest when I found this web site. I'm surprised... but I recognize that some of the complaints are valid.

I was a responsible distributor and provided information, and manuals, to my customers. I honored their request if they wanted to return a product. I know that there are distributors--in all businesses--that are only interested in the sale and not the service. I'm disheartened that EcoQuest home office did not assist the customers when they complained. This web site gave me a very different view of the company I--in good faith--have been representing.

Jo of Ft. Myers, FL February 21, 2009

Jo of Ft. Myers FL (02/21/09)
BEWARE....if you are using one of these purifiers in your home and you have a heart condition. These purifiers send out radio waves. I had low blood counts and severe anemia. EVERY time I came in close contact with the machine while it was running, my heart would beat like crazy and start beating irregularly. At first I did not realize it. The machine was in my kitchen and 2-3 times this episodes happened while I was spending time in the kitchen preparing dinner. VERY scarey! Irregular heartbeat caused light-headedness, near fainting, shortness of breath and tacchycardia.

Twice the EMS had to be called. We took that machine and sold it at our next garage sale. Good riddens!!!!! Never had another episode like that again. Only coincidence?????????

Kenny of Loris, SC February 11, 2009

Kenny of Loris SC (02/11/09)
My daughter had just purchased a Ecoquest purifier and wanted me to try one as well. at first, I was sceptical about the product and decided to give it a try. The purifier was brought to my house and demonstrated how it worked and we were told we could keep it for 3 days to see if we could tell any difference. The 3 days passed and we were sure whether it was working or not.The representative told us it would reduce dust,pet dander, odors. It hasn't reduced dust, pet dander nor has it reduced odors.We contacted the representative and he told us it was a nonrefundable item. This product cost me nearly 900 and I can't tell any difference than before. can anyone help me get my money back for this sorry product.

Josh of Salisbury, MD December 10, 2008

Josh of Salisbury MD (12/10/08)
I just started with EcoQuest about a week ago. I haven't started into this, so take this from a fresh mind who has had experience with the products, but has not been tainted by any bias of the business itself. I currently have an EcoQuest Fresh Air to-go unit in my car, and a Fresh Air in my living room. My parents and grand parents both have a units in their houses and the largest bar in our town has three of them. None of us have experienced any problems, and we have owned these for over 4 months. I'm not sure what model number the people in these complaints were using, if they were with Alpine, or what was going on. However, I can say from experience that the new products have almost no ozone output.

I would also suggest that a good deal of the complaints about the newer EcoQuest products have been made by people that either bought their products on-line and didn't have a dealer to help them set it up properly, didn't pay attention to the dealer, or didn't read the directions. Not putting any blame on the users that did this, I'm sure all of us don't read directions or miss some information here and there, however, there are two crucial instructions that every dealer is supposed to tell the buyers and that are in the instruction books.

1) NEVER set the machine on away mode while you are in the house!! I have seen numerous complaints here and on other sites where the symptoms they described were the results of heavy ozone exposure. The away mode is intended purely as a quick fix for odors and bacteria. It is a quick fix because it is pumping out extreme of ozone! This setting is DANGEROUS for humans to be exposed to longer than is needed to turn the machine to normal mode and let the house air out some more. This danger is no different than any other product with a warning in it's instructions and EcoQuest does have a warning against this!

2) Another trend I am seeing is that many users that complain notice that the smell is too strong. This may not be caused by it being on away mode, but it can be caused by the purifier setting! The recommended setting is to keep it on normal, however, you can manually adjust the purifier levels if it is too strong for you. If you ever feel that it smells too crisp or you don't notice a difference, then you should increase/decrease the levels until you notice a difference. The dealers should tell you this. There are a few other complications that could have risen from the lack of a dealer to step the user through this product.

The fact is that most people don't read directions, and EcoQuest doesn't expect their users to behave any differently. When the EcoQuest products are being sold on-line through places like eBay, where no support is given and there isn't even a users manual sometimes, than that is where problems start occurring the most. The link at the bottom of this site said to give experiences good or bad, so I wanted to give a first hand look. I don't know what has happened with the company in the past, or any predecessor companies, but I do know that these products aren't harmful if used correctly, but can be if used in a manner they weren't intended for by disregarding the instructions of either the dealers or the manual. This is no different from every single product out there today, including children toys.

Debbie of Clarksville, TN December 2, 2008

Debbie of Clarksville TN (12/02/08)
The product is very good. My problem was that my husband got into this business and AFTER he got in and paid, THEN he found out that he had to pay for leads. We had no choice. We are now in debt to American Express for leads that he had to get in order to do business. What a rip-off. They never told us this! Now, nothing can be done and NO ONE gives a hoot about us. They have our money. My husband put in his heart and soul for this business.

It is Christmas and we owe American Express BIG TIME. We have always kept our depts payable but cannot this one. We feel deceived, cheated, and abondanded by this company. My husband worked night and day for them.

Jason of Lorain, OH December 1, 2008

i sighned up as an eco quest dealer. what i sighned up for was a oportunity to help people and make money. as a salesman, your job is to MOVE stock. or u dont get paid. in otherwords, no sales, & u dont eat. one of the huge things i bought this for was because it was suposed to be ABSOLUTLY great for athsatics. i wish i would have goten that in wrighting. acording to what my customers,,,or would be coustemers were telling me, ozon was DOCTOR said as BAD for athsma. now i am stuck with about 4.5 THOUSAND dollor bill i am not able to pay, because i wont sell machines under a false pretence. and as i said earlyer, no sales, no eating. so if anyone has any WRITEN statements from eco quest that thier machine is GOOD for athsma cases in anyway shape or form, i would like to have a copy.

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