When someone's house is too dirty to send employees into...

Could you say something about the furnace not being accessible enough to work on?

It has to be a safety issue. But how to word that tactfully? I’m thinking tripping hazard, things falling over, possible rodent (rabies) and bugs that could cause problems. The house needs to be clear enough to reduce the above scenarios.

Trash is nothing! DH has been in houses where the mice literally ran right over his shoes!   

There have been a few times when it has been so bad he has told clients that he can’t work on their project until the area is sufficiently cleared, and he usually will give them a date a couple months out that he will honor his estimate through. If they can get it cleared out enough so he can do what they want or need him to do within that timeframe he will come back and do the work for the stated price. If not, too bad so sad, they will have to pay for a second service call and the cost may have changed over that time. (Especially with the tariffs that are starting to drastically affect the wholesale cost of job materials, that’s a very real possibility.) Also sometimes the cost goes up after that because he knows he’ll be working in a disgusting hell hole and he’s giving them the ‘I really don’t want that job’ price quote.

I imagine if it’s that bad that even air quality is affected. What a difficult position to be in, I hope someone ca offer wording to offset the blow!

That is tough...perhaps tell the customer that your schedule is booked and then recommend to them another company. I know you don't normally send a client to a competitor but perhaps at least if you recommend someone else, he will be appreciative.

Is there any reason you can't be truthful? I understand that people have the ability to leave a bad review, but it you are truthful and up front how can they really complain? Their dirty/unsafe house is the issue.

I'd rather have them write a review that said "they won't service my furnace because my house is too filthy and unsafe" than a review that said, "They never showed up to fix my furnace."

If your worry is an online review: aren’t you allowed to respond to those? You could just respond with why you declined the job.

IMO. Saying it is an unsafe work environment and needs xyz to be safe would be a useful approach,

We are unable to work on your system until our safety concerns are addressed.

Then when they ask what that means list a few such as a clear path to the system, air quality, trash and dust and so on. take a few pics so you have proof. If they leave a bad review you can respond with a picture two and your concerns about safety.

I assume the situation is discovered during the estimate. At that time the person doing the estimate can point out the safety issues, stressing the safety aspect. Of course they are going to argue that it is safe because they live there and are not affected. Though, a person living in such conditions cannot be oblivious to the situation.

You call the city and find out where to report this person. He needs help.

I agree this would be a reasonable statement to make - very well put!

I would tell(or send email/letter) the homeowner:

Dear Sir or Ma'am,
We appreciate your interest in our company. 
Our company policy is to ensure that our employees are dispatched to safe, clean working environments.
At this time, your home to does not meet those standards, so we will be unable to provide our services to you.
Best regards, Name of company here.

I'm a social worker that does home visits. I wish my company would say that a home is too filthy or unsafe to go into. I've been in awful, nasty homes. I go home and shower afterwards and then contact public health. I don't mince words with clients. I tell them it's a health and safety risk to be in the home.

I think you’re good! DH has told me some real horror stories about houses he’s worked in, and a few dishes in the sink and some laundry waiting to be folded wouldn’t even register a one on his scale of zero to nasty!

If I was looking at reviews and saw that a business had posted pictures of a potential client’s home in response to a bad review, I would run so far and so fast from that business... what bad form that would be. I was recently looking for window replacement and one local firm got into “discussion” with dissatisfied clients on yelp trying to prove the client wrong and save face and it really left a bad impression to me. I felt it was a very unprofessional interaction with clients and I was very unimpressed. This would be the same for me.