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This is my personal experience with Rainsoft:
Last week someone in Home Depot asked me to fill a survey about water quality/filters, he told me that I qualify for a “free water testing” of my water at home. When they called me, they identified themselves as Home Depot, and we set an appointment. They emphasized that me and my wife must be present during the 30 min testing (First red flag!). I thought that in the worst case scenario the vendor will try to sell me some filters, several brands, that they sell in Home Depot.
He arrived at 7:30pm, he did a presentation about quality of water, he performed several tests on my tap water, Brita filter water and his Rainsoft filter. No surprises, our tap water was “hard”, the Brita water was Ok, but their water was better. The Rainsoft water felt soft and tasted good. By this time it was almost 9pm, our Toddler was way overdue for his bed-time, when my wife put him to bed, the vendor told me that he will to stop the testing/presentation until my wife is back (Second red flag!). Then he ran some numbers, and concluded that we are spending around $ 85 a month on cleaning/washing products and that he can gave me a solution.
The deal was $ 88 a month for 10 years ($ 10560), or $ 7500s (Inc. Taxes) one year without interest. I told him that I needed more time, but he told me that if he leaves, tomorrow I will call them but they will have to charge me the installation, around $ 500 more (Third red flag!). The guy kept telling me: “this is what you need for your family; you want the best for your kid... I got my system at home and I could tell the difference, before that we were losing hair and getting skin rash... I did it for my kid!”. This is the first time I faced this type of Hard Sale at my home, and I know nothing about water treatment systems, I was very tired and I signed the contract.
He told me it takes a couple of weeks to get the installation appointment, but we “were lucky” that their technician will be nearby tomorrow, this was the last red flag, after he left around 11pm, I started my research and I decided that I need more time to think about it, so I cancelled it by email at midnight. The next day the vendor came back, he offered me a discount on some units that have been on display (learned from other forums that they always offer that as a last resort), but I stood my ground and signed the cancellation.
I don’t think it is a scam but it is a hard sell, it seems to be overpriced compared to other similar system, there are some happy costumers too. My advice is that if you got a “free water test” at Home Depot, do your research first, it is going to be done by a third party, is going to be 2 to 3 hour, not 30 minutes, and they will do a Hard Sell at the end.
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