By: Industrial Electric Boilers | posted in Complaints, Reviews |
Date: March 17th, 2009
Message from the Ontario Government: Door-to-Door Water Heater Rentals
Complaints about door-to-door rental agreements for water heaters jumped into third place on the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services Top Consumer Complaints list in 2010, a sign that some businesses and salespeople may be using aggressive or misleading practices.
This post is not about water heater installation prices or about how much money we can save, it is not about saving the world and this is not about the energy-efficient water heater. It is about the sleazy sale tactics use by some door-to-door sale men. This is about being properly informed and at least has the opportunity to make an informed choice.
The power of high-pressure sales: From CBC aired on March 20, 2009
We would be more than happy to pay $2 or $5 dollars more each month for something we needed, instead the door-to-door salesman tried to replace our 50 gallon gas water heater that was only 7 years old (life span up to 15 years) and doesn’t need replacement. The salesman was an “independent” energy agent who mislead us by saying our natural gas water heater was out dated, might blow up, need to replace some piping and contain dirty water. When he only looked at my tank for 10 seconds. Also, he wasn’t a water heater technician, he was a sale man, an “independent” energy agents and how would he knew what was inside the tank without opening it?
On top of that the “independent” energy agent didn’t even mention the long-term contract and left out many details on the contract and did not clearly disclose all the water heater installation prices, terms and conditions. For example, the “independent” energy agent left out the large fine for their cancellation fees and the fine for transferring my contract if I was to sell my home and the new home owner does don’t carry over the contract.
I don’t work for any other hot water heaters company like Direct Energy or any other. I agree if you have a gas hot water heater over 15 – 20 years old, it is time to replace it, but make sure you know all the terms, rules, and the cost. I hate being mislead, for that reason alone I would never buy anything or support a company that use misleading information.
Here is an article from The Star “Don’t sign sales deals at your door”, about door-to-door agents making misleading and incorrect information.
Here is another article from The Star about poor installation, needing the exhaust fix after the installation. Read here: Beware door-to-door hot water tank sellers
What you should know before signing for a water heater upgrade?
- Cancellation fees, long-term contract, pushy sales people and misleading marketing tactics.
- Be in a long-term contract
TERMS & CONDITIONS
2. Term and Payment
“…and for the useful life of the equipment…”
- No pipes need replacement. If there is something wrong with your current water heater, call your current provider and ask about it. These “independent” energy sale agent love to use fear tactics and they will say anything to get your signature so they can get their commissions. Door-to-door sale are well known for their deceptive practices.
- Pay $4000+ dollars in total. More than our current provider.
- When we sell our home we will need the new home owner to carry over the hot water heater contract. If the new home owner does not want to carry the contract for whatever reason. We will have to pay hundred of dollars to break the contract. (Again, “independent” energy agents doesn’t want you to know, unless you ask )
- Door-to-door sale agents may falsely claim to be from your current provider or made themselves sound like they were sent by the government on a routine checkup or say your current provider (Direct Energy, Reliance) no longer provide hot water heater service or say they want to give free water heater check up, when in fact they are not licensed technician and Direct Energy, Reliance are still in business.
- Why are the “independent” energy agents are wearing a full uniform by the company? If these sale agents really “independent” energy agents, shouldn’t they be wearing their “independent” uniform and not the company? You should only be allowed to wear a full uniform by a company if you work for the company and that company should take full accountability for all of their employees.
- Sale agents will replace your old natural gas water heater and install the new tank for FREE. Also include 2 months Free. (It’s not free installation)
If your natural gas water heater is over 15 years old, contact your current provider to see if they will replace it with a newer energy-efficient water heater, usually they do at no charge. It doesn’t cost anything to ask.
WARNING:
They are now installing the water heater tank the next day without 10-60 days reaffirmed by the customer. If their product is so good why are they installing the tanks without the 10 days cooling off period?
Here is an article on TheStar.com on what happened when an “independent” energy agent came to someone’s home in Ajax and after 20 minutes of signing. A technician came to remove their natural gas water heater tank.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/701345
If you are here, it is probably because you are one of their victim. But you can always fight back. Don’t let them walk all over you and does nothing about it. We all have to speak up and tell our stories. Read below to find what you can do to stop this company from hurting you and other people in your community.
