Dowden Group

Vacu Vent is based in Palm Bay, Florida with franchise locations in many states.



The Baton Rouge franchise is guilty of the same poor business practices which led the BBB to revoke the accreditation of the Palm Bay location and give it a grade of "F". From the BBB Reliability Report for Vacu Vent Inc.:



"On October 22, 2009, this company's membership in the BBB was revoked by the BBB's Board of Directors due to failure to cooperate with the BBB on advertising matters."



"Based on BBB files, this business has a BBB Rating of F



* Reasons for this rating include:BBB accreditation was revoked because business failed to comply with agreed BBB standards

* Number of complaints filed against business

* Failure to respond to complaints filed against business"



"A recent review of consumer complaints noted that while the company does honor their advertising price of cleaning 5 air ducts for a cost of $25.00, most homes have more than 5 ducts. Therefore, each additional duct clean will cost $13.99, the company also up-sells consumers other services such as mold treatment, a electrostatic filter and other services resulting in a final bill costing over $1,000.00. The BBB suggests you read and understand exactly what services and the cost before you agree to accept any service."



my personal experience with Vacu Vent was consistent with that described above. many various other goods and services were offered at outrageous prices when the local franchise cleaned our vents. ultimately, the washable electrostatic air filter seemed like a bargain to us, and ordering one proved to be our greatest mistake with this business. the order is placed through the Palm Bay headquarters, and at the time that we ordered our filter back on 8/28/09, we were told that it would take about 2 weeks to arrive. the short version of the story: it took nearly 4 months for the filter to arrive, and when it finally did, it didn't fit our vent because the local technician who measured our central air intake screwed up. during the nearly 4 months that it took for the filter to show up, calls to the company's 800 # produced nothing but excuses about being backlogged. somehow there was never, ever a manager around. there is zero accountability in this business. they'll tell you that a manager or supervisor or such will call you back "within 24 hours" or "by 5" but they never do. and since the people who answer the phones can take your information for payment but for some reason can't do anything about canceling orders and giving refunds, once you've placed your order, you're completely at their mercy.



this business is a large-scale scam and to be avoided at all costs.