Complaint Review: Kinetico Water Systems - Lubbock Texas

 I have been a paying customer of Kinetico water for 9 months. I began my service at two houses in March of 2016. On the very first day of installation, both water coolers installed in my houses were the wrong units. Kinetico stated they would order the correct units and replace them asap. Over the course of four months, Kinetico brought six new machines to my houses, all of which were identical to the wrong units I already had. I had ordered a unit that provided instant hot and cold water, but they delivered units that provided room temperature and cold water. They delivered the wrong units on four separate occasions. It would be nearly 5 months before the correct units were brought to my houses.

Miraculously, the day I called to cancel my service at both houses due to the fact that I had never received what I had been paying for, I was told that both of the correct units had just arrived and they would be happy to come out and install them right away. I live in Lubbock Texas, which has terrible water quality. My water continued to taste awful even while using Kinetico's systems. I had hoped that the correct units would improve the taste of my water. Unfortunately there was no difference in Kinetico water and tap water. In addition, the first 4 1/2 months of service, I experienced incorrect billing on at least three occasions.

I made several phone calls requesting corrections and refunds due to the overbilling. Once the new units were installed, there continued to be no difference in the quality of water. The tenants in my second house immediately contacted me after the installation informing me that the installation crew was incredibly inconsiderate and rude to them. They made a mess, moved furniture around and left items in the middle of the floor and just left my tenants with the mess to clean up. The tenants were so offended by their behavior, they asked me to cancel the service and have them come and remove the unit because they did not want to be a part of a company that treated people that way. I called Kinetico and canceled the service on that house and they came and removed the water filtration unit in July or August.

In December, I discovered that Kinetico was continuing to illegally withdraw money from my debit card to pay for a water cooler that had not been in the home for 4 1/2 months. I immediately called to inquire as to why the Kinetico company was stealing money from my account by charging me for filtered water that they had removed some five months earlier. I was told they would extend me credit until February to help offset the overages. (A 30 day "credit" for steeling 4-5 months of unauthorized charges for a service I no longer had in the home). I stated I simply wanted a full refund and to cancel the filtered water service at my home where I still had a water cooling unit. I also asked them to send my sales rep out to test my water as it had tasted awful the entire time I had been using the filtered water system.

Jason, the salesman, came out and tested the water and informed me that I was not receiving any filtered water at all, it was tap water being dispensed through my cooler. Again I informed Jason that I wanted the unit removed from my home and a full refund since I had been paying and over paying for a service that I actually never even received from the very first day of installation. He immediately texted the installer of the unit and the installer came out within the hour and visited with me as well. I called the main office in Lubbock and spoke with Coral and told her I wanted to discontinue my service with Kinetico. I explained that the company had continue to steal money from me by charging me for a service I was not provided as well as their own sales rep had just left my house having tested my filtered water only to determine that I had not been receiving filtered water at all, only tapwater.

I stated that I wanted a full refund of everything I had paid to Kinetico for nine months since I had received nothing for my money. Coral said she would look into things and call me back. This is basically how the majority of my phone calls to Kinetico have ended over the course of the past nine months. It is as though no one has heard a thing I have said. They are intent on forcing me to keep this unit, rather than discontinue my service and remove the unit from my home. It has been over a month and they continue to want to visit with me about the problem with my cooler. I have canceled my service and requested a pick up over a month ago still to no avail. They continued to tell me that they will not give me a refund, they will only give me credit. Credit on unfiltered water does me no good. I do not want to use this dishonest, crooked company who is perfectly OK with stealing money out of my account simply because they have my debit card number on file.

I have left voicemail messages with the owner, Keith Peel and with the sales manager, Jennifer Byrd. Neither of them have returned my calls. For 9 months I have been paying Kinetico for filtered water and have never received a single drop of filtered water. Kinetico, the owner-Keith Peel, Jennifer Byrd and Haley define incompetence, dishonesty, fraud, the complete absence of customer service, and pure corruption. I have had nothing but problems and a complete lack of customer service with these people, not to mention the fraud and the lies they have perpetrated on me. My experience with Kinetico has been 100% negative in every way and I may find it necessary to consult with my family attorney in order to get a full refund of every nickel I have spent with this lying, fraudulent company owned by Keith Peel in Lubbock, Texas.