Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Friday, April 06, 2018

Homebuyers feel duped by hot water tank rentals included in their new homes

New Ontario law fails to address buyers of new builds who are locked into equipment contracts

Nadia Mendola didn't think she'd be signing her life away for a water heater when she bought her brand new home in Waterdown, Ont., in 2016.

She's stuck with a 14-year rental contract with Enercare, paying $56.43 per month for the water heater. Now she can't get out of it unless she buys the equipment outright at $3,600 — three times the cost of an average water heater.

"If you can buy it from Home Depot for $1,000, I just don't understand why you would go renting it."

Enercare said the model in Mendola's home is much more efficient than the model that could be purchased at a retailer for that amount, and adds that the $1,000 figure doesn't include the cost of installation, which can add an additional $400 to the price.

More

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Swap it out with a Home Depot one and wait for them to repossess theirs.

Anonymous said...

sounds like plan

Anonymous said...

I have made my share of mistakes in life but wonder how this get past people.

I have some idiot that is "renting to own" the home next to me and were perplexed when the heat stopped. They thought it just automatically showed up when it got cold. They didn't have a clue that they had oil heat, where their oil tank was or that they had to get oil to have heat.

Anonymous said...

4:44 just remember for every genius there is an idiot and for every person of above normal intelligence there is some one with below normal intelligence.

Anonymous said...

Not long from now, many Americans will say the same about solar panels.

Anonymous said...

6:56 wrong wrong wrong there aren't enough genius's to account for the number of mentally deficient out there! prolly more like 1 out of a 1000. just take a look around!