We had someone in Home Depot ask us if we wanted to get our water tested, and we were curious, so we said yes. The person in Home Depot said it was a company affiliated with Home Depot doing the water testing, not Home Depot themselves. The company that came to our house was Tri-State Water, Power, and Air, and they came tonight.
They said the test would take about an hour to do. They ran through a bunch of different things, like showing us how soft/hard the water is, the impurities in it, etc. She talked about all the products that are used to deal with all the impurities (fabric softener, laundry detergent, lotion, conditioner, etc.), and how those are not needed anymore if you have the right kind of water.
So after about a 2 hour demonstration of all this (along with showing us the system they have, and how it is much better), we were convinced that we should get something like it. Then she starts talking about their product, which is called RainSoft Solution. It’s around this point in time that I realized it was going to be one of those “buy it now to get this great deal” type of sales pitches. But I thought this was a good product, and was willing to pay a reasonable price for it. This was different to me than most of those sales pitches. She worked with us to estimate how much we spend on all those products listed above that would no longer be needed, and it came out to about $30/mo (which fits right in line with how much I budget for them every month).
Then it comes to the price of their product. $6400 to buy the product and get it installed. Oh, but they would give us a 6 year supply of a better, organic version of all those products listed above, which she claimed to be an $81/mo value (don’t ask me how it’s so much different from what we’re currently paying for the same stuff). But we’d only get the free household products if we purchased it tonight. Yeah, a $6400 decision is fully expected to be made within a 2 1/2 hour timeframe.
So I was totally honest with her. I told her that I think they have a great product, but I can’t make a $6400 decision in one night. I said something like this: “So I think you have a great product, but I can’t make a decision that involves this much money in one night. I like to research everything that costs that much before I buy it. I mean, how do I know that there’s not a competitor of yours that does not have the overhead costs of going from home to home that sells the product for $3000?”
I think it was at this point that she realized we were smarter than her average household, because she started packing her things up. She realized we weren’t going to be buying tonight, and explained that we could always purchase it later at the same price, but we wouldn’t get the free 6 year supply of cleaning products. So she packed everything up and started heading out the door when I asked her if she had any information about the company she worked for (because she didn’t leave us a way to get back in touch with her). She said she didn’t have anything other than a business card, which she gave to me at that point in time. The business card had her first name on it (no last name) and was printed on a home computer.
So, like any budget-minded person would do, I immediately went to Google after she left, and looked for “RainSoft water reviews.” Guess what I found. A lot of unhappy customers. I read review after review about how they are pushy to try to make a sale, how they do anything possible to not let you return it once you say you want it, and every once in a while a good comment about how it’s a great system but way overpriced. Almost everyone said you could find something just as good but much cheaper, which was my gut feeling as well.
Never make a major purchase decision on the spot. It is almost always a bad idea. Anything that is semi-major of a purchase (let alone $6400) requires research and patience. If you feel pressured into buying something, just say no. You’ll almost always regret it later if you don’t.
I am convinced that we should do something to get better water, but I know it’s not going to be using RainSoft’s products. We learned some stuff from her, but will find something that is a little more practical (and won’t pressure us into buying it). Oh well, at least we got a $20 gift card to Home Depot. 
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Thanks for your feedback and review. I just had a guy leave my house earlier today with the ‘sales pitch’ on this product. He was only an hour in but I am working 12hr rotating shift work and had to get up out of bed to listen with my wife. Sounded good but we never got to the price. I simply asked him to come back at another time when we had more time to go over this product. It started to sound more and more like a sales pitch.
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It is really a great and useful bit of information. Thank you for sharing.
My husband is meeting with one of these people as we speak. I don’t know if its the same Rain Soft brand but the story sounds the same and they offered him a free 3 day trip to anywhere in the country. Sounds pretty fishy but we’ll see. Thanks for your post.
so what did happen???