Did a door-to-door salesman come to your home and:
- Create confusion in your mind about water heater?
- Mislead or misrepresent any aspect of their offer?
- Abuse your trust?
- Unduly pressure or harass you to enter into a transaction?
- Exploit your lack of experience or knowledge in purchasing water heater or legal contracts?
- Did they harass you?
- Did they deal with your spouse or other that has language or comprehension issues?
- Did you end up signing anyways, after you told them to leave?
If you answer “YES” to one or more, write down what happened and call or send complaints to The Ministry of Consumer Services. Tell them your horror story.
Canceling Your Contract
* The contract is subject to a cooling off period. You have the absolute right to cancel (for any reason) within 10 days of receiving a written copy of the agreement.
* The vendor has made a false, misleading or deceptive representation about the goods or services you agreed to buy or lease.
* The information about the goods or services, or your rights as a consumer required by the Consumer Protection Act, 2002, are not provided to you in the agreement.
Bottom Line: any strangers show up at your door offering to save you money is highly likely to be lying. No one get out of their way to go save you money, they only do it because they need to get pay.
By: Industrial Electric Boilers
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Info: Industrial Electric Boilers Review. Information here is not accurate, I do not endorse nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any information. This is just my opinion and stuff I found online. Do not rely on any of the information, I am not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from anyone’s reliance on information or other content posted. This is just for my on personal view.
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did you end up cancelling? is it still possible? read the contract.
I bought a house with a national home service hot water tank already installed…I want to upgrade to a power vented one, but they want 900 to get out of this contact i never signed..
Are there anyways to get out of this???
theres nothing wrong with a cv tank ….PV are only used for homes w/out a chimney as they dont build new homes with a chimney usually so PV is the only option. An upgrade is only required if u need a larger sized tank than the one you already have.CV TO PV is not an upgrade ..just a change on how gases are vented out of the home from the tank.jus sayin…..
This was very interesting and informative. Thanks!
If these guys who sit around thinking up ways to con people would put their efforts toward something useful and honest, just think how great our society would be.
Thanks again!
Here is what tipped me off.
1-day installation.
Chinese sales and technicians. warning.
racist
Piano Blues; I remember you said something about the above video not being the same thing as energy?
I have proof that Universal Energy are the same people from National Home Services. Read below…
"Universal Energy Group's common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "UEG". Universal Energy Group through its subsidiary Universal Energy Corporation, sells electricity and natural gas in Ontario and natural gas in British Columbia to residential, small to mid-size commercial and small industrial customers. Universal Energy Group through its subsidiary Universal Gas & Electric Corporation, sells natural gas in Michigan to residential, small to mid-size commercial and small industrial customers. Universal Energy Group through its subsidiary National Energy Corporation, operating under the trade name National Home Services, offers Ontario residential customers a long term water heater rental program. Universal Energy Group through its subsidiary Terra Grain Fuels Inc., operates an ethanol facility in Belle Plaine, Saskatchewan that is designed to produce approximately 150 million litres of ethanol annually."
The link is here http://www.annualreports.com/Company/4800
But hey, if you are happy with it then go with it. I'm just saying I don't like people coming in to my house bull shiting me and I dont want to spend more than I have too. However, if you have the money then go with it.
If anyone show up to your door saying they're from Direct Energy or NHS or any other energy company and say they are here to save you money. Don't just take their words for it, do your homework or just shut your door. It's hard to believe anyone would show up to your door to save you money.
If you do the math you are best to to save yourself money to buy your on water heater regardless of what company you're under. It might seem to cost some money at first but after 3 or 4 years you will get that money back.
