Enercare Home Services

In Oct/2012, had my rental water heater replaced with exactly same model from direct energy as it broke down. Serviceman said it would cost $300 to pay for new white exhaust pipes due to regulations and I was okay with this as it is due to regs. When sub-contractors came to install they said it will cost more than double that amount .I needed the tank so I regretfully agreed to pay a slighlty reduced amount from the $600. Than worse is that D.E. changed my rental rate from 21.95 to 28.99 per month as a result of replacing the water heater. I have been arguing with them since January 2013, about this uncalled for change in my rental rate. I am still waiting now for months for them to provide me a copy of any written document that enables them to change the rental rate resulting from replacing a defective water heater with a new exact model as the old. it has been a horrible ordeal so far. This will cost me an extra $100 a year for the next 10 to 15 years.

I was delighted with the service provided by technician, Sean Donaldson. He was punctual, professional and extremely knowledgable about his work. I will definitely deal with Direct Energy again because of this positive experience. Clearly,Sean is a tremendous asset to this company. I recommend him highly.

A quick update to my complaint. I am pleased to say that I was contacted by the Office of the President at Direct Energy Home Services and they have agreed to re-imburse the cancellation fee. They have resolved the issue to my satisfaction. Thankyou.

Below is my original complaint. Their response was completely erroneous. The company has no intention of refunding the cancellation fee and have been quite patronizing in their response. CTV news was contacted and they will look further into my complaint. A word of warning to other consumers... DO NOT enter a protection plan agreement on line. It's not worth it. Read the rest of the reviews on this site and others and you will come to the same conclusion.
Anne B.

Anne B from Collingwood 1 | Oshawa Location | May 27, 2013
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Direct Energy refused to cancel a renewal that was not authorized back in January. In April they told us the contract would be cancelled but the May billing included $151 charge for a cancelled annual plan. I am a senior of 82 yrs of age and on a fixed income and can't believe they are so dishonest and unprofessional at customer service. They even refused to allow us to speak to a supervisor...Rude, Rude, Rude. Beware they are dishonest to customers without any regrets whatsoever.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price & Advice
Company Response:
Hi Anne, Sorry to hear about this experience. Can you please send us your information so we can investigate further and resolve your issue. Thank you.

Had Direct Energy in for a duct cleaning. Booked between 8-12, team showed up at 8:45. Friendly, professional,clean, and courteous. Very impressed with the thoroughness of the duct cleaning performed. They spent the time to make sure every duct was cleaned and even went back and cleaned some a second time to ensure they were spotless. Used a colour camera to show me the inside of the ducts and they sprayed them with an antibacterial spray. I could have booked a discount duct cleaning service but I’m glad I paid a little more for Direct Energy – I felt comfortable having them in my house and they really did a great job.

My 14 year old, builder supplied furnace finally died. I was not too surprised as it was known that the design of this particular model was not very good. That is why I joined the Direct Energy's Heating Protection and Maintenance Plan. About 5 years ago, the heat exchanger cracked and was replaced. During this year's annual inspection, it was discovered that it is again cracked and the furnace needs to be replaced. The technician scheduled a sales representative for the evening of the same day.

The sales representative arrived punctually. I was impressed that he has been with the company for 12 years, that he was previously an installer, that all the technicians are employees of Direct Energy and not sub-contractors. I chose the Trane furnace with DC motor and 12 year extended warranty. With the extended warranty, I do not need the heating protection and maintenance plan anymore. I got a discount on the purchase of the furnace for having been on the Heating Protection and Maintenance Plan. The installers would also look into making my humidifier work again. He took a video of the furnace room to give to the installers, a nice touch. The install was scheduled and confirmed on the spot for 1 week later.

The installers arrived within the promised 4 hour window. They covered the path to the furnace room. They re-routed my natural gas pipe to allow more room in the furnace room. They widen the air filter slot for easier access. They changed the leaking, plastic water supply tube to the humidifier with copper. They added an electrical switch box for the furnace. The job was done cleanly and within 3 hours.

I am pleased with the whole process. I am confident that Direct Energy will be around to honour the extended warranty.

Location: Richmond Hill
Install date: June 5, 2013
Sales rep: Scott
Installers: Jason, Graham

Purchased a new central air unit in June of 2007. This ran perfectly until September 2007; when leak "repair" one was done. May/June 2008 brought on leak "repair" 2. This continued on EVERY season - at least one leak repair per season. Leak repair 6 was done May 2011. September 2011, it does again. They come out, but are unable to find the leak; and advised we wait until spring to have it looked at again. This made me nervous, as the warranty was supposed to end June 2012. Technician assured me there was no reason to worry, as with all the problems I'd had, they would give me at least another year on the warranty. I asked him to put that in writing; which he did write on the receipt. Turned out this person was not in a position to make such a claim, so this was debunked. Anyway, they came out in May; and supposedly found the leak. They could not get the parts in and schedule a repair until after the warranty was set to expire; so they tried to tell me I'd have to pay for the cost of the repair and the coolant; as the guarantee was going to be up!!!!!!! Asked the tech to call their supervisor so I could speak to them. No...they can't do that. I said fine...I'll get back to you after I have spoken to a lawyer. Supervisor did call back the next day, when we discussed the fact that this unit had had 7 leaks in 5 years; so clearly either the Trane unit itself is faulty, or it was shoddy workmanship. So, to me the only thing that made sense would be to scrap this system and install a new one. Of course they could not do that; but after informing them that I was in contact with a lawyer, they did agree to doing that last repair. Of course when I try to turn on the unit again this spring ... big surprise, the air blowing out is room temperature again!!!!!

