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Alpine & EcoQuest

We frequently hear from EcoQuest air purifier peddlers protesting that their company is in no way related to its predecessor, Alpine. In fact, EcoQuest is a direct spin-off of Alpine and is headed by a former Alpine executive.

The late Alpine Industries got itself in trouble with state and federal authorities over its health benefits claims and a little matter having to do with taxes. In 2000, Alpine's sales manager, Mike Jackson, bought the air purifier business from Alpine and set up a new company called EcoQuest.

EcoQuest, which espouses an evangelical Christian approach to business, has expanded into water filters, nutritional supplements and skin-care products, all sold through a network of about 150,000 commission-only distributors.

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Jackson has tried to distance EcoQuest from Alpine and has said that, as Alpine sales manager, he was not in charge of the company and wasn't involved in any of the actions that led a federal judge to say he would hold the company in contempt if it didn't stop making prohibited claims about its air purifiers.

In fact, both Alpine and EcoQuest were named in the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Justice Department complaint in 2000. Earlier that year, a federal judge had ordered Alpine to stop claiming that its machines provide relief from any medical condition or that they effectively remove or reduce a wide variety of air pollutants from indoor environments.

Just like Alpine, EcoQuest is headquartered in Greeneville, Tenn. Alpine moved there in 1997 after the NBC News program "Dateline" aired a report that questioned the core technology of its air purifiers.

The NBC program noted that the Minnesota Supreme Court had ruled against the company a few years earlier in a case that charged Alpine with making false and misleading health claims for its products.

In an unusual twist, Alpine sued the Federal Trade Commission, claiming it was "harrassing" the company. The FTC, in turn, sued Alpine and the company was fined $1.49 million on the health claims charges. The proceedings also unearthed evidence that Alpine owed a significant amount of back taxes to Minnesota and Tennessee.

Besides claiming its new product line meets all the claims the company and its dealers make about it, EcoQuest insists it's not just about multilevel marketing scheme. It claims has an annual retention rate of 40 percent, supposedly far above average.

As is usually the case, the independent sales force includes some who vociferously defend the company, even to the point of defying a federal court order issued in 2000 that instructed Alpine to notify its independent dealers that they -- not just the company -- should stop making unsubstantiated claims.

Ralph Fourmont of Port Hadlock, WA, wasn't happy with that. On Nov. 18, 2000, he wrote:

My life has been changed by Alpine's fresh air machine. I no longer use inhalors (sic) or pharmaceuticals. I have started a business through Ecoquest that helps people just like me. Please stop this agency (ConsumerAffairs.com) from taking pay-offs from HEPA filter companies and Pharmaceutical companies and discrediting not only the parent companies of Ecoquest and Alpine, but my company as well.

You are hurting my business, as well as the potentially thousands of people who can be helped by Ecoquest products. I am physically unable to work in the workplace ... this business is my family's livelihood. This is emotionally wreaking havoc. Your agency is corrupt!

Sherry of Camano Island, WA November 12, 2009

We bought ordered our house in Oct 2008. We chose Alpine Windows because of the Warranty. Now, we have a bunch of bad windows and Alpine will not stand behind the warranty. We can not see out of most of our windows. They have mold growing in between the glass panes.

JoAnn of Portland, OR November 1, 2009

I purchased an Atlas Air Purifier 07/22/2009. Model Silent Thunder LA-2400. After a few weeks the unit developed a loud vibrating noise. I was told how to adjust the fan blades to fix the noise. It didn't work so I sent the unit back for repair. They received the unit in new condition but, when I received it back from their repair shop the cabinet was damaged and it still had the same problem with the vibration noise.

I called them and was told to find a fan speed where the noise was "where I could stand it" and leave it there. Cannot turn it up or down from there. I asked for my money to be refunded and was told I could receive a 50 credit. Also, I could sent it back again with a promise it would be in new condition when returned to me. No damage!

I thought that should have been the case the first time I sent it to them. I refused. I paid 36 to send it to them for repair. I will never do business with them again. I moved this unit to a downstairs area where I cannot hear the racket it produces.

Robert of Spokane, WA October 31, 2009

I was researching Alpine/Ecoquest Int'l on your site. I was very surprised to read in the complaints the several of them have absolutely NOTHING to do with Alpine/Ecoquest! There are complaints about loan companies, credit card processing equipment and others. What gives???

Tommy of Agoura Hills, CA September 8, 2009

Purchased my Living classic Jan 2009 and it broke 3 months later. I called several times and they said no warranties or refunds. I called Ecoquest and left messages with Manager stating it is a new product and I did NOT want to pay anymore for shipping and repair since I already paid 775. Wired burned out.

