Other products and services from Aquality Solutions:

Drinking Water
Home Water Supply
Your Water Report Card

We got him a refund on 'eco-friendly', 'no salt' water softener

Chris Rickert, Wisconsin State Journal
Jonathan Garvey no longer has to worry that his efforts to employ an eco-friendly water softener will leave him getting soaked.

After an assist from SOS, the 28-year-old Madison man will get back the $800 he spent on a "no-salt water softener alternative" that, for Garvey, has been an alternative only to scale-free faucet heads and dishes.

It's disappointing to try to do something green, he said, "and then you get nothing."

Garvey moved into his South Side Madison home in August 2007. It didn't have a water softener and - conscious of how much water traditional softeners use - Garvey thought he'd look for an environmentally sensitive way to treat his hard water.

Searching the Web he found a Greenfield, Ind.-based company called Freije that advertised a system that used "electronic frequencies" - transmitted through a coil on the home's main water line - to change the way minerals act in hard water. The results, according to the company, are pipes free of scale build-up and water that comes with many of the other benefits of traditionally softened water.

Before you scream "buyer beware," consider this: Freije offers free shipping, a 90-day money back guarantee and a three-year warranty on its residential system, which it began selling in 2001. It also lists companies including McDonalds and Wal-Mart that it says are successfully using the commercial version of the product.

In short, Garvey thought he was pretty safe, and he installed Freije's standard home system in January 2008.

Two months later, he told the company there was no change in his water, and they sent him a free replacement on the assumption that the first was damaged. It did no good either, he said.
Most recently, the company sent him a third, more powerful unit, also free of charge, that Garvey said also did not work.

Early this month, he again asked for a refund. The company declined. Garvey contacted SOS on April 9 and on Thursday Freije Director of Marketing Julie Cooley said "I do believe he is entitled to his money back. Cooley explained that Garvey first asked to return the initial system within 90 days of getting it and was "not adequately educated (by Freije) as to what our system does and what it does not do."

Cooley maintained that the system works, and pointed to the company's 23-year history and success in treating water in industrial and commercial settings. But she acknowledged, "there's never been an academic study of our product."

Garvey said he's ready to embrace salt.

SOS Article written by Chris Rickert. This article was originally published in Wisconsin State Journal Newspaper April 27, 2009. Read the Article from the Wisconsin State Journal

 

Related articles:
What are Non Chemical Devices?
The Professional Opinion on "No-Salt" Water Softeners
Behind the So-Called Science of "No-Salt" Water Softeners
Why Sketchy "No-Salt" Water Softeners Still Sell
5 Ways "No-Salt" Water Softeners Fall Short

______________________________
See more articles.