Have you ever received a sketchy call from someone wanting to clean your air ducts? One local businessman says those calls are hurting his legitimate company.
Jack Parry owns Ontario Duct Cleaning in Chatham-Kent and Lambton and Essex Counties. He says these calls happen frequently and target people using his company's official name. "I get people calling me up and threatening me and telling me they're going to come over and beat me up if I don't stop telemarketing and we don't telemarket," says Parry. "I very carefully try to explain to people that we never call anybody, they call us."
Parry says his company has spent about $25,000 tracking down the person behind the calls. "We found him in Oakville. Basically, when we went to the CRTC to complain about it, their attitude was well, nothing we can do," says Parry.
Parry says he has even approached police agencies, with no luck. It's unfortunate, he says, that there's not much anyone is willing to do to stop the people behind these duct cleaning calls. "It's frustrating because they get these phone calls at all times of the night and the people on the other end are really rude," he says. "It hurts the industry and unfortunately this particular industry has lent itself to some low-end duct cleaners, but those of use who are reputable seem to be managing by advertising."