Long story short, this "company" will do the absolute bare minimum, and nothing more. I've learned from my mistake, and will NEVER deal with direct energy again ... and needless to say nor will any of my friends or neighbors after seeing what I've gone through.

We have a Cooling Maintenance Plan and an upgraded Heating Maintenance & Protection Plan.

Last year – 2012 we had no problems with the maintenance done on the Heating & AC.
This year – 2013 what a nightmare! First our heating plan we were charged the full amount for the maintenance although we had been paying our plan. Called Direct Energy to reverse the charge and nothing was done to reverse the charges.

I then contacted Enbridge Billing Department to launch a dispute claim against Direct Energy. The reversal was then processed. Issue resolved.

Now for the Central Air Unit (installed 2001), maintenance was performed on May 17/13.

We were told by the technician that the outside compressor kicks on and shuts right down. We would need to book a service call but the cost of work would be very expensive and the best alternative is to have the Central Air Unit replaced. So a sales call was placed.

Reeling from the news, the next day the Central Air Unit dried and my husband turned the breakers on & off and the Central Air Unit has been working beautifully ever since. The Central Air Unit was really dredged with water by the technician and could have tripped the breakers.

The technician was very courteous but maybe not familiar with the Amanda model and the electrical connection to the breaker panel. Maybe the electrical breaker should be added to the checklist rather than suggesting a full Central Air Unit replacement (Cost between $3,000 - $6,000).

Seeing that the Central Air Unit now works and the technician didn’t complete all tasks indicated on the check list. I called Direct Energy back saying that the Central Air Unit in fact does work and another technician should come back to complete the work on the checklist.

I was passed to a Supervisor who sounded a million miles away to be told if the technician didn’t indicate another visit then there will be no visit. If I wanted another visit I would have to upgrade to the Protection Plan and another visit will be scheduled.

This is totally unacceptable customer service.

Based on other reviews since these plans are locked in until anniversary date - mine Feb 09 and Feb 12/14 respectively I have little choice but to remain on them and will be providing instructions prior to the anniversary dates to cancel the plans and go to a more experience Heating and Cooling Company familiar with Amanda Central Air and Furnance products to perform the maintenance/protection.

Oh, I do have a choice and that is to upgrade to a 3in1 plan and I can then cancel within 30 days but I didn’t take the bait as I’m not sure what the catch is - I might be locked in for life. I will also let Enbridge Billing know not to accept payment from Direct Energy for these maintenance/protection plans effective Feb 01/14 onwards.

We have Direct Energy Protection Plan. For a monthly fee my family and I have peace of mind. Our home cooling system is important in the summer especially for our family & dog. I get a complete air-conditioning service every spring. I also get a complete heating service in the summer or fall to ready for winter. In addition, we added the plumbing, kitchen appliances, washer and dryer protection. We are very satisfied. The technicians are professional, courteous and do their work well. I would recommend Direct Energy for all your service needs. :) Thanks

I sold my house, and in the agreement of purchase and sale, I had to buyout my rental furnace from Direct Energy. I called in March to get this done, as our closing date was in May, and I wanted to get it done with plenty of time to spare. My March to April bill came with the buyout amount on it, which I paid. Thinking this was all taken care of, I then received my final bill in the mail for April to May. Low and behold, the rental fee has been charged for the month. I called their billing department to take care of this, and for some reason had to be transferred to billing twice, even though I had called the number for the billing department. When I finally reached the correct person, they explained that it can take 1 to 2 billing cycles for these charges to be rectified. I found her customer service skills horrendous. She was extremely rude to me on the phone, and did not seem to want to listen to my concerns about this rental amount showing on the new owner's bill. She even went as far as to say "You should have called us before you moved". Excuse me? I'm pretty sure I did, when I called to buyout the furnace. Was this two months not enought time for Direct Energy to make the correct adjustments on the account? When I became irate at this comment, I asked to speak to a supervisor, only to be transferred to Enbridge Gas so I could deal with the billing issue with them. They are now putting a dispute together against Direct Energy. What I don't understand is how the managers at Direct Energy to not realize how poorly trained their customer service individuals are. They lack common sense, tact, and manners. I am so glad that I do not have to deal with them any more. I will never sign up for anything with this company again. If you want to keep your customers, try being nice to them.