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RainSoft review: no money refund from rainsoft! 49

J
Author of the review
12:00 am EDT
Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

Re: RainSoft

Another month has gone by and still no one from Rain Soft / Discovery Marketing and Distributing, Inc., has called me back or made an appointment to install the system; nor has there been a refund of my
money which, after 6 months of unsuccessful installation attempts, is all I am asking for (plus the cookware and the free under-sink filter, and the repair of my irrigation system and well).

On April 10, 2006, I agreed to pay $5,000.00 for a Rain Soft water softening system, an air conditioner filter, and under-sink water filter. Refer 5 people. I did. I have not gotten the Cookware as promised. Buy one, get one free under-sink-filter - not gotten, either. FALSE advertising!

The first attempt to install the main system resulted in:

1. Broken irrigation lines, valves and wiring in 2 of 4 zones, at one location near my house.

2. Further digging in another attempt to install the unit near my house resulted in uprooting protective fencing just underground that kept puppies from digging up any wiring along the pool area. The twisted
wire fence is still exposed, with potential danger of my dogs breaking a leg, if the dozen or more rocks and stepping stones move, that I placed on the corners and on the sides.

3. On April 28, 2006, Generous Electric of Lake County installed some kind of receptacle and/or plug-in at my well pump. Either they or Discovery Marketing installers broke the hasp for opening the wooden protective covering of the pump switches and the cover for the well controls was missing, as well as no plate for the receptacle, allowing ants and wasps to build nests on my equipment and contacts. A Discovery Marketing representative was here, later that same day (such fast service) to collect their money.

4. A couple weeks after the initial installation, I noticed that my plants were dying. Within minutes after the timer started one of the 4 zones, the well kept shutting down, resulting in no water period anywhere on my property. I found that two of the 4 zones did not come on at all, and the 2 that were left were watering my acreage with softened water, as were my kennel runs that I rinse every day (reduced pressure). NOT. I asked Discovery Marketing to take the unit off my well, since I did not want to pay for salt to remove minerals as it watered my lawn and flowers and trees. Sago palms, magnolia trees, and rose bushes have either died, lost leaves, or turned brown.

A professional irrigation man came out to investigate my irrigation system problems; and since NO ONE has been near my system, except Rain Soft, it was in his professional opinion that the missing 2 zones were a result of the first day when your installers tore up my rock-yard, (covered in 8" of rock) broke the wiring on one zone, and recapped a second zone so close that the valve could not be reconnected. How could Mr. Robert Jones say the broken wires and PVC were pre-existing, when everything worked perfectly, before Rain Soft dug up my yard?

5. The under-sink filter fell off the wall, flooding my house, damaging furniture and rugs in my den, kitchen, and carpet in the adjacent dining room, and water-stain on the wooden floor under the sink. Discovery Marketing sent another installer to mount it back on the wall with longer screws. Discovery Marketing also agreed to replace the under sink floor that is water stained and warped.

After several failed attempts on the part of different installers, Discovery Marketing has not found a way, in over 6 months, to install the unit. I talked to Jason Spinney once, but although others said he was on another line, he did not return my later calls to reschedule the installation or pay the damages to my irrigation system which I had to hire someone to fix. I have repeatedly tried to talk to this man, but he was not available. After 6 months, I feel I should get my money back and damages incurred by your company. My attorney told me not to waste my time calling any more, but document the facts, give you one last chance to refund my money, or I will contact the Better Business Bureau, the TV and radio stations, and go to court to recover my losses.

Sincerely,
Joy.

49 comments
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Nohemi Sutton
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Oct 10, 2007 10:07 am EDT

I have one and I think is a bad experience for the money you paid.

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Daniel Rutherford
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Sep 27, 2007 4:51 am EDT

Look at all the competition, SCARED OF RAINSOFT... they are aligned with Home Depot, WOW! Say goodnight to any so called competition now "aka" all the complaints on this board. lol

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George Culpepper
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Sep 12, 2007 8:02 am EDT

Hey, I just had one of those salesman at my house last night. I could tell right away by his actions it was all a preconcieved routine. WE have a culligan system with reverse omosis (this was installed 12 yrs ago and works fine - no problems). Knowing he had to prove our system was not doing the job, we spent three hours on testing city water, bottle water, and treated water(not the R/O).
I admit that the clorine levels were high after treatment and his testing of his treated water wasn't any better( note: his treated our already treated water).
When he tested the city water it was just full of clorine (very cloudy white sediment). The bottled water had some sediment in it and our treated water (not from the R/O) practicely nothing noticable.
In short at the end, I told him and (over the phone) his boss or manager or whatever, that I would not buy until the culligan broke down. Of course, the salesman was a bit upset.
This took about 1/2 an hour and it was well past 11:00 pm.
I hope that many of you learn to shop around FIRST, before you buy.
Thank you

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Danita Reeves
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Aug 17, 2007 7:08 am EDT