Just had a guy from National Home Service (Water Heater Division)show up at my door.. at the same time as I was on my phone, trying to send a text to the U.K. on a cell and listening to my ill child calling for me all the while the dog was barking. Not good timing for the sales guy! He was trying to tell me his shpeel and being so busy, told him I was good. He then became rude and snapped at me telling me he didn't ask if I was good! Great way to make a sale! Not. I then got angry and sharply told him I couldn't talk to him so he huffed and puffed and said he'd be back. Good luck. Next time, I hope I don't have 18 things happening at once so I can calmly tell him to get off my property as I did not call him and he is trespassing. I would not even hesitate to call the police frankly. Consumers are so much smarter these days. Why would anyone, I mean anyone, buy anything from a guy who comes to your door??
yep … they have come twice now in the past week demanding that our water heater must be replaced and that we were notified of this replacement in our Enbridge bill and that the company he works for is affiliated with Enbridge. What bothers me is that I called Enbridge/Direct Energy to complain and they said there was nothing they could do because there is always something included in the Enbridge bill about gas marketers etc so techincally he was telling the truth and if we did sign up with them (even unknowingly) … Enbridge bills on their behalf so they are "affiliated". Sad part is, for every 95 intelligent customers who see through it there will always be that 5 who do not and will sign up (likely at a premium) and will never know differently because their same old Enbridge bill shows up and because the amount of gas you use is not constant and rates always changing – the few extra dollars every few months will not be noticed.
I work for this company, and after reading this just would like to straighten a few things out.
National Home Services replaces old water tanks with energy star rated, more efficient ones free of charge.
Its nothing to do with a gas contract or anything else.
If you are already paying rent anyway for an old one that is wasting energy and money, why not get a free upgrade? It saves money.
I can understand some people being scared by 15 year contract. But, for that whole time the tank is babied and taken care of so that it works well/at 'energy star' efficiency. The goal is to keep people happy.
There is a difference than being an informed customer, and writing incorrect, misinformed statements over the internet.
Bug your missing the point of what is being said. It's not free. Fail…
OKAY I workED for this company too…like two weeks.
YOU guys gotta try understand the agent or atleast have a pity on them, because NHS BRAINWASH these young kids each and every morning.
Each morning at 10am, all the agents must to have a training and they tells us what to say and how to behave. They would never say anything about their scams and anything negative about their products. Well and practically brain wash the kids.
I worked at NHS for two weeks and left for two reasons. ONE: They are telling us to lie. They were "training" agent to PRETEND like we are the only provider in that specific region, never told us a real reason behind.
SECOND: The company ignores work place hazards. They put all the agents into scorching heat above 36C (44C in humidex) and make us to work under this condition without complaining. Do they care if their agents gets over heated? NO. I didn't show up for work for two days. I have asthma that is sensitive in humid. I literally can't breath under this weather. Guess what. They gave me a warning.
And all these work, did they pay me? NO. I supposed to give them two weeks of notice (which we did not know, because they took the contract paper from us when we were signing up for the work) I got paid zero dollars.
Well.. i honestly do not know if NHS is a scam or not. but i know they mistreating their own agents.
Try to cancel your service see what they tell you? I had a problem to cancel my water heater with Reliance, even if I have no contract with them. They want to charge me disconcerting fees and pick up fee. I told them I had no contract with that, just get the dam water heater out of my house. They did not response me now. What should I do? just simply don't pay their rent bill? At least National Home Services let you know what you have to pay before you rent.
my husband unknowingly signed up with National on a whim one day when they came to our door. He is a little too trusting. He signed a contract which stated National would notify Reliance we no longer needed their services. After about a month we received a Reliance bill in the mail but were told by National to ignore it. Apparently Reliance refused to have the tanks returned so that is their "out" so to speak. After receiving bill #2 today I called Reliance. The girl on the other end kept babbling about not being informed, they had no idea we had switched and until they had the water heater returned to them with a reference number we would continue to be on their billing list. So I called National and in a nut shell the lady said for us now to ignore any bills past August 18th. as they were taking Reliance to court re not accepting the old water heaters. So now basically I have to pay two bills or I might face a court case or bad credit from Reliance!!!!! National and Reliance, if they are going to take them to court, could be tied up for years. Quite a mess. THe moral of the story. DO NOT SIGN UP FOR ANYTHING AT YOUR DOOR UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SIGNING FOR!!!!
