‘Home Depot has a 50% stake’: Woman fills out survey at Home Depot. Then a man shows up at her house
Ashlynn Kutcher (@ashlynnkutcher) is warning Home Depot shoppers to stay away from RainSoft products and services at all costs.
In a viral TikTok that's accrued over 116,000 views, she shared how she and her now-husband were "cornered" by a RainSoft rep. Furthermore, she states the employee wouldn't leave their home until they signed up for the service.
Regretfully, she did and now she's bleeding money for a system she says cost her water bill to spike $550 in a single month.
What happened?
While shopping at the store, Kutcher says a man in a Home Depot apron approached her and her then-boyfriend, now-husband. The two of them were shopping for some paint, she says, when the man promised that if they filled out a survey they'd get a $50 Home Depot gift card. So they did.
What she and her partner didn't expect, however, was a visit from a man at their house. The person was visiting their home to "inspect [their] water," she says, which Kutcher didn't think was a problem. She was under the impression that a representative from Home Depot would be the one conducting the assessment.
She says that after coming back home from a walk at around 6:30pm, they saw a van waiting outside their home.
The nightmare begins
Next, Kutcher states the man proceeded to hit them with a sales pitch and asked if he could test their water, to which they agreed.
According to Kutcher, he walked into the kitchen to set up a "contraption" to the sink. After, he exited the kitchen with his hand over his mouth. Further selling his shock, he widened his eyes and "proceeded to tell [them] how absolutely awful" their water is.
In fact, he went so far as to tell them it's the worst water quality he's ever seen. Kutcher states that because they're young, new homeowners, they didn't know any better. Apparently, the salesperson's histrionics worked on the naive young couple.
It gets worse
Kutcher then discovers that the salesperson wasn't from Home Depot, but rather a business called RainSoft. According to her, the rep placed a "solution" in the water sample jar that turned their water black. He used the jarring imagery to tell the prospective customers that they were drinking poor-quality H2O.
At this point, the rep tried to sell them a water filter and as it was 10:30pm, Kutcher says she just wanted him out of the house. After using the bathroom for 10 minutes, the rep allegedly offered them a "discount" where they would only have to pay $40 a month.
Furthermore, she reiterates that $40 a month for clean, pure water doesn't seem bad. She adds, again, that they're young homeowners and don't really know any better so they signed the contract.
They signed
She says the massive document contained a ton of verbiage that was too much to read. As it turns out, the sales rep didn't even lower their monthly payment. Instead, he just extended the terms of the contract. This effectively committed the couple to $40 a month worth of payments for 12 years.
To make matters worse, she calls the $5,760 water system "pointless." Kutcher claims that there has been zero change to the flavor or appearance of the water in their home. As she continued her story, however, she revealed the RainSoft filter subjected them to more financial woes 2 years later.
Throughout the ownership of their home, the TikToker says their water bill came to about $50 per month. But then, out of the blue, it skyrocketed to $620. Immediately, she thought they had a leak in their home. However, upon further inspection, the couple learned it was actually the RainSoft water system responsible for the massive spike in water usage.
Long con
So they decided to call the business and let them know they wanted the filter removed. A rep from the company informed them that it was going to be a $200 service charge to do so.
Unbelievably, she adds that RainSoft's $200 visit to their home isn't even to actually fix their device. But rather, to surmise what is going on with it in the first place.
Kutcher says RainSoft is doing "nothing" to rectify their problem. Furthermore, she says, Home Depot isn't helpful either, even though they provide a "home for these scam artists."
RainSoft skewered online
Several other folks have posted scathing reviews of RainSoft's products and business practices. One poster on the Pro Teacher forum said they were contacted by a RainSoft representative who posed as a Home Depot employee. They went on to try and sell her a water softener system. Unlike Kutcher, they were able to get the rep out of their store. She called and complained to Home Depot about the company, but didn't receive a response from the chain.
If one were to head on over to the Better Business Bureau website, they'd see even worse criticisms. One customer said while installing a water filtration system, RainSoft ended up breaking a mainline water connection to their home. Upon contacting the company for assistance, they were stood up several times, despite taking off of work.
Another customer accused the company of "false advertising." Furthermore, the system they purchased from Rain Soft cost $9,000 and broke down several times. This necessitated further repairs from the business which ended up costing more money.
@ashlynnkutcher @The Home Depot pleaseeeeeee stop letting these scam artists in peoples homes!!! Lowes would neva #rainsoft #waterfilter #homedepot #scam #scamartists #scams #fraud #helpme #homeimprovement #lowes ♬ original sound - Ashlynn - Beauty & Lifestyle
TikTokers also dislike RainSoft
One commenter speculated why Home Depot isn't helping Kutcher with her issue. They even encouraged Ashlynn to get in on a class action lawsuit levied against the business.
"I just read that Home Depot has a 50% stake in rain soft.. there are some class action lawsuits it seems like, look into it!" they wrote.
Someone else said they should immediately stop payments to RainSoft. "Don't pay them and tell them to come get their filter," they advised. "And if they take u to court tell the judge what happened. Better yet start a lawsuit against them. Find a lawyer."
Another wrote that they are well aware of RainSoft being a con job. "Rain soft has been a scam for over 40 yrs," they claimed. "Way over priced and not very reliable equipment. In water treatment trade magazines their adds say, 'Get rich quick! Sell Rain soft!' SCAM!"
The Daily Dot has reached out to the retailer along with RainSoft and Ashlynn via email for further comment.
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