I pay Direct Energy $21/month for what amounts a furnace insurance plan which only excludes huge components like heat exchangers. I've had it for a number of years, long enough that I can't remember when we signed on.
My furnace started misbehaving ealy this week and by Friday am was taking up well over an hour to fire up after the thermostat said let's go here furnace. Barely remembering we had the plan we called the number at 7:30 am and got pretty much an immediate real live person who sounded like they were actually in North America. She was courteous and efficient and able to call up our account info quickly and arranged for a service visit that morning - the technician was there shortly after 8, sorted out the problem in a minute, had the part in his truck and had it installed in minutes. When the new part didn't work perfectly ( it was an ignition part much like a spark plug on a complex tube with electronic gizmos attached) he knew enough to tweak the gap and it worked perfectly and continues to work. He explained that sometimes the gap gets modified = while the part is sitting in its packing.
He didn't dawdle and we were back to toasty normal by 9 am.
Having speant what feels like a small fortune on the service plan and not having any kind of loyalty to Enbridge prior to this call, it wouldn't have taken much for me to feel disatisfied .... but I really can't find a thing to complain about. All my houshold service calls should be this good ... I see they actively seek feedback from customers and presumably every player in the service chain knows that her/his performance is likely to be evaluated by the customer ... whatever the system, it worked perfectly for me.
Brian