Maybe I have watched too much TV in my time, but if I'm not mistaken, either in the US or in Canada, when you're in court, you are requested to tell the truth, the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth. To withhold pertinent information is a form of lying. There's no doubt in my mind that National withholds truth during its sales pitches.
I also work for NHS. I have come across a HUGE number of HAPPY customers in my time working this job (less than a month). No one from our company should be saying they are from enbridge or in any way affiliated with them. Since we ALWAYS check with the customer to ensure that our reps are NOT making these claims. Anyone who said anything along those lines was likely fired within less than a week. The same goes for those who are rude. The hiring process is fast if you are good for the job. The firing process is faster if you are misleading people or misrepresenting the company. I am aware that even THIS will be turned by all those people out there who will believe us a scam because of information that was originally released into the world by our competator. I can already imagine the headlines "National Home Services Fires Employees". The rental agreement is exactly what you would have on any other rental of anything including apartments and such. There is NO fee for transfering between home owners. Oh, and the T.S.S.A. code for the venting of water heaters DID change, rather than saying it's a lie RESAERCH THROUGH TSSA. If your water heater were to break and need replacing tomorrow, your venting would have to be changed. Finally, there is NO way you sign up with us without knowing we are not your current provider. You will be told at least 5 times and by at least 2 people that we are not your provider by the end of the process. So if anyone here claims to have signed up thinking we were their current provider, they must have REALLY paid NO attention to what they were being told.
P.S. Voting down the positive things about this company so that they aren't seen is REALLY immature.
You must have missed my other post where I aknowledged the fees for ending the agreement. Funny how you try and say i am misleading people by saying the TSSA code changed becuase you only have to change the venting if your water heater needs replacing, when I said that. Funny how you will take partial quotes to make me seem like a liar, and then accusing me of misleading people. You may think me naive, but I really thoroughly researched this company before working for it. I researched through all the proper channels, of course. Pages like this mean nothing to me as I know well enough that they are just opinion, sometimes backed up by mostly lazy and biased research. I only posted here because I thought I might get some people coming across this website to look at both sides of the arguement instead of only reading everything negative and accepting it as absolute fact. I absolutely encourage proper, objective research into anything before you accept it.
I highly doubt people would make an issue about having an energy star water tank when they buy a house. Most people are big on the lower carbon footprint. The issue has not come up at all yet.
Remember that any company is a business, and to front the cost of a brand new tank with labour, parts and service in people costs money. If people turn around and cancel there will be no way any business can survive.
The 2 or 3 dollars extra a month is more than made up for in gas savings of the new tanks. Once again, the goal is to have happy customers.
There is always a chance that the new home owner will not want the water heater. Also, the contract is a long time and by the time you move, say 10 years. There will be better water heater tanks and a good chance the new home owner will want to get the newer tank.
Most companies don’t use sleazy door-to-door tactics. Look at the Better Business Bureau rating on National Home Services.
And the rating for the sister company called Universal.
This is not about the money, or saving the planet from green house gas. It is about your sales guy that came in my home then mislead us to sign and without fully clarify all the terms and conditions. He didn't even show the contract when he was here. On top of that – multi years contract that we have to stick with, which I was not told about.
Actually, should the new home owner not want the tank for some strange reason. They are the ones choosing to change the agreement, therefore, they are the ones who pay. You will probably complain about this but it's fair, you make a choice, and it's not fair if the new home owner makes you pay for that choice.
WRONG. The new home owners cannot be the one breaking the contract if they never agree to take over the contract. The only way this would happen is if the new home owners agreed to take over the contract and signed papers stating this, then after they move in decide to break the contract. Otherwise, why would the new home owners have to pay for a decision made by the current owners. THEY are the ones who mad the choice to go with NHS, and THEY are the ones who have to pay the cancellation fees if the new home owners do not agree to take over the contract. NICE TRY!
"The issue has not come up at all yet"?
Would you be willing to swear to that? Why then is the Internet swarming with anti-National warnings?
