Last year, we needed to select a replacement filter for our whole house water filtering system. After shopping around and doing notice comparisons, both online and off, the cheapest space turned out to be the FiltersFast.com website. We did our homework and found several satisfactory customer reviews about the site and felt comfortable ordering from them.
While browsing the site, we discovered they also carried the water filters we utilize in our Whirlpool refrigerator and decided to go ahead and get some of those too. We didn’t really need any fridge filters at the time, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to stock up and have some on hand when our others ran out.
The website is easy to navigate and very intuitive. It was easy to find the filters we needed using their intuitive product selection menu. They offer a wide range of filters for many different manufacturers, and their menu system makes it easy to determine which part is needed. At the time we placed the original order, the process went smoothly and we received the filters quickly. Mark that this was early 2008.
We replaced the whole house filter and it worked perfectly. We didn’t have a need to use one of the fridge filters we had bought from FiltersFast.com until the first allotment of 2009 – almost a year after placing the order. We naively waited an entire year before using one of the filters we had bought from this website. It honestly never entered our mind that they would be ghastly.
Here’s how the story plays out …
We installed one of the filters from FiltersFast and it didn’t work for some reason. The water coming out of our refrigerator had a strong chlorine smell and taste. We had never encountered this problem before. The water coming straight out of our tap did not smell or taste like chlorine, so we knew the pickle was with the filter. We removed the filter and the smell and taste went away.
Luckily, I had kept the receipt from the purchase, otherwise we probably wouldn’t have remembered where the items had advance from. I logged on to the company website and got their customer service phone number. I called and the phone rang and rang and rang … no one ever picked up. I then went to their contact us page and sent an e-mail complaint using their web form. A couple of days passed by and I got no response. I sent another message via their contact us page and waited a few more days and still got no response. I was beginning to mediate the company had gone out of business but decided to try calling them again. This time I was routed through an automated phone system and waited for about 30 minutes for a customer service rep to come on the line. Every few minutes an automated voice gave me the option to the leave a voicemail message and have a service secure call me benefit. I finally gave up and left my name and number, expecting to never hear from them.
About two days later I got a call from the company. After explaining my problem to the rep, who’s name was Alex, I was informed that since it had been a year since the products were purchased that there wasn’t much they could do for me. Poor Alex … I wasn’t going down that easily and asked him if I could speak to a supervisor.
After waiting on hold for about 10 minutes, a lady named Karen came on the line and identified herself as a supervisor. Amazingly, I didn’t have to rehash the story with her because Alex had explained everything before she got on the line. She explained the company policy of 90 day returns and said the only thing that could be done would be for me to send the bad parts back and order a different piece number, plus pay a 20% restocking fee and pay shipping costs.
To me, this was not a satisfactory solution for several reasons:
1) They had no other part numbers for my refrigerator model and this was the part number their merchandise selection menu system said was the correct one for my unit when I placed the order.
2) I should not have to pay a restocking fee just because they sent me defective merchandise.
3) I should not have to pay shipping costs to send back a defective product.
I nicely explained to Karen that while I could understand and appreciate their 90 day return policy, my circumstances were a bit unusual. We politely went back and forth for a few minutes on who, what, when, why, etc. Karen then asked me how I opinion the situation should be resolved. I said I wanted the company to stand tedious their product – and do do so without it costing me any more money. She again patiently quoted me the standard “company policy” reasons as to why my request could not be honored. I politely reminded her that the economy is very bad right now and the company might not want to have a bad mark against them from an unsatisfied customer. I told her I would be very grateful if she could work a bit of “customer service magic”.
I’m not sure if I impartial wore the nice lady down or if I said something meaningful, but finally she relented and agreed to send me one replacement for the filter I knew for positive was bad. She sent it via FedEx overnight and I did not have to send the bad product back or pay shipping fees or restocking fees. I’m not overjoyed that they wouldn’t replace all four of the parts I originally ordered but am happy that they at least replaced one unit. I will have to reveal this entire process six months from now when I replace the next filter if it turns out to be bad … but at least now I know how to get around their customer service department and how to explain my situation.
Bottom line: FilterFast.com came through for me in the end and I am a tickled customer for now – which is something all companies should strive for.
