HUNTSVILLE, AL -
A company that set up shop in Madison may be taking advantage of you and your fears about mold. WHNT NEWS 19 launched a Taking Action Investigation to make sure what happened to some consumers doesn't happen to you.
The company is called Pure Kleen. Since our story aired last week, several more consumers have come forward saying they paid Pure Kleen thousands of dollars and now they're wondering if it was all a sham.
In our hidden camera investigation, reps from Pure Kleen used an instant mold test kit to test a house we rigged with multiple cameras. In less than a minute, the Pure Kleen reps told our undercover producer the house had mold. That's the same result a lot of homeowners who hired Pure Kleen heard.
"I could swab my leg and it would turn up positive for mold," said a former Pure Kleen employee.
We can't show his face and we have to make sure you can't recognize his voice. Because he's been on the inside of Pure Kleen.
He doesn't want his identity revealed, but he does want to right the Pure Kleen wrongs.
"We use false mold test kits that always turn up purple... always turn up positive for mold," he says.
Pure Kleen advertises air duct cleaning and mold remediation in local newspapers.
He also says, "We are trained to look for mold, find mold and even if we don't find mold we're told to call in, write up a huge estimate and call in for a discount."
One woman got the Pure Kleen pitch, although we can't show you her face.
"The first thing they said is they were as I went to the door was you have mold and you need to take care of it," she said. "And we can do it."
She says they gave her an estimate of $6,050 to get rid of the mold then they made a phone callÂ… and next thing she knew, they discounted the service to $5,000.
"I'm embarrassed to think that I could be taken," she said. "I pride myself on the fact that I wouldn't fall for something like this."
To investigate the practices of Pure Kleen, we went undercover. We rigged a house with multiple hidden cameras. Our undercover producer asks the Pure Kleen representative about the company's free mold test advertised in the paper.
The technician performs a swab test on a vent.
He says, caught on hidden camera, "Put that in the tube. Break the seal: Let it go down there. Green is good. Gray is fair. And when you see it's purple then you've got a mold situation that needs to be taken care of."
They further emphasize the point as they leave when one technician asks the other if there was mold in the house.
The other technician says, yes, and that you've definitely got to get it at the source.
We wanted a second opinionÂ… so we had the house independently tested by Terrell Technical Services. Neil Matson took a sample for fungal spores. He says every home has some level of mold.
"It is part of our natural environment. It's in the air and on surfaces of everything," said Matson. "Other than a completely sterile environmentÂ… we're going to find mold."
The company is called Pure Kleen. Since our story aired last week, several more consumers have come forward saying they paid Pure Kleen thousands of dollars and now they're wondering if it was all a sham.
In our hidden camera investigation, reps from Pure Kleen used an instant mold test kit to test a house we rigged with multiple cameras. In less than a minute, the Pure Kleen reps told our undercover producer the house had mold. That's the same result a lot of homeowners who hired Pure Kleen heard.
"I could swab my leg and it would turn up positive for mold," said a former Pure Kleen employee.
We can't show his face and we have to make sure you can't recognize his voice. Because he's been on the inside of Pure Kleen.
He doesn't want his identity revealed, but he does want to right the Pure Kleen wrongs.
"We use false mold test kits that always turn up purple... always turn up positive for mold," he says.
Pure Kleen advertises air duct cleaning and mold remediation in local newspapers.
He also says, "We are trained to look for mold, find mold and even if we don't find mold we're told to call in, write up a huge estimate and call in for a discount."
One woman got the Pure Kleen pitch, although we can't show you her face.
"The first thing they said is they were as I went to the door was you have mold and you need to take care of it," she said. "And we can do it."
She says they gave her an estimate of $6,050 to get rid of the mold then they made a phone callÂ… and next thing she knew, they discounted the service to $5,000.
"I'm embarrassed to think that I could be taken," she said. "I pride myself on the fact that I wouldn't fall for something like this."
To investigate the practices of Pure Kleen, we went undercover. We rigged a house with multiple hidden cameras. Our undercover producer asks the Pure Kleen representative about the company's free mold test advertised in the paper.
The technician performs a swab test on a vent.
He says, caught on hidden camera, "Put that in the tube. Break the seal: Let it go down there. Green is good. Gray is fair. And when you see it's purple then you've got a mold situation that needs to be taken care of."
They further emphasize the point as they leave when one technician asks the other if there was mold in the house.
The other technician says, yes, and that you've definitely got to get it at the source.
We wanted a second opinionÂ… so we had the house independently tested by Terrell Technical Services. Neil Matson took a sample for fungal spores. He says every home has some level of mold.
"It is part of our natural environment. It's in the air and on surfaces of everything," said Matson. "Other than a completely sterile environmentÂ… we're going to find mold."
