I bought an EcoQuest Freshair air purifier on 5/11/04 for 444.50. I was very satisfied with this purchase except I had to send it once in 2005 for a minor repair. On 8-28-08 I called to order a part and I was suggested by customer service to upgrade to new generation of Freshair air purifier. I accepted suggestion and upgraded to new machine by paying 239.06. The new machine arrived partially dead on 9/8/09. This started a series of exchanges and most of the exchanged machines showed a common problem. Like first generation machines these machines should have reminded to perform cleaning when the air passage gets dirty and air flow reduces through grills and filter.
In my understanding, like previous generation machines, there is an air flow sensing system in these new generation machines too which senses the air flow and sets the reminder. So far I have exchanged 6 machines and 4 of those showed similar problem of not reminding for cleaning. As per operation manual user should perform cleaning every month (30 days) as a general maintenance. If user forgets to clean, machine will sense the air flow, check when the last cleaning was done and remind to perform cleaning. I have no way of finding this problem whether machine is going to remind to perform cleaning or not before 30 days.
After more than a month when I realize that machine is not reminding, I call customer service to update the problem and exchange that machine. The exchange warranty is valid only for 30 days, after this period user will have to send the machine on their cost to get it repaired! Not exchanged. Therefore each time I call I have to go through a big drama and aggravation to get some one to send me a new machine and get the faulty one picked up. I expected that customer service agent noted down all the information related to the problem on their end each time I called.
Unfortunately next time I talk to these customer service agents and request them to read the problem in the previous machine, they will say that there is no information why the previous machine was exchanged. I can not tell whether they lie or tell me the truth.
Finally I got tired of calling and sent them an email on 5/8/09 to start documenting communication. Initially I wanted to get a clear email reply to resolve this ongoing problem. These people do not want to give me detail in email reply to resolve this situation. They want to talk to me but I don't want to. I am very frustrated from their service and worst performance of their equipment.
I don't want to talk to them anticipating that in future they may claim that they have no record of my communication and problem. To resolve this situation I offered them to pay me back 444.50 + 239.06 (683.56), get their faulty machine picked up and I will forget that I ever knew EcoQuest. Of course I have not received any reply related to this settlement offer. We have spent 683.56 buying the original machine and upgrading it.
iva of valencia, CA May 3, 2009
I have 2 Living Air Breeze machines since 2003, I run them 24/7 one in the garage with the cat litter box and one in the house. I will say I am very happy with them both, THEY are very very costly but since you cant tell I have 3 cats who are INDOOR ONLY Its worth it!
Craig of Stillwater, OK April 14, 2009
We purchased an EcoQuest Fresh Air system on 3/10/06 from a local dealer for 647.71. The machine ran well for about a year and a half and then quit putting out Ozone (no smell as before). We methodically cleaned the unit when it put up the message to do so. At this time, we cleaned plates and the unit and finally just shut the thing off. Eventually we called and sent the unit in under warranty around August of 2008 at which time it was cleaned (~50 cost to us), the keypad and LCD display was replaced as well as the ozone plate. We recieved it back and it ran for a few days until we put it on sanitize mode after which the Ozone smell again stopped. Frustrated, we turned the unit off and put it away as it hadn't worked in a long time and we were tired of dealing with it.
We again got around to calling them in January 2009 and shipped it back for repair at which time they replaced the main board and the ozone plate. Upon recieving it again, we ran it for about a day and noticed it again was not emitting the ozone odor. Called them back and they sent us a shipping label and we sent it back (Feb 2009) at which time they merely replaced the plate. Unit put out very small amount of ozone so we called back again and were put in contact with the customer support team leader. We placed in a small room with minimal results so they sent us another shipping label and we shipped it back to them (Mar 2009). The team leader noticed the lint filter was extremely dirty but she was going to run it in her office and see what she found before sending it for repair. She then called us and relayed that she agreed it was not working and she was sending back for repair.
They have just finished looking at it (been a month) and nothing is wrong according to them and they are shipping it back. I called this person and I was obviously not happy. She became condescending and after much arguing I asked what I do if I get it back and it does not work. She said I can ship it at my cost but don't bother sending it back as they will not do anything as it is working. It was not working, has not been working, they verbally agreed it is not working and now they claim it is working. I am sure the 3 year warranty is now expired so that will be their next card and we have a 700 boat anchor. I am at a loss of what to do here but I can gaurantee I will never buy any product from these people again.