Related Posts
Filed under Whole House Water Filter Reviews by on Oct 3rd, 2011. 
Last year, we needed to buy a replacement filter for our whole house water filtering system. After shopping around and doing price comparisons, both online and off, the cheapest site turned out to be the FiltersFast.com website. We did our homework and found several satisfactory customer reviews about the state and felt comfortable ordering from them.
While browsing the set, we discovered they also carried the water filters we exercise in our Whirlpool refrigerator and decided to go ahead and get some of those too. We didn’t really need any fridge filters at the time, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to stock up and have some on hand when our others ran out.
The website is easy to navigate and very intuitive. It was easy to acquire the filters we needed using their intuitive product selection menu. They offer a wide range of filters for many different manufacturers, and their menu system makes it easy to determine which part is needed. At the time we placed the current order, the process went smoothly and we received the filters quickly. Note that this was early 2008.
We replaced the whole house filter and it worked perfectly. We didn’t have a need to utilize one of the fridge filters we had bought from FiltersFast.com until the first piece of 2009 – almost a year after placing the order. We naively waited an entire year before using one of the filters we had bought from this website. It honestly never entered our mind that they would be defective.
Here’s how the story plays out …
We installed one of the filters from FiltersFast and it didn’t work for some reason. The water coming out of our refrigerator had a strong chlorine smell and taste. We had never encountered this problem before. The water coming straight out of our tap did not smell or taste like chlorine, so we knew the problem was with the filter. We removed the filter and the smell and taste went away.
Luckily, I had kept the receipt from the pick, otherwise we probably wouldn’t have remembered where the items had come from. I logged on to the company website and got their customer service phone number. I called and the phone rang and rang and rang … no one ever picked up. I then went to their contact us page and sent an e-mail complaint using their web form. A couple of days passed by and I got no response. I sent another message via their contact us page and waited a few more days and still got no response. I was beginning to think the company had gone out of business but decided to try calling them again. This time I was routed through an automated phone system and waited for about 30 minutes for a customer service rep to come on the line. Every few minutes an automated voice gave me the option to the leave a voicemail message and have a service rep call me back. I finally gave up and left my name and number, expecting to never hear from them.
About two days later I got a call from the company. After explaining my problem to the rep, who’s name was Alex, I was informed that since it had been a year since the products were purchased that there wasn’t much they could do for me. Terrible Alex … I wasn’t going down that easily and asked him if I could speak to a supervisor.
After waiting on occupy for about 10 minutes, a lady named Karen came on the line and identified herself as a supervisor. Amazingly, I didn’t have to rehash the sage with her because Alex had explained everything before she got on the line. She explained the company policy of 90 day returns and said the only thing that could be done would be for me to send the bad parts back and order a different section number, plus pay a 20% restocking fee and pay shipping costs.
To me, this was not a apt solution for several reasons:
1) They had no other part numbers for my refrigerator model and this was the part number their merchandise selection menu system said was the correct one for my unit when I placed the order.
2) I should not have to pay a restocking fee unbiased because they sent me defective merchandise.
3) I should not have to pay shipping costs to send back a defective product.
I nicely explained to Karen that while I could understand and appreciate their 90 day return policy, my circumstances were a bit unusual. We politely went back and forth for a few minutes on who, what, when, why, etc. Karen then asked me how I thought the situation should be resolved. I said I wanted the company to stand slow their product – and do do so without it costing me any more money. She again patiently quoted me the standard “company policy” reasons as to why my request could not be honored. I politely reminded her that the economy is very bad right now and the company might not want to have a dreadful mark against them from an unsatisfied customer. I told her I would be very grateful if she could work a bit of “customer service magic”.
I’m not sure if I just wore the nice lady down or if I said something meaningful, but finally she relented and agreed to send me one replacement for the filter I knew for determined was bad. She sent it via FedEx overnight and I did not have to send the bad product back or pay shipping fees or restocking fees. I’m not gratified that they wouldn’t replace all four of the parts I originally ordered but am happy that they at least replaced one unit. I will have to relate this entire process six months from now when I replace the next filter if it turns out to be abominable … but at least now I know how to get around their customer service department and how to explain my situation.
