HRV responds to sales bullying complaints

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HRV responds to sales bullying complaints

3News NZ

HRV chief executive Bruce Gordon

HRV chief executive Bruce Gordon

HRV and its sales techniques have been making waves on Campbell Live lately.

Tonight we hear from the new head of the home ventilation company, who tells us he's been driving a major culture change since taking over, two years ago.

That's good, because some HRV reps have deployed sales techniques from hell.

We began this story last night, with one HRV customer and her experience of a sales pitch that wasn't just hard, it was brutal.

Then viewers began emailing us.

We removed all the emails that were hearsay or second hand and we compiled just under 100 firsthand accounts of selling techniques that strongly resembled bullying.

We then contacted a representative sample of those people and asked them to tell us their stories.

Among the people who emailed us overnight was Martin Treadwell.

Mr Treadwell worked as a salesperson for HRV for a month in August 2009.

He said he was told to do whatever he could to close a deal and not to leave until a deal was done.

Watch the video to see the story as well the response by HRV chief executive Bruce Gordon.

 

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Comments

10/05/2013 8:12:08 p.m.

Lorraine Webb wrote:

I am in Australia and have been trying to get them to remove my system from our house as it does not work! The sales rep was certainly persistent and insisted it came with an unconditional money back guarantee. After 18 months I can not get them to remove it and refund my money and their response is "It is not that simple Lorraine". I am not sure what to do from here either as the Australian office keep telling me someone from head office in NZ will contact me. Urrrggghhhh

18/03/2013 7:52:38 p.m.

Melissa wrote:

We just got an HRV in December for the little old house we bought. Fantastic. Sales guy was great too. No problems at all and the house is so fresh. We are about to add a heat transfer system to it.

11/03/2013 4:56:49 p.m.

Dion wrote:

Thanks so much for the story. Was googling HRV to get their contact details so I could get a quote. After watching story and reading feedback I am grateful google list all activity. Will be staying well clear and looking at other options.

7/02/2013 8:22:35 a.m.

Jan Lock wrote:

hello - back in November/December 2012 HRV contacted my elderly very unwell mother in law re HRV, anyway to cut a long story short an appointment was made for them to come and 'talk' to her ( made by mother in law) I fortunately ( for us) saw a note with the appointment time written on it and made sure that I was present when this person turned up. I arrived early ( as I was told they always come earlierthan arranged) and as the HRV salesperson arrived I cut him off at the driveway entry.. asked who he was and if was 'MR HRV' to which he responded he was.. I told him that he was not to enter the property, that his company had badgered my mother in law into this appointment and that she had gladly accepted in the end so she would have someone to talk to ( she gets a little lonely) I also advised that they were to take her name off the list and that if they phoned or presented at the prperty I would take legal action against the company.. the young man said he was sorry to hear that she was unwell and he would advise his office that she was not to be contacted again. well to my surprise ( or not) the office contacted her ( a young man named Jason) and fortunately my mother in laws niece happened to be doing her daily visit when the call came in. My mother in law always answers the phone with speaker phone so the conversation was overheard and the neice took the phone and asked why they were calling again.. to her surprise it was a pleasant young man named Jason.. he advised that it had been several months since they had contacted my mother in law and that they were phoning to see if she would like HRV installed!! He was told once more that no she did not want it and they were not to phone again as per the previous instructions given to the salesperson.. how do you and who do you make a complaint too???

2/02/2013 6:04:07 p.m.

Evan wrote:

As a HRV custom,I knew immediately after installation,the HRV is totally useless for me and a waste of money,too smelly and too noisy.

18/01/2013 6:37:32 p.m.

fiona misi wrote:

I had an HRV rep come over in 2011 for home insulation under the Council ratepayers scheme. I thought that this was a good idea and applied for it. After 3 months of not hearing from him I called and he said he was still waiting to hear from the Council. it was now May 2012 I gave up and applied online to the council. they sent me an info pack and we got quotes from different companies. Greenworks was what we chose. the sales rep found out and rang my parents saying that he regretted not having to work on the house. after Greenworks came we had some leftover insulation and did not think much about it so called them to come and collect it. A few months later we get a letter from HRV saying that we owed them money. I rang them and said no, however the lady in charge did not want to hear this and said that they did making it like i was delusional or dumb. i rang the council to check this out they too confirmed what i thought and told me not to pay HRV. So i ignored their letters thinking that I was ok. I went on holiday in Oct and came back where they wrote saying that i owe them as well as the debt recovery. I had to send my parents to the council to sort this out. it turned out that HRV came and did the job without letting my parents know and then later charging me. the council paid them but I still have to pay the $180.13 to the Credit company. this is so unfair. I am not happy with HRV or that sneaky sales guy you know who you are(Danya Heke).You have caused me a lot of stress and I never want to deal with this company again!!!

7/12/2012 6:24:04 p.m.

Mike Kennedy (again...) wrote:

oops ... I should have spell checked ... how ironic! What I meant to say was the comments are NOT that of mine! I'm guessing you all figured that out, but just in case ;) Again. Good luck with it all HRV - keep your pushy sales people out of your business and continue to sell with integrity. I'm proud to have been a part of the growth of your business. Cheers.

7/12/2012 12:47:52 p.m.

Mike Kennedy (ex HRV franchisee) wrote:

Hi all, just to clarify that the comments of the above ‘Mike Kennedy’ are that of mine – it’s a very common name unfortunately, and I've had a some communication sent to me questioning what was thought to be my comments – I also spell check things before I post them. I am an ex HRV Franchisee and finished working with the company back at the start of 2010. I now live in Australia and have little to no dealings with the company. I only communicate with friends that made along the way – and never about work. I think that the media has over dramatized and sensationalised what is unfortunately a few bad apples amongst a great team of people. You'll notice that no one defames the product simply because it’s a phenomenal creation. However over the past few years when a company experiences the grow that HRV experienced, it really is hard to keep a close eye on each individual sales person coming through the door across the country. Come on New Zealand – get your act together. See through this media hype and focus on the real issues out there. A few rogue sales reps representing a fantastic brand is not representative of the company as a whole. They will be or have been dealt with. Good luck with all of this HRV – I'm sure the New Zealand public see through this hollow propaganda.

6/12/2012 11:13:30 p.m.

Concerned wrote:

Can any HRV past or present employees/salespeople tell me about the videos used for staff training. An elderly friend was coerced into being in one of these and when I discovered this and asked to see the video out of concern that she was being exploited, my request was refused. I would appreciate knowing how this was used by the Sales Director.

4/12/2012 7:59:28 p.m.

Norm wrote:

had a pleasant experience myself , bought the HRV 3 years ago and still going strong, happy as can be..