Reliance Home Comfort
Reviews and Complaints

So the "maitenance guy" showed up for 30 seconds looked around and said "sir you need a new boiler, please sign here"... So I did.

2 months later I am still having issues with my old boiler. Called the company 3 times and left a message about the boiler replacement. No reponse...

This morning I woke up to learn that I have been billed $118.10 for the "service" this [censored]bag did...
Unbelivable... What do I do? Small claims court?

Numerous complaints towards water leaking of this rental boiler unit since day one – Jan 2008 – when I moved in to this town house complex. All along the same technician named “Scott” – a sub-contractor through “Fannair” came each and every time though not able to fix the problem . . . .

The one time approx. Jan/Feb 2009, Scott eventually identified the problem is “installation” guy did not follow the protocol but missed one part which he said he ordered and 2 months later, he came to install and supposed this is the root problem.

However, water leaking continued and more service calls were placed.

You can imagine this is very frustrating for us . . . . we never know when the bucket holding water will be full and if we are away, then there is possibility that water damage may be a result . . . . .

The last service call we place which Reliance charged us $89.00 in this context I protest: Scott just came in for 2 minutes and gave us a “formed letter” . No indication shows which organization issued this “formed letter” saying water leaking is due to “T&P relief valve”. I never have heard about this and if this is a common problem which your organization or whoever identified, then this formed letter should be MAILED to us prior and not being delivered by this technician and then charge us a service call for $89.00 plus tax.

This is totally a scam! I cannot imagine this is considered a “service call”.

I will not pay and will seek outside help if this is not dealt with seriously on the part of “Reliance”.

Caroline - Aurora, Ontario, Sept 24, 2010

Reliance Home Comfort is a scam. Ever since we have gotten a new hot water tank we have had nothing but problems. Not enough hot water, low pressure and now it keeps shutting off and we have to keep manually turning the pilot light on (and I mean every half hour). 3 calls into Reliance and it is still not repaired. Each time they think they know what's wrong...except that it still does not work! Each time I phone, I have to give all the information over again which is ridiculous! You have to punch in your phone number and then they ask you again. Over and over again! I'd like to know what other company I can use. This company is a scam and should seriously be looked into. 3 days and no hot water. Can you imagine this company is still around with all the complaints. Oh and this guy coming today is already...31 minutes late with no courtesy call.

Our hot water heater burst and started leaking @ 3 am on a saturday morning. We were ankle deep in water from the hot water tank leaking in our utility room in our apartment.
We shut off the main water valve, but the hot water tank is still spewing water, so we try to contain the water as much a we can.

We call reliance home comfort 3 times to come and replace the hot water tank. First call I waited on the phone and was told that they were trying to dispatch the repair man.

So, the second call, I call reliance again to see where the repair men were, and the receptionist couldn't find them. The third call the repair man calls back around 3:30 am and tells me that he can't find his co-worker and that THEY DON'T SHOW UP IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE MORNING! The repair guy tells me he can only come @ 9:30 am to come and replace the tank.

I freaking can't believe they only have 2 guys on call in for emergency calls for the whole of Ottawa. Pray that your hot water tank doesn't burst open on a saturday morning @ 3 am and you don't have reliance home comfort to help you, other wise you are screwed.

We're waiting in ankle deep water, trying to soak up the mess with our steam cleaner, which broke 3 thirds of the way, so the job had to be soaked up with towels ( 12 loads of laundry later, and $50 shelled out in the laundry room later)

The delay in service from reliance home comfort is totally unacceptable, and the service was badly done because the steam valve hose that is supposed to go into the drainage wasnt completed all the way and there is a gap between the drainage hose and the drain, and the piece of hose supposed to be used for drainage was used to level the hot water tank.

We were renting our hot water heater with hydro ottawa before they contracted out to Reliance home comfort. When our hot water tank bursted open ten years ago, Hydro ottawa showed up within 2 hours and the mess was contained and fixed in a timely manner.

When we had our contract switched to reliance home comofrt without approval or being asked if we wanted them as our provider, it didnt dawn on us to research them and find out how bad of a company they were.