I have too disagree with you guys oin this forum. I was with Direct energy for 7 years and they never maintained the tank I had and yet they gave me an annual increase of almost 4% a year. The NHS guys came, took out the crappy hot water tank and gave me an energy star tank and let me know it is transferaable with the tank and will maintain it. lol..I also found out I get 2 monthsd free rental and I can sign up my newighbours and get 2 months free fopr each of them. I am completely satisfied with them. For the ones who are non believers…stick to your crappy 9 year old gas waster…
Bigman is definitely an asshole who works for National Home Services. One of their guys came to my door today in Ajax, he spoke at about a hundred words per minute to a point I had to interrupt and tell him to stop talking, he insinuated he was with the company that services my water heater and was here to replace it for free, I had to directly ask him to repeat that he was my current provider, I had to ask him twice to respond when he finally said no, but we got all these people on your street to sign up and showed me his clipboard and our neighbours addresses are highlighted in yellow (little does he know I know them all) so normally I love these door to door salespeople cause I'm always a step ahead, and usually I end up telling them to fuck off but he offered me a free inspection and since I had just moved into the house I said go ahead, the long story short he never mentioned locking in for 15 yrs only 15 yr warranty where they come every 4-5 years to do maintenance, I asked directly about canceling and he said there would be a $200 penalty same as direct energy, reading other blogs above it seems he was lying about both.
I signed up and they didn't show up to install the tank. I got worried and searched the net. Now I has called them to cancel. They seems to be fine. I also asked there is a 10 days cooling period, rite and the lady on the phone said yes. So I guess this is ok. Buying my own tank, never considered.. will do more searching!!
I got scammed and it took me 3 months to get out of my contract without any exit fees.
I advise everyone to check out this video clip that illustrates the practice of these people:
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2009/power_of_persuasion/m...
Thats a shame theys guys offer you a lower rate on water heater and its rated energy Star unlike direct who are not 100% canuck ,Why pay a company that is not canadian why not keep our rental cash inn canada ,NO WONDER we have no jobs here , just keep buying from other countrys if you like your job so much !!!
OMG! My husband was going to get the water heater changed with National Home Service yesterday and a Tech came in with his assistant and guess what happened, his assistant was going to steal my ipod touch. I went downstairs while they were all there and then the Tech sent him for a latter and while upstairs I heard foot steps near my dinning room where the Ipod touch was and ran upstairs because there was no need for the kid to be in the dinning room area. I looked at the dinning room table and the ipod was gone. I called my husband upstairs and told him to tell the tech what happened. My husband told the Tech and the assistant was confronted. They were about to leave and I told the assistant to hand it over otherwise I was going to call the cops and he said "call the cops, I don’t have it". I knew then he had put it down somewhere but I did not know if he had it with him still or had put it in the truck already. I called the police and made the complaint to National Home Services. I told the police call taker that the men were still in the house. She then told me to tell them to remain in the premises until the cops get there. I told the men. We were waiting for over 2hrs for the police and then my husband remembered that the boy was on the later when he returned back downstairs after I called for him. We were all outside the house waiting for the cops at this time. My husband told the tech he was going to check the house again and he went down to where the heater is and looked all over. He did not think of checking the area earlier, he said he could not see anything so he put his hand in and started touching around the area and came across the ipod touch. The little idiot had left it there after hearing me say that the ipod was gone. He made everyone wait for the cops and his technician ended up losing 2 to 3 jobs while waiting (we were feeling bad for the tech but now that I read the below, I don’t feel so bad after all). All that time he knew were it was, we gave him the option of handing it over and he did not care, it was so frustrating and the kid had no remorse over it, he kept denying everything. I am sure it was not his first time. God knows how many other things he has stolen and his Supervisor had no clue.
Anyways, I called off the cops by request of my husband and I cancelled the contract with National Home Services. In a way, I am glad this happened, otherwise we would have been stuck with this water heater. It’s true what they say: Things happen for a reason.
Please be careful when you have people coming into your home. You never know what they will take. It’s so sad to know that you can’t trust anyone.
sorry it should read **Ladder not latter
I've posted a complain on their website. thank you.
What is everyone whining about?
1. Don't sign contracts before you read them.
2. If you don't like the terms of the contract or what is being offered, decline it.
3. If you don't want to rent a major appliance, buy it – from whatever company you want.
If you sign a contract, you are bound by it – be an adult and deal with it – maybe even learn from your mistake instead of shifting the blame on to someone else.
