I switched over to another water heater company and had them return the water heater to Reliance. Reliance refused to take the tank back for 3 months without a return number. Once they had the return number they still did not take it back for 2 months. It has been 4 months since Reliance finally took the tank back and they continued to call and bill us for the rental, claiming that the tank had not been returned. Luckily I had a copy of ~their~ return form that proves they have had the tank in their possession that whole time. Each time they called, they pretended that they had not received the tank until I could state the date that the return form was filled out, the date ~I~ had to fax their own form back to them, and the date ~I~ had to email it to them. Only then would the return form anf tank suddenly appear in their possession. It still took them over a month to adjust the final bill, in the mean time they would still call asking for payment up to today's date, claiming the tank was not there.

-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,

We recently had a person claiming to represent Reliance come to our house in Markham stating they needed to verify the water heater labels to ensure they were valid. This person asked to come into the house and do an inspection. We declined stating we had no notice of this in writing and were informed we would have seen a notice on our last bill. When we asked to see identification the girl pulled a Reliance badge out of her pocket and said she represented them. Here's the thing we don't have a Reliance water heater or any products or services with them. Word of caution if approached by a Reliance sales agent to do inspections.

I purchased a house 3 years ago. The water heater rental at the time was under $30 per month (confirmed). When I received my first bill the monthly rental was almost $60 per month. We came to the agreement to pay less temporarily (this took months & 7 phone calls), but then the the rate whent back up. I decided to have an electrician put in a new unit & stop dealing with Reliance. The electrician also does service calls for Reliance & took the unit out for us. After the removal I was owed over $80 back from over payment. Reliance sent me a statement with a $40 credit. The rest was kept back for a $45 Inspection & Account closing fee. When I called, they said that it was in the agreement that there was a $40 removal fee. I never signed an agreement, but apparently by paying your first bill you agree to pay this mysterious fee. I asked how much of the $40 my electrician was paid to remove the unit so I could call him to ask if he was paid, the CSR decided it was an account closing fee & that the removal was free with the account closing fee. I asked for my account to be left open. I don't mind if they pay 55 cents per month to continue sending me statements. They would not budge on the $40 &, since I have a credit with them, there is no way to get it back.
At the end of the conversation I asked when to expect my $40 credit by cheque. This was another whole process! Did I want payment by cheque?...well since you are closing my account, yes! If I hadn't asked for it what were they planning to do with it? Then we had to go over what my mailing address is (how about the same one you just sent this statement to?) Why wasn't the cheque just sent out with my statement? We had to make sure we had the correct address...really? You have sent me a bill every 3 months for almost 3 years & I have paid them...you probably have the correct address...man I am so glad to be done with Reliance!

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