-letter sent to reliance detailing our complaint/ordeal with a supposed upgrade~

First and foremost I want to let you know that my wife and I are former employees of Union Energy/Reliance Home Comfort. Together we gave 17 years of service and left amicably due to maternity and voluntary lay-off.
We were renting a HWT from OZZ rentals and my wife asked me to call OZZ to see if we could buyout out our tank when we first moved into our new home. The buyout price was absolutely TOO expensive so we backed away from the deal. After talking to some friends who still work at Reliance we heard that Reliance acquired all of the OZZ tanks.
We received a call from Reliance, around June 2010, for a protection plan and I inquired about the purchase of the OZZ tank by Reliance and was told that yes that did happen. I asked if my tank was with Reliance and she told me that it was . I was asking for an upgrade to a tankless and was told that such was possible. I was then advised that I would have to pay a higher rental rate and any excess installation charges if applicable. I was informed that Reliance was happy to keep me on as a rental customer and that I would be well taken care of, all of the rental benefits were reiterated to me. I was glad because I really wanted to rent a tankless water heater. Hot Sauce the service company came to my house and removed the former OZZ rental and replaced it with the Reliance tankless heater. This took place on July 20 2010. They turned off our gas and forgot to turn it back on, then tried to charge us for a service call and were ready to put us into collections when it was their fault! By October 2010 I noticed that both companies were drafting money from my account. I called Cathy Barry, at Customer Relations for Reliance and she told me that she could get me in contact with Gladys, who handles the OZZ rental acquisitions. I called her and she told me that she was sorry for this inconvenience and that I would surely be getting a refund cheque.
In the new year we still hadn't received a refund cheque from OZZ so we called them and were told that they were still working on it. ...? We waited and then called again. Juanita returned our call going on about some Maxium company and how there had been a huge screw up and someone had to pay and we most definitely would not be receiving any kind of refund...we would be paying them!!! She followed up stating we owed for the "asset" $1637.78 which is what they had stated was the value of the asset when we moved into the house back in 2007!!!

I called Ravi (Reliance Cust. Relations) he told me not to worry he'll get me the refund cheque and straighten everything out.
About a year later from the anniversary of the beginning of this nightmare I'm getting calls from OZZ saying that we STILL owe them money from the buyout we APPARENTLY requested. I didn't request anything from them as all my dealings were with Reliance, whom I was told had acquired my tank and have been happily taking my money !!!
I spoke with Ravi Sharma and he told me that according Leslie Larosa, his manager, that their hands are washed of this and they could only offer me half of the buyout amount because they feel sorry for us (being former employees).
I am aware of how Reliance's system works...the difference between a buyout and an upgrade. I would never have asked for a buyout and I am under record of refusing to do so. We are a single income family, a buyout is just not possible and that is why we never agreed to such...but it seems corporate entity wants to wring us dry and make off with our old rental tank so that we can kiss our once manageable/head-above-water lifestyle goodbye. $2000.00 is a big hit on one income.

Today I received a letter from OZZ stating a lien has been placed on our home, for the asset, now valued at $1965.20!!! Only a month ago it was $1637.78!!! a year later we get hit with a lien...no prior paperwork/signatures/signoff..nothing from the company. The letter says that "as a result of our failure to make the requisite monthly payments", they were drafting us up until October...and then told us sorry, we'll be sending you a refund...and now this??????????

Right now our original tank is somewhere in the hands of Hot Sauce while there is a lien on our home and a tarnished credit rating... all because I was scammed by a former employer. So much for parting ways amicably!!!

I expect that immediate action will be taking place. I've already started the ball rolling and placed a compliant to the Ministry of Consumer Services and prepared to contact the media if there is no resolution to this matter in a reasonable time.

A tankless tank really isn't worth this mess. Every step of the way has been an annoyance/headache, we were told this was an upgrade...we feel totally downgraded and trampled by you and your affiliated companies.


Unhappy & Waiting for refund and finally wash our hands of this mess,