If we had known all this time, we would of swiched a long time ago, but they have clients by the balls so to speak because you have to buy out your hot water tank or they can come and remove it.

After researching this company more in depth yesterday and today, They actually rated a D- with the Better business bureau, and all the myriad of compaints against them, mind boggling to think a company can operate this way.

We're stuck with this mediocre company without even asking to be switched to them by hydro ottawa.

Anyone reading this and are thinking of switching to reliance home comfort= DON'T DOT IT, DON'T DO IT, DON'T DO IT! You will so regret it,

Please do your research first, because we didn't have a choice in the matter at the begining, now it will cost us to get rid of them.

I have submitted an offer on a house that has a furnace, air cleaner, and central air rental agrrement with Reliance Home Comfort. Before firming up the offer I called Reliance to find out what the monthly rental amount would be and if I could buy out the contract. I was told by the CSR that they could not tell me becasuse of privacy reasons. Take possession of the house then call us. What a ridiculous suggestion. Privacy reasons? how idiotic. How could quoting me a price on what I am going to pay is invading or disturbing someone's privacy. As a result I told the owners of the house to have it all disconnected and sitting out in the driveway the day of closing. I don't want any part of the Reliance scam. No wonder people are changing their water heater company by the hundreds.

Well I have been dealing with reliance for almost two years over this matter! I purchased top of the line high efficiency air and furnace for my home and going with a company I thought I could trust. Big mistake! Not only did they destroy my basement but the installers were cussing and rude because the salesman sold me something apparently that would take two days! I had the service manager come to my house and all he did was make excuses for his people. They were directly from reliance not contracted out. I had to make service calls because they just slapped it all together. The technicians that came out to fix these problems could not believe what a state everything was in...In their words "this was just thrown together". To top it all off I never received a bill when the deferred payment was up so they just automatically started taking out my money! Charging interest = $2000 more! I keep getting told its handled and every god damn time I call I never get called back unless its 10 or 11 am. Hello I work! The last guy said it was all handled and I thought awesome! Nope! Two months later and here I am! Then when I called him numerous amounts of time he sent me a message apologizing for his tardiness > is that a joke? Two months is not tardy its blatant disregard! He also did not even 'remember' what we worked out so im taking it as a re-nag! This company is ridiculous and they say call customer service > they didnt even return my phone calls either! Beware!

Well I have been dealing with reliance for almost two years over this matter! I purchased top of the line high efficiency air and furnace for my home and going with a company i thought i could trust. BIG MISTAKE! Not only did they destroy my basement but the installers were cussing and rude because the salesman sold me something apparently that would take two days! I had the service manager come to my house and all he did was make excuses for his people. They were directly from reliance not contracted out. I had to make service calls because they just slapped it all together. The technicians that came out to fix these problems could not believe what a state everything was in ... in their words "this was just thrown together". To top it all off I never received a bill when the deferred payment was up so they just automatically started taking out my money! Charging interest = $2000 more! I keep getting told its handled and every god damn time I call I never get called back unless its 10 or 11 am. HELLO I WORK! The last guy said it was all handled and i thought awesome! NOPE! Two months later and here I am! Then when i called him numerous amounts of time he sent me a message apologizing for his tardiness > is that a joke? two months is not tardy its blatant disregard! He also did not even 'remember' what we worked out so im taking it as a re-nag! This company is ridiculous and they say call customer service > they didnt even return my phone calls either! BEWARE!

Two weeks before I put an offer on a house, I called Reliance to inquire about their furnace rentals since the house I was looking at had a rental already installed. I was told that they couldn't discuss the furnace nor options (removal/buyout/monthly rate) but I was to call once I was in the house for arrangements. I stupidly believed the guy and put in the offer. After the offer was accepted, I get an email from my realitor to contact Reliance. I called them and found out that I now either pay a monthly rate for the remainder of the contract or buy out the furnace and receive no warranty (I was told they were in the rental business and not the warranty one). They refused to remove the furnace. I called back repeatedly and asked to talk to a supervisor and was refused. I finally had a person call me back but they told me to contact my lawyer since it was "out of their hands". I did and the cost to litigate is more than the cost for the furnace.