I did read your post. In it you admit you signed the contract before doing any research about the cost of renting vs buying a water heater – and you obviously didn't read the contract since you were astonished to find out that it was for 15 years!
Elaine, have you read Crime and Punishment? It's all about a young guy who thought he was really smart, and because he was really smart, he belonged to a "higher" class of people who could commit murder with impunity.
There are people in this world who aren't as smart as you. They sometimes get taken in. Is it OK for the strong to exploit the weak? Sounds Darwinian. Sounds Satanic.
DUDE! READ THE FULL AGREEMENT! The ONLY thing you are charged for leaving is whatever rent you haven't paid yet, and the cost of removal. Unless you leave before 5 years, in which case, the initial cost of installing the water heater was not made back and then you pay for it. Plain and simple these "huge fees" are paying for the work done in your home.
….don't forget mentioning the $600 cancellation fee, the fact that it will devalue your home because the new homeowner must accept the contract
otherwise……..$600…….the lowlife sales pitches targeted at the elderly telling them they are from your gas provider in the area assessing the need for new water heaters completely free (may I inspect yours today)….oh yeah terribly urgent to change this immediately, you are losing energy as we speak….just sign here and here.
National are saying that they'll replace the water heater with a high efficiency model. The only high efficiency water heater available on the marketplace is branded Polaris water heater made by American Water Heater from tennesee. National is plain lying and are overstating the issue about "dirty water heaters that need to be replaced". I over 30 years in the business and have been in every water heater manufacturer's plant. The efficiency has not changed from days gone by. If you are on city water or if you live in a hard water area and have a water softener there will be a small amount of crud inside the bottom of the water heater. Don't worry about it, it's normal and the tanks will not be affected to the point that the efficiency is lower as there are additional standard design features that provide the transfer of heat from the flame to the water inside the tank.
Never sign a contract or agreement before you have done your homework.
One more thing. A power vented appliance is actually less efficient than a standard water heater. All a power vented model is a conventional tank with a ventor motor on the top of the tank. Reason why a power vented tank is less efficient is due to the large amount of air that is pulled thru the tank during the combustion cycle.
I sign the contract with National last month when they came to my door and 2 weeks ago they sent someone to replace my water heater with National water heater. The next day the new water heater started to leak out water, I called National and they said they were going to send someone to have it fix the next mourning.
The next day came and no one came and I call National again and they finally send someone to fix it the day after that. We went almost 3 days without hot water. If we were paying 4 dollars more than our last provider, we expect better service. I wish I can cancel my contract but now everything is install, we don't have much of a choice.
Stay away from National Home Services water heater!!
I had someone from Universal the other week. I figure I'll let him in since he did say he's not selling anything. Remember he said "..not here to sell anything" and he's not from National Home Services so I thought it was ok. I didn't know at the time Universal and National were the same companies.
FYI…it is a requirement that when a power vented water heater, which utilizes abs plastic pipe needs to be replaced the old plastic vent cannot be used. There is a new type of plastic vent approved for power vented water heaters and hi efficiency furnaces.
Too bad that the old days of dealing with Consumers Gas are gone. In my opinion all of these new Water Heater Companies are the finest examples of deceit and lies.
To file a complaint against a gas marketer, electricity retailer or other market participant, contact the OEB Consumer Relations Centre between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at: 1-877-632-2727 (toll-free) or 416-314-2455
They came to our home just last week. I was away for a job interview (been lay off in 8 months my husband 4 months) when I came back home my husband told me about the new water heater from a company I never heard called National Home Services.
The following day they came ready to install the water heater and I didn't even do my research yet. But from what I know is that we have 10 days to look at everything over and they should phone us to confirm, but that never happen.
We called to to their office to cancel and they told us we had to pay $600 to uninstall it. What a big scam this is. I can't believe they are people doing this in Canada and I have no job atm. Because of the $600 they want from us, we thought we had no other choice.
