Joseph 45

Don't Be Fooled Like most other genuine reviewers, I also received very poor service from Reliance Home Comfort, but I finally took my concern to the company CEO, the presumptive repository of corporate wisdom and conscience. The gist of my message to him is as follows: A service technician responded to my complaint that my water heater was producing insufficient hot water and that its blinking LED green light status was coded Weak pilot signal on last call for heat. By the time the technician arrived, the GFCI outlet had tripped, the water heater turned off, and the LED disappeared. Without any reference to my complaint, the serviceman (who turned out to be an electrician) declared with God-like certainty that the electrical outlet was the problem: it needed to be a dedicated outlet and the three wires attached to it made it non-compliant. He was adamant the outlet had to be replaced with a dedicated one directly from the fuse box at my cost. He offered to instal it for $300-$500. His underlying allegation was that the homeowner modified the electrical outlet from what RHC originally installed. I firmly objected. The installation is original, and the extra wires have to do with the furnace, which RHC installed. Its highly unlikely that both RHC furnace and water heater installers used non-compliant electrical hookups, and that none of the service people who visited over the past several years, failed to recognize the non-compliance. Moreover, the technical instructions for installing the water heater says nothing about a mandatory dedicated outlet. Notwithstanding, if the outlet is non-compliant, its RHCs responsibility to fix it at its own cost. (I subsequently checked, and my two neighbours have the same electrical set up. Another electrician neighbour confirmed that theres nothing wrong with the outlet.) The CEOs intervention, through his assistant, led to a dead end. She repeated the same line the serviceman gave me, and when I asked for a certified electrician to inspect the electricals, she wrote that it would cost me $100, which I expectedly turned down. I dont know what RHCs game is with the water heaters electrical outlet, but my heater wasn't diagnosed nor fixed. Interestingly, on November 28, 2023, ryan in Toronto complained on Home Stars about the same experience, which also fizzed out in a dead end. Homeowners should take note that RHC ratings are predominantly at the extremes - 1/10 and 10/10; few are in between. Consequently, I encourage homeowners to take seriously a company's negative ratings.

BACKGROUND In early Spring 2022, I hired DAngelo Roofing to instal DoublePro gutter-guards to my bungalow gutters. They did no post-installation inspection with me, and I found out on my own that: L-shaped aluminum bases at every corner were missing; overlaps were improperly screwed down, allowing leaves and other debris to accumulate in the gutters; and, splash guards were missing at the bottom of roof valleys. I understood the problems from reviewing the installation instructions posted on the manufacturers website, Alu-Rex. I also reviewed their warranty and was alarmed to find that my installation deficiencies would exclude me from succeeding with a warranty claim years later if the gutter-guards failed, e.g., openings at overlaps, corners, etc. could not exceed 7/64 sq. in. My openings mostly failed to meet this standard because a single screw was used to close them versus two as required. I complained to DAngelo, using photos to illustrate the deficiencies. At first, the company insisted the installation met requirements but then, they sent the images to their Alu-Rex rep, who also made the same assertion seated in Montreal. I however, persisted and in early November 2022, the rep wrote me to say he will visit in Spring 2023 to examine the installation. JULY 2023 FOLLOWUP Eight months later, the Montreal Alu-Rex regional rep showed up to investigate my gutter-guard complaint. His method was to walk around the house to do so. I strongly objected. I loaned him my ladder, he climbed up at the front entrance, looked around for 15 seconds, descended and declared Theres nothing wrong with the installation! A serious argument between us followed. Two weeks later, Gary, DAngelos Service Rep, visited and installed the missing L-shaped aluminum base at all 14 inside and outside gutter corners, as the Alu-Rex rep advised him to. Gary also used three screws to securely close the overlaps, thus preventing leaves and debris from entering the gutter system. In addition, he flushed out accessible debris from the gutters and installed splash guards at inside corners and valleys. Garys attentive work is a credit to him personally and not to DAngelo, whose low Google rating I have left unchanged. The bottom line for homeowners is: when engaging any gutter guard installer, do your homework and know what should be installed and how. Demand an inspection before the installer leaves and demand corrective work before you make your final payment. Most of all, dont accept after-installation assurances that if theres ever a performance problem the manufacturer will stand behind its product; manufacturer warranties specifically dont protect against shoddy installation. I have not dismissed the likelihood that the manufacturers intervention in an installer repair situation is a game played between them at the customers expense.