Do not rental from these people. A seven year term with no ability to have it removed or canceled is a bad idea, especially if you are selling your house or going to purchase one with a rental unit. I have also had problems with their service with my water heater in the current house which makes me furious I have to pay this company any money for their predatory practices.

This company has always bee a terrible bother with calling 2-3 times per month whether or not I am paid up but recently they have taken it to a whole new level of ###. Now not only do I get the regular “Urgent” phone call for the 15$ I owe them for the month (regardless of whether its due) but I also get several “dead air” calls and the worst of it, a new robotic voice message stating I need to call them back immediately or risk having my service “cut off” or equipment “removed” the following day.

Absolutely garbage customer service when I call and even worse business practices… stay away if possible.

In October of 2006 we had a rented Goodman Furnace and Air conditioning unit installed in our home.

In 2009 we bought out the furnace and air conditioner. This summer when we turned on the air conditioner for the first time the compressor was not working. The unit would surge for 1 second ever minute trying to start up. We contacted Reliance Home Comfort but we were told that we were not covered for any parts because the unit was not registered with Goodman. Since it was a rental it was not our responsibility to register the product but rather it was up to Reliance Home Comfort. After hours on the phone with numerous people at Goodman it was agreed that our furnace and air conditioner would be covered under their 10 year plan despite Reliance Home Comfort's failure to register the products.

At this time we were told we were not covered for labour either, but if we purchased the Comfort Cooling Protection Plan that labour and all costs would be covered, no exclusions were mentioned. But, we had to wait 21 days before making an appointment for the repair person to come out. On May 29th, 2010 a few days after we signed up with the plan we received a letter from home reliance telling us we had made a smart decision by choosing CCP. We signed up three weeks ago and never received any plan, terms and conditions.
So, we did not see any small print that says the labour on the compressor is not included!

On June 19th our CCP plan was activated and a technician was sent out on June 20th. When the technician arrived at our door he informed us that compressors were not covered after 10 years, I told him that it was just installed 3 1/2 years ago. After some tests the technician confirmed that it indeed was the compressor and told us that in his 16 years experience he had never known a compressor on such a new unit to fail. He also, informed us that contrary to what we were told by the CCP Home Reliance Sales person labour for replacement of the compressor is not covered.

This to me is clearly a defect in the compressor. Under these circumstances we feel that all our costs should be covered 100%.

Reliance Home Comfort has refused to do anything for us and has held the new compressor from us wanting us to agree to have them install it.

The people at Reliance Home Comfort must know what telephone conversations are being recored as they can be very rude at times.

BEWARE of Home Reliance and the way they treat their customers after the sale.

I have contacted Kim Allen of Home Reliance but have not received a reply.

Dave McIntosh

I am based out of Windsor, Ontario and I am sending this message to escalate an issue that I encountered with Reliance's Service department on Friday June 18, 2010.

In late May, I signed up for the Comfort Protection Plan via telephone and scheduled a service visit for June 18 between 1pm and 5pm. The operator I spoke with assured me that he would be in contact the week of my appointment for confirmation purposes.

On June 17 I had not heard anything from the Reliance operator, nor from any other Reliance service personnel. Correspondingly I called your 1-866-Reliance hotline in order to attempt to confirm my service appointment for June 18. The operator I spoke with DID in fact confirm my appointment, and correspondingly I scheduled the June 18th afternoon off of work to be home for the technician.

On June 18 I was running about 30mins late coming home from work. Therefore on my way home at about 11:30am I called the 1-866-Reliance hotline to inquire as to where I was in the sequence of service calls (i.e. near the front of the line or back of the line). I was informed that my service appointment for that afternoon (which I had confirmed less than 24hrs previously) was in fact cancelled. I was informed that Reliance called my home at noon (approx. one hour prior to when I was scheduled to be home from work for the technician) and left a voice message to cancel the appointment. I spoke with a supervisor named Josh from the Service department and I was informed that my appointment was cancelled because of a "temperature spike" and that "there was nothing we (Reliance) could do". Subsequently he did offer me 4 months off of my Comfort Protection Plan fees which equates to approximately $75 (to my recollection). Unfortunately given the fact that my current pay-scale puts me at approximately $240/day ($120 per half day) and that I took 1/2 a day off for this (now cancelled) service appointment I am still losing approximately $45 on this deal. I feel a fair compromise would have been to at least waive the protection plan fees in the amount equivalent to the lost wages and reschedule the appointment at a later date.