Annie of Montrose, CA August 25, 2009

In April of 2008 I entered into a business relationship w/ Alpine who arranged a cash advance on my future creditcard sales through Infinicap (a Chase Bank Co). Infinicap was taking their 20% payback out of my daily sales and would forward the balance to me often taking 4 to 5 days (normally it would take 24 to 48 hours). I called and complained several times to no avail, and then one of my deposits never made it into my account. I'd leave messages, but no one would ever call me back. Finally I called Chris F at Alpine to advise him not to use Infinicap for their advances because of their lack of customer service. He said he'd been hearing that from other clients.He'd see what he could do about finding the missing deposit.

Chris called several days later to say I could get another advance to pay off Infinicap, and could save me a lot of money on my creditcard processing. I wasn't interested, I only owed 2,500. of the 26,000 advance. He persisted saying this would save me "so much money in processing fees" and after about two weeks of him calling nearly every day, I agreed on one condition: I own all my own equiptment and POS, and it HAD TO BE compatible. "No problem", he assured me. When he faxed me the contract over the next two or three days the final contract had a page about a lease for a creditcard terminal and I said no way! I reminded him that he said I could use my own equiptment. He said just sign it to get started processing with them, and after everything else was set up they would "buy back the lease".

I argued that I would be on the hook with the leasing company and I wasn't going to sign. He said that Alpine is a huge company and they do this all the time, besides, it was just until they get their tech support to tie my POS with their processor. Since I'd already agreed to have Alpine pay off Infinicap, and I needed someone to process my creditcards, I gave in. The 'tying-in' never did happen. We could no longer use our POS with their processor'. We had to run creditcard sales on this terminal that didn't even have the technology of the one I own, leaving us much more likely to have errors. When I complained to Chris, he assured me that it wouldn't be for long, and they were still working on a new program that would fix everything! So now I'm paying 154. a month (although the contract says 138.) for four years even though I already own the same thing!!!

This went on and on. We couldn't even get internet access at our cash register to be able to sell from our website. They weren't 'fixing' anything. It was always "we're working on it". Finally I found what I thought was Alpine's website and emailed a copy to Chris. It said "with Alpine you never have to buy or lease new equiptment" and that they offered 24 hour customer service. And they guaranteed the processing discount rate would be lower. I called Chris the next day to ask how they could advertise that, when in actuality the oposite was true. He said he didn't know why, but he would "forward it to his boss". I never heard back from his boss, either. It wasn't until later that I found out that it wasn't the same Alpine creditcard processors!!

I filed a complaint with the BBB. It was only then that I ever heard from 'his boss', who said he didn't know anything about any of this. He said he would talk to Chris and find out what had gone on. He said he'd wanted to rectify the situation, could I please email the BBB and tell them the problem was solved. I told them Bob M had said he wanted to fix things but nothing was done yet. They must have taken that to mean "problem solved", but it wasn't. Bob M says it's my fault that I have this contract with Northern Leasing---they don't have anything to do with it---and they NEVER buy back leases. But why would I pay nearly 8000.00 for something I already own? And how can they get away with that?

Last month I noticed my bank balance kept being short, and I had to scramble to cover the checks I'd written. It turns out Infinicap never was paid off and they were taking the money out of my account. Alpine 'brokered' both advances, so they knew I couldn't legally just stop paying Infinicap, and just 'switch' to another processor. The only reason I even changed to Alpine was because they would pay off Infinicap and I'd be done with them!!!

They put me in a very bad position with Infinicap legally, and then because suddenly AdvanceMe wasn't collecting the money that was going to Infinicap, they threatened to sue me for breach of contract, too! They (Infinicap) have since collected the 2,500. that was owed and I convinced AdvanceMe that I wasn't trying to defraud them. No thanks to Alpine! I am tired of dealing with such an unscrupulous company, who will promise you anything to 'make the sale', and are likely to do the same thing to someone else, so I posted my dissatisfaction with them on the "Ripoff Report" and today Bob M threatened to "turn this over to their legal dept and "it will cost me" if I don't remove what I said. Nothing I said was untrue, and I didn't tell the half of it!

Kathy of San Diego, CA April 3, 2009

Kathy of San Diego CA (04/03/09)
I purchased an Alpine XL-15 in Feb. 1997. We had just remodeled & the odors & dust aggravated my allergies. Plus my husband was a heavy smoker. After turning on the unit, I immediately noticed relief. Visitors to our house even asked if he had quit smoking. Yes there was a fine white layer deposited. But that was the allergan particles which were no longer floating in the air, but had fallen because of the ionization.

The unit has run non-stop until about a month ago when the fan motor quit. I am replacing the motor & will continue to use the Alpine. I LOVE this purifier! Yes, it was expensive, about 500 in '97, but running NON-STOP for 10 years is, I think, a pretty good value.

Randy of Fayetteville, AR March 1, 2009

Randy of Fayetteville AR (03/01/09)
I purchased a Living Air X-15 6 years ago and have had no problems with it and in my opinion it works great considering there is a smoker in the house and no would could tell it.

John of Demarest, NJ January 28, 2009

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