Until I found this article at thestar.com
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/701345
We are not the only one they did this too. Now we are filling a complaint to Ontario Energy Board and trying remove this tank and National Home Services from our life.
Instead of playing by the rules these guys are looking at every single loop hole they can get. I'm taking this very personal….I hope they all be in jail one of these days.
Very interesting forum.
We just received a "visit" from a National Home Service rep. I am wary of letting salesmen into our home, but he implied that he had been sent by Enbridge, and that the company was conducting a "green" campaign to replace old water heaters. Everything seemed legit until he asked to see our Enbridge bill; when I asked him why Enbridge had not supplied him with a list of customers and account numbers, I was given some gobbledygook about Direct Energy and water heaters.
He assured us that we could take some time to think about it and would be able to cancel the installation (which I gather is true, from what I have read here and elsewhere), but insisted on filling out the paperwork anyway. He then made a call to book the installation, which could have been done as early as Monday (this being Friday, that is a pretty quick turn-around — and a very short cooling-off period).
In retrospect, there were a number of warning signs, not the least of which was the assertion that we were currently paying a quarterly maintenance charge on our rental water heater so the extra $5.00 they wanted to charge us on a monthly basis would not be out of line. According to our rental company (we checked after the fellow left), we are paying a rental charge that does not vary from month to month.
As they say, buyer beware….
It's a shame that this forum is but a mere after thought related to Nationals deceiptful activities. I wish there was some way of getting the warning sign out to the masses. Do not entertain any water heater offer from anyone knocking on your door or thru telemarketing campaigns.
I must say that a lot of people seem to be quite angry at NHS for their business principles. I have to say that I have read almost all if not all the posts on this site and can only agree with a few posts. Firstly, one should indeed read all contracts before ever putting ink to paper, that's elementary. However if we are all believers in saving the planet and having a greener world then there are steps that need to be taken and NHS have taken that brave step in the right direction by offering a water heater that gives you better water quality and conserves on the use of natural gas. Should it be at a cost, YES, as nothing is ever free, how many of us at this time of economic instability can afford take a few grand out of our pockets and purchase outright a water tank that is energy efficient. NHS is offering it at a cost yes but why bicker and fight over an extra $4 or $5 bucks that goes towards a greener world. Come on guys, lets be fair, take the time to read the contract and understand what the offer is before signing the dotted line. At the end of the day we are all going to be winners, a greener world and a water heater thats worth quite a few grand in our homes for $5 bucks a mth.
Justin, if you have read all of the information available on this subject, you will be aware that not only is their water heater most likely not any more energy-efficient than an average model, but the full cost of a 15 year rental agreement is about $4000.00 — which is at least 4, maybe 5 times more than the cost of the tank.
These companies are capitalizing on the green movement by taking advantage of environmentally sensitive citizens. No offense, but your response demonstrates how easily thay can get away with it.
Marie, those who signed the contract without reading it properly have only themselves to blame. But correct me if am wrong, is NHS not running a business,and if it is a business and a service they are offering should they not be entitled to a profit? They have overheads and expenses associated with this service. Again I have to state that people ought to read the contracts properly before signing the dotted line. But there maybe a small percentile who could afford the luxury of spending a grand or two to purchase outright an energy efficient water heater. But what about those who can't? Then god forbid something should happen to your water heater and you have to call someone in to repair, maybe you fall into that percentile again that can afford to dish out $500 bucks to the repair man. NHS offers regular service and maintenance free of charge during the 15 year contract. But hey maybe $5 a month is too much to sacrifice for a greener tomorrow!
You're right, Justin. Tomorrow will be very green — specially for NHS.
It's not so much the product, but the underhanded way in which they manage to get themselves into people's homes. They imply that it is a mandatory tank replacement, when all they are doing is trying to poach someone else's customers. Does that sound ethical to you?
Just for clarification purposes. The water heater that National uses is no different than any other natural or propane tank from an efficiency perpespective. They're claim to do performance checks on the water heater's is very misleading. There's nothing to check. The water heater either works or it doesn't.
Hi,
I read the associated link somewhere that "the retailer MUST wait ten days before a signed deal can be finalized". How comes that mine was installed in the second day? since the water tank is already installed, I wonder if there is still a way out for me.
