On The Net | HotWaterFacts.ca - Part 2

On the Net

Beware tricksters behind water heater fraud

There’s a war being fought to win your water heater rental business and the tactics aren’t always pretty.

Knock, knock: Who’s there? Maybe a rip-off artist

Someone once told me that, years ago, it was a perfectly acceptable thing to do business at your front door. That must have been a really long time ago, because when I hear a knock on the door these days, I fantasize about answering it wearing Braveheart face paint while wielding a pitchfork or a trident.

Woman, 95, cheated out of $7,000 by phony repair man

Ninety-five-year-old Marion Dressler let the “very nice” dark-haired young man into her Annex home last month after he knocked on the door and asked to check on the water heater.

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On the Net

Watch out for door-to-door scammers

Door-to-door salespeople are the scourge of the earth, says consumer advocate Ellen Roseman. In her view, allowing an army of pushy salespeople to trick people into signing contracts adds no value and should be outlawed.

Water heater rental battle on social media

A campaign imploring consumers to ignore door-to-door salespeople is part of a social media campaign set up by a water heater rental company to challenge their competitors.

Roseman: Man, 87, caught in water tank scam

There’s a new law in Ontario to protect consumers from misleading sales of natural gas or electricity contracts.

Report: Staying in Hot Water

Download a copy of the report Staying In Hot Water: Consumers Need Better Information to learn more about how to protect yourself in a deregulated hot water heater rental market.
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Hot Water Facts

This summer, an estimated 600,000 households in Ontario will be visited by door to door sales for a new rental hot water tank. A new report Staying In Hot Water - Consumers Need Better Information commissioned by The Consumers’ Waterheater Income Fund (now EnerCare), finds that contracts for rental water heaters are being signed by consumers who have an incomplete understanding of contract terms and overestimate the extent of possible energy savings.