$3,000 fee, privacy violation and inexplicable waste of time. They are not even based in…read moreGreenville. After 4 weeks, 4 hours of "in-person surveillance", useless video footage, and one credit report, I learned that Crucial Investigations is the backwoods version of a sophisticated PI firm. Imagine talking to people who use pagers, and this is what you're paying for. Maybe they should crucially investigate their lack of intelligence. The wife sent two reports, one being a quick google search of arrests I was already aware of (and can find myself!) and the second report, which basically was a credit report on the subject of interest. I learned the day she sent it that she hadn't looked at the report much less could interpret it. YIKES! I noticed the SS # listed on the report was shared with someone else. Her response was "Oh, it says that?" I was asked to provide troves of information and furnish detailed explanations, attachments, (huge time constraint), which additionally some records I located cost $, but I assumed procuring and sharing this information would help the "investigation". Nope! Dan, the husband, two weeks later called me to give me a riveting update. He had a "revealing" conversation with my dad's neighbor, about the neighbor's opinion. The opinion was that a person who went off medication for decades changed their behavior. REALLY? WOW. WHAT AN INSIGHTFUL OPINION. INCREDIBLE INVESTIGATIVE WORK DAN. Not only was this known months ago, it's irrelevant, AND NOT ABOUT THE PERSON BEING INVESTIGATED. I had to remind these dolts the focus of the investigation. Then they suggested to put up the camera. Ok, wonderful, but they needed guidance. That was about a collective hour of time on the phone. How would they have done it otherwise without willing neighbors? Are you kidding? Of course the updates weren't great. Frances stopped updating me after about the second day. I had to constantly ask about surveillance activity, which required a waiting period, since they didn't actually watch anything when it came in. Two weeks later and lots of complaints from Frances about the amount of alerts from the wind, I was told it would've been too much footage to comb through, and there wasn't much activity to track anyway. At one point she asked me who delivered something to the house as if I would know. My first question was, "Did you run the plates?" Isn't that what the camera is for?? The wife said, "Oh ok, let me go do that" WHATTTT!!! As a last resort I sent a court document about a Class C Felony charge about the person of interest. I was hoping this might spur the investigation in the right way, but no. They didn't seem to care and I also was told they can't find any cases in NC except by County which they don't have time to do, which is INCORRECT and they should know as "PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS". The wife asked why I wanted information on said individual (hello, it's an investigation!) but why am I convincing you to do your job? Then another useless back and forth call with these folks. It took twenty minutes for Frances to waste my time while she patched her redneck husband through. Now we are on a 3-way call. I have no idea why she's patched him in and if she can't complete my requests she just needs to say that. After silence, I prompt the conversation so these two retirees can get back to their commute to Myrtle Beach, or walking their dogs or whatever it is they do because it's not intelligent investigative work, that would require a brain. After a roundabout explanation, which took forever to spit it out, Dan finally said there was nothing else for me to learn. They've simply done everything they can, and even their financial contact who gets banking info really can't get it now with the modernization of financial privacy laws and they don't know what it would cost they think around $1k but they'd have to let me know. Unbelievable. I get one credit report your wife can't even read and a few crappy videos I had to ask to be sent, then wait to get access to, then ID people in the video (she was assuming someone was someone else which I corrected her). HOW CONVENIENT. Dan was a cop for 6 months 30 years ago, but he is very clearly a woman abuser who was very comfortable spewing unnecessary, vitriolic, insults about his opinion of me, a female client, while simultaneously expecting me to listen to him and continue working with him. PSYCHOTIC. Unprofessional and unhinged comments are not OK in 2026 but clearly his battered wife enables his horrendous personality and behavior, which I would have been happy to put up with, if they were actually good at their job. Customers, please don't waste your money. AND they don't have a payment portal online so if she writes it down but "immediately shreds it". Sure.

I called Crutial Investigations because I was so afraid my husband was having an affair. Mr…read more Garrett and his wife were so comforting in my time of need. Within 2 weeks he had the pictures, and the video evidence I needed to end my torture. I can't say enough about the service I received from them. I highly recommend Crucial Investigations

These guys are absolutely wonderful to work with and did an excellent job on my case. I highly…read morerecommend!!

Terrible: unprofessional and unresponsive. They promised many things but did little or nothing to…read moreearn the thousands I paid. I had to email, text, and call them to get information but was told they needed to bill me over and above what I had already paid. Please avoid signing any contract; very unreliable at fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities.

James has gone above and beyond. He has helped answer questions, put us in contact with the…read morecorrect people in the sheriffs department and has provided excellent service and attention to detail every step of the way. Make no mistake, even during your most vulnerable and scared moments, James is understanding and comforting. Plus he gets the job done!

From the owner: When Covid-19 shut the world down, it led us to open Ion Investigations. All of our "detectives"…read moreare local in the areas we service, we are also all licensed thru the Private Protective Services board. Whether it be a cheating spouse, a criminal charge, a cell phone you need data extracted from, background investigation, missing child, or child custody matter, when you call us you will speak directly to a licensed, insured, local, Private Investigator 24/7. We understand matters requiring an investigator are generally time sensitive, and we strive to work for every client with the same vigor we would expect if our roles reversed. We offer free consultations, competitive rates, and up-front pricing without hidden costs. Living with doubt is hard on yourself and those close to you, call us today and let our professional, licensed, insured, private investigators show you the facts. Serving China Grove, Salisbury, and all of Rowan county as well as Charlotte, Hickory, Lenoir, Granite Falls and surrounding areas.

Hired for a simple task, no response for 3+ weeks, task never completed and no report ever sent to…read moreme. No contact from him without me calling/texting 5+ times. Out for over $1000 as nothing was done as it should have been.

Great company! Justin did an amazing job. His company went above and beyond. Would definitely…read morerecommend to a friend.