A & B Marketing Rainsoft 9450 Philips Highway, Suite 1 Jacksonville, FL, 904-268-0033

A & B Marketing Rainsoft 9450 Philips Highway, Suite 1 Jacksonville, FL, 904-268-0033

My wife was contacted on the phone and told that the company was going to send over a water tech to test our water. She was lead to believe that this was a routine and necessary thing. We are a young couple who had just moved into our first home and she thought this was just one of those many homeowner's tasks that was necessary. I was told that I needed to come straight home from work the next night and postpone what I had planned. I myself was not sure what this was in regards to, but thought it must be important. The next night the tech (Mike) shows up and begins his introduction, right after asking to use our phone to call his office. At this time I begin to realize that it is nothing more than a sales pitch. I decide to be patient for a few minutes and then start asking questions when he starts his scare tactic of how bad our drinking water is, even before he has tested any water. After he explains that our Kenmore water softener produces water that is not suitable to drink. I ask him if by that he means it adds these poisonous contaminants, he then proceeds to change topics by talking to my wife about our new puppy. I ask him again to which he answers he is not allowed to say that it does. At this point I ask him if he has a business card. To which he replies he does not. I then ask for some form of credentials even just a company letterhead. He did show me his drivers license, but was unable to provide any other form of comfort than the logo on his polo shirt. At this time I am somewhat a little concerned. Here now is a person in our new home who has information that we both work during the day, who has used our phone, and seen the inside of our home. At this point the tech (Mike) realizes that I am uncomfortable and does kindly offer to leave and maybe reschedule if I am interested. He offers the information that the company is creditable and widely used in our area. He suggest checking them out with the BBB and looking into it more if I so desire. Let me be clear that Mike was extremely nice and handled himself like a professional. We bid each other good night and I apologized for any inconvenience. Upon leaving I picked up the phone that he used and hit redial. Someone answered "A & B Marketing" to which I was greatly relieved to hear. I simply asked "who again is this" to which he replied the name again. I told him thank you and I was just calling to confirm the business and hung up. The phone rings immediately with A & B Marketing on the line with full knowledge of who I am. Tim (caller) proceeds to push as to why we asked the tech to leave. I explain the reason to which he is arrogant in dismissing all my concerns. He stated they do not carry credentials because they can easily be falsified anyways and it leads to less trust. I'm not sure what he exactly means but I'm getting a little upset with his stern attitude in my naive belief of scams. He tells me at this point I was rude to the tech. The tech and I had absolutely no hard feelings to the best of my knowledge. Tim is becoming aggressive to my inquires about the company. Which leads up to him telling me I have a "dickhead attitude". I ask to speak to a manager when he hangs up on me. I call the number back and ask to speak to a manager of sales. I again get connected to Tim. I ask if he is the manger to which he replies he is the highest up along with a person next to him. He proceeds to ask the person next to him (his co-manager) how many times has he already apologized to me, which I reply none for calling me a "dickhead". He manages to correct me for which I obviously misunderstood, for he simply said I have a "dickhead attitude". Well I feel much better now that I understand better what he meant. He informs me that I am wasting his time on the phone to which he could be spending with many customers who want their service. Maybe I'm just young and naive, but asking for credentials just seemed the right thing to do. And I do not think that telling a person that they have a dickhead attitude is acceptable, no matter how impatient they may be with my inquiries. I have tried to look them up on the BBB, but I am unable to find them listed as I was told they were. I may just be looking in the wrong place but after this letter I plan to forget about them. Shawn L Click this link to e-mail the above consumer: Email User Consumer

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Deja Vu: we just had the exact same thing happened. We had just bought a home and were contacted by a RainSoft representative who represented themselves to be a public utility who needed to test our water. The representative said that for our trouble, they would give us a 2008 Entertainment Guide. We assumed there would be some sales pitch, but that at least our water would get tested. The guy came out, had no credentials or business card, and performed no tests on our water, just ran it through a filter. While he was here, he used our phone to call his office. As he was leaving, we asked for our entertainment book to which he replied that he did not know we were supposed to get one and that he did not have any. After he left, we redialed the number on the phone to complain about the lack of book and the faulty advertising. My husband told the man what had happened to which my husband was then told (in a yelling voice) that he was insulting Rain Soft and that they were a premier company. Of course this was quite alarming as the guy on the phone kept yelling. My husband then said that he was not insulting Rain Soft, just that they had faulty advertising. To which the representative then told my husband to come down to 6500 Bowden Rd Suite 220 so that he could kick my husband's you-know-what. My husband got mad at this point, said a few choice words and hung up. The representative then proceeded to call our home four times in a row and when my husband picked up, the rep would start cussing again. On the fourth ring, I picked up the phone to try to diffuse the situation. I witnessed first hand this man's hostility as he then proceeded to yell at me. When I told him to calm down, he freaked out on me. Then he began apologizing in a loud and rude way to which I said "apology not accepted" and told him to listen to me. I was trying to talk some sense in to him to no avail. I then hung up and that was the end of the conversation and phone calls. We then called the local office and spoke to the "manager" (everyone there claims to be a manager) who said he would take care of the situation. My husband then asked to be notified when the situation was resolved. So far, we have heard nothing back from the company.

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The same thing happened to me. I received a postcard in the mail offering a complimentary 2008 Entertainment Book. I called the number and she (Miss Burke) told me that if I let someone come test my water for "market research" I would get the book. The water tester (Brian) came and was very nice. He went through all the tests to show me how bad my water is and even used the treated water to clean a spot on the floor and a window. I was a little upset about the amount of time it took to get through all of it (2 hours), but the science of it all was interesting so I let him finish. I figured that they would offer to sell me something to which I would kindly decline and then I would get my coupon book. Well, the sales pitch took another hour. Every time I would say "No" they would come up with another way to ask. I think I finally just wore them out with saying no and Brian left. On his way out I asked about my coupon book and he had no idea what I was talking about.

I wanted to buy the RainSoft product and was already thinking about adding it to my list of home improvements for a later date before Brian finished his testing. However, the high pressure sales tacticts at the end left a foul taste in my mouth worse than any city water.