647.71 - Work ~1.5 years then nothing but trouble. ~50 - Cost for cleaning at which time it came back and did not work correctly. ~9.88 shipping charges (x 2) until they began paying these charges
Steve From Ohio of Parma, OH March 28, 2009
I bought a Fresh Air for 1200 and I was using it for quite a while. It helped with my allergies, and it helped with the little floaties that I see floating in the air in the house. I have it up high on the bookcase and I was vacuuming the floor and I got tangled in the cord of the Fresh Air. The Fresh Air fell on my head, to the floor and broke into several pieces. I was knocked out for a little while...the thing weighs about 13 pounds.
When I came to, I tried to pick up the machine but it was still plugged in. It was wide open from being broken up and I got shocked really bad. My pacemaker went bad after getting shocked and I had to go to the hospital. My cat got so upset with all the commotion that it ran away and got hit by a car. My brother heard about all the problems I was having with the Fresh Air that he had a heart attack. I later found out that he has a Fresh Air too and the ozone from the machine was causing his fish in his aquarium to die. His dog had puppies and they all died from the ozone too.
I am now not able to work. My brother just recently died.
Lorraine of Shelby, NC March 20, 2009
In response to John's message of 3/18/09, I want to draw a present-day comparison. Natasha Richardson might have survived her fall on the ski slopes if she had been wearing a helmet. I might NOT have gotten acute ozone poisoning if I had reviewed the manual. Accidents happen!! Natasha was on the beginner slope; I am a seasoned EcoQuest distributor. I've been using EcoQuest air purifiers for years. I've talked up the benefits of odor control and allergy relief. It was an innocent mistake to crank up the units to 3000 square feet in a small apartment (but I was desperate to alleviate allergy symptoms). Please don't miss the point in my 2/21/09 message: ACCIDENTAL acute ozone poisoning. Customers need to be aware of the hazard!!
John of Galloway, OH March 18, 2009
I have had a Fresh Air machine for over a year. I love it. No more odors from the dog, the house smells fresh. I also have had the Laundry Pure machine for over a year. I was my clothes in cold water and no detergent. Amazing results. I do not understand some of the comments I have read here. I notice right away if someone turnedoff my Fresh Air machine. I love these products. You do have to start on a low setting and gradulally increase the purifier. If you start too high, you may not like it. Start on the lowest setting and let the room adjust to the machine. I would hate to be without mine. I got my daughter one because her pet ferrets smell. The odor is gone. I know of a locjer room that uses one to get rid of odors as well.
Lorraine of Shelby, NC February 21, 2009
I became a distributor for EcoQuest International several years ago. I believed the vast amount of information that they supplied the distributor(s) and the information discussed in the seminars, and conferences. I sold many units repeating the information I had been told. Recently I had a very bad experience with their top-of-the-line, Fresh Air unit (that sells for over 700.).
I've been sick for about six months. It started with an allergy to a cat I adopted. I had to give the cat away but couldn't seem to clean thoroughly enough to get rid of the hair and dander. I started with one air purifier at highest setting trying to alleviate my allergy. That didn't help so I turned on a second air purifier in one bedroom (because the cat had contaminated every inch of my apartment). As the months went by I got sicker and sicker!!
In December I had an expensive allergy test--but was told I had no allergies. I bought allergy remedies but they did not help. I used eye drops but that didn't stop the itcy eyes. I read everything I could on allergies. I listened to segments of TV programs about allergies and asthma. On February 9th I was so desperate I sat at the computer and searched the Internet for an answer to my allergy or asthma symptoms. After reading many sites, and visiting many links associated with sites, I saw three little words and I immediately knew I found the answer. The three words ASTHMA and OZONE. I clicked the link and it opened up a world of information about the hazards of ozone poisoning.
I have been so extremely sick!! Now that I have turned off the air purifiers, I can breath better. I don't have the itcy eyes. I still cough and sneeze but not as often. I am slowly recovering from the ozone poisoning but it may take several months before I'm healthy again (according to the information that I have read, and documented, from the Internet). I was extremely surprised to find the number of complaints about EcoQuest when I found this web site. I'm surprised... but I recognize that some of the complaints are valid.