I purchased the system with high hopes from the testing and presentation. Signed the contract and the system was installed. Now it has become a nightmare. I have had to purchase different soaps, creams, medicines, cleaning products, mold and mildew product more now than ever. Wasn't this supposed investment, going to illiminate this from happening and me spending all of this money? That's what they told me. Now all of a sudden there's this 3 day rule for cancellation. If your product is as good as you say and is suppose to be worthy of a lifetime warranty, why is there a 3 day cancellation policy, especially when it's going to take more than three days to figure out if the system really works as presented. Well I had demanded that someone check something, because it just wasn't working and they finally sent someone out to test the water and this was after having it for 10 months, guess what? My water was still hard. So I was asked to turn the system off for a couple of months and then turned back on to try it again. I did and nothing has changed. I called back to have them pick up the system and they won't. I ask them to put it in writing, the refusal to pick up the equipment and my complaint about it and they won't do that either. The Rainsoft management said that I should have the finance company call them and they would talk directly to each other. Go figure. So basically I told them that I was not going to pay for something that was causing more harm and money than good and savings.

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Seymore Butts
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Jun 27, 2007 9:20 pm EDT

How dumb must one person be to believe that the original complaint and follow-up complaint sat around for months and then three positive reviews happened all on the same day? Wow! I was considering Rainsoft for my home but not now. Discovery Marketing seems like a very shady company that I do not want to deal with.

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John Stevens
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May 16, 2007 1:29 pm EDT

Raisoft is one of the best systems out on the market right now. I recently found rainsoft advertising at home depot which totally blew me away that they are part of such a large company. I asked some questions and spoke to some CEO's and presidents of some companies that use the system such as UL headquarters, McDonald University and some other places, they reassured me to do some other research and figure out exactly what was it that i needed from a water system. There's also a difference between water softener and a water conditioner. I never knew the difference but i learned that the conditioner from rainsoft worked a lot better than the cheap softeners from lowes and home depot. I just started using the system and besides buying my home being my greatest investment, i think this system is definitely the second best investment anyone could make.

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John Stevens
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May 16, 2007 1:22 pm EDT

I totally agree with Mr. Stevens. I'm a very skeptical person before I buy anything. I researched the company thoroughly and finally made the decision to get the system instead of anything else on the market. I did follow up with some of the complaints that were listed online and found that most of them were false, some people just wanted to ruin the company's reputation due to small concerns. One was a lady not getting a box tea that was promised to her, then she went on saying that the system wasn't working properly and she stopped taking care of it and so forth. I happened to get a reply from her husband who assured me that the information from his wife was false and he would have recommended rainsoft any day to anybody. There was no more chlorine smell coming from the water, it definitely tastes different than the tap or bottled water and it helps with the skin and the laundry and stuff. Me and my family are currently enjoying our rainsoft filter that we paid cash for to avoid the interest rate from the banks. I totally would recommend the system to anyone. People are not stupid and it's not magic, i have research their chemicals and had my township perform the same test and the results were very similar to the rainsoft's test results which i was skeptical about. I do not regret at all getting this system.

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John Stevens
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May 16, 2007 1:12 pm EDT

I have had rainsoft for over 5 years now and I would not live without it, I hate when people have one problem and assume that the whole company and system are trash. I would not live without Rainsoft, whether you have city or well water, it is mostly needed, in fact there are plenty of homes in my area being built with cheap filters already put in. That goes to show you how water conditioners are needed. I had a culligan filter before and that was crap. Bought cheap but spent twice in service and false lifetime warranties. We did have a few concerns about where the system was going to be placed but once i found a good zone for it everything was groovy. My son's eczema faded away slowly using the rainsoft system water, my wife loves it for here hair and the clothes and food etc. I did have an iron problem before the system and found out that the cheap culligan system could not remove the suspended iron from my water. the culligan salesman didn't know what suspended iron was. the rainsoft guy automatically knew and recommended the proper equipment. I also enjoy the natural soap that they have given us for over 5 years and we still have some of that stuff :) Anyone who has some common sense will understand that this money is already being spent so you can choose to spend it on your crappy tap or get a system and if you dont want a top notch system then go get one from home depot. Regarldless I WOULD RECOMMEND RAINSOFT TO EVERYBODY AND ANYBODY! TWO THUMBS UP.

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rhea stoe
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Dec 01, 2006 11:33 pm EST

I bought RainSoft water conditioning unit and R/O system 4 yrs ago. assured it would end my rust problems. told it would require little or no service. wrong. continued rust stains in tub, sinks, shower head, toilet, on clothing. service people have come 5 times. no improvement. now the water line to the R/O system has rusted closed. contacted dealer. their letter to me blamed me for not calling more often for service! at $80+ for basic service call, can't afford that 2-3x/year. plus 2 bags of salt per month, R/O filters every 2 years $150, plus 3rd R/O filter that's changed every 5 years costs $200. have contacted corporate office, waiting for reply; also reported dealer to BBB waiting for that outcome. could not recommend RainSoft to anyone.