In summary I cannot convey in text how disappointed and angry I am with the Reliance customer service that has been provided to me in this particular situation. I feel that Reliance has had multiple opportunities to mitigate this situation and at each and every pass they have chosen the most inconvenient, costly and time consuming option for me (the customer). Furthermore when supervision/management was presented with this issue I was provided a half hearted apology and the waiving of fees worth less than that of the wages I was losing due to Reliance's incompetence with respect to customer service.

I look forward to someone with more latitude with respect to customer service getting back to me as soon as possible to address this issue.

Thank you,

Matt ML

So my hot water tank broke down today and I tried lighting up the pilot to see if I could get it up and running without having to call for service. That didn't work so I called Reliance and requested service. I got told that they can't provide service until the next day. Me and my family are sitting here without any hot water and the earliest they can get to me is tomorrow? I have been paying my bills on time every month, for almost last 2 years and never have called them for service.

Now when I need service I get told that I have to wait until next day because their technicians are too busy? Excuse me but when I pay you every month for your water heater, I expect same day service for this crucial service. If you can't deliver service same day for such necessities, then please hire more technicians. Don't give me excuses that your technicians are too busy, I pay my bills on time and I expect quick turnaround on service. Now gonna be without hot water all day and not even sure if they will fix it tomorrow.

Very disappointed in Reliance, don't provide important services rentals if you can't maintain them without causing much headache for your customers.

Sincerely,

A very disspointed customer

I have paid a monthly "service" fee to this company for years. Yesterday I called about our AC and was told by their rep in the Philippines that someone could be at my house the next day somewhere between 1PM and 5PM... that means 5PM. I am expected to not only to pay these crooks a monthly fee but then also take time off work at my expense so it is more convenient to Reliance.
I told the rep I have to work for a living and can't afford to take time off to suit them. The rep said its all they can do. I asked her to have a supervisor call me... 24 hrs later still NO CALL from Reliance.

The Reliance call centre is on the other side of the world and I am here in Cambridge Ontario. This company has no clue as to what customer service is. Their interpretation of customer service is that the customer serve them !
This is a disgusting, almost criminal way of doing business... they just take the money and run.

In January 2010, I was visited by an individual claiming to be acting on behalf of the company I currently rent a hot water heater from. He indicated he was assessing from eligibility for an upgrade to an energy efficient model and there would be an additional change of 1.25 per month. I agreed to the installation and within 3 days I had a new water heather. Four months later I receive a bill from Reliance who I have never done business with. I called Reliance and spoke with them. Firstly the door to door sales people are contracted out and not employees of Reliance. I am assuming they are paid on commission and will do whatever they need to make a sale. Finally Reliance agreed (once I spoke with a supervisor) to removing my hot water tank when my previous company was able to reinstall it. When I approached my previous company to reinstall a hot water heater, they indicated that this happens all the time. The lesson here is that not to deal with an individual coming door to door. Consumers please be careful.

Comfort protection plan is a scam. Reliance sales person sold me the "comfort protection plan". Feb. 2006.

The sales pitch was a pack of lies. She basically said the furnace and air conditioner were completely covered for all repairs @ 15.99 a month. They will send out a repair man and fix any problems. I thought it too good to be true so I asked several questions.

November 2009 (After almost 4 years of payments) the furnace wouldn't turn on. So I called reliance, by the time the repair man arrived it was working. But he was quite happy to rip apart our furnace and tell us it had a cracked heat exchanger and to fix that it was $900.00 so he might as well sell me a new furnace. So, I said when can you fix it, as it was all covered under the comfort protection plan, right?

