Enercare Home Services

I signed a RENTAL contract for a hot water tank, and have now been informed that the only way to terminate this contract is to PURCHASE the unit.

I moved into a new residence in October 2013. Within 2 weeks, the hot water tank leaked. Direct Energy came and replaced the unit, and I signed a new RENTAL contract. I have now decided to convert to natural gas, and have already purchased a new tankless water heater from a different company. I contacted Enercare (previously Direct Energy) to inform them that I wanted to end my rental contract, and have the unit removed.

At this point they informed me that my only option to terminate the contract is to PURCHASE the unit, at the full buy out price ($776). They informed me that this was clear in the rental contract that I signed. I signed the contract while the technician was standing there with a clipboard waiting for me to finish, and at no point was I advised that I was agreeing to actually purchase the unit. The termination clause is buried deep in the fine print, that would have taken more than 30 min to fully review.

There is a commonly understood distinction between renting and purchasing, and if this company has decided to blur that distinction, then it is up to them to ensure that the consumer understands that they have changed the meaning of the word RENT. If I wanted to own a hot water tank, I would have purchased one at the start. The reason that I decided to rent was that I was not sure what my long term plan would be, and thought that I may decide to change to natural gas, so I wanted to remain flexible.