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Culligan has now called my wife asking what can they do to have me take this review down since we didn't even buy from them. This is my experience with the company. You don't have to buy a product to experience poor customer service with the company. Also, we couldn't buy from them because they still haven't given us a written estimate!
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Where to begin? My wife had Culligan come out because we were interested in getting a water softener. We already had one estimate from a local family owned company that was really polite and was very informative about water softeners and how they function etc... So we had a good base knowledge about water softeners when we had Culligan come out to give an estimate. They sent over Mark as their salesman and I greeted him and we started by talking about installation and how they would do it. After having a few other estimates since then I now know this guy had no idea about how to install a water softener and my guess is he was just trying to make it complicated so they can increase the price.
After he talked about the install he came inside to do the pointless water test to tell us what we already know, that we have hard water. As he was doing this he used the wrong chemical and then complained that someone must have switched it on him. I doubt they share their testing kits so I'm not sure who would've switched it on him. Anyways, he then got into his sales pitch and this is where things went south quickly. Mark was an arrogant jerk that belittled other companies and really refused to talk about any of their softeners other than the most expensive ones. Some of his pitches were, "We aren't some small family owned business where you'll have to wait for them to come out and service your equipment." (This is funny because their website says they are a local family owned business) "They've only been in business for 25 years so how would they know if their equipment can last that long?" "Take cars for example. I drive a Challenger and my daughter drives a Kia, my car is the better value. When you get this softener you're getting the better value" "Anyone that is trying to sell you a softener for under $1,500 is selling you garbage." "This is why we've earned Consumer's Digest Best Buy award."
So let's break some of these down. I would much rather buy from a local family owned small business because they actually care about the customer and know how to treat the customer with respect without the need to bash other companies. 25 years is enough time to know whether their equipment can last as long as they say or not. Mark hasn't even been in the water treatment business that long as he said he used to work for ADT.
Let's take cars for example, when I told Mark that his perceived value is off because the Kia costs less upfront and after purchase, requires less maintenance, less gas, and lasts longer. His response was comical. "It's a V6 and I get my tires from Walmart so no, you're wrong." Okay, buddy. Whatever you say with your V6 Challenger with Walmart tires on it. Just like a cheap salesman.
After getting estimates from several other companies, it's clear that $1,500 isn't cheap at all for a 3 person family and unless you're looking to get ripped off you really shouldn't pay over $2500 (which is still high). The funny thing is when we asked about some of their cheaper models he really couldn't or wouldn't talk about them. He just kept trying to push for the more expensive one but couldn't come up with a solid reason why other than their Consumer's Digest award.
I had to call him out on the Consumer Digest award at this point because it was just getting old. With any of these awards, the company pays to be ranked or have surveys done and also to use their logos to put it on their marketing collateral. Mark wanted to argue, so argue I did. He started off by saying they did not pay to have the surveys. I entertained him and said okay but you paid to put that on your marketing collateral. His story then changed to no we paid to have them survey but we don't pay to use the logo. I work for a company that uses JD Power so I have some experience with these companies. They can manipulate a survey to get the responses that their clients are looking for.
Finally, I could tell this was going nowhere so I asked him if we could have a written estimate to which he replied, "for which one?" I simply responded with a "both" because we wanted to compare the price difference between the expensive model and the lower one that he wouldn't really talk about. He then asked if he can email them to us and we said sure. That was almost 2 weeks ago and got nothing from him.
Needless to say, this company tries to rip you off. Do not buy from them as they jack up the price on the equipment to an unreasonable amount and try to sell you fancy things that really do nothing in terms of softening your water. They are just gimmicks. read more