Bottom line: FilterFast.com came through for me in the end and I am a jubilant customer for now – which is something all companies should strive for.
Related Posts
Filed under Whole House Water Filter Reviews by on Sep 9th, 2011.
Too Much Fluoride
Recent articles on the health risks associated with long-term fluoridated water ingestion may have spurred your interest in removal of fluoride from your home water supply. If you live in a community with a fluoridated water supply, you may have personal interests in ingesting less fluoridated water. If the children in your area have dental fluorosis, this is a impress of too much ingestion of fluoride. There are several things you can do in your own home to decrease fluoride intake.
Background on Water Filtration
Most of the water filter systems do hold chlorine and some contaminants. Carbon-based filters such as Brita, Pur and most refrigerator filters do not remove fluoride, but do remove chlorine and contaminants such as lead and arsenic. Boiling water does not lift the fluoride, but instead concentrates the fluoride rather than eliminating it. Freezing water does not execute the removal of fluoride.
Find out if the filter removes fluoride and what percentage is removed. NSF is a third party non-profit testing agency that rates water filters for the past 50 years. See if the water filter is NSF certified. Water filtration systems require installation in the home in several different ways: on the cabinet-top, under the kitchen sink, in the refrigerator water line with an ice maker, or a whole house filtration system. These products can range in cost from $100 to several thousand dollars.
Activated alumina filter media, bone char carbon, and reverse osmosis systems are the three EPA recommended methods for removing fluoride from drinking water. The activated alumina filter and reverse osmosis are available for in home expend and are the most effective ways to remove fluoride in households. Bone char carbon only removes about 50-60% of fluoride from treated water and is venerable in some industrial systems for fluoride removal.
Distillation also removes fluoride from water. However, distilled water does not imply that a product is suitable for drinking water, as other impurities may calm be present in the water with this process.
In-Home Water Purification to purchase Fluoride
Consumer Reports (CR) and Consumers Digest Magazine are some of the best online and publication resources for the best water purifier reviews. You may also need to talk with a water filtration system specialist to find the best model to remove fluoride for your budget.
A full cartridge of 100% activated alumina is needed to allow proper contact time for effective fluoride removal! Activated alumina is aluminum oxide. (This is not aluminum, which is a more highly-processed metal made from activated alumina.) Activated alumina has a very high surface-area-to-weight ratio, with a lot of tunnel-like pores that run all through it. This means that there is a lot of surface area against which the water interacts, thereby removing fluoride (and arsenic). Through the attraction of the metals, 90% to 98% of fluoride (and arsenic) is normally removed. The fluoride coats the surface of the alumina over time and eventually the cartridge needs to be replaced (usually once a year for a family of four). The best rated models have two or more cartridges: one or more for effective fluoride removal and one or more for the removal of other contaminants as chlorine, arsenic, etc. Another consideration is checking the water flow rate for optimal fluoride removal.
Faucet mounted water filters install directly on the kitchen water faucet and provides a button or lever to switch between filtered and unfiltered water. These are only one cartridge filters. Some purchase fluoride, but this type is not the best product on the market. CR’s best buy for a faucet mounted water filter is the Culligan FM-15, but it does not recall fluoride.
The countertop water filter system allows for mammoth volumes of filtered water, but also requires room for the unit on the counter. CR recommends The Crystal Quest Countertop Replaceable Triple Multi PLUS Water Filter System CQE-CT-00109 which removes fluoride. The price on eBay starts at $125. Placement and size consideration is necessary as this model is the size of a bread-maker. This method is one of the best values and good quality for fluoride removal.
CR reported that refrigerator in line filters do not work well at removing impurities. But CR did recommend using an under-sink system with a diversion that will feed the kitchen sink and the refrigerator as well. These install under the kitchen sink and connect to the water line allowing for large volumes of water without modifying the faucet. CR recommended three models but none of these removed fluoride including Culligan Preferred Series 350 Drinking Water System, the Everpure H-300 Water Filtration System EV9270-70 and the Everpure H-1200 Water Filtration System EV9282-00. The under the sink system for fluoride removal should have at least 3 cartridges to remove bacteria, fluoride and other contaminants. These models start at $150. A professional may be needed to install the more complicated under the sink systems. The refrigerator filter needs to be changed frequently even if there is an additional external filter. There are some brands of in-line fluoride removal filters for use in refrigerators with ice-makers or water through the door. These models start at $100.