I was a responsible distributor and provided information, and manuals, to my customers. I honored their request if they wanted to return a product. I know that there are distributors--in all businesses--that are only interested in the sale and not the service. I'm disheartened that EcoQuest home office did not assist the customers when they complained. This web site gave me a very different view of the company I--in good faith--have been representing.
Jo of Ft. Myers, FL February 21, 2009
BEWARE....if you are using one of these purifiers in your home and you have a heart condition. These purifiers send out radio waves. I had low blood counts and severe anemia. EVERY time I came in close contact with the machine while it was running, my heart would beat like crazy and start beating irregularly. At first I did not realize it. The machine was in my kitchen and 2-3 times this episodes happened while I was spending time in the kitchen preparing dinner. VERY scarey! Irregular heartbeat caused light-headedness, near fainting, shortness of breath and tacchycardia.
Twice the EMS had to be called. We took that machine and sold it at our next garage sale. Good riddens!!!!! Never had another episode like that again. Only coincidence?????????
Kenny & Shirley Hilburn of Loris, SC February 11, 2009
My daughter had just purchased a Ecoquest purifier and wanted me to try one as well. at first, I was sceptical about the product and decided to give it a try. The purifier was brought to my house and demonstrated how it worked and we were told we could keep it for 3 days to see if we could tell any difference. The 3 days passed and we were sure whether it was working or not.The representative told us it would reduce dust,pet dander, odors. It hasn't reduced dust, pet dander nor has it reduced odors.We contacted the representative and he told us it was a nonrefundable item. This product cost me nearly 900 and I can't tell any difference than before. can anyone help me get my money back for this sorry product.
Josh of Salisbury, MD December 10, 2008
I just started with EcoQuest about a week ago. I haven't started into this, so take this from a fresh mind who has had experience with the products, but has not been tainted by any bias of the business itself. I currently have an EcoQuest Fresh Air to-go unit in my car, and a Fresh Air in my living room. My parents and grand parents both have a units in their houses and the largest bar in our town has three of them. None of us have experienced any problems, and we have owned these for over 4 months. I'm not sure what model number the people in these complaints were using, if they were with Alpine, or what was going on. However, I can say from experience that the new products have almost no ozone output.
I would also suggest that a good deal of the complaints about the newer EcoQuest products have been made by people that either bought their products on-line and didn't have a dealer to help them set it up properly, didn't pay attention to the dealer, or didn't read the directions. Not putting any blame on the users that did this, I'm sure all of us don't read directions or miss some information here and there, however, there are two crucial instructions that every dealer is supposed to tell the buyers and that are in the instruction books.
1) NEVER set the machine on away mode while you are in the house!! I have seen numerous complaints here and on other sites where the symptoms they described were the results of heavy ozone exposure. The away mode is intended purely as a quick fix for odors and bacteria. It is a quick fix because it is pumping out extreme of ozone! This setting is DANGEROUS for humans to be exposed to longer than is needed to turn the machine to normal mode and let the house air out some more. This danger is no different than any other product with a warning in it's instructions and EcoQuest does have a warning against this!
2) Another trend I am seeing is that many users that complain notice that the smell is too strong. This may not be caused by it being on away mode, but it can be caused by the purifier setting! The recommended setting is to keep it on normal, however, you can manually adjust the purifier levels if it is too strong for you. If you ever feel that it smells too crisp or you don't notice a difference, then you should increase/decrease the levels until you notice a difference. The dealers should tell you this. There are a few other complications that could have risen from the lack of a dealer to step the user through this product.
The fact is that most people don't read directions, and EcoQuest doesn't expect their users to behave any differently. When the EcoQuest products are being sold on-line through places like eBay, where no support is given and there isn't even a users manual sometimes, than that is where problems start occurring the most. The link at the bottom of this site said to give experiences good or bad, so I wanted to give a first hand look. I don't know what has happened with the company in the past, or any predecessor companies, but I do know that these products aren't harmful if used correctly, but can be if used in a manner they weren't intended for by disregarding the instructions of either the dealers or the manual. This is no different from every single product out there today, including children toys.
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