Wrong! I was now being educated about what it didn't cover, which is basically everything that usually breaks down. I suddenly felt I was in the middle of a scam, not only had I been paying 15.99 a month for nothing. But this allowed reliance to enter you home and further rip me off.

He said he by policy (Whose self serving policy) he would have to disable my furnace. Leaving a family of five without heat! Remember it was working before he arrived.

I don't believe he was honest about the cracked heat exchanger because the furnace is still working.

Reliance - first scammed me out of 15.99 a month for four years, and then used scare tactics to try and scam me at my home.

Of course when I called reliance to complain and ask for a refund of my $15.99 a month for four years. They read from a script deflecting away from the lying salesperson to blaming us for not reading the fine print in the pamphlet they never sent me.

Beware of reliance - they are scammers.

This is a warning for anyone who has a Peak Saver thermostat installed in their home and has warrenty coverage with Reliance Home Comfort. Reliance will not cover repairs to your furnace.

On March 26 2010 my furnace broke down and I called Reliance to repair my furnace. Their representative came in and after his inspection said to call Peak Saver because their thermostat was broken.Because it was a cold day he shoed me how to hotwire the furnace if I wanted heat. I chose to grab a couple of sweaters instead. A contactor from Peak Saver came in and reset the thermostat. It was not broken as Reliance said. The problem was caused by a bad belt which caused the thermostat to go into lockout position.

While Peak Savers was over a call was placed to Reliance to see if it was ok to go ahead with doing the belt work. Mike Travers the technical rep disconnected from the call and I went ahead with the work.The bill came to $205.80 . After spending extra time and money faxing and photo - copying the various paperwork Reliance decided not to pay the bill because as Mike Travers said Peak Savers thermostats are a pain in the ### and we don't like working on them. They offered me 3 months of free warrenty to cover cost of belt which is an insult because it didn't cover labour to install belt and their warrenty is useless.

I decided to go higher and file a complaint with Reliance.I sent an email to supervisor of customer relations.( She never returns my phone calls.)Here is her email reply.

Dear Mr. Krupa,

have thoroughly reviewed your situation below with the Service Manager. The Comfort Protection Plan you have does cover thermostats; however in your case, you have had a 3rd party, namely Peak Saver, modify your thermostat. This is a program offered by the local utility company. We are not able to work on these types of thermostats. The only options available would be to have Peak Saver come and fix it or replace the thermostat with a regular one. If the latter option was chosen, you would have been out of the Peak Saver program and lose out on future rebates for being part of this. Therefore, unfortunately Reliance will not be able to assist with the costs you incurred for utilizing the Peak Saver contractor to fix the issue with the thermostat.

If you have any other question or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Sincerely,
Kim

Kimberly Allen
Supervisor, Customer Relations
Reliance Home Comfort
[protected]@reliancecomfort.com

Peak Saver program is being pushed by Utility companies everywhere and Reliace doesn't want to spend the money to train their employees on a program meant to save consumers money and help prevent future brownouts by peaksaver is an innovative program designed to help you reduce the demands on the electricity system. During peak electricity demand times, typically on hot summer days, a signal will be sent to reduce the electricity demand of your central air conditioning system, which in turn helps to reduce the amount of electricity needed by the Province. You won't even notice a difference, and you're doing your part to conserve without incurring time, effort or cost!

I spoke to the contractor from Peak Savers and he said they are not dificult to fix.Reliance just chooses not to spend money to train their people.And why should they when from reviewing the complaints board if a knowledgible and competent third party has to come in to fix a problem that Reliance didn't know how to they won't pay.
When I signed up for Reliance warrenty I was told everything was covered.First time I have to use their service they make up excuses not to pay. Its like the Michael Moore movie Sicko. They like collecting your premiums but when it comes time to pay they find reasons not to.

Here is a company that doesn't care at all for its customers. We pay and pay for water heater rentals and service. Then when you actually need service they CHARGE you again.
Our two year old had unknowingly turned off our water heater so we end up calling reliance. They charged us $90 just to turn it back on saying that it wasn't covered by the years of payments and they were quite rude about it. This is ridiculous.