All reverse osmosis water filtration systems will remove fluoride. For use in the home, this is the most expensive blueprint to remover fluoride and contaminants from household water. The disadvantage is that several gallons of water are wasted in purifying each gallon of water for drinking with some brands. Some of the highest rated systems are Pentek RO-3500 Reverse Osmosis System and the WaterFilters.Accumulate RO5-WF 5 Stage Reverse Osmosis Systems. These systems will cost several thousand dollars to install.
Bottled Drinking Water and Beverages
Unless the bottled water is distilled or reverse-osmosis is used to purify the water, the water is probably from a fluoridated public water supply. Some companies merely bottle tap water. On a commercial scale, reverse-osmosis is used by several bottled water companies to remove fluoride and other impurities and this is listed on the bottle impress. If fluoride is exhibit, the amount will be listed. Determine brands that clearly indicate a fluoride swear of 0.2 ppm (parts per million) or less.
Here’s a sampling of bottled water brands that are fluoride-free: Apani Purifie, Aqua Panna, Arrowhead, Calistoga Spring, Crystal Geyser, Deer Park North, Deer Park South, Evian, Tremendous Bear, Hinkley & Schmidt, Ice Mountain Keeper Springs, Loon Country Natural Spring, NARA International Himalayan Spring Ozarka, Penta, Perrier, Poland Spring Snow Valley Mountain and Sparkletts.
Other Steps to Reduce Fluoride
For adults wanting to decrease fluoride levels in the body, avoid drinking black or red teas as these tea leaves naturally gain high amounts of fluorine. Avoid using chewing tobacco. Avoid long term use of medications that contain fluorine. Some antidepressants and medications for osteoporosis contain fluorine.
Non-Fluoridated Toothpastes
If dental fluorosis with children’s teeth is happening in your community, there are other ways to decrease fluoride exposure in addition to water filtration. The easiest way is to avoid fluoride supplements and fluoride dental rinses, and switch to non-fluoridated toothpaste.
For itsy-bitsy children, consider Tom’s of Maine Amusing Strawberry toothpaste. Silly Strawberry is a natural fluoride free toothpaste for children with delicious real fruit flavors to appeal to children’s taste. Another choice is Melaleuca brand Koala Pals Training Tooth Gel. This non-fluoride, sugar-free formula tastes like apples and includes baking soda. It’s sweetened with xylitol, a natural sweetener derived from fruit and berries that’s shown to not promote tooth decay.
There are a variety of adult non-fluoridated toothpastes available. Tom’s of Maine also has adult toothpastes that are fluoride free. I am currently using Jason’s Healthy Mouth brand of non-fluoridated toothpaste with cinnamon oil flavoring and tea tree oil. Some people consume hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to brush their teeth.
Summary
All of the suggestions in this article will reduce fluoride for everyone in your household.
What heed of fluoride water purifier do you prefer for your home? Which brands of non-fluoridated toothpastes do you like the best? Let me know in the comments piece below!
Resources:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5890058/fluoridated_water_is_risky_for_your.html? cat=5
http://www.pure-earth.com/fluoride-water-filters.htm
http://www.filterwater.com/p-105-undersink-fluoride-filter-triple.aspx
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/a/removefluoride.htm
http://www.filterwater.com/s-4-fluoride-filters.aspx
http://www.bizrate.com/water-filters/water-filters-fluoride-removal/
http://www.blog.waterfilters.net/consumer-reports-water-filters-ratings/666
http://www.allwaterpurification.com/water-purifier-reviews.html
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/56/find-the-best-filter-for-your-tap-water.html
http://www.nofluoride.com/betternutrition_article.cfm
http://www.nextag.com/non-fluoride-toothpaste/sho
Related Posts
Filed under Whirlpool Whole House Water Filters by on Sep 6th, 2011.
Last year, we needed to buy a replacement filter for our whole house water filtering system. After shopping around and doing designate comparisons, both online and off, the cheapest space turned out to be the FiltersFast.com website. We did our homework and found several satisfactory customer reviews about the site and felt comfortable ordering from them.
