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Get this:

I called them up to tell them that I wanted my Rinnai rental space heater removed. They then offered me the chance to buy it out. Great! So, just pull up my account and then check out the unit in question; then, give me the amount. Right?

No.

They want ME to give them the make, model and serial number. I said, "Why? Do you not have that info on file?".

Of course not! That would be too easy! They have no problem sending me a quarterly rental bill for the unit, but they can't check the amount of the buyout out as they have no real defining info on the unit?!?!

Does that sound bogus to anyone else? Could they not say I have a rental heater, bill me for it and then leave me with the ugly task of worrying about proving I DON'T have the unit?

I'm really not impressed by this. I definitely will NOT be putting Reliance rentals in any property I own from now till the day I croak. ONe exception might be a hot water tank, as I'm still renting that currently.

So, now I've decided to terminate the rental on the space heater. They've said I can either pay their fees to have it removed by one of their contract technicians or I can attempt the removal myself and drop it off! Wonderful! :angry:

Here's the best part: the rental heater came with the house. There was never any contract sent over for me to approve and sign, agreeing to additional charges upon termination.

THEIR OWN WEBSITE is either lying, or they're making s*** up as they go.

http://www.reliancehomecomfort.com/content...gory=8&media=60

Quote:Your monthly cost is all you’ll ever have to pay.

There are no hidden costs when you rent a furnace.

Furthermore, there are no policies or rate schedules on the website. They're just trying this charge scam on the phone. I'm sticking to my guns. I'll report back as I go.

Daniel - any sage advice as you must be fairly experienced with rental equipment in rental homes and such?

UPDATE #1 - the further up the chain you go, the more belligerent they get! $125 + tax to have someone come out and remove the unit! $65 to have them just pick it up if you've already had a gas tech disconnect it! This is f***ing ludicrous!

I found a weird, Javascript-ish copy of a fake bill that says just receiving the damn bill constitutes a rental agreement... conveniently enough, the "fees" are on the back of the bill, which hasn't been digitized and placed on the website. Just f***ing great. You should have to sign, or at the very least verbally agree to, a rental agreement.

UPDATE #1a - found their TOS - apparently their water heater "terms and fees" apply to ALL rental agreements. Uhm, no? Seems to me they tried to take the greasy way out of this one. They're calling me at home later to confirm all the unit's info, convinced that they're getting the buyout. IN reality, if the buyout isn't less than the disconnect fee (doubtful), it's going back. Unless I get some legal words of wisdom here... I think I might get shafted into paying for their removal fees.

Wow that sucks...Home comfort sucks they don't save you any money infact they are making money off of you. Just stay with Enbridge people. Home comfort is a big scam, don't believe anything they say if they come to your door.What do you have installed? A tankless water heater? Send me a pm I can disconnect it all for you if you like.

TOTALLY SUCKS MAN.
Just pay the cancellation, get the unit out and write a letter.
Poke around, I'm sure there are a bunch of pissed off people otu there.

so there are companies out there that RENT furnaces, water heaters etc. I have never heard of such a thing before. Can I ask why someone would want rent over buying HVAC systems for their home?

Here's the thing, without seeing the TOS and knowing how you came to be paying for the rental, I've gotta be really careful what advice I give here.

Did you in fact buy this place with the rental heater in it? If you did, you may in fact have agreed to their TOS when you paid the rental fees instead of having them yank the thing out when you took over.

Add to that the TOS probably has the standard weasel clause of "we reserve the right to alter the TOS at any time, with notice to subscribers, failure to cancel the agreement means you have been deemed to have accepted the revised TOS

Sad part is that if you think this is bad, try looking at a credit card's TOS, you'll pass an elephant :ph34r:

NefCanuck

NefCanuck,Apr 2 2009, 06:35 PM Wrote:Here's the thing, without seeing the TOS and knowing how you came to be paying for the rental, I've gotta be really careful what advice I give here.

Did you in fact buy this place with the rental heater in it?  If you did, you may in fact have agreed to their TOS when you paid the rental fees instead of having them yank the thing out when you took over.

Add to that the TOS probably has the standard weasel clause of "we reserve the right to alter the TOS at any time, with notice to subscribers, failure to cancel the agreement means you have been deemed to have accepted the revised TOS

Sad part is that if you think this is bad, try looking at a credit card's TOS, you'll pass an elephant :ph34r:

NefCanuck
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Additionally it is typical of most agreements to purchase a house, for it to include an undertaking on your part to essentially take over the lease or rental from the previous owner - because if there wasn't, the previous owner would continue to have the responsibility - and so obviously the sellor would ensure that such a clause is in place.

So ... unless you struck out that clause the bottom line is it's your rental now under whatever the terms of service were at the time you purchased.

Having said that ... if it's like a hot water heater agreement, you may be at the point where you're just renting it month to month - so see if that offers any relief from your situation.

Alright, here's where I stand. Dan, I wouldn't put you in a position to be personally liable - EVER. I was just wondering if you've ever dealt with this setup before. As always fellas, I appreciate everyone's candour. :)

So, they were supposed to call me last night to discuss a buy-out option. Again, not much luck of that as it's over 10 years old and I doubt I'd burn anywhere near 80/mo more on my hydro bill for one more baseboard heater. They never called. :lol: Good thing, cause I wasn't home at the time they were supposed to call! :lol:

So, I discussed having a HVAC contractor come over and disconnect the gas line. Even with that, looking at a minimum of 75 bucks. Plus the $65 "removal" charge from Reliance to finish uninstalling the unit and take it away. I think I'll pay their $125 weasel charg to disconnect and remove the unit, patch/fill the little intake/exhaust "port" in my basement wall (not bad to fix, getting some help on that one from a friend) and call the whole thing a learning experience.

Ty - it's a space heater for the largest section of my basement. When the yahoos built my home 30 years ago, for some reason they decided against a forced-air furnace of ANY sort and went with pure baseboard electric heat. Over the years they ran natural gas to the house. It fires my living room fireplace (also a primary source of heat), the basement space heater and the hot water tank. Why rent? Maybe 10+ years ago it made a bit of economic sense, especially considering that the walls are too tight to accept common forced-air ducting. Localized forced-air natural gas heat makes sense, and it works well, but not at an adjusted 80-90/mo for 5 months out of the year.

Ken, I guess that was my first bamboozlement when I bought the house. There was WAY more disclosure from hydro and gas when I hooked up the utilities, coming as a guy who lived all-inclusive before when renting, than I had on the rental units. I guarantee you it's an oversight that won't happen again. :rolleyes:

Tiketz - I have the rental space heater that heats the vast majority of my basement (which is going) and a rental gas-fired hot water heater (which is staying, for now) from Reliance. The space heater will get the hook next week. I think I'll be good after I get rid of their heater / boat anchor.