Free furnace rental promo fizzles, reappears for Mississauga man

WATCH ABOVE: A Mississauga man who agreed to a five year rent-to-own program for a new furnace found out he didn’t get what he bargained for.

TORONTO — A Mississauga man who wanted a new furnace and air conditioning system thought he had found a good deal when new equipment was installed at his home this spring. Then he got his monthly bill.

“I was really disappointed,” said Ranbir Mokha, who hired Reliance Home Comfort, a large Ontario company with a generally good reputation with consumers.

“They were one of the top ten companies that do furnaces and air conditioning,” said Mokha, who contacted Global News after getting the surprise bill.

Mokha signed up for a five year “rent-to-own” option with Reliance, at a cost of about $120 a month. But Mokha says the sweetener to sign the deal was the sales representative’s promise to give the first year free, a value of almost $1500.

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But Mokha says Reliance didn’t acknowledge the free first year deal, however. He says he was regularly disconnected from phone calls when he called to complain. Then he called Global News looking for help.

Mokha had not been given a copy of the contract he signed with Reliance. Nor had his neighbour who signed a similar deal with the company, offering eight free months of rental as an incentive.

When contacted by Global News, Reliance said it is not currently offering free rental incentives although it has in the past.

But after an investigation, Reliance revisited the case.

“We’re going to honour our commitment of 12 months free rent,” said reliance spokesperson Brent Artemchuk. He also promised Mokha something else.

“We’re also going to credit him two months’ rent for what he’s already paid us. We’ve also reduced the buy-out price of his system by $3000. And, we’re going to give him our $500 no frustration guarantee.”

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Artemchuk says the fact that Mokha wasn’t given a copy of his contract is inconsistent with the company’s policies.

Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act requires customers get copies of service contracts that must disclose:

• length of the lease term
• amount, timing and number of payments to be made
• “implicit finance charge,” sometimes called the total cost of borrowing
• annual percentage rate (APR)

Reliance has committed to looking into Mokha’s neighbour’s contract as well and to make sure consumers are receiving copies of contracts.