Thanks,
my tank was built in 1998 will direct energy replace it if i ask?
I understand this thread is mainly about National and although I have never had them visit my house and don't have any personal complaints I do have a confession, I am a sales agent for a water heater company called Reliance Home Comfort. I am not writing this to promote Reliance but rather to show people that although National does have many bad points these points are not necessarily transferable to other companies.
Similar to how Direct Energy is the default water heater supplier in Enbridge areas, Reliance is the default supplier in any Union Gas areas. There are no contracts involved with us or with DE and the monthly rental rates are always within 20-30cents of each other (except for the tankless, I don't remember DE's tankless rate off the top of my head right now). Ultimately as far the as the customer is concerned they're paying roughly the same monthly rent, they get a brand new energy efficient water heater (however if the customer's current tank is within the last 4-5 years I will not replace it), and they get the first 3 months of the rental free. I never represent myself as affiliated with Enbridge in any way, and if any homeowner every wrongly assumes I am I always correct them and explain that Enbridge is just the gas utility and their water heater is most likely from DE which is indeed a competitor for Reliance. I explain with Reliance they will normally get a separate bill for the water heater however if they choose to keep it on the Enbridge bill there is an additional cost of $2/month as they charge us to have it on their bill.
I am always honest with the homeowner and never pushy (it actually wastes a lot of time trying to push someone into something they don't wish to do). Ultimately I am trying to say that there is nothing wrong with door to door sales however there is a right way and a wrong way to do it, and unfortunately based on what I read here and from feedback I get from many of the homeowners more often than not I find NHS, Livclean, and admittedly some other Reliance agents as well has done it the wrong way. In conclusion all I will ask is that if someone knocks on your door hear them out, but if they are pushy or represent themselves as Enbridge than you have all the right to say no.
Where on the contract does it say that there is a 15 year contract??? Please do tell
Here is where:
[quote]
TERMS $ CONDITIONS
2. Term and Payment
… and for the useful life of the equipment…
[/quote]
I ask again where is this talk of a 15 year contract/lease. YOU keep accusing NHS of scamming people left and right, and that's fine we live in a free country. I mean I can say that police force are power hungry and unjust, and crooked. Some of them are yes, but does that really mean the entire OPP is too? OK, you had a bad experience with one sales person from NHS, stop crying about it like a b***h, DO some actually research then blog about with your Evidence.
And FYI direct energy has already been sued by NHS for slander….if you actually listened to direct energy's home phone calls and radio ads, they don't mention the name National Home Services, because they can't. That's what we call slander, THAT is against the law. And for all you dummies who figure that NHS is just a scam, look up the word propaganda for me, why would DE put so much effort into speaking down about another company when they should be focusing on their own profits? If your into the stock market check out NHS stocks compared to DE…what a shame. If NHS is scamming so many people that they have numbers like they do then all you who were "scammed" shouldn't walk around like sheep, why not educate yourself on appliances around YOUR own house!
How could someone enter another persons home with out being allowed in? how could a water tank be replaced without a homeowners consent? That's called breaking and entering which is not happening. that video feed at the top of this page is talking about pushy sales tactics from ENERGY sales people. And I counted three of them there. So how can three people in the wrong account for an entire company. there are police officers who have been charged for doing unlawful things, but does that mean the whole police force is bad? of course there are bad apples with in the company, we live on planet earth, there will be INDIVIDUALS out to scam you. YOU however keep generalizing the entire company. I feel sorry for you infact, because your a sheep and your only writing this blog because one of the bad apples from NHS pulled the wool over your eyes. If the contract really was changed from what it was 8 months ago then there has to be someone who has a copy, because they do give copy's to all who sign up.
"They came in because they claim they are related to our current provider or they made it sound like they were sent by the government" Yup the asshole that showed up at my door from NHS said he was representing the company that was currently providing us with our service, I had to ask him twice to make sure and when he understood that I knew what I was talking about it was only then he retracted. That is deceitful tactics. If he had been honest and told me he was competing with DE I would have listened to his spiel, then would have told him to fuck off nicely.