The same thing happened to my husband and I when we went to home depot in Rockwall….they have tried to schedule a day to come out but three times we have changed it. They offer trips at a resort and 500 dollars worth grocery coupons…it simply sounds too good to be true…I am not sure I should even meet them….I am afraid it’s fraud….I want to call HOme Depot and ask them about it because maybe they can tell me if it’s a fraud. That way I don’t have to waste my time meeting them. Anyway, can someone let me know if this is a fraud and how it all ends??
I thought it was worth meeting with them, just be prepared to say no to anything they offer. They give you good information about your water though, so I’d do it again if they offered it to me (plus, you get a $20 gift card).
Thanks for this! I had them call to book this and I figured they wanted to sell something like that. But wow that is a lot of money!!!
I went thru the same water test sales pitch back in 1999 by Rain Soft. Granted the salesman’s little softener does make the water nice and smooth. Back in 1999 the system was $4000.00+ , you have got to be kidding me. For 4 grand I could soften at least a dozen homes in my area. This is a massive scam and I guess they’re still at it because somebody must be falling for it.
Read this and could not help but laugh. HD recently began offering free water testing in our community as well: you can pick up a ‘free’ kit on the way out the door, and send a sample of your water in for testing, postage paid. I picked one up and as soon as I read the card you are supposed to submit (“completely” filled in) along with the sample, I smelled a rat – so I hit google and found your site.
The pitch you got sounds like it must be the standard for these things. Nine years ago, I naively invited a local water softener dealer into the house for a ‘free’ water test – what ensued was nothing more than an excuse for a high-pressure sales pitch, using the exact same tactics you were subjected to! Not to mention selling the same type of equipment for the same outrageously inflated price. These people must all learn their ‘business’ at the same trade fair…
I could not refrain from commenting. Exceptionally well written!
Hey there,
Thanks So much for posting your experience. I had fallen for the same scam. Luckily they couldn’t make it to my place on time and I Googled what it was all about. After reading this, I called back and cancelled, and told them I am not interested. U saved me two hrs of my time and the wife’s wrath.my water is perfectly fine..
Thx
I just sat through one of these myself. I knew it was going to be “that kind” of sales pitch when they were so insistent my wife be present too. My experience was exactly like yours. The guy had an amazing presentation and i was sold…until that $6400 price tag came up. As soon as I said that was about double what i’d even consider spending, he was packing up and out the door, nothing else to say. I can safely say he convinced me to buy a water filter system…just not theirs.
Just scheduled my appointment….guess who will be canceling.
) My husband immediately picked up on the fact it was probably a huge sales push, so I went to google and found this. Thanks for the info everyone!!! Little bummed because I want a free water test without a pushy sales person!!
Glad it helped clarify things for you. The test itself was beneficial, but they are definitely pushy.
I picked up the same free water test from Home Depot, completed the form and submitted a sample for the test. Just received a call from a lady and she scheduled a tech to come to my house tomorrow in the evening to test our water.
My suspicion was about the tech coming in the evening, so I googled this Home Depot free water test and came across these reviews.
Seems like their visits are mostly at night, even though I told the lady that I would be available even earlier.
Would anyone know why they always want to send a tech in the evening?
Our appointment was in the evening too, but I wasn’t available during the day. I didn’t know they only do evenings. Maybe it’s due to the fact that most people aren’t available during the day, but I’m not sure.
Well sir you and your readers just saved me a bunch o’ trouble. I was in my local NJ Home Depot and they had a nice big rack of lil ole En-vee-lopes labeled in Home Depot Orange “The Home Depot Free Water Test” with a test tube you fill then mail in for free to “Preferred Water Testing” in Ridgefield NJ. As mentioned above there is a questionnaire inside which includes some serious “none of your frackin’ business” questions such as am I a homeowner, when did I purchase my home and how old I am. The kicker is that while the page says that one should “allow one week for results of the water analysis” what it DOES NOT SAY is HOW YOU WILL RECEIVE THESE RESULTS! I was mentally assuming – and hullo do we all know where that leads – it would be a nice little typewritten report, but since I too am a believer in the “if it looks too good to be true” school – thanks Mum – was of course suspicious enough to do the research that led me here. And I have NO interest in letting these kind of salesthieves into my home!