While browsing the space, we discovered they also carried the water filters we consume in our Whirlpool refrigerator and decided to go ahead and get some of those too. We didn’t really need any fridge filters at the time, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to stock up and have some on hand when our others ran out.
The website is easy to navigate and very intuitive. It was easy to find the filters we needed using their intuitive product selection menu. They offer a wide range of filters for many different manufacturers, and their menu system makes it easy to determine which part is needed. At the time we placed the original order, the process went smoothly and we received the filters quickly. Note that this was early 2008.
We replaced the whole house filter and it worked perfectly. We didn’t have a need to use one of the fridge filters we had bought from FiltersFast.com until the first part of 2009 – almost a year after placing the order. We naively waited an entire year before using one of the filters we had bought from this website. It honestly never entered our mind that they would be defective.
Here’s how the story plays out …
We installed one of the filters from FiltersFast and it didn’t work for some reason. The water coming out of our refrigerator had a strong chlorine smell and taste. We had never encountered this problem before. The water coming straight out of our tap did not smell or taste like chlorine, so we knew the problem was with the filter. We removed the filter and the smell and taste went away.
Luckily, I had kept the receipt from the select, otherwise we probably wouldn’t have remembered where the items had come from. I logged on to the company website and got their customer service phone number. I called and the phone rang and rang and rang … no one ever picked up. I then went to their contact us page and sent an e-mail complaint using their web form. A couple of days passed by and I got no response. I sent another message via their contact us page and waited a few more days and still got no response. I was beginning to mediate the company had gone out of business but decided to try calling them again. This time I was routed through an automated phone system and waited for about 30 minutes for a customer service rep to come on the line. Every few minutes an automated voice gave me the option to the leave a voicemail message and have a service rep call me back. I finally gave up and left my name and number, expecting to never hear from them.
About two days later I got a call from the company. After explaining my pickle to the rep, who’s name was Alex, I was informed that since it had been a year since the products were purchased that there wasn’t much they could do for me. Poor Alex … I wasn’t going down that easily and asked him if I could speak to a supervisor.
After waiting on maintain for about 10 minutes, a lady named Karen came on the line and identified herself as a supervisor. Amazingly, I didn’t have to rehash the narrative with her because Alex had explained everything before she got on the line. She explained the company policy of 90 day returns and said the only thing that could be done would be for me to send the bad parts back and order a different part number, plus pay a 20% restocking fee and pay shipping costs.
To me, this was not a satisfactory solution for several reasons:
1) They had no other part numbers for my refrigerator model and this was the fraction number their merchandise selection menu system said was the correct one for my unit when I placed the order.
2) I should not have to pay a restocking fee just because they sent me defective merchandise.
3) I should not have to pay shipping costs to send back a tainted product.
I nicely explained to Karen that while I could understand and appreciate their 90 day return policy, my circumstances were a bit unusual. We politely went assist and forth for a few minutes on who, what, when, why, etc. Karen then asked me how I thought the situation should be resolved. I said I wanted the company to stand behind their product – and do do so without it costing me any more money. She again patiently quoted me the standard “company policy” reasons as to why my request could not be honored. I politely reminded her that the economy is very bad right now and the company might not want to have a bad mark against them from an unsatisfied customer. I told her I would be very grateful if she could work a bit of “customer service magic”.
I’m not sure if I fair wore the nice lady down or if I said something meaningful, but finally she relented and agreed to send me one replacement for the filter I knew for certain was bad. She sent it via FedEx overnight and I did not have to send the bad product back or pay shipping fees or restocking fees. I’m not gratified that they wouldn’t replace all four of the parts I originally ordered but am happy that they at least replaced one unit. I will have to repeat this entire process six months from now when I replace the next filter if it turns out to be bad … but at least now I know how to get around their customer service department and how to explain my station.
Bottom line: FilterFast.com came through for me in the end and I am a satisfied customer for now – which is something all companies should strive for.
Related Posts
Filed under Ge Whole House Water Filters by on Aug 21st, 2011.
