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Alpine & EcoQuest |
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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. 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:
Lawanda of Fort Walton Beach FL (03/03/08) Calvin of New Port Richey FL (06/22/07) James of Canandaigua NY (06/26/01) Carol of Hazlet NJ (06/25/01)
I called them thanking them for their assistance. The one fellow arrived at my house shortly after I arrived home this past Tuesday. I had just had major oral surgery the day before and was running my 9 year old back and forth to the pediatrician with a 104 temp. I then had to bring my child to his father's, where he is residing temporarily. Alpine's rep appeared at my door on the heals of all that and said he had a cure. Even a cure for toxic mold!! He plugged in the units and left. I awoke in bed several days later to find a powdery substance covering me. All the toxic molds were now airborne!!! Jim of Bellevue WA (04/22/01)
I know that ozone systems can be dangerous if misused and was leary of the
health claims Mr. Loomis made. I purchased the system to help clean the air
and not to treat my sleep apnea. When I meantioned my sleep apnea to Mr.
Loomis, he stated that the Alpine XL-15 would cure my sleep apnea. This should
have been a clue that there was something very wrong with this system, but I
passed it off to just the typicall MLM hype and purchased the system because
I thought it would help with the dust in my house. The dust by the way does not
contribute to my sleep apnea. Report Your Experience
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