When it comes time to hire a reputable air duct cleaner, one of the first things you’ll likely do is check company reviews. Good or bad, millions of people use reviews to make informed decisions. A favorable review or convincing testimonial may influence your decision to hire. On the other hand, a bad review could make it easier for you to write off a company.
Have you ever stopped to think, “What’s stopping a company from posting false reviews?” Not all company reviews are legit, and some may be the tactics of a scammer. Some disreputable businesses will pay a freelancer or even create fake profiles to positively review themselves. Others may go as far as writing negative reviews on the competitions’ profile in an attempt to discredit them.
How do you weed out the fake reviews and find trustworthy, reliable testimonials?
There are several ways to validate a real customer’s identity:
- Real customers typically have a non-generic name and picture
- Some sites will have a verified customer tag
- Real customers have a presence on the site, such as friends or other connections. This would be specific to review sites such as Yelp
Despite fake reviews being against the law, they’re hard to regulate, so you’ll have to educate yourself on how to spot a fake review.
Signs of a fake review include:
Vague details and description
Someone who used a company’s services will have specific details about their experience. The review will be longer than a couple sentences and will likely mention results, how they found the company, and if they will (or will not) hire them again.
Pay special attention to the words of the review. Fake reviews will be short, sound generic, or use dramatic language. Real reviews are more moderate in praise.
Incorrect spelling or grammar
Because companies may hire freelancers to write reviews, a review that is full of errors can be a red flag. This could indicate that the reviewer was in a hurry, possibly because they were hired to write a lot of reviews, or the review was outsourced from another country. Correct spelling and grammar are signs of an honest review.
Reviews containing similar pictures or language
The odds of many reviewers saying the same thing about a service are small. When it comes to reviews you should expect to see a variety of testimonials. Multiple reviews using similar phrasing may be a sign of a scam.
The same goes for pictures. If multiple reviews have a similar profile photo, they’re probably fake.
Timing and number of reviews
Typically, it takes a while to accumulate reviews. Multiple reviews in a brief span of time (about 30 minutes) can be a red flag.
Hiring a NADCA member will help you weed out the scammers.
All air duct cleaning contractors must meet strict requirements to be a member of NADCA. These requirements were established to provide a higher level of assurance to consumers. Part of being a NADCA member means complying with NADCA’s code of ethics, which includes being honest and forthright with advertising.
Hiring a NADCA member to clean your air ducts will not only ensure the work is getting done by a legitimate company, and because NADCA members are certified, you can trust they have extensive knowledge in HVAC inspection, cleaning, and restoration methodologies.
When speaking to a contractor, make sure they can show proof of NADCA membership and certification. Luckily, NADCA makes it easy for consumers to find a legitimate air duct cleaner with the Find A NADCA Professional tool. Protect yourself from scammers by hiring your local NADCA-certified contractor.
(Reprinted with permission from NADCA.com)