Last year, we needed to recall a replacement filter for our whole house water filtering system. After shopping around and doing price comparisons, both online and off, the cheapest region turned out to be the FiltersFast.com website. We did our homework and found several excellent customer reviews about the site and felt comfortable ordering from them.
While browsing the position, we discovered they also carried the water filters we use in our Whirlpool refrigerator and decided to go ahead and get some of those too. We didn’t really need any fridge filters at the time, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to stock up and have some on hand when our others ran out.
The website is easy to navigate and very intuitive. It was easy to find the filters we needed using their intuitive product selection menu. They offer a wide range of filters for many different manufacturers, and their menu system makes it easy to determine which part is needed. At the time we placed the original order, the process went smoothly and we received the filters quickly. Note that this was early 2008.
We replaced the whole house filter and it worked perfectly. We didn’t have a need to use one of the fridge filters we had bought from FiltersFast.com until the first part of 2009 – almost a year after placing the order. We naively waited an entire year before using one of the filters we had bought from this website. It honestly never entered our mind that they would be defective.
Here’s how the story plays out …
We installed one of the filters from FiltersFast and it didn’t work for some reason. The water coming out of our refrigerator had a strong chlorine smell and taste. We had never encountered this problem before. The water coming straight out of our tap did not smell or taste like chlorine, so we knew the dilemma was with the filter. We removed the filter and the smell and taste went away.
Luckily, I had kept the receipt from the purchase, otherwise we probably wouldn’t have remembered where the items had reach from. I logged on to the company website and got their customer service phone number. I called and the phone rang and rang and rang … no one ever picked up. I then went to their contact us page and sent an e-mail complaint using their web form. A couple of days passed by and I got no response. I sent another message via their contact us page and waited a few more days and still got no response. I was beginning to believe the company had gone out of business but decided to try calling them again. This time I was routed through an automated phone system and waited for about 30 minutes for a customer service regain to advance on the line. Every few minutes an automated voice gave me the option to the leave a voicemail message and have a service rep call me back. I finally gave up and left my name and number, expecting to never hear from them.
About two days later I got a call from the company. After explaining my problem to the rep, who’s name was Alex, I was informed that since it had been a year since the products were purchased that there wasn’t much they could do for me. Poor Alex … I wasn’t going down that easily and asked him if I could recount to a supervisor.
After waiting on hold for about 10 minutes, a lady named Karen came on the line and identified herself as a supervisor. Amazingly, I didn’t have to rehash the chronicle with her because Alex had explained everything before she got on the line. She explained the company policy of 90 day returns and said the only thing that could be done would be for me to send the bad parts back and order a different part number, plus pay a 20% restocking fee and pay shipping costs.
To me, this was not a superior solution for several reasons:
1) They had no other piece numbers for my refrigerator model and this was the part number their merchandise selection menu system said was the correct one for my unit when I placed the order.
2) I should not have to pay a restocking fee just because they sent me defective merchandise.
3) I should not have to pay shipping costs to send back a defective product.
I nicely explained to Karen that while I could understand and appreciate their 90 day return policy, my circumstances were a bit unusual. We politely went help and forth for a few minutes on who, what, when, why, etc. Karen then asked me how I notion the situation should be resolved. I said I wanted the company to stand leisurely their product – and do do so without it costing me any more money. She again patiently quoted me the standard “company policy” reasons as to why my request could not be honored. I politely reminded her that the economy is very bad apt now and the company might not want to have a bad mark against them from an unsatisfied customer. I told her I would be very grateful if she could work a bit of “customer service magic”.
I’m not sure if I just wore the nice lady down or if I said something meaningful, but finally she relented and agreed to send me one replacement for the filter I knew for certain was dreadful. She sent it via FedEx overnight and I did not have to send the bad product back or pay shipping fees or restocking fees. I’m not overjoyed that they wouldn’t replace all four of the parts I originally ordered but am happy that they at least replaced one unit. I will have to repeat this entire process six months from now when I replace the next filter if it turns out to be bad … but at least now I know how to get around their customer service department and how to explain my situation.
Bottom line: FilterFast.com came through for me in the extinguish and I am a satisfied customer for now – which is something all companies should strive for.
Related Posts
Filed under Whole House Water Filter Reviews by on Apr 27th, 2011.