So I assume Preferred is the local variant of Rain Soft and am duly grateful for the heads up and am posting this so that others in my area can find their way here.
If anyone has any reason to think I’m wrong about the connection between the above and what caused you to write your post, please add it here and I’ll keep checking!
So thanks again, Alley
WOW! I think you just saved a ton of hassle. I just talked to guy that called to setup an appointment for someone else to come out and “test” my water for free. It started with the offer for the Home Depot $20 gift card some lady made to me in a Home Depot store while I was shopping. I had forgotten about it until the guy called. But when he called I pressed him to tell me what the company was that he was really working for. He kept saying “Home Depot” until finally he said “oh..we are an affiliate of Home Depot…” I was curious, just like you, to find out about my water. But based on your experience, I think this is going to be one of “those” types of experience and I shall surely cancel that appointment. The gift card is not worth the hassle. Thank you for sharing.
You don’t get something for nothing people. “I wanted free stuff but then I found out they wanted to sell me something – those b@stards!” there is no free lunch.
I figured something was going to be sold, but now that I hear the likely price tag, lol I’d rather replace my 45year old gas furnis for that price. It might actually pay for itself in time.
In other news, your SEO is working great for you, first link in Google.
Whew! These people are scheduled to come to my house on Saturday morning. Now that I know the gist of their coming out, I’ll be sure to cancel. I don’t mind losing out on that $25 HD gift card (it’s not worth 2 hours of my time) … same for the $25 restaurant gift card I would get for keeping my original appointment. Now, let’s hope they don’t give me the runaround when I try to cancel. Hopefully if I tell them I have no interest in spending $6,400 on their system, they’ll take my no for an answer. Thanks for the post!!!
I too recently picked up the ‘free water test’ envelope at my local HD and although I already get water testing results from my municipality I thought this would be a nice little “extra” test to have. But was skeptical because they seemed to ask questions that shouldn’t really concern them, as another poster pointed out, such as are you a homeowner and how long have you owned the home. I guess they don’t care about renters b/c renters would not be able to put in an expensive water system. So after reading the comments here and on other websites I think I’ll just skip it. It’s a shame too, if they would just send a written report with the results and give the option to follow-up with a vist then I think I would do the test. I realize they can’t be as pushy that way, but I also think they might drum up more business by being more professional about it, and not trying their high pressure sales pitches every chance they get.
Wow, I wish I would have looked this website up before the appointment. My told me we had an appointment with HD water softner people. The called the night before to make the appointment on Easter weekend, so that should have been a hint. After the presentation, the lady wanted us to go in the room and talk about our decision. She packed up her equipment really fast after I told her that she doesn’t dictate when or where we make decisions about my house. I wasn’t sure how much a water softner system cost, but I knew it wasn’t $6400.
We too had the water test but I don’t think they do anything with the little vial they get other than throw it away. The amount of water required to do the tests in the home was at least 20 times that amount.
Anyway, she said the nitrates wer 2 ppm and how bad the nitrates are for you etc etc… and later I find that the EPA max level is 10 ppm. The dissolved solids were 75 by my test meter and 68 by her test meter a variance which I would expect for my $15 tester. So the test on the water of the filtered refrigerator water was that it had no clorene which was natural, but she said it was bad as she was testing the hardness, like the charcoal filter would take any minerals out. Catching on to these little white lies turned me off. I ask about the effect of the sodium after the softener and was told that would be taken out by the reverse osmosis included in the $9695 price. But if we got it today it would only be $6995 (financed) $5500 if we paid cash. I already had a quote from a local company for $2999 installed, whom I will go with since they have been around for a long time, and I can call them to service if there is a problem.
Thanks, you saved me 2 1/2 hours! I knew it sounded too good to be true.
I am scheduled for Saturday 3pm appointment, I will surely be cancelling.
Lady on phone was nice but constantly asking about my significant other and must be present. Definitely a scam after reading this. Big thanks to all on